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Relative charged with Arson, question about HOME insurance and Arson

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F

freeorlife

Guest
What is the name of your state?
Virginia

I'm sorry this is long, but I Need to provide the info. I've made a post on the criminal forum ..

One week ago, my brother(age 21, who just now turned 22 today)
set a piece of furniture on fire in my parents home, (according to the police report)

It turned into a BIG FIRE, damaging the ENTIRE 1st floor of the house, only the basement is okay.
He told the police that he left a cigarette on the couch, went to sleep, and when
he woke up, flames were everywhere. BUt as the week passed, he told the police that
he tried to start a fire.

Later, my dad told the police that they had an argument. The police started to investigate.
My brother has a bad history with the police and my dad and he is SCHIZOPHRENIC.

The police are assuming that a piece of plastic was found. So they assume
that gasoline was used. He is being locked up in jail, without bond.
I do not know the reason for no bond, is it because they think he is suicidal.

I do not know how the police/fire department found plastic.
The living room has NOTHING left in it but soot, and all smoke damage.

I called my brother's defense (court appointed) lawyer, found out that mid November he will
have a evaluation from a psychiatrist and late November there will be a hearing.
On the phone, I asked to meet the lawyer, he said,
"I do not want to meet right now, until after the "evaluation"

Question) Can I do anything if this lawyer refuses to see me now?
Any recommendations on how to find a lawyer for my brother? I don't know if I can afford
one for him.

I'm paying my taxes for this lawyer too, for court appointed lawyer.

He said he's represented my brother before & the evaluation was found that
my brother was incompetent, but it might be different this time because
my brother has not been taking his medication for his mental illness.

1) What occurs at a hearing? Can I someone get the psychiatric evaluation moved
up to the beginning of November?? Can I somehow REQUEST that the hearing date be
earlier??


2) Any recommendations? My family also did not have full home insurance coverage.
and the insurance have not called them back & insurance may pay nothing because
they may want to say, "he was part of the family & lived there"

It was a tragic accident though. Two incidents (my YOUNG brother and my
family's home)

More importantly, I'm so scared for my brother and the hearing.
Please help. I appreciate it so much and I do not know who to talk to. My mother keeps crying & crying.
I found out the Virginia code is 18.2-77 (arson charge) and 19.2-169.1 (for the mental illness VA code)
but I need to understand them as soon as possible.
 


T

tammy8

Senior Member
Sorry about your brother. Mental illness is a bad thing for more than just the sufferer.

Now I don't understand what you mean by not having "full insurance coverage" on the house. Please explain.
 
F

freeorlife

Guest
Thank you for responding SO much.

My first concern is the sentence that my brother could or couldn't
receive from the hearing. What are the options?

The court appointed lawyer said "he did not want to meet with me until after the psychiatric evaluation". I want to better the entire situation soon.

We do not have full coverage on the house. Insurance has not called my dad for 1 week, they did not take many pictures. My dad thinks they won't settle for an Entire YEAR. A lot of damage was done 1st losing my brother, 2nd losing a home.

Can I request a copy of the fire investigation? How do they know if they found an accelerant to see if gasoline was used? what can be done to better the entire situation.
 
B

Bigfoot

Member
You haven't answered the first question: what is meant by they didn't have 'full home insurance coverage'? Was this rental property or did your parents own the home?

Your other questions are easier to answer. First, the firefighters are trained to identify the retardant or whatever caused the fire. While you or I may see ashes, they can detect where the fire started and related patterns.

--The court appointed lawyer said "he did not want to meet with me until after the psychiatric evaluation". I want to better the entire situation soon.

Even if you are your brother's guardian, the system has other cases ahead of yours and may not be able to 'better the situation' as soon as you'd like.

--Insurance has not called my dad for 1 week, they did not take many pictures.

The adjusters will know which pictures they will need to supplement the fire department's report.

--Can I request a copy of the fire investigation?

If there is an active investigation going on, they may want to limit their reports until the court proceedings.

It's understandable that the doctor wants to have an evaluation completed before talking with you so that s/he can have a meaningful meeting with you. Because your brother has refused to take medication and has a history of problems, you'll have to be patient and let the public authorities proceed as carefully and methodically as they can, for a proper outcome. Right now, you are rightfully concerned, but you don't have a lot to contribute to the situation right now.
 
I

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
My response:

Bigfoot, we've already been through all of this with this writer. This post was a duplicate.

Go here for the original post - -

Copy and paste this link into your browser without the on each side: [url]https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?threadid=163742


IAAL
 
J

JETX

Senior Member
Bigfoot said:
No, not referring to you. You obviously are interested in helping this person.
Click to expand...
*** And what the hell is that supposed to mean?? Are you forgetting that this person has already asked this question before and got TWENTY-FIVE responses?? Are you thinking that by posting it again, he is going to get anything new?? Especially since some of that responses on the OTHER post are absolutely legally accurate!!
So, what value was YOUR post on this thread???
 
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