Weird News: The Best Defense

I'm quite fond of watching court cases unfold. The forensics, drama, testimony--I could watch Court TV (er... TruTV, whatever) like it was my job if left to my own devices. So a recent crime spree ended in arrest and I was horribly upset that there was a confession rather than a trial. I wanted to see this one battle it out in the courtroom.

The case: It seems that in Penn Forest, a fire started in a house belonging to a man named Joe Mesa. Oddly enough, the cops arrived to find a simultaneous fire raging in a Pontiac parked out in the driveway. Both members of the family, along with their dog escaped any harm.
A little bit of research found that there were three points of origin, the aforementioned car being set ablaze at about the same time as two different start points on opposite sides of the house. There was clear indication that something had been poured to start the fire, and this ended up being a large quantity of rubbing alcohol. Moreover, Mesa's house had been foreclosed, and he had taken out two insurance policies, which he attempted to cash in after the fire.

This would be where the prosecution would rest, and the defense would pick up the proceedings. And, had Mesa stuck with his initial response, that defense was as follows: "a ghost lives in the basement and he thinks the ghost is responsible for these fires." I'd love to see the idiots the defense would bring in to bolster the claim. Or, if this were a movie scenario, the ghost actually taking the stand and defending itself. Sadly, though, Mesa eventually admitted he had done the deed, pointing out the obvious, and leaving my expectations in the dust.