(1) A person commits arson in the first degree if he or she intentionally damages a building or property contained within a building by starting a fire or causing an explosion when another person is present in the building at the time and either (a) the actor knows that fact, or (b) the circumstances are such as to render the presence of a person therein a reasonable probability. (2) A person commits arson in the first degree if a fire is started or an explosion is caused in the perpetration of any robbery, burglary, or felony criminal mischief when another person is present in the building at the time and either (a) the actor knows that fact, or (b) the circumstances are such as to render the presence of a person therein a reasonable probability. (3) Arson in the first degree is a Class II felony.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-502
Arson, first degree; penalty
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case State v. Sumstine (1991)
Most recently applied in United States v. Mitchell (November 2016)
Laws 1977, LB 38, § 101; Laws 1981, LB 83, § 1; Laws 2010, LB712, § 8.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Nebraska Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Nebraska statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.