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Woman guilty of reckless conduct in fire caseThu, 03/19/2009 - 9:50pm
By: John Munford
Mistrial declared on arson charge A partial mistrial has been declared in the arson case against a south Fayette woman who admitted to setting grease rags afire in her garage Feb. 18, 2008. Ginger Leigh Coursey was found guilty of three counts of reckless conduct for setting the fire, but a mistrial was declared on the arson charge. The reckless conduct charges stem from the fire endangering three children who were sleeping in the house at the time. Coursey testified that after she set the fire she got the children out of the house. Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English delayed sentencing until 1:30 p.m. Monday. Coursey testified that she set the rags afire in a bid to get her husband’s attention after a marital spat. Coursey told the jury that she never intended to harm her two grandchildren and another child who were sleeping at the home Feb 18, 2008. No one was injured as her now ex-husband, retired firefighter Billy Coursey, used a water hose to put out the flames before fire crews arrived at their Morris Drive home. Coursey, in a written statement to investigators, said she started the fire in an effort to get her husband’s attention on the life they had built together so “he would not want to throw that away.” “I was fighting to save our marriage of 22 years,” Coursey said in court. “I couldn’t see any other way of life other than being with him.” Coursey said the couple often argued about money issues and that her now ex-husband had an affair with her long-time best friend. Billy Coursey, who took the stand earlier in the trial, was asked by his ex-wife’s defense attorney if anyone was hurt. “I’ll hurt for the rest of my life that she ever went to that extent,” Mr. Coursey replied. One issue in the trial is whether a black substance on the walls near the fire was damage from the fire or not. Georgia law requires a part of the home to be damaged for an arson charge to be upheld. County Fire Marshal David Scarbrough testified that the black substance on the wall was damage from the fire. He also noted that the fire created some smoke damage in the attic area. Ginger Coursey contends the black substance was residue from her now ex-husband’s biodiesel conversion machine, which he used to create diesel fuel from grease provided by local restaurants. The rags Ginger Coursey set afire were on top of the biodiesel conversion machine, Scarbrough said. Had she become incapacitated it’s possible everyone in the house that night could have died as the fire spread, Scarbrough said. login to post comments |