Defendant was facing up to 30 years in state prison if found guilty of first-degree attempted murder and second-degree aggravated arson.
Owen R. Harshaney and his attorney, James Wronko, await verdict on Monday afternoon in his arson trial. (Photo by Dave Hutchinson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) SOMERVILLE -- A Middlesex man on trial for setting his ex-girlfriend's Green Brook home on fire in 2013 with her family inside was found not guilty of the most serious charges Monday in Somerset County state Superior Court.
Owen R. Harshaney, 24, of Dunellen, was found not guilty of first-degree attempted murder and second-degree aggravated arson, but guilty on three counts of third-degree arson.
Harshaney was accused of starting a fire on Brandywine Rise in Green Brook at approximately 4 a.m. on March 22, 2013, while his ex-girlfriend's parents and brother were sleeping. The ex-girlfriend wasn't home at the time.
The three residents were awakened by the blaze and escaped without injuries.
Harshaney allegedly sent threatening text messages to his ex-girlfriend earlier that day and threatened to kill her new boyfriend.
Harshaney, a former tri-captain on the Rutgers-Newark baseball team, reacted stoically as the jury read the verdict. But he broke into a huge smile and took a deep breath of relief outside the courtroom while hugging his attorney, James Wronko, and his family.
"I'm thrilled," said Wronko. "My client was facing an extensive mandatory state prison sentence. Obviously, the fact he's walking out the door with me makes him very happy. I'm always impressed with how our system works."
Harshaney was facing 10 to 20 years on the first-degree attempted murder charge and five to 10 years on the second-degree aggravated arson charge. Although there is a presumption that he will not spend time in jail on the arson conviction, he could still face three to five years in prison when he is sentenced in January.
The jury heard nearly two weeks of testimony and deliberated for more than two days. At approximately 2 p.m. Monday, jurors sent the judge a note saying they were at an impasse, but the judge asked them to continue their deliberations. They returned about an hour later with a unanimous verdict.
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After the verdict was read, Assistant Prosecutor Frank Kolodzieski attempted to have Harshaney's $150,000 bail revoked and return him to the Somerset County Jail until sentencing. Judge Bruce A. Jones denied the motion.
The judge set Jan. 22, 2016 as the sentencing date.
"The jury clearly concluded he purposely set this fire and rendered a verdict based on the evidence, which included an FBI agent placing his cell phone at the residence," Kolodzieski said. "He has been found to be an arsonist, which he is. I live with the jury's verdict."
Owen R. Harshaney celebrates verdict with his family. (Photo by Dave Hutchinson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The fire caused more than $500,000 in damage to the home, said Frank Mercuri, the homeowner and father of Harshaney's ex-girlfriend.
"It's clear to me that with the jury finding him guilty of the lesser charge that puts him at the scene and says he set the fire," said Mercuri. "Knowing the rest of my family was in the house is disturbing. But this will be with him the rest of his life. Arson is a very serious crime. The jury found him guilty."
When police and firefighters arrived on scene, the west side of the two-story house was engulfed in flames, authorities said. Investigators soon determined that an accelerant had been poured along the foundation of the residence, authorities said.
Authorities also found surveillance video of a dark pickup truck on Brandywine Rise around the time of the fire. It was later determined Harshaney received a traffic ticket at about 3:17 a.m. in Newark for failure to observe a traffic control device while operating a pickup truck, authorities said.
Cell phone records indicated Harshaney's cell phone was in the immediate area of Brandywine Rise at the time of the fire, authorities said.
"The jury had a very difficult job," Wronko said.
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