The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office:
A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations Wednesday to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty as charged.
Defendant Benjamin Ervin James Dimmick, age 27, of Eureka, was found guilty of committing the arson of a commercial business structure, a felony, in a business park just north of Ukiah on February 17th of this year; he was also found guilty of burglary (in the second degree), also a felony, of the same business office on that same date.
The jury also found true a special allegation alleging that the arson was committed while one or more fire-related, Governor-initiated “state of emergency” declarations had been issued and was/were still in effect here in Mendocino County.
The referral of the defendant and his convictions to the Adult Probation Department for a background study and sentencing recommendation was deferred until a second felony trial involving the defendant – now scheduled for the middle of January — is either resolved by agreement of the parties or tried before another jury.
The law enforcement agency that investigated the burglary and arson was the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, with trial preparation assistance provided by the District Attorney’s own investigators.
The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence to the jury was District Attorney David Eyster.
Significant fire investigation work that began in February was followed up with fire expert testimony being presented to the jury Tuesday by Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Battalion Chief Justin Buckingham. Chief Buckingham also sat second chair to the DA throughout the trial and the reading of the verdicts.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the three-day trial and will continue to preside over all upcoming proceedings in this case and the defendant’s other two pending cases.
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