Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Feeney granted a defense attorney's motion to dismiss the pending case against former Eureka Police Department Chief David Douglas and Lt. Tony Zanotti in regards to the death of Cheri Lynn Moore.
Moore, 48, was shot and killed April 14, 2006, by EPD officers after brandishing a flare gun during a standoff that lasted approximately 2 1/2 hours.
After hearing the arguments presented by Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and those of the defense attorneys, Feeney found no criminal conduct by either defendant.
The courtroom was packed with law enforcement officials and they burst into applause after the decision was rendered.
Published: Aug 26 2008, 4:34 PM · Updated: Aug 26 2008, 4:44 PM
Category: Local News
8.26.2008
8.22.2008
TS - Douglas-Zanotti defense: DA misrepresented the law
☛ TS Douglas-Zanotti defense: DA misrepresented the law
The district attorney misrepresented the law and failed to provide evidence of former Eureka Police Chief David Douglas' and Lt. Tony Zanotti's innocence during a criminal grand jury inquiry into the 2006 shooting death of Cheri Lyn Moore, defense attorneys argued in court documents filed Thursday.
The commanding officers were indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in December, which the defense is asking a Humboldt County Superior Court judge to dismiss.
”Our judicial system stands as a real and necessary check on the grand jury indictment process,” one of the documents states. “This court has the authority and the means by which to halt this prosecution, which is justified neither by the undisputed facts, nor by the law.”
Superior Court Judge John Feeney is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the motions Aug. 26.
If Feeney denies the motion to dismiss, the defense has the opportunity to appeal that decision to another court.
Similarly, if Feeney dismisses the charges facing Douglas and Zanotti, District Attorney Paul Gallegos has said he would have the opportunity to refile the charges and allow a judge to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial.
The defense filed two separate motions for dismissal June 18, arguing Gallegos improperly represented the law to the criminal grand jury that handed up the indictments and that he failed to present the jury with evidence that would have backed up Douglas' and Zanotti's decisions that day.
”In this case, the proceeding resulted in a travesty of justice -- a due process violation -- that must be corrected by this court,” one motion states.
Gallegos countered in court papers that he fulfilled his duty to provide the grand jury with evidence that could have shown Douglas' and Zanotti's innocence. He claimed the defenses' legal citations don't apply, and that there was no immediate danger to justify the commanders ordering a warrantless entry into Moore's home.
”It was reasonable to conclude that, after reviewing the evidence, the grand jury determined that there was insufficient exigency to justify a warrantless arrest,” Gallegos wrote. “A review of the evidence presented to them will show that such a conclusion was supported by the evidence and was not an unreasonable conclusion for them to arrive at.”
The grand jury indicted Douglas and Zanotti more than a year and a half after Moore's death. The defendants pleaded not guilty on April 22. None of the shooters were indicted, which many legal and police experts have called unprecedented.
Moore, who had a history of mental illness and was reportedly distraught over the anniversary of her son's death, brandished a flare gun, threw items out of the window of her second-story Eureka apartment and threatened to burn down the building during the more than two-hour standoff in April 2006.
Officers have said they believed Moore had put down the flare gun when the order was given to storm her apartment. But a SWAT team member said when officers breached her apartment door, Moore picked up the flare gun and pointed it at them. Moore was shot nine times and died at the scene.
In the documents filed Thursday, the defense argues there were clear exigent circumstances that caused the commanding officers to order the warrantless entry into Moore's apartment and that the officers were acting within their scope of duty. Further, the defense argues, the prosecution didn't provide “one iota of evidence suggesting the defendants were acting in bad faith.”
”In our case, Ms. Moore not only remained dangerous during the entire standoff, she became increasingly so,” one of the documents states. “At no point during the standoff did the danger posed by her behavior dissipate.”
Defense attorneys also argue that Gallegos failed to provide the grand jury with testimony that would have supported decisions Douglas and Zanotti made that day.
In separate declarations attached to the court filings, EPD Lt. Murl Harpham, Sgt. William Nova and expert witness Stuart Meyers state that they told DA investigators they believed the commanding officers handled the incident appropriately and they saw no criminal culpability.
Meyers and Nova also take issue with a declaration by DA Investigator Mike Hislop filed with Gallegos' opposition to the motions for dismissal.
Nova claims that Hislop's declaration misquotes him as being critical of how the incident was handled, when he believes it was handled according to procedure.
Douglas himself also submitted a declaration along with the court documents stating that he told DA investigators he would testify before the grand jury, but that he was never asked to do so.
The defense says it is not asking the court to make a decision on the facts in the case, but rather whether the facts provide probable cause that the defendants broke the law.
”The people have acknowledged that the facts of our case are undisputed,” one of the documents states. “Hence the court should exercise its discretion to find exigent circumstances as a matter of law. It would be a serious miscarriage of justice to force the defendants to trial given the clear presence of exigent circumstances.”
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/22/2008 01:27:27 AM PDT
The district attorney misrepresented the law and failed to provide evidence of former Eureka Police Chief David Douglas' and Lt. Tony Zanotti's innocence during a criminal grand jury inquiry into the 2006 shooting death of Cheri Lyn Moore, defense attorneys argued in court documents filed Thursday.
The commanding officers were indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in December, which the defense is asking a Humboldt County Superior Court judge to dismiss.
”Our judicial system stands as a real and necessary check on the grand jury indictment process,” one of the documents states. “This court has the authority and the means by which to halt this prosecution, which is justified neither by the undisputed facts, nor by the law.”
Superior Court Judge John Feeney is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the motions Aug. 26.
If Feeney denies the motion to dismiss, the defense has the opportunity to appeal that decision to another court.
Similarly, if Feeney dismisses the charges facing Douglas and Zanotti, District Attorney Paul Gallegos has said he would have the opportunity to refile the charges and allow a judge to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial.
The defense filed two separate motions for dismissal June 18, arguing Gallegos improperly represented the law to the criminal grand jury that handed up the indictments and that he failed to present the jury with evidence that would have backed up Douglas' and Zanotti's decisions that day.
”In this case, the proceeding resulted in a travesty of justice -- a due process violation -- that must be corrected by this court,” one motion states.
Gallegos countered in court papers that he fulfilled his duty to provide the grand jury with evidence that could have shown Douglas' and Zanotti's innocence. He claimed the defenses' legal citations don't apply, and that there was no immediate danger to justify the commanders ordering a warrantless entry into Moore's home.
