Texas Supreme Court Justice- Medina house fire was intentionally set

[Buttercup McToots]

Officials: Medina house fire was intentionally set


By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


The fire that destroyed the home of Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina was intentionally set, the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office announced today.

Investigators said they considered the fire as incendiary after ruling out all other accidental causes, such as an electrical short, that could have ignited the June 28 blaze that resulted in about $900,000 in damages to Medina's Spring-area home.

A neighboring house in the neighborhood was also destroyed in the fire, and a third was damaged.

Members of Medina's family have been questioned during the investigation. His wife and one of his children were the only people in the home that night, arson officers said.

"They have been cooperative throughout the interview process," said Dan Given, chief investigator with the fire marshal's office.

At this point, there are no charges pending in the case, officials said.

"This is an active and ongoing investigation," said Harris County Fire Marshal Mike Montgomery.

Nathan Green, a fire marshal investigator on the case, had earlier said six "persons of interest," all of whom are Medina family members or friends, have been identified in the investigation. He had said there were inconsistencies in Medina's and his wife's accounts of where he was the night of the fire. She was at home.

Contacted by telephone on Tuesday, Medina said he would not comment about his whereabouts that night.

The judge also said he was unaware that investigators had identified six people of interest, including family members and friends.

"I was not aware. ... That's quite startling," Medina said, later adding that he had "no idea" if he knew anyone who might have set the house on fire.

He then said, "I'm not going to comment further."

Investigators had said the fire was "very suspicious" in part because a dog detected an accelerant, the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office said on Tuesday.

Detection of an accelerant does not always mean a fire was deliberately set, said Green. But, he said, "more times than not, the presence of an accelerant is indicative of an incendiary, intentionally set fire."

"The dogs did alert that there was something there," said Green, who would not identify what accelerant was found.

The fire, in the Olde Oaks subdivision in northwest Harris County, destroyed Medina's 5,000-square-foot house in the 3500 block of Highfalls. No one was injured, but two firefighters were treated for heat exposure in the blaze, which started around 10:30 p.m. in Medina's garage, Green said.

According to public records, a mortgage company filed to foreclose on the home in June 2006. Green said Medina and the mortgage company reached an agreement the following December. Green said the foreclosure filing on the house was a "very, very big red flag" for investigators.

He said Medina did not have an insurance policy on the home and that the justice, appointed to the Texas Supreme Court in 2004 by Gov. Rick Perry, was surprised when he learned a policy had lapsed.

"It was an oversight on somebody's part that the premiums didn't get paid," said Green, who added the family moved to Austin after they lost their home.

The loan on the house was insured by the finance company, he said.

Green said the only people at the Medina home that night were Medina's wife, Francisca Medina, and one of their children. Green said Medina apparently didn't learn of the fire until the morning after the blaze, around 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m., and that the judge arrived at the charred house that afternoon.

He said the investigation has not offered Medina any kind of special treatment in the case, but that they "have been mindful" the home is owned by a sitting Supreme Court justice.

"I have not been interfered with in any way in this investigation," Green said.

Chronicle reporter Paige Hewitt contributed to this report.