Neighbors, friends and SWAT commander testify during inquest's second half
The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/12/2006 05:01:00 PM PDT
The conclusion of the first day of the coroner's inquest into the police shooting of Cheri Lyn Moore saw her neighbors, a landlord, a family member and the Eureka Police SWAT commander testify.
Charles Hauer, who owns Hauer's Florist and the apartment where Moore lived, said she was an ideal tenant for the first few years she rented from him but turned into a headache about a year and a half before she was killed. He said her music was always blaring, people were always coming and going and she put signs up in her window all the time, against his wishes.
Neighbors who testified said the music, yelling and throwing stuff out the window was nothing odd for Moore and some said they never took her threats and yelling too seriously.
Marcus Smith, who had been friends with Moore for about six months before she was killed, described how police “commanded” him not to continue talking to her by cell phone the morning of the shooting. He also said he felt something in the air and knew the police were going to kill her.
Eureka Police Officer Todd Wilcox was Tuesday's final witness.
He described the different options SWAT discussed.
Wilcox talked about the moments after he heard shots fired from the apartment hallway.
“I paused for a second, my heart sank because that wasn't supposed to happen,” Wilcox said.
Showing posts with label Times Standard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Times Standard. Show all posts
12.17.2007
12.16.2007
TS - 04/24/2006 Force options
'Force options'
Kimberly Wear
Article Launched: 04/24/2006 04:30:00 AM PDT
EUREKA -- In a darkened room the size of a two-car garage, a local police officer stands alone facing a blank screen.
Instructors and other officers watch from behind a semi-sheer curtain as he receives a brief outline of the situation about to play before him like an interactive movie.
It's a man walking down the middle of a three-lane street mumbling to himself. He turns his back on the officer, who continues trying to make contact before the man puts up his hands and moves off the road, saying “OK. Don't shoot. Everybody needs a parent.”
In this case, the scenario ends without a weapon being drawn.
The realistic computer simulations are part of “force options” training for College of the Redwoods Basic Academy law enforcement students and current officers in surrounding cities. The situations can go in different directions depending on the reactions.
Each session is reviewed by instructors, all law enforcement officers, who discuss what was done right or wrong.
”This is designed for them to learn from their mistakes,” said Kevin Stonebarger, one of the force options simulator instructors at CR's Public Service Center.
Another scenario starts out as a routine
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check on several men who appear to have car trouble. It turns life threatening in an instant when the individuals, including one camouflaged in some trees, suddenly open fire. The officer ducks for cover and fires back.
The decisions are made quick -- in the blink of an eye. The scenarios are based on true events and hundreds of alternatives can be produced by the computer. Each person runs through the training three times per session while the others watch and learn.
”In at least one of the scenarios they're going to have to utilize something other than deadly force,” said instructor Bob Ferrall. “We want to make sure you're going to react like you do on the street, where you're not going to pull your weapon all the time.”
The gun is real but modified to hold a laser that interacts with the computer. The air-compressed bullets even malfunction at times to add another level of reality. And, instructors can have the simulator shoot back rubber balls if an officer or student doesn't move from the line of fire.
”What they often find out when they go through this is it's not as easy to shoot at something or someone who's moving while you're moving,” said instructor Cliff Chapman. “This is the closest thing to actually getting involved in a shoot-out without having to hurt somebody.”
It's part of a training package that includes an overview of when force can be used -- from physically bringing a person under control to the use of pepper spray, tasers or the firing of a weapon. There are lectures on the legal justifications needed for use of lethal force, ethics and moral considerations and recent case law on the issue.
Many officers will never face such a decision, but the death of a 48-year-old mentally ill woman after a tense two-hour police standoff April 14 has some community members raising questions about the handling of the welfare-check call and whether it could have ended differently.
Few details have been released, but those who knew Cheri Lyn Moore said she was off her medication and distraught about the anniversary of her late son's birthday. At times, she waved a bright orange flare gun and threw objects out of her apartment window.
An investigation by the multi-agency Critical Incident Response Team is continuing.
Ron Waters, coordinator of CR's Basic Academy, said the state mandates students receive six hours of training on situations involving a person with a mental illness or developmental disability. The academy gives nine hours, including training from an instructor who works with developmentally disabled adults, he said. Current officers are required to have 24 hours of continued training in a variety of areas every two years.
A former Eureka Police Department officer with 30 years on the force, Waters said he has no inside information on the standoff that left Moore dead. He said some of the alternatives people are suggesting police could have used aren't realistic. Sometimes, he said, people expect situations to be resolved like they are on