State v. Nastoff
Idaho Court of Appeals
862 P.2d 1089 (1993)
James Nastoff (defendant) and two others had been cutting wood with an illegally modified chainsaw — missing its spark arrestor and with holes punched in the muffler cover — for two days when a fire broke out and burned five acres, with the chainsaw found near the fire's origin and carbon buildup from the modified saw identified as the likely ignition source. The State did not argue Nastoff intended to start a fire, only that he intentionally operated a chainsaw he knew was illegally modified. Convicted of malicious injury to property, Nastoff appealed, and the trial court had entered an order withholding judgment on his motion for acquittal.
Whether, in Idaho, a defendant may be found guilty of malicious injury to property only where the conduct causing the injury is accompanied by an intent to injure the specific property of another.