A criminal case in connection to the devastating Erskine Fire was dropped on Tuesday, while another case was filed.
District Attorney Lisa Green told 23ABC News that there were incidents of internal miscommunication in both cases. She noted that neither she nor her staff had planned to drop one case on Tuesday and file the other one on the same day, but that in relation to the Palme case, filing Tuesday "seemed prudent", Green said.
READ PRESS RELEASE FROM KERN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE:
District Attorney Lisa Green announced that all charges were dismissed against Denis Sean Desmond on September 6, 2016. The filing of the charges against Mr. Desmond resulted from a failure in communication within the District Attorney's Office. Steps have been taken to see that does not happen again.
Charges against Joseph Palme that have been pending were filed today. The two cases occurred during the Erskine fire, but that is essentially the only similarity they share. Due to the different facts and circumstances surrounding Mr. Palme's case, misdemeanor charges were filed today as follows: Penal Code section 409.5(c) entering a restricted area closed due to emergency after advised by law enforcement, Vehicle Code section 2800.1(a) evading a peace officer, Penal Code section 148(a)(1) resisting or obstructing a peace officer, and Penal Code section 243(b) battery on a peace officer.
