Charges dropped in fatal house fire

Judge had ruled police search warrant improper

McCarn

Prosecutors dropped the arson case against a 75-year-old North Charleston man accused of intentionally setting the fire that killed his wife, conceding they had little chance of overturning a judge's ruling that a police search warrant was improper.

The move means Bobby McCarn won't be tried for first-degree arson, even as prosecutors say he intentionally set the house fire that killed 53-year-old Deborah McCarn in February 2006. McCarn's defense team maintains McCarn's wife was responsible for the blaze.

Circuit Judge G. Edward Welmaker ruled last week the warrant that North Charleston police used to re-enter McCarn's home two weeks after the blaze was invalid because it did not adequately detail the "probable cause" for the search.

The warrant, filed by a North Charleston detective, said the cause of the fire was undetermined and "a search of the residence is required to gather further information as to the cause and origin."

Welmaker cited the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure in tossing the warrant aside.

Prosecutors had a 10-day window to appeal the ruling but opted against it, saying the chance of success in overturning Welmaker's decision was unlikely.

The ruling "takes all the best evidence that a crime occurred and prevents a jury from seeing it," 9th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Greg Voigt said. Among the evidence gathered during the search were indications that an accelerant was present, Voigt said.

McCarn's defense team said their client was "ecstatic" the case was dropped. Defense attorney Beattie Butler moved to squelch any talk that McCarn was saved by a technicality, saying they had experts ready to show that Deborah McCarn, who allegedly was a heavy smoker and substance abuser, was responsible for the fire. The blaze burned for only a few moments, Butler said, and was mostly confined to a single room.

Bobby McCarn had an alibi during the fire, Butler said. Defense witnesses also contend the accelerant was sealant for a hardwood floor.

North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt said he was surprised and disappointed by the outcome, adding he was unaware of any problems with the search warrant until the judge tossed it out. The investigator, Detective Michael Rooney, thought he'd provided sufficient information to request a search warrant, Zumalt said.

North Charleston Municipal Judge Victor Revelise approved the warrant, and the case proceeded with no mention of problems with the search, Zumalt said.

Rooney's search warrant does not allege that a crime occurred, only that more information was needed to determine the cause of a fire that had resulted in Deborah McCarn's death. The search warrant stated that investigators hoped the visit would help pinpoint the fire's origin and cause.

"There was nothing done on the part of the investigator to take advantage of an opportunity," Zumalt said. "He was going after the facts and trying to determine cause, and he went about it the best way he knew how."

That said, Zumalt doesn't argue with the judge's decision. The chief said police will use the episode as a learning experience to be clearer and more precise in drafting search warrants in future arson cases.

"We're disappointed. We certainly never want to look like we're not prepared and not doing our best," Zumalt said. "The judge made his ruling, and we just have to be careful as we do our cases to meet the requirements of the courts."

Revelise, who signed the warrant, was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment, city officials said.

McCarn was 73 when he was charged with intentionally setting the fire that killed his wife. The charges came about four months after her death. On the day of the blaze, North Charleston firefighters arrived at the couple's Chantilly Lane home to find flames coming from the living room area. Deborah McCarn was unconscious in a rear bedroom. She died in a hospital the next morning from smoke inhalation.

The death came as the couple was involved in divorce proceedings, and Deborah McCarn reportedly had expressed a fear of her husband.

The investigation of the death as suspicious was pushed in part by Deborah McCarn's sister who works for the state Fire Marshal's Office.

"Totally disappointed," said McCarn's sister, Sondra Senn of Gaston, administrator for public fire education and data management. "I just can't believe that it ended up that way."

Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com.