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!

ER Op-Ed - Tribe's contribution to DA's campaign was made by the Tribal Council, not Bowman

Tribe's contribution to DA's campaign was made by the Tribal Council, not Bowman
by Illene Callahan, 9/30/2006
This letter is in regard to a very misleading, biased article written by Heather Muller.

A contribution was made to Mr. Gallegos’ campaign; however, it was made by the tribe and not by Leonard Bowman. We have five Tribal Council members; they are the representatives of the tribe. Leonard Bowman merely presented the check to campaign headquarters.

Many contributions have been made to various programs in Fortuna and Loleta, as mandated by National Indian Gaming. Why is there no mention of these? The Loleta Fire Department accepted a contribution. Does this mean they cannot put out any other fires, only ours?

This whole article does not speak will for the mentality of this reporter.

As for Derek Bowman’s transgressions and brushes with the law, they are neither Mr. or Mrs. Bowman’s transgressions.

In case none of you noticed, all young people of today think they know everything and we parents are old fogies who try to give them unwanted advice that they totally disregard.

They stand in front of you and lie and tell you they will abide by your rules, and then they go out the door and do just exactly as they please or as their companions want them to do.

The only reason some of them have clean records is because they haven’t yet been caught.

The contribution was made long before Derek was arrested and the election of the district attorney had long been decided. Our tribal members did not stuff the ballot boxes to ensure a win for Mr. Gallegos so he could protect any one of us.

However, we all tend to pull together to try to help our tribal members in all ways, again and again if necessary. It is our heritage, taught to us by our ancestors.

I am definitely tired of reading about Ellie Bowman’s one-person protest about Worth Dikeman. There were three other tribal members there every day, of which I was one. None of us were protesting about Jeff Bowman’s conviction; rather, we were protesting the words that came out of Mr. Dikeman’s mouth.

I could not believe that a person in his position would be so racially biased. I guess I should have remembered that this is Humboldt County.

My own personal opinion is that the investigators did not do a thorough investigation in Jeff’s case or he wouldn’t have been convicted for that crime.

In response to Try Gary’s report based on Cheree Bowie’s telephone conversation, did he call her or did she call him? Mr. Gary, as a deputy sheriff, receives numerous calls from citizens in this area. It is strange that none of these other telephone conversations have been placed in The Eureka Reporter by Heather Muller.

It is also strange that Mr. Gary would believe the insinuations made by Ms. Bowie.

I believe there is a section in your U.S. Constitution that there is still free speech in this country. Mr. Acosta, as a citizen, can contribute to any cause that he deems fit.

He is also free to write letters regarding any person or cause. Nothing in his letter requested that Derek Bowman be set free. It only asked for consideration of a probationary period and it did not mention any contribution that was made by the tribe.

My estimation of Ms. Muller as a reporter or investigator is very negative at this point. If she is a Dikeman supporter, she should come out and say so, not fill the newspaper with innuendos, insinuations and half-truths. That type of reporting belongs in the National Enquirer or some other scandal sheet.

It is also a shame that she had to resort to using three other women to help her. Perhaps they could have written some articles to help people, instead of trying to demean them.

Perhaps Ms. Muller’s attacks on Mr. Gallegos are purely personal. Most women who go on a vendetta against a male public person are either jealous or envious of their wives, girlfriends, etc. Everyone is aware of the old adage, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

Maybe I should investigate her family, relatives and friends for mud to sling at her under the guise of journalism.

I invite Ms. Muller to interview me on any subject concerning this article. She is to bring a picture ID, and my words, when printed, had better be mine.

(Editor’s note: Illene Callahan is the aunt of Tribal Chairman Leonard Bowman.)
Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.

Related stories:
ER - Bear River members seek chairperson's recall
ER - Gallegos sidesteps questions about possible conflict of interest in Bowman charges
ER - Questions without answers hinder our newsgathering
ER - Bowman story not accurate
ER - Contribution made because Gallegos was the better of the two
ER - Questions remain in DA's handling of Bowman charges
ER - Bear River official discusses financial contributions from tribe
ER - Tribe's contribution to DA's campaign was made by the Tribal Council, not Bowman
ER - Gallegos is 'public servant,' not Legal Spiegel
ER - It's telling that Gallegos witch hunt didn't start until firing of Dikeman
ER - Writer appreciates editor's note that identifies writers
ER - Residents deserve answers to questions asked of DA's Office
ER - Bitter? You bet!
TS - Donations not improper, says Bear River Band
TS - DA's office: State OK'd handling of plea deal

TS - Retrial drudges up past for longtime Fortuna residents

Retrial drudges up past for longtime Fortuna residents
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 07/16/2007 04:27:58 AM PDT

FORTUNA -- An old dusty box in Police Chief Kris Kitna's office is a reminder of the past.

A reminder of a crime that shook the Friendly City over a decade ago and is about to be rehashed in a lengthy retrial.

”This is something we thought was over,” Kitna said in a recent interview.

Jury selection is under way in the homicide retrial of Richard Craig Kesser and Jennifer Gayle Leahy, who allegedly hired Stephen Duane Chiara to kill Kesser's estranged wife in 1991.

Mary Kesser's body was found Nov. 26, 1991, in her N Street home with more than 30 stab wounds.

Chiara was arrested the next day when he was found hiding in Kesser's closet. Kesser and Leahy were arrested Dec. 10, 1991.

