Defense rests in deadly Esperanza fire trial

The defense has rested its case in the trial of a man accused of setting a wildfire in 2006 that killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters. Mark McDonald, the defense attorney for 38-year-old Raymond Lee Oyler, finished with his last witnesses Tuesday. They included experts on arson and fire-starting devices. The jury will hear closing arguments Thursday after a day's break in the trial. Oyler has pleaded not guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of arson and using an incendiary device to set nearly two dozen other fires. He could face the death penalty if convicted...Desert Sun