”It was reasonable to conclude that, after reviewing the evidence, the grand jury determined that there was insufficient exigency to justify a warrantless arrest,” Gallegos wrote. “A review of the evidence presented to them will show that such a conclusion was supported by the evidence and was not an unreasonable conclusion for them to arrive at.”
The grand jury indicted Douglas and Zanotti more than a year and a half after Moore's death. The defendants pleaded not guilty on April 22. None of the shooters were indicted, which many legal and police experts have called unprecedented.
Moore, who had a history of mental illness and was reportedly distraught over the anniversary of her son's death, brandished a flare gun, threw items out of the window of her second-story Eureka apartment and threatened to burn down the building during the more than two-hour standoff in April 2006.
Officers have said they believed Moore had put down the flare gun when the order was given to storm her apartment. But a SWAT team member said when officers breached her apartment door, Moore picked up the flare gun and pointed it at them. Moore was shot nine times and died at the scene.
In the documents filed Thursday, the defense argues there were clear exigent circumstances that caused the commanding officers to order the warrantless entry into Moore's apartment and that the officers were acting within their scope of duty. Further, the defense argues, the prosecution didn't provide “one iota of evidence suggesting the defendants were acting in bad faith.”
”In our case, Ms. Moore not only remained dangerous during the entire standoff, she became increasingly so,” one of the documents states. “At no point during the standoff did the danger posed by her behavior dissipate.”
Defense attorneys also argue that Gallegos failed to provide the grand jury with testimony that would have supported decisions Douglas and Zanotti made that day.
In separate declarations attached to the court filings, EPD Lt. Murl Harpham, Sgt. William Nova and expert witness Stuart Meyers state that they told DA investigators they believed the commanding officers handled the incident appropriately and they saw no criminal culpability.
Meyers and Nova also take issue with a declaration by DA Investigator Mike Hislop filed with Gallegos' opposition to the motions for dismissal.
Nova claims that Hislop's declaration misquotes him as being critical of how the incident was handled, when he believes it was handled according to procedure.
Douglas himself also submitted a declaration along with the court documents stating that he told DA investigators he would testify before the grand jury, but that he was never asked to do so.
The defense says it is not asking the court to make a decision on the facts in the case, but rather whether the facts provide probable cause that the defendants broke the law.
”The people have acknowledged that the facts of our case are undisputed,” one of the documents states. “Hence the court should exercise its discretion to find exigent circumstances as a matter of law. It would be a serious miscarriage of justice to force the defendants to trial given the clear presence of exigent circumstances.”
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/22/2008 01:27:27 AM PDT
8.15.2008
ER - DA grills alleged victim on stand
Aug 14 2008 - During a tense day of testimony Thursday at David Gundersen’s trial, wife Darcie Seal recanted almost all of her previous statements she made that referred to wrongdoing by her husband.
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos continually questioned Seal about precise statements she made to investigators and during the preliminary hearing, only to find that she said all those past statements were false.
Seal, who asked The Eureka Reporter to use her real name instead of the “Jane Doe” court designation, requested the court to do the same during the proceedings.
Gundersen is charged with 24 counts of alleged spousal rape with an intoxicant, along with five other charges, including two related to illegal firearms.
The battery of questions by Gallegos directed at Seal focused on specific details about alleged rape by Gundersen she had brought up in the past, but which she now testified were false, at times “sarcastic” and a result of misunderstandings.
Those misunderstandings included conversations with her attorney during the preliminary hearing, Michael Crowley, where he told her she had to stick with her past statements despite her telling him the allegations were false, she testified.
She also testified that she kept being told “over and over” again by investigators that if Gundersen had sex with her while she was asleep and taking Lunesta, that it constituted rape.
“I was under the belief, black-and-white, that if I was under the influence of Lunesta it constituted rape,” she testified.
Seal recanted a long list of allegations she made against Gundersen, including that he raped her and that he was more aroused sexually when she was sleeping.
Intermixed in all this, Gallegos called up previous statements, and when Seal denied them, Gallegos asked if she lied.
Although Seal testified that she lied in many of those instances, she said she had tried to tell investigators, her attorney and Gallegos that she wanted to recant her allegations, but all her pleas were apparently ignored..
At one point, Gallegos asked her to name specific times when she told him or other investigators that the allegations were untrue, to which Seal testified that she talked to him on the phone and also District Attorney’s Office Investigator Wayne Cox.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Detective Troy Garey had testified several days earlier that Seal denied a rape (SART) examination on Feb. 8, because she changed her story to say the sex with Gundersen the previous day had been consensual and not otherwise as earlier stated.
Gallegos asked Seal if she thought investigators would take her allegations as a joke, as she testified that she tried to tell everyone she was being sarcastic.
Seal testified that she didn’t expect the investigators, who were Gundersen’s ex-wife’s friends, to take her statements seriously and arrest him.
“What part of the joke made you cry?” Gallegos pressed her about the taped interview.
“I wanted to leave,” Seal said. “I was confused.”
Seal testified that when she walked into the Feb. 8 interview with investigators, she wasn’t in the “right state of mind” and felt emotional as she had just come back from her psychiatrist.
During the taped interview with investigators, although she made allegations against her husband, she did not want to prosecute him and felt the process was moving too fast.
“You chose to testify falsely against your husband?” Gallegos said.
“Yes,” Seal said.
“In your mind, is it OK to lie?” he said.
“No, it’s not OK,” she said. “Like I said, I was under a great deal of stress and I felt badgered.”
(John C. Osborn can be reached at josborn@eurekareporter.com, or at 707-269-7445.)
☛ ER DA grills alleged victim on stand
By JOHN C. OSBORN , The Eureka Reporter
Published: Aug 14 2008, 10:19 PM · Updated: Aug 14 2008, 10:21 PM
Categories: Local news, Local News
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos continually questioned Seal about precise statements she made to investigators and during the preliminary hearing, only to find that she said all those past statements were false.
Seal, who asked The Eureka Reporter to use her real name instead of the “Jane Doe” court designation, requested the court to do the same during the proceedings.
Gundersen is charged with 24 counts of alleged spousal rape with an intoxicant, along with five other charges, including two related to illegal firearms.
The battery of questions by Gallegos directed at Seal focused on specific details about alleged rape by Gundersen she had brought up in the past, but which she now testified were false, at times “sarcastic” and a result of misunderstandings.
