Eye - Alleged Knifepoint robber set for trial.

What is the effect of losing your experienced prosecutors?

Interesting story in the Arcata Eye... your first chance to see Gallegos' new hire, Allan Dollison at work.

Alleged Knifepoint robber set for trial.
Kevin Hoover
Nov. 7, 2006

The case of James Phillip Geth of Eureka, arrested on multiple felony charges last month, is somewhat untidily proceeding to trial under the stewardship of the county's newest deputy district attorney.

Police say Geth, 22, went on a robbery spree the morning of Wednesday, October 18, beginning at a McKinleyville convenience store and ending up chest-deep in a north Arcata marsh.

Deputy DA Allan Dollison detailed the charges at a preliminary hearing last week before Judge Reinholtsen. The judge threw out some of the charges, but agreed to several and set an arraignment for Thursday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.

During the prelim, Dollison questioned Arcata Police officers about the eventful October morning. They related the following:

Sometime after 4 a.m., Geth allegedly held up a minimart in McKinleyville at knifepoint. Video surveillance tapes from the store, which were stolen, but later discovered in the car Geth was apparently using, show a similarly dressed individual performing the stickup.

Three hours later, police say, Geth held up the Gas 4 Less mini-mart at Alliance Road and Spear Avenue, then proceeded down Alliance Road to the Union 76 mini-mart.

There, the robber, wearing a big hat and with his face obscured, is seen on video surveillance tapes pointing a knife at the clerk and a customer. The two were forced into a back room at knifepoint, but the clerk fought the robber off with a stool. The suspect then fled in a car with the store's cash drawer just as APD Sgt. Bart Silvers responded to the scene.

A vehicle pursuit ensued, with APD officers breaking off the chase due to unsafe high speed. A short time later, the vehicle was spotted by a passing California Highway Patrol officer on West End Road and clocked at 87 mph in the 25 mph zone.

The suspect's vehicle ran off the road near West End Road at Aldergrove Road. Police checked the area for the suspect, and found Geth in a tussle in Ericson Court with Sacred Ground employee Scott Birk. Geth then ran off toward Aldergrove Pond with APD Sgt. Dave Brown in pursuit.

Brown followed Geth 75 yards into the marsh, wading at times chest-deep through muck, with the suspect refusing to halt. Eventually, another officer subdued Geth with a Taser and he was taken into custody.

Geth had recently been released form jail and was on probation for a drug conviction.

Nonetheless, Reinholtzen walked through the charges and found that Dollison hadn't adequately linked Geth with the McKinleyville robbery and threw out those charges. He also dismissed an evading arrest charge, since Dollison hadn't established that Police used required flashers or siren in the car chase.

Robbery charges for the two Arcata holdups, plus one count of false imprisonment were accepted by the judge.

Dollison, who has served mostly as a defense attorney rather than as a prosecutor during his career, said he would re-file the dismissed charges.

Geth's relatives listened somberly through the morning and afternoon hearings. During a break, his father, also named James Geth, offered the following statement:

We, his family, are working desperately to keep our child and loved one out of the criminal justice system. What we're trying to get him is qualified psychological hlep for his childhood trauma that few people seem to want to address."

He described his son, known as Jamie, as industrious but troubled. Young Geth, A Eurekan, held three jobs, the father said, and was a popular DJ known as "JP Jesus."

An expanded version of this story will be available at arcataeye.com.
I'll post the link as soon as it is available. Apologies to Kevin if there are any typos in this story, I transcribed it from the paper.

Follow-up:
James Geth pleads

More on Dollison:

State Bar Association Allan Lee Dollison
Like Gallegos, he did not go to an accredited Law School - Western State Univ was not an accredited Law School at the time Dollison attended. It has recently become accredited.

Like Stoen and Schwartz, this guy likes to run for office:
Senatorial candidate suspended in 2000
Smart Voter - Philosophy
Smart Voter, March 2, 2004 Election - Our Environment
He also ran for the California Assembly in 1994.

Discussion at watchpaul:
Tim Stoen, Jeffrey "yougofree.com" Schwartz, and now this...
What're we talkin' about here? Moral Turpitude