STUDIO CITY : Man to Be Tried on Arson Charges

A 40-year-old transient, cleared of charges that he set a $2.5-million blaze in Studio City in 1990, was found Tuesday to be mentally fit to stand trial on two other unrelated arson counts.

John Charles Kellogges was scheduled to return to San Fernando Superior Court on Nov. 3 for a pretrial conference. He faces a maximum of nearly seven years in state prison if convicted on the two counts.

He is accused of setting fires at a motel in Studio City and at an abandoned restaurant in Encino.

Kellogges’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Thom Tibor, said he is hoping to settle the case by then. Tibor said his client is willing to plead no contest--the equivalent to a guilty plea in criminal proceedings--to the two charges in exchange for a sentence equivalent to the time already served.

Tibor said Kellogges has been in custody for nearly two years. Actual time combined with credit for good behavior could bring the total to the equivalent of a nearly four-year sentence, he said.

However, Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Richman said he is not sure whether actual time served is sufficient punishment because he said he is concerned that Kellogges still poses a potential danger to the community.

Richman said he may ask for a study of Kellogges to determine his suitability for state prison before deciding whether to settle the case.

Earlier this month, Richman dropped charges against Kellogges in connection with a fire that destroyed several commercial buildings along Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. He said charges were dropped because investigators no longer believe that he started the fire.

After his arrest in December, 1990, Kellogges was initially found mentally unfit to stand trial on the charges.