Those misunderstandings included conversations with her attorney during the preliminary hearing, Michael Crowley, where he told her she had to stick with her past statements despite her telling him the allegations were false, she testified.
She also testified that she kept being told “over and over” again by investigators that if Gundersen had sex with her while she was asleep and taking Lunesta, that it constituted rape.
“I was under the belief, black-and-white, that if I was under the influence of Lunesta it constituted rape,” she testified.
Seal recanted a long list of allegations she made against Gundersen, including that he raped her and that he was more aroused sexually when she was sleeping.
Intermixed in all this, Gallegos called up previous statements, and when Seal denied them, Gallegos asked if she lied.
Although Seal testified that she lied in many of those instances, she said she had tried to tell investigators, her attorney and Gallegos that she wanted to recant her allegations, but all her pleas were apparently ignored..
At one point, Gallegos asked her to name specific times when she told him or other investigators that the allegations were untrue, to which Seal testified that she talked to him on the phone and also District Attorney’s Office Investigator Wayne Cox.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Detective Troy Garey had testified several days earlier that Seal denied a rape (SART) examination on Feb. 8, because she changed her story to say the sex with Gundersen the previous day had been consensual and not otherwise as earlier stated.
Gallegos asked Seal if she thought investigators would take her allegations as a joke, as she testified that she tried to tell everyone she was being sarcastic.
Seal testified that she didn’t expect the investigators, who were Gundersen’s ex-wife’s friends, to take her statements seriously and arrest him.
“What part of the joke made you cry?” Gallegos pressed her about the taped interview.
“I wanted to leave,” Seal said. “I was confused.”
Seal testified that when she walked into the Feb. 8 interview with investigators, she wasn’t in the “right state of mind” and felt emotional as she had just come back from her psychiatrist.
During the taped interview with investigators, although she made allegations against her husband, she did not want to prosecute him and felt the process was moving too fast.
“You chose to testify falsely against your husband?” Gallegos said.
“Yes,” Seal said.
“In your mind, is it OK to lie?” he said.
“No, it’s not OK,” she said. “Like I said, I was under a great deal of stress and I felt badgered.”
(John C. Osborn can be reached at josborn@eurekareporter.com, or at 707-269-7445.)
☛ ER DA grills alleged victim on stand
By JOHN C. OSBORN , The Eureka Reporter
Published: Aug 14 2008, 10:19 PM · Updated: Aug 14 2008, 10:21 PM
Categories: Local news, Local News
TS - Experts say victims often recant out of fear, love
As the trial of former Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen continues, the spotlight is aimed at his wife who seems to be giving contradictory testimony in the spousal rape case.
In court Wednesday, the jury viewed a videotape of investigators' initial Feb. 8 interview with Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal, in which she told investigators that her husband repeatedly had nonconsensual sex with her. It was shown after Seal testified in court that Gundersen never raped her and that she had lied to investigators.
While not commenting directly on Gundersen's case, experts say it's not uncommon for victims to change their mind on pressing charges, or reinterpreting what they've said.
”People have very mixed emotions. ... Some people are ready to go forward on day one, but then not ready to go a day later,” said Nancy Lemon, a lecturer at the University of California Berkeley School of Law and a domestic violence expert witness.
She said victims of domestic violence change their testimony, or recant, for different reasons.
They may have hope that the person they love will change, outside pressures from family or clergy who don't believe in divorce, financial dependence, or they want to keep a father figure for their children, she said.
But the No. 1 reason, Lemon said, is the fear of retaliation.
”Even when the perpetrator is locked up he may have people he knows that will act on his behalf,” she said. “The fear s a really really big deal. Victims are aware that the criminal justice system can't protect them.”
Lemon said the situation can be perpetuated if the abuser is in law enforcement.
”Those women are in more danger because the police will usually protect their own,” she said.
Often victims will need some sort of outside support to get them through the process, Lemon said.
Dawn Watkins, the crisis services director for Humboldt Domestic Violence Services, said her organization provides victims with an objective perspective on their cases. While victims may be uncomfortable talking to an attorney or an investigator, it may be easier to open up to an outside party who understands the legal system.
”They feel a lot safer fleshing out things with us,” Watkins said. “A lot of the clients don't understand their role.”
Watkins said the organization helps victims who are going through court cases by helping them interpret and navigate the system.
”They don't think about all this when they call the police ... they just want it to stop,” she said.
Sometimes it means just having someone who is not your friend or family member sit with you through the proceedings, she said, adding that it's not uncommon for victims to suddenly want out of the court case, and recant their testimony.
”If someone's been in an abusive relationship they're going to be questioning themselves anyway,” Watkins.
But, having support and counseling can go a long way toward keeping a victim from giving up on a case, she said.
”We can be the one consistent thing,” Watkins said.
For more information: Call Humboldt Domestic Violence Service's 24-Hour Crisis/Support Line toll free at 1-866-668-6543 or 443-6042, or visit www.hdvs.org.
☛ TS Experts say victims often recant out of fear, love
Donna Tam/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/14/2008 01:27:31 AM PDT
TS - Gundersen's wife takes the stand, says she lied to investigators
08/14/2008 - The wife of former Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen testified Wednesday in her husband's spousal rape trial that Gundersen never had sex with her against her will and that she lied to investigators.
Gundersen faces two dozen charges of spousal rape with the use of an intoxicant, as well as charges of violating a court order and unlawful firearms possession. He has pleaded not guilty and remains held on $1.25 million bail.
After taking the stand, Darcie Seal requested the court refer to her by her name instead of the Jane Doe title normally used for alleged sexual assault victims. She made the same request to the Times-Standard.
Seal testified that Gundersen never engaged in nonconsensual sex with her and that she was being “sarcastic” when she told investigators he had on the day of her husband's arrest.
”Regardless of the fact of it being sarcastic, was it true?” District Attorney Paul Gallegos asked.
”No,” Seal replied.
”Then it was lie?” Gallegos asked.
”Yes,” Seal answered.
Gallegos then halted her testimony to show the jury a videotape of her Feb. 8 interview with investigators.
Before the video was shown, Seal testified that she only agreed to meet investigators at the Sheriff's station in Eureka to discuss an appropriate police response in the event that “things got heated” between her and Gundersen. She testified that she was under emotional duress and answered investigators' questions sarcastically because she felt she was speaking with the friends of Gundersen's ex-wife, who works at the McKinleyville Sheriff's substation.
