A stump continues burning after a wildfire passed through in this 2018 file photo.
Following a brief hearing this morning, a Cal Fire firefighter, accused of setting five Sonoma County fires this summer was remanded into custody without bail.
The accused appeared pensive prior to the hearing, sitting upright in the gallery, with part of a sleeve tattoo peeking out from jail-issued dark blue scrubs. Nearby, another defendant with a buzzcut rocked back and forth, awaiting the start of proceedings in Judge Troye Shaffer’s sterile courtroom.
After speaking to her client in hushed tones, defense attorney Orchid Vaghti, joined prosecutors briefly in Shaffer’s chambers. During much of that conference, lasting roughly two minutes, the defendant, who stands accused of five counts of arson, along with a number of enhancements, shook his head left to right repeatedly, as if nodding “no.”
Following the attorney conference, Shaffer ordered the accused held without bail, and set a bail hearing for the morning of October 11th. The defense was asked to provide documents by October 2nd, with prosecutors urged to provide a response prior to a deadline a week later.