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Lathan v. State

A police officer could testify that defendant's wife stated she would not have known if defendant left their home the night of the crime, since the wife testified that she did not make that statement.

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James Lathan was convicted of first degree arson by knowingly causing fire damage to a dwelling house owned by Emily Rousey and leased to Chris Smith. Among other things, Lathan challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the admission of testimony from Rousey concerning other instances of arson years before the one in this case. Finding the evidence sufficient and an absence of reversible error, we affirm.

The fire occurred in 1997. Lathan and Rousey are former spouses who divorced in 1982, when Rousey resided in the house she currently rents to Smith. Following the divorce, Lathan attempted to reconcile with Rousey, but she was beginning to date other men. On two occasions, fires were set at her house after Lathan had seen Rousey dating. Two other fires were also set at her house after the divorce. One of the four fires had been set with a plastic jug containing gasoline and a piece of a cloth towel used as a wick. The jug was found in a cardboard box in the utility room. Another fire was set beneath the crawl space of the house with a gasoline jug containing a candle.

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