”I had no idea I was being recorded or that it was a serious matter,” Seal testified, also saying investigators did not allow her to leave.
Seal testified that she lied to investigators. She only testified that her husband had engaged in nonconsensual sex with her at his preliminary hearing because investigators had convinced her it was rape, she said Wednesday.
Gallegos later asked Seal if she was also being sarcastic when she sent her husband an Aug. 16, 2007, e-mail accusing him of lying to her, using her and raping her.
”I was just pissed off and talking,” Seal responded. “I say things I don't mean.”
Seal and Gundersen's attorney, Russell Clanton, have alleged that investigators detained, coerced, bullied and browbeat Seal into making rape allegations during the Feb. 8 interview. A portion of the interview shown to the jury Wednesday seemed to contradict some of those allegations.
The hour-and-a-half-long interview, approximately an hour of which was shown in court Wednesday, begins with Seal asking Sheriff's Office Lt. Dave Morey, Detective Troy Garey and Sgt. Wayne Hanson if the interview is being recorded. They respond that it is.
Seal sat in the courtroom's first row Wednesday, about 10 feet behind her husband, as the prosecution played the video in which Seal repeatedly uses the word “rape” to describe Gundersen's acts, even saying that he'd confessed about a week earlier that he'd been raping her while she was asleep.
”He just said that he -- he confessed to raping (his ex-wife) and confessed to raping me and said he was sorry,” Seal told investigators in the video. “Just him acknowledging it was pretty awesome to me -- that he admitted to it.”
During the portion of the interview shown Wednesday, Seal repeatedly tells investigators that her husband has had nonconsensual sex with her hundreds of times since 2005 while she was under the influence of Lunesta or marijuana, and that she had confronted him and asked him to stop but he wouldn't. She says numerous times that she considers it rape, at one point even saying she told Gundersen “people go to prison for this for a long time.”
In the video, she also told the investigators Gundersen had threatened to kill her and had recently told her he wanted to “put a gun to his head.”
After hearing Seal tell them that Gundersen raped her, followed her and threatened to “take her fishing,” Hanson, Morey and Garey expressed concerns for Seal's safety and asked her how she would like them to proceed.
”I was really hoping you could have the leverage to make him leave,” Seal said.
”We can't force him to leave, you know that,” Hanson later told Seal.
”Can I?” she asked.
”Yes, if you file this criminal report,” Hanson answered.
In the video, Seal agrees to have the investigators prepare an Emergency Protective Order to keep Gundersen away from her, but seems unsure whether she wants him to be charged or whether she wants the District Attorney's Office involved. At one point she asks investigators if it's something she needed to decide that day, or if she can sleep on it.
”My opinion is yes,” Garey said. “Once he's served with this order, who knows what he's going to do?”
Seal conveys fears to investigators regarding what impact Gundersen's arrest would have on his children, on him and on her. Morey then asks her how she's going to feel 10 years from now if she fails to address what Gundersen is doing to her.
At one point, she tells investigators she wants to keep the matter out of the papers and that she's embarrassed to be in the situation and that her relationship had progressed to that point.
”Then, unembarrass yourself and do something about it,” Morey responded.
The jury is expected to view the remainder of the video when the trial resumes today. Seal is then scheduled to take the stand again.
District Attorney Paul Gallegos asked the court to allow the jury to see a videotape of investigators' initial Feb. 8 interview with David Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal, after Seal gave seemingly conflicting testimony on the stand. What follows are excerpts from the interview, conducted by Humboldt County Sheriff's Office investigators Lt. Dave Morey, Sgt. Wayne Hanson and Detective Troy Garey.
”Absolutely.” -- Darcie Seal, being asked if husband David Gundersen had been having sex with her without her consent
”This has gotten out of hand. There are too many lives at risk.” -- Lt. Dave Morey
”I said 'People go to prison for this for a long time.' He said he knows ... But he feels invincible.” -- Darcie Seal
”Who's going to step up to the plate?” -- Lt. Dave Morey, asking Seal about lodging a criminal complaint
”I think you're in a situation that could become homicidal or suicidal.” -- Lt. Dave Morey
”I call it rape when I'm asleep.” -- Darcie Seal
”I confronted him because it seemed like he got more aroused when I was sleeping. He got more aroused doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.” -- Darcie Seal
”Consensual sex stopped when he started raping me.” -- Darcie Seal
”You know, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but for crying out loud, we've got to do something about this guy.” -- Lt. Dave Morey.
”He has threatened to take me fishing.” -- Darcie Seal, saying Gundersen had threatened her life at one time
”Dave has no business being a police officer, if what you're saying is true, and you know that.” -- Sgt. Wayne Hanson
”He's just taken me down.” -- Darcie Seal, regarding Gundersen.
”He wouldn't stop. I would say, 'Don't touch me,' and he would just wait until I would go to sleep.” Darcie Seal, regarding Gundersen
”I don't feel like I need to protect him, I just don't want to face the guilt that I'm going to feel for what he's going to have to face.” -- Darcie Seal
”Being a cop is all he is, and if that's in jeopardy, things are going to get really, really bad.” -- Darcie Seal
”I don't want other folks going through what you are. One human being should not be able to do that to another human being.” -- Detective Troy Garey
The Witnesses:
DA Chief Investigator Mike Hislop: Testified under cross examination that he was familiar with the military surplus program DRMO, which Gundersen may have used to help him acquire the submachine gun and pistol with an attached silencer he is charged with possessing. Hislop also testified that former Blue Lake City Manager Duane Rigge and outgoing City Manager Wiley Buck told him they had no knowledge of Gundersen buying the firearms in question and that they would not have approved it.
Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal: Testified that she was being “sarcastic” during her interview with investigators that led to Gundersen's arrest, and that she lied to them. Seal also testified that Gundersen has never had sex with her against her will and that she only told investigators she feared her husband after they had convinced her that he was homicidal and suicidal.
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com
☛ TS Gundersen's wife takes the stand, says she lied to investigators
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/14/2008 01:31:34 AM PDT
Gundersen faces two dozen charges of spousal rape with the use of an intoxicant, as well as charges of violating a court order and unlawful firearms possession. He has pleaded not guilty and remains held on $1.25 million bail.
After taking the stand, Darcie Seal requested the court refer to her by her name instead of the Jane Doe title normally used for alleged sexual assault victims. She made the same request to the Times-Standard.
