Update: Hayman Fire Starter

THE CASE: A fire spotter for the U.S. Forest Service admitted she started the 2002 Hayman fire, claiming she was burning letters from her estranged husband in drought-stricken Park County.

The fire burned for more than a month in four counties. It burned an estimated 137,000 acres and 133 homes, causing about $29 million in property losses, prosecutors have said.

THE SUSPECT: Terry Barton, 44, pleaded guilty in February 2003 to a federal charge of destroying federal forest land. She was sentenced to six years in prison.

She also pleaded guilty in 2003 to a state felony arson charge and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison, to be served at the same time as the federal sentence. But the Colorado Court of Appeals tossed out that sentence in late 2004, ruling only a jury could find the aggravating factors that would have increased the sentence beyond the normal six-year maximum.

Prosecutors from Park, Jefferson, Douglas and Teller counties, led by 4th Judicial District Attorney John Newsome, attempted to withdraw from the plea agreement.

But the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against them last month, effectively capping the sentence Barton can receive at six years.

WHAT’S NEW: 4th Judicial District Judge Thomas Kennedy on Monday set a new sentencing date of March 27 at the Teller County Courthouse in Cripple Creek.

WHAT’S NEXT: Newsome will argue that Barton’s state sentence was not completed because it was voided in late 2004 and ask Kennedy for a sixyear sentence.

Barton’s public defender, Marcus Henson, will likely argue that Barton can’t be sent to state prison after she’s released from federal prison because the original agreement called for her to get credit for serving her state sentence while doing federal time.