”It really affected a lot of people,” Kitna said. “Stuff like that doesn't happen here.”

Since the Kesser killing, there have been two other homicides in Fortuna, Kitna said. One was deemed self-defense, and the other was a murder/suicide pact between an elderly couple.

Kitna worked the case as a sergeant, along with Officer Cliff Chapman. They are the only officers currently on the force who were there when the killing occurred.

Kitna said that Mary Kesser was well

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known in Fortuna and that the brutality of the crime against the young mother rocked the community.
”This was a good person who got killed,” Kitna said. “This wasn't a drug deal gone bad or something like that.”

Rhonda Rael, who provided “gavel to gavel” coverage of the 1992 trial for the Times-Standard, said in a recent interview that it was who Mary Kesser was that sent shock waves through Fortuna and the county.

”It was particularly sad because she was an innocent victim and a young mother,” Rael said. “I remember Terry Farmer (the district attorney at the time) told me she fought. She fought back.”

After the killing, police offered counseling for officers and residents, Kitna said.

Police were alerted to the case when a relative called and said Mary Kesser didn't pick up her then 4-year-old son from the baby sitter.

Police found the body and the investigation began.

Mary Kesser's son still lives in the area, Kitna said, and is going to college.

Richard Kesser and Leahy were linked to the crime through phone calls made to Chiara's mother and friends in Sonoma County.

The alleged motive for the killing was Mary Kesser's $50,000 insurance policy.

All three of the accused were convicted in December 1992 by a seven-man, four-woman jury. They were sentenced in 1993.

In September 2006, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Richard Kesser and Leahy a retrial after finding that former Deputy District Attorney Worth Dikeman rejected potential jurors “on the basis of their race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.”

Dikeman has denied the finding.

The Humboldt County District Attorney's Office estimates jury selection, which began last week, will take another three weeks. The trial is estimated to last three months.

ER - Murder retrial begins Monday

Murder retrial begins Monday
by Kara Machado, 7/7/2007

Proceedings are scheduled to begin Monday in the new trial of two codefendants accused of a November 1991 Fortuna murder.

Richard Craig Kesser, 47, and Jennifer Gayle Leahy, 37, will appear in court Monday to begin the process of their second chance to prove they are not guilty.

The case is scheduled to be presided over by Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Dale A. Reinholtsen, according to Humboldt County Assistant District Attorney Wes Keat.

Kesser is represented by Humboldt County Chief Conflict Counsel Glenn Brown and Leahy is represented by Eureka-based attorney Neal Sanders.

Humboldt County DA Paul Gallegos is planning on prosecuting the case, confirmed Humboldt County Deputy DA Allan Dollison Friday.

A compilation of past reports indicates Kesser and Leahy plotted to kill Kesser’s former wife, Mary, for her insurance money and that they hired Stephen Duane Chiara — who was convicted of Kesser’s wife’s murder in November 1991.

A document from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals indicates Kesser, Leahy and Chiara were all found guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances — the special circumstances were not specified in the appellate court document — and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kesser, Leahy and Chiara all had state court appeals denied, but only Kesser and Leahy went on to appeal in federal court, Dollison confirmed.

In September, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Kesser’s and Leahy’s 1992 murder convictions — when it was ruled that former Humboldt County Deputy DA Worth Dikeman had made racially based remarks during the jury selection process, past reports indicate.

Dikeman has denied being racially biased in the jury selection process.

Dollison said jury selection in the new trial for Kesser and Leahy is expected to last about a month and that the trial is expected to last “anywhere from four to six months.”

“The original trial — with the three defendants and all-day trial proceedings and 88 witnesses — took six months,” Dollison said. “The new trial, with two defendants, will have upwards of probably 65 to 70 witnesses in total — the prosecution will have about 55 to 56 witness — but will only consist of half-day (trial) proceedings.”

Dollison said both defense attorneys will have the opportunity to make opening statements to jurors, can call their own witnesses when presenting their cases on behalf of their clients and will each have the opportunity to make closing arguments about the case to the jury.

Brown could not be reached for comment by the end of business day Friday.

Sanders, who confirmed he was also Leahy’s attorney in the first trial, declined to comment about the case.

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

About politicizing a case

Elections should focus on the good record of candidate
5/27/2006

Dear Editor,

I realize that in writing this letter it is not helping my cause in trying to keep my family’s name and the circumstance regarding my son’s 14-year-old trial out of public scrutiny. That is not possible now, as Ellie Bowman and Madison Ayala have taken it upon themselves to pass out fliers in front of the Courthouse regarding this case.

They have not taken into consideration, nor have they contacted me as to how this would affect my feelings or the feelings of my grandson, whom I have been raising since this tragedy.

They state that this is not politically motivated. Why then, after this length of time, have they taken it upon themselves to bring anything about this case up now? Yes, Mr. Worth Dikeman was the prosecuting attorney in the case and yes, he obtained a conviction and yes, it is something I have to live with every day, but he was doing the job he was appointed to do and I will never fault him for that, not as it seems Ellie Bowman is doing because of the conviction of her son.

During the trial and for all the years that have gone by, Mr. Dikeman has shown me and my family the greatest respect and compassion. He has shown interest in how my grandson was doing in school, how I was doing and always had a great concern for our family. I doubt if there are many attorneys on either side who do that. I deeply resent the fact that to win an election people have to use tactics that can hurt other people instead of running on their supposedly good record.

Joanne Kesser
Fortuna