Seal testified that Gundersen never engaged in nonconsensual sex with her and that she was being “sarcastic” when she told investigators he had on the day of her husband's arrest.
”Regardless of the fact of it being sarcastic, was it true?” District Attorney Paul Gallegos asked.
”No,” Seal replied.
”Then it was lie?” Gallegos asked.
”Yes,” Seal answered.
Gallegos then halted her testimony to show the jury a videotape of her Feb. 8 interview with investigators.
Before the video was shown, Seal testified that she only agreed to meet investigators at the Sheriff's station in Eureka to discuss an appropriate police response in the event that “things got heated” between her and Gundersen. She testified that she was under emotional duress and answered investigators' questions sarcastically because she felt she was speaking with the friends of Gundersen's ex-wife, who works at the McKinleyville Sheriff's substation.
”I had no idea I was being recorded or that it was a serious matter,” Seal testified, also saying investigators did not allow her to leave.
Seal testified that she lied to investigators. She only testified that her husband had engaged in nonconsensual sex with her at his preliminary hearing because investigators had convinced her it was rape, she said Wednesday.
Gallegos later asked Seal if she was also being sarcastic when she sent her husband an Aug. 16, 2007, e-mail accusing him of lying to her, using her and raping her.
”I was just pissed off and talking,” Seal responded. “I say things I don't mean.”
Seal and Gundersen's attorney, Russell Clanton, have alleged that investigators detained, coerced, bullied and browbeat Seal into making rape allegations during the Feb. 8 interview. A portion of the interview shown to the jury Wednesday seemed to contradict some of those allegations.
The hour-and-a-half-long interview, approximately an hour of which was shown in court Wednesday, begins with Seal asking Sheriff's Office Lt. Dave Morey, Detective Troy Garey and Sgt. Wayne Hanson if the interview is being recorded. They respond that it is.
Seal sat in the courtroom's first row Wednesday, about 10 feet behind her husband, as the prosecution played the video in which Seal repeatedly uses the word “rape” to describe Gundersen's acts, even saying that he'd confessed about a week earlier that he'd been raping her while she was asleep.
”He just said that he -- he confessed to raping (his ex-wife) and confessed to raping me and said he was sorry,” Seal told investigators in the video. “Just him acknowledging it was pretty awesome to me -- that he admitted to it.”
During the portion of the interview shown Wednesday, Seal repeatedly tells investigators that her husband has had nonconsensual sex with her hundreds of times since 2005 while she was under the influence of Lunesta or marijuana, and that she had confronted him and asked him to stop but he wouldn't. She says numerous times that she considers it rape, at one point even saying she told Gundersen “people go to prison for this for a long time.”
In the video, she also told the investigators Gundersen had threatened to kill her and had recently told her he wanted to “put a gun to his head.”
After hearing Seal tell them that Gundersen raped her, followed her and threatened to “take her fishing,” Hanson, Morey and Garey expressed concerns for Seal's safety and asked her how she would like them to proceed.
”I was really hoping you could have the leverage to make him leave,” Seal said.
”We can't force him to leave, you know that,” Hanson later told Seal.
”Can I?” she asked.
”Yes, if you file this criminal report,” Hanson answered.
In the video, Seal agrees to have the investigators prepare an Emergency Protective Order to keep Gundersen away from her, but seems unsure whether she wants him to be charged or whether she wants the District Attorney's Office involved. At one point she asks investigators if it's something she needed to decide that day, or if she can sleep on it.
”My opinion is yes,” Garey said. “Once he's served with this order, who knows what he's going to do?”
Seal conveys fears to investigators regarding what impact Gundersen's arrest would have on his children, on him and on her. Morey then asks her how she's going to feel 10 years from now if she fails to address what Gundersen is doing to her.
At one point, she tells investigators she wants to keep the matter out of the papers and that she's embarrassed to be in the situation and that her relationship had progressed to that point.
”Then, unembarrass yourself and do something about it,” Morey responded.
The jury is expected to view the remainder of the video when the trial resumes today. Seal is then scheduled to take the stand again.
District Attorney Paul Gallegos asked the court to allow the jury to see a videotape of investigators' initial Feb. 8 interview with David Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal, after Seal gave seemingly conflicting testimony on the stand. What follows are excerpts from the interview, conducted by Humboldt County Sheriff's Office investigators Lt. Dave Morey, Sgt. Wayne Hanson and Detective Troy Garey.
”Absolutely.” -- Darcie Seal, being asked if husband David Gundersen had been having sex with her without her consent
”This has gotten out of hand. There are too many lives at risk.” -- Lt. Dave Morey
”I said 'People go to prison for this for a long time.' He said he knows ... But he feels invincible.” -- Darcie Seal
”Who's going to step up to the plate?” -- Lt. Dave Morey, asking Seal about lodging a criminal complaint
”I think you're in a situation that could become homicidal or suicidal.” -- Lt. Dave Morey
”I call it rape when I'm asleep.” -- Darcie Seal
”I confronted him because it seemed like he got more aroused when I was sleeping. He got more aroused doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.” -- Darcie Seal
”Consensual sex stopped when he started raping me.” -- Darcie Seal
”You know, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, but for crying out loud, we've got to do something about this guy.” -- Lt. Dave Morey.
”He has threatened to take me fishing.” -- Darcie Seal, saying Gundersen had threatened her life at one time
”Dave has no business being a police officer, if what you're saying is true, and you know that.” -- Sgt. Wayne Hanson
”He's just taken me down.” -- Darcie Seal, regarding Gundersen.
”He wouldn't stop. I would say, 'Don't touch me,' and he would just wait until I would go to sleep.” Darcie Seal, regarding Gundersen
”I don't feel like I need to protect him, I just don't want to face the guilt that I'm going to feel for what he's going to have to face.” -- Darcie Seal
”Being a cop is all he is, and if that's in jeopardy, things are going to get really, really bad.” -- Darcie Seal
”I don't want other folks going through what you are. One human being should not be able to do that to another human being.” -- Detective Troy Garey
The Witnesses:
DA Chief Investigator Mike Hislop: Testified under cross examination that he was familiar with the military surplus program DRMO, which Gundersen may have used to help him acquire the submachine gun and pistol with an attached silencer he is charged with possessing. Hislop also testified that former Blue Lake City Manager Duane Rigge and outgoing City Manager Wiley Buck told him they had no knowledge of Gundersen buying the firearms in question and that they would not have approved it.
Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal: Testified that she was being “sarcastic” during her interview with investigators that led to Gundersen's arrest, and that she lied to them. Seal also testified that Gundersen has never had sex with her against her will and that she only told investigators she feared her husband after they had convinced her that he was homicidal and suicidal.
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com
☛ TS Gundersen's wife takes the stand, says she lied to investigators
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/14/2008 01:31:34 AM PDT
TS - Gundersen's wife says she lied to investigators, on stand at prelim
08/15/2008 - David Gundersen's wife testified Thursday she lied to investigators and during her husband's preliminary hearing, while taking the stand on the fourth day of the former Blue Lake police chief's spousal rape trial.
Gundersen faces 24 counts of spousal rape with the use of an intoxicant, as well as charges of violating a court order, attempting to dissuade the witness of a crime and possessing illegal firearms. He has pleaded not guilty and remains held on $1.25 million bail.
Thursday's proceedings began with the jury viewing the last minutes of the investigators' Feb. 8 interview with Gundersen's wife, Darcie Seal, in which she repeatedly uses the word “rape” to describe her husband's acts, even saying that he'd confessed to raping her while she was unconscious. At points in the interview, Seal breaks down crying.
Seal has requested that the court and the Times-Standard refer to her by her real name instead of the Jane Doe title usually used for alleged sexual assault victims.
Retaking the stand at the conclusion of the video, Seal again testified that she lied to investigators during the interview and that Gundersen has never engaged in nonconsensual sex with her.
District Attorney Paul Gallegos repeatedly questioned her about why she would have lied to investigators.
Seal testified she felt Gundersen's ex-wife, a sheriff's office employee, had orchestrated the Feb. 8 interview that led to Gundersen's arrest and that she answered investigators' questions sarcastically, not taking the interview seriously. She also testified that she wanted to leave Gundersen and had talked to Gundersen's ex-wife about a plan, but she never intended to have her husband arrested.
Gallegos asked her if she felt falsely accusing Gundersen of rape was the only way to get him out of the house.
”I thought it was a joke,” Seal said of the interview.
”What part of that joke made you cry, Darcie?” Gallegos asked.
”I wanted to leave and I was confused,” she answered. “I didn't understand what was going on.”
Seal testified that investigators repeatedly told her she was not free to leave the interview, despite her requests. During the hour-and-a-half-long videotaped interview shown to the jury, Seal is never seen asking to leave.
She also testified at various points Thursday that she was simply repeating things Gundersen's ex-wife had told her, that she was telling investigators what they wanted to hear and that she was angry with Gundersen at the time.
”As a police officer, you are aware that giving false evidence is a crime?” Gallegos asked.
”Yes,” Seal responded.
Gallegos also questioned Seal about her testimony during Gundersen's preliminary hearing, walking her through transcripts of the proceedings and repeatedly asking her if she remembered answering his questions, and if she was honest. She testified that she didn't remember, or only vaguely remembered, many parts of the interview and preliminary hearing, saying she was under a lot of stress.
Seal also testified that she told her attorney Michael Crowley before testifying at the preliminary hearing that her husband had not raped her. She said Crowley yelled at her, telling her she didn't have the right not to testify, and that it was in her best interest to repeat what she told investigators.
”I felt stuck,” Seal testified.
”You chose to testify falsely against your husband?” Gallegos later asked.
”Yes,” Seal replied.
”So, in your mind it's OK to lie under oath?” Gallegos asked.
”No it's not,” Seal replied. “I felt I was under a great deal of stress and I was being badgered.”
Gallegos also questioned Seal about an e-mail she reportedly sent Gundersen accusing him of raping her, and asked her if those accusations were true. She said that she was probably mad when she sent it, and that she says “hurtful things” when she's mad.
During the more than two hours Seal spent on the stand, Gallegos switched off from grilling her on statements she'd made to investigators and during the preliminary hearing to asking her questions about Blue Lake Police Department policy and her duties there.
At one point, Gallegos picked up the submachine gun Gundersen is charged with possessing to show to Seal, seemingly inadvertently pointing it in the direction of Gundersen and his attorney, who leaned away and requested he point the firearm in another direction. Gallegos asked Seal if the weapon was part of Blue Lake's arsenal and she said she didn't know.
Turning her attention back to the Feb. 8 interview, Seal testified that she told investigators her allegations weren't true and that Gundersen had never raped her. Gallegos asked her who she told that to, but Seal said she could not recall, saying a group of people was in the room at the time.
Seal also testified that she told Gallegos and DA Investigator Wayne Cox over the phone that she had lied to investigators and on the stand. Gallegos asked Seal if she knew all her conversations with his office had been recorded, which she said she had recently learned.
Seal testified that Gundersen called her from jail Feb. 9, asking her to call the DA's Office to request the charges be dropped, but said he never told her to tell law enforcement the accusations were false.
In the last part of the videotaped interview shown to jurors Thursday, Sheriff's Office Detective Troy Garey asks Seal a last question.
”You have been completely forthright in everything you've told us?” he asked.
”Yes,” Seal replied.
The trial is expected to continue this morning with Clanton cross-examining Seal.
Timeline of statements made by Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal
◼ Feb. 8: Seal tells investigators her husband raped her hundreds of times while she was under the influence of the sleeping aid Lunesta or marijuana. She also tells them Gundersen admitted to raping her and his former wife. Later in the day, she refuses a Sexual Assault Response Team exam and tells an investigator the sex with her husband was consensual.
◼ April 23: Seal testifies at Gundersen's preliminary hearing that she told investigators the truth during the Feb. 8 interview. She also testifies that she felt she'd been lured to the sheriff's station as part of a plot by Gundersen's ex-wife and had been coerced into making rape allegations against her husband. During her testimony, Seal repeats the allegations that Gundersen had nonconsensual sex with her, at least once a month in 2006 and 2007, while she was under the influence of Lunesta.
◼ July 10: In an interview with the Times-Standard, Seal says was sarcastic with investigators during the Feb. 8 interview and did not believe her husband had raped her.
◼ Aug. 13 and 14: Seal testifies at Gundersen's trial that he has never had nonconsensual sex with her and that she lied to investigators Feb. 8. She also testifies that she only vaguely remembers testifying during her husband's preliminary hearing, and that she only testified that he had raped her because investigators had convinced her that if she had taken Lunesta she was unable to consent to sex. She also testifies that her attorney at the preliminary hearing told her it was in her best interest to testify in line with what she had told investigators during the Feb. 8 interview.
