Defense wants to look at burned building's sprinklers

The Chronicle reports today that lawyers for Misty Ann Weaver, the nurse who has confessed to setting the March 28 office building fire that killed three people, plan to have their own inspectors look at the building's sprinkler system. Though he didn't give any specifics about the plans, attorney Todd Dupont also told the Chronicle that the defense team wants to figure out how long it took firefighters to respond to the fire.

Dupont talked to reporters after a brief court hearing for Weaver yesterday during which Harris County Assistant DA John Jocher said Weaver, a nurse in a plastic surgeon's office, confessed in some detail to how she set the fire. Jocher said Weaver admitted to re-entering the building after 5 p.m., getting a lighter from her office's kitchen and using it to set fire to a cardboard box in a supply closet. She waited until the flames were four or five inches high, then left the building, he said. The fire, fed by strong winds and perhaps by exploding oxygen tanks, ended up destroying the top two floors of the six-story office building at 9343 North Loop East.

Dupont noted that Weaver — who has been charged with three counts of felony murder and one count of arson — had never had legal trouble before and said he will seek to have her $330,000 bail reduced. Beyond that, the AP reports, he didn't have much to say because he is new to the case. "Until I know a little bit more about what's going on, it's all brand new to me," Dupont said. "We just don't know enough yet."