ER - Search warrant served in Salzman case

Search warrant served in Salzman case
by Diane M. Batley, 10/4/2005

 Evidence from the home of political figure Richard Salzman and the North Coast Journal was recently obtained through a search warrant by the Trinidad Police Department.

Trinidad Police Chief Ken Thrailkill confirmed that the department served a search warrant to Salzman and the North Coast Journal.

“Basically there is no criminal filing determination at this time until all the evidence can be examined,” Thrailkill said.

The department is working with the California Attorney General’s Office on the case, he said.

Salzman allegedly sent letters to the editor of local newspapers using names other than his own. Some of the letters that were allegedly sent by Salzman used the names R. Trent Williams and Dick Wyatt.

The Trinidad Police Department began its investigation when The Eureka Reporter Managing Editor Glenn Franco Simmons contacted the police department on Sept. 7 after discovering that letters printed in the paper under the names of R. Trent Williams and Dick Wyatt were written by someone else in violation of Penal Code 538a which states, “Every person who signs any letter addressed to a newspaper with the name of a person other than himself and sends such letter to the newspaper, or causes it to be sent to such newspaper, with intent to lead the newspaper to believe that such letter was written by the person whose name is signed thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

The search warrant affidavit was filed with Humboldt Superior Court on Sept. 29.

The Eureka Reporter provided the Trinidad Police Department with a CD-ROM containing copies of e-mails from salzman@inreach.com and signed by Richard Salzman, whitehall222@yahoo.com, identified as R. Trent Williams and dickwyattfortuna@yahoo.com, identified as Dick Wyatt.

Probable cause narrative statements by Thrailkill stated that while he was reviewing e-mail header information, he noticed the same Internet protocol addresses for similar dates and times in e-mails sent by Salzman, Wyatt and Williams to The Eureka Reporter. The IP address was 68.230.244.38.

On Sept. 8, Thrailkill contacted R. Williams at an address that was similar to the address listed by R. Trent Williams in e-mails sent to The Eureka Reporter.

“(Williams) did not write any articles to any newspaper and did not give anyone permission to use his name,” according to the narrative statement of probable cause. “He also confirmed that the address listed in the e-mail was similar to his, but not the telephone number.”

On Sept. 12, Thrailkill contacted Wyatt. Wyatt confirmed that he knew Salzman and gave him permission to use his name to write a letter in his name, according to the statement.

Salzman read Wyatt the letter and asked if he could write future articles under his name, according to the statement.

“Wyatt initially agreed and was under the belief that Salzman would write the article and call him for approval,” according to the statement.

Salzman wrote a letter published in the Times-Standard on July 26 under Wyatt’s name but Wyatt was unaware of the letter’s content, according to the statement. Wyatt would not have approved the publication of the letter because he did not approve of its content which mentioned a friend of his, according to the statement.

When Wyatt was informed by Thrailkill that an e-mail address was used with his name to submit letters to the editor, Wyatt stated that he did not own a computer or have any e-mail accounts. He did not give anyone permission to open an e-mail account in his name, according to the statement.

Fraudulently using a person’s name to open an e-mail account is a violation of Penal Code 530.5, a felony, according to the statement.

“(a) Every person who willfully obtains personal identifying information, as defined in subdivision (b), of another person, and uses that information for any unlawful purpose, including to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services, or medical information in the name of the other person without the consent of that person, is guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction therefore, shall be punished either by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both that imprisonment and fine, or by imprisonment in the state prison, a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that imprisonment and fine.

“(b) Personal identifying information, as used in this section, means the name, address, telephone number, health insurance identification number, taxpayer identification number, school identification number, state or federal driver’s license number, or identification number, Social Security number, place of employment, employee identification number, mother’s maiden name, demand deposit account number, savings account number, checking account number, personal identification number or password, alien registration number, government passport number, date of birth, unique biometric data including fingerprint, facial scan identifiers, voice print, retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation, unique electronic data including identification number, address, or routing code, telecommunication identifying information or access device, information contained in a birth or death certificate, or credit card number of an individual person.”

The search warrant and return of the search warrant were filed with the court on Monday.

Property taken from the North Coast Journal as a result of the search warrant includes one letter from Salzman dated Aug. 29, according to the search warrant property receipt.

In a written statement delivered to the North Coast Journal on Aug. 29, Salzman admitted submitting letters to the editor using a pen name, according to the article “Web of Lies” in the Sept. 1 issue of North Coast Journal.

Property taken from Salzman’s Trinidad home included modems, a laptop computer casing, identifying information, a book, a computer with a tower and keyboard, photocopies of letters to the editor by George Foster of Eureka, R. Trent Williams of Eureka, Salzman and Jason Henderson of McKinleyville, The Eureka Reporter newspaper from Sept. 2, the Times-Standard opinion page from Sept. 6, North Coast Journal from Sept. 8, The Eureka Reporter from Sept. 18, North Coast Journal from Sept. 1 and a file containing six various news articles, according to the search warrant property receipt.

Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.

Related:
the North Coast Journal - Web of Lies - Richard Salzman and other email phonies
From the Publisher: An apology
Rhonda Meehan's letter
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/090105/cover0901.html#Rhonda
Letters from "R. Trent Williams" printed by the Journal
Glossary of terms
Another Salzman alias?
Salzman exposed: Local newspapers reveal real names of letter writers
Supervisor Geist wants apology from Salzman
Police begin investigation into fake letters allegedly sent by Salzman
Editor files criminal complaint
Search warrant served in Salzman case