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com
☛ TS Gundersen's wife says she lied to investigators, on stand at prelim
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/15/2008 01:30:51 AM PDT
Gundersen faces 24 counts of spousal rape with the use of an intoxicant, as well as charges of violating a court order, attempting to dissuade the witness of a crime and possessing illegal firearms. He has pleaded not guilty and remains held on $1.25 million bail.
Thursday's proceedings began with the jury viewing the last minutes of the investigators' Feb. 8 interview with Gundersen's wife, Darcie Seal, in which she repeatedly uses the word “rape” to describe her husband's acts, even saying that he'd confessed to raping her while she was unconscious. At points in the interview, Seal breaks down crying.
Seal has requested that the court and the Times-Standard refer to her by her real name instead of the Jane Doe title usually used for alleged sexual assault victims.
Retaking the stand at the conclusion of the video, Seal again testified that she lied to investigators during the interview and that Gundersen has never engaged in nonconsensual sex with her.
District Attorney Paul Gallegos repeatedly questioned her about why she would have lied to investigators.
Seal testified she felt Gundersen's ex-wife, a sheriff's office employee, had orchestrated the Feb. 8 interview that led to Gundersen's arrest and that she answered investigators' questions sarcastically, not taking the interview seriously. She also testified that she wanted to leave Gundersen and had talked to Gundersen's ex-wife about a plan, but she never intended to have her husband arrested.
Gallegos asked her if she felt falsely accusing Gundersen of rape was the only way to get him out of the house.
”I thought it was a joke,” Seal said of the interview.
”What part of that joke made you cry, Darcie?” Gallegos asked.
”I wanted to leave and I was confused,” she answered. “I didn't understand what was going on.”
Seal testified that investigators repeatedly told her she was not free to leave the interview, despite her requests. During the hour-and-a-half-long videotaped interview shown to the jury, Seal is never seen asking to leave.
She also testified at various points Thursday that she was simply repeating things Gundersen's ex-wife had told her, that she was telling investigators what they wanted to hear and that she was angry with Gundersen at the time.
”As a police officer, you are aware that giving false evidence is a crime?” Gallegos asked.
”Yes,” Seal responded.
Gallegos also questioned Seal about her testimony during Gundersen's preliminary hearing, walking her through transcripts of the proceedings and repeatedly asking her if she remembered answering his questions, and if she was honest. She testified that she didn't remember, or only vaguely remembered, many parts of the interview and preliminary hearing, saying she was under a lot of stress.
Seal also testified that she told her attorney Michael Crowley before testifying at the preliminary hearing that her husband had not raped her. She said Crowley yelled at her, telling her she didn't have the right not to testify, and that it was in her best interest to repeat what she told investigators.
”I felt stuck,” Seal testified.
”You chose to testify falsely against your husband?” Gallegos later asked.
”Yes,” Seal replied.
”So, in your mind it's OK to lie under oath?” Gallegos asked.
”No it's not,” Seal replied. “I felt I was under a great deal of stress and I was being badgered.”
Gallegos also questioned Seal about an e-mail she reportedly sent Gundersen accusing him of raping her, and asked her if those accusations were true. She said that she was probably mad when she sent it, and that she says “hurtful things” when she's mad.
During the more than two hours Seal spent on the stand, Gallegos switched off from grilling her on statements she'd made to investigators and during the preliminary hearing to asking her questions about Blue Lake Police Department policy and her duties there.
At one point, Gallegos picked up the submachine gun Gundersen is charged with possessing to show to Seal, seemingly inadvertently pointing it in the direction of Gundersen and his attorney, who leaned away and requested he point the firearm in another direction. Gallegos asked Seal if the weapon was part of Blue Lake's arsenal and she said she didn't know.
Turning her attention back to the Feb. 8 interview, Seal testified that she told investigators her allegations weren't true and that Gundersen had never raped her. Gallegos asked her who she told that to, but Seal said she could not recall, saying a group of people was in the room at the time.
Seal also testified that she told Gallegos and DA Investigator Wayne Cox over the phone that she had lied to investigators and on the stand. Gallegos asked Seal if she knew all her conversations with his office had been recorded, which she said she had recently learned.
Seal testified that Gundersen called her from jail Feb. 9, asking her to call the DA's Office to request the charges be dropped, but said he never told her to tell law enforcement the accusations were false.
In the last part of the videotaped interview shown to jurors Thursday, Sheriff's Office Detective Troy Garey asks Seal a last question.
”You have been completely forthright in everything you've told us?” he asked.
”Yes,” Seal replied.
The trial is expected to continue this morning with Clanton cross-examining Seal.
Timeline of statements made by Gundersen's wife Darcie Seal
◼ Feb. 8: Seal tells investigators her husband raped her hundreds of times while she was under the influence of the sleeping aid Lunesta or marijuana. She also tells them Gundersen admitted to raping her and his former wife. Later in the day, she refuses a Sexual Assault Response Team exam and tells an investigator the sex with her husband was consensual.
◼ April 23: Seal testifies at Gundersen's preliminary hearing that she told investigators the truth during the Feb. 8 interview. She also testifies that she felt she'd been lured to the sheriff's station as part of a plot by Gundersen's ex-wife and had been coerced into making rape allegations against her husband. During her testimony, Seal repeats the allegations that Gundersen had nonconsensual sex with her, at least once a month in 2006 and 2007, while she was under the influence of Lunesta.
◼ July 10: In an interview with the Times-Standard, Seal says was sarcastic with investigators during the Feb. 8 interview and did not believe her husband had raped her.
◼ Aug. 13 and 14: Seal testifies at Gundersen's trial that he has never had nonconsensual sex with her and that she lied to investigators Feb. 8. She also testifies that she only vaguely remembers testifying during her husband's preliminary hearing, and that she only testified that he had raped her because investigators had convinced her that if she had taken Lunesta she was unable to consent to sex. She also testifies that her attorney at the preliminary hearing told her it was in her best interest to testify in line with what she had told investigators during the Feb. 8 interview.
Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com
☛ TS Gundersen's wife says she lied to investigators, on stand at prelim
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/15/2008 01:30:51 AM PDT
8.02.2008
Gallegos and Measure T joined at the hip.
