Woman Who Allegedly Set Fire That Injure Fire Captain Pleads Not Guilty

The woman accused of setting the fire that injured a Fresno Fire captain appeared in court Monday.

Julia harper, 52 was arrested last week, and she has been charged with two arson related charges.  Authorities say she started the fire that seriously burned Fresno Fire captain Pete Dern.  Right now, Dern is facing a long road to recovery.

Harper’s demeanor is the courtroom was very noticeable.  She seemed to be in a daze and not very focused.

She was joined by public defender Mark Asami and entered not guilty pleas for both the count of arson and unlawful fire causing great bodily injury.

Harper was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly purposely setting fire on march 29th to a boarding home she had been kicked out of.  Fire Captain Pete Dern was badly burned in that fire and is still in the hospital undergoing surgeries.
 
Monday, the judge reduced harper’s bail from $ 200,000 to $ 100,000.  Her case was then handed over to defense attorney Mark Siegel, who says he only talked with harper briefly and still has to get up to speed on the case.

Siegel says, "I vaguely heard of it and her face looked familiar as i was walking into the courtroom."

Harper’s possible incompetency was mentioned in court, but a request for her to receive a mental evaluation was not declared by her original public defender.  Her new attorney says it could be declared in the future.  She’s scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing May 11th.