I read Mr. Gallegos recent article in the Arcata Eye. Here is a man that says he needs a third term as Humboldt County District Attorney to finish what he started. That is a scary statement, especially if you are one of the victims of his incompetence.
I had the unfortunate opportunity of watching Mr. Gallegos try to prosecute what was suppose to be a murder case in Humboldt County Court. This man is no more a prosecutor than I am a brain surgeon. Mr. Gallegos was always late to court, could not answer any of the judge’s questions and always had the excuse that he did not have the case file with him.
The court-appointed, taxpayer-provided attorney for the defense made Mr. Gallegos look like a deer caught in the headlights and virtually kicked Mr. Gallegos’ butt all over the courtroom.
Some say that Mr. Gallegos needs to leave the courtroom to his deputies and administrate but he has proven that he cannot do this either. The morning that the preliminary hearing was to begin, Mr. Gallegos dropped the case into one of his deputy’s lap, and sent her into the courtroom late and totally unprepared.
After the preliminary hearing, Mr. Gallegos felt that with all of the publicity that this case was getting he could get some personal mileage out of handling the case himself, so he takes it away from the deputy after she spends day and night for a week getting up to speed.
After months of delays from the defense, numerous blunders from the prosecution and thousands of Humboldt County taxpayer dollars Mr. Gallegos decides he cannot prevail in the courtroom in front of a jury, so he plea bargains with the two who took my little girl’s life.
Mr. Gallegos then gives the file to one of his most talented prosecutors so she can go to the victim’s family and try to clean up the mess he made.
Mr. Gallegos did not show up for the sentencing hearing for Jason Whitmill or Anthony Flores which is a good thing because when Mr. Gallegos prosecuted Jason Whitmill back in 2007, he forgot to add his prior felonies which in turn allowed Whitmill out of prison a year early and 12 days before he killed Nicole Quigley.
I will remember this come June’s election and I hope and pray that everyone else in Humboldt County does, too.
Kenneth Quigley
McKinleyville
◼ Letters to the Editor – March 3, 2010 (Updated to include Feb. 24 letters) - Arcata Eye