Yet another potential conflict of interest for District Attorney Paul Gallegos. He is the poster child for Measure T - a Measure which bans "non-local" campaign contributions. It is about to be challenged. In fact a complaint has now been filed, and Gallegos will have to file suit over it. Against the McKinleyville Union School District for the campaign for a Bond Measure that would pay for renovation and construction of facilities.
What will he do? It is a lose-lose for him, as it pits him against teachers and parents on the one hand, and the "equal" dispensation of justice on the other.
Here's material from his campaign website:
FRIENDS OF PAUL GALLEGOS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
11 DAYS LEFT TILL JUNE 6th!
WE HAVE SIGNS TO DISTRIBUTE!
Friday, May 26th 4-6 pm (and lots of afternoons next week!)
Eureka Sign Party! Come to FOPG Headquarters (226 F Street in Old Town) at 4 pm TODAY Join our Sign Team to cover the streets of Eureka with Gallegos and Measure T Yard Signs.
ALSO, NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY MEDIA!
DIKEMAN has 40k in the bank for media for the next 11 days. We DON'T. Paul's major expense now is TV, Radio and Print Ads for the last 11 days. We need to raise $20,000 by Tuesday, May 30th to counter opposition hit pieces and negative ads that are coming now from Mr. Dikeman. Now is the time to come forward and make the media happen!
Television: $7,300.00 Radio: $7,500.00 Print Ads $2,300.00
200 CONTRIBUTORS @ $100 EACH WILL MEET OUR GOAL. PLEASE call me at 476.0552 to commit your pledge today, and then stop by our FOPG headquarters at 226 F Street in Old Town Eureka!
June 1st: Thursday Night Talk:
Paul and Dikeman at 7:30 pm, Thursday, June 1st on KHSU, 90.3 FM Please call in questions to this important show - help Paul set the record straight on Dikeman's misinformation campaign!
June 3rd - Arts Alive!
at FOPG Headquarters - 226 F Street in Old Town Eureka
June 6th: Election Day and Get Out The Vote (GOTV)!
The campaign is asking us all to take Tuesday, June 6th off ALL DAY to help GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV)! Call Jaime at FOPG headquarters (476.0552) to schedule yourself for this CRITICAL day of involvement. Early morning and drive time sign waving at key intersections on Election Day (50 volunteers) Calling and reminding our supporters to go to the polls (25 volunteers) Providing rides to the polls to our supporters (10 volunteers) Poll checking with related campaigns (25 volunteers) Go-fers and helpers (10 volunteers)
ELECTION NIGHT VICTORY PARTY WITH THE MEASURE T CAMPAIGN!
Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka - June 6th after the polls close! (8pm) Join Paul, campaign staff and volunteers, Measure T volunteers, and progressives of all flavors. Call FOPG campaign headquarters at 476-0552 for more information, and please come CELEBRATE with us!
WER Oct 17 2006 - Eureka Civic Association is the new player on political scene
Eureka Civic Association is the new player on political scene
By , The Eureka Reporter
Published: Oct 17 2006, 9:19 PM · Updated: Oct 18 2006, 12:12 PM
There's a new player on Eureka's political scene, and though it's small in numbers and even smaller in funding, Eureka Civic Association co-founder David Ogden said, it hopes to help promote a big change in local government.
"What I feel, and have felt for many years, is missing in Eureka is an organization that comes together to promote the candidacy of well-qualified individuals who will reach out to the entire community and represent the whole community equally," Ogden explained.
After coming to know each other through the nonprofit Citizens for Real Economic Growth - with which the ECA is not affiliated, Ogden emphasized - he, Eureka residents Tom Peters and Neal Latt together decided to form the political action committee as a vehicle for their shared ideas.
No one thing prompted the decision, Ogden said, "but it was more the cumulative effect of watching years of what I call 'do nothing' council members."
Not surprisingly, one of the most pressing issues for the group is the city's beleaguered Balloon Track parcel.
"(Rob) Arkley owns it now, and we're excited to see a local developer take it over," Latt acknowledged. "But it doesn't change our demand for full clean-up of the property, not just capping."
"Why hasn't the City Council taken any leadership whatsoever on that very valuable piece of property?" Ogden added.
In considering the Balloon Track property, as well as Eureka's entire Waterfront, he clarified, the city needs to actively involve the community and provide open, transparent government - and not only for Eureka residents, but for all residents in the surrounding area.
"We need more public participation, not a charade of one," Latt noted, drawing a distinction between the public comment that will be taken as part of the environmental impact report process for the Balloon Track and the public involvement that could be realized through community workshops, such as the visioning forum hosted by CREG last Friday.
While Balloon Track talk maintains a significant presence both in the community and the November election, however, the ECA is also keeping a watchful eye on things like public safety, the Sequoia Park Zoo, recreation opportunities - "all of those things over which the City Council has direct influence and control," Ogden observed.
The group's mission statement notes that it is nonpartisan, "dedicated to the principle of government for the people and by the people."
It has endorsed Eureka 1st, 3rd and 5th Ward City Council candidates Larry Glass, Ron Kuhnel and Nan Abrams, respectively, as well as Eureka Mayor Peter La Vallee and Humboldt County 4th District Supervisor Bonnie Neely.
"We feel they represent the kind of values and commitment to positive change we support," Ogden said.
"And the commitment to public process," Latt added.
The Eureka Civic Association came into official existence on Sept. 15, when it started a bank account and the related tracking of all monetary and nonmonetary contributions and expenditures for the state Fair Political Practices Commission.
Between Sept. 15 and Sept. 30, according to the ECA's financial disclosure statements, it raised $2,500, $1,000 from Ogden and $1,500 from McKinleyville resident Dr. Ken Miller.
During that period, $700 was spent on the production of two television advertisements, some of which will begin airing soon, Ogden said.
With the November election looming, the ECA is coming into the race "kind of a day late and a dollar short," he joked, though he promised it will be putting its efforts into get-out-the-vote campaigns and advertising.
More information is at www.eurekacivicassociation.org.
Ogden, who is retired from his work at Strictly for the Birds in Old Town Eureka, is also serving in a volunteer capacity as the treasurer for the campaigns of Glass and Abrams.
Referring to the upcoming city election, he said, "This is the biggest thing I've seen go down in Eureka politics in all the years I've been here - which is close to 20 years now. ... And it's about time."
(Rob and Cherie Arkley own Security National, which owns The Eureka Reporter and the Balloon Track.)