Trial for man who allegedly set massive Big Sur blaze finally gets start date. Here’s when
The trial for the man accused of starting the Dolan Fire in Big Sur has finally been set after a months-long delay prompted by his lawyer’s sudden collapse on the steps of the courthouse last year.
Monterey County prosecutor Meredith Sillman said the trial for Ivan Geronimo Gomez, 32, has been set for March 28.
Gomez was arrested in August 2020 and charged with five felonies, which include starting the blaze. He remains in jail, held on a $2 million bail. Gomez was allegedly also tied to an illegal cannabis operation in that Los Padres National Forest area.
In 2021, Sillman told The Tribune that Gomez was being “held to answer on a number of arson charges” as well as for throwing rocks at firefighters and vehicles on Highway 1.
She said the presumed timeline is that Gomez started the fire and then almost immediately began throwing the rocks after the fire.
When arrested, Gomez allegedly claimed he lit the fire to hide five murders, but no bodies were ever found, according to The Californian.
Gomez’s mental competency to stand trial was called into question, but in September 2020, a judge ruled that he was competent to stand trial.
Sillman said Tuesday that, because this is to be a court trial, rather than a jury trial, “there’ll be a little more flexibility in the scheduling.” This is in part to accommodate the availability of witnesses, she said.
Why the delay in trial for alleged Big Sur arsonist?
Gomez’s trial date was scheduled to start in October, but a medical emergency put the proceedings on hold for several months.
The day before the trial was to begin, Gomez’s public defense attorney, Michael Belter, collapsed near the entrance to the Monterey County courthouse in Salinas.
According to the Monterey County Weekly, the lawyer “was unconscious for several minutes and required CPR and three defibrillator shocks before being rushed to the hospital with signs of life.”
Sillman said the medical-crisis episode was “not something you ever want to see happen.” She added that Belter is back on the job and is still expected to defend Gomez.
Belter has not returned The Tribune’s requests for an interview.
During his initial defense of Gomez at a preliminary hearing, Belter called the prosecution’s case into question, saying there were remnants of a campfire in the area that could have started the blaze, that there was insufficient time between when the fire started and when Gomez was arrested for him to have traveled the distance to Highway 1 and that the prosecution’s case rests primarily on statements made by Gomez when he was possibly not fully in possession of his faculties.
Wounded firefighter still recovering from Dolan Fire injuries
The rampaging fire raged for months, scorching 125,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest, and at times threatening the busy Highway 1 scenic route and two iconic bridges on it.
The conflagration cost at least $62 million to contain, destroyed 20 structures, was presumed to have been responsible for the death of at least 11 California condors.
It also injured several firefighters.
One of those firefighters, Casey Allen, said Monday he’s still recovering from his second- and third-degree burns.
While most of his wounds are healed or mostly healed, doctors likely will have to amputate two fingers on his left hand, despite efforts to save them.
Allen said he expects to testify in the trial, which is due to start on his birthday.
