The man charged with felony arson for the Bidwell Mansion fire changed his plea in court today.
Kevin Alexander Carlson had previously pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing in January.
Today’s court date was originally meant to check in on the status of the case. But when Carlson appeared, he entered a plea of no contest to the charges.
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the proceeding was straightforward and short.
“[He] said that he wished to admit his guilt by pleading no contest to a felony count of arson to a structure with use of an accelerant,” Ramsey said. “The plea of no contest in a felony matter has the exact same legal effect as a guilty plea.”
Carlson changed his plea without making a deal with prosecutors. Pleading no contest is not an admission of guilt even though it results in a conviction.
The case will now proceed directly to a sentencing hearing on March 5. Carlson could serve a maximum of 11 years in prison.
Ramsey pointed out that the sentence would have been much longer under a recently-passed state proposition.
“He committed this arson one week to the day before Prop 36 became in effect,” Ramsey said. “If he had committed it one week later, when Prop 36 was in effect, he'd be looking at an additional 14 years.”
Ramsey said he’s not surprised by the defendant’s plea given the amount of evidence that had been collected. Ramsey said Carlson’s public defender indicated that after his client reviewed the massive amount of evidence against him, he decided to avoid a lengthy and public trial.
Ramsey said it will save his office thousands of hours of work preparing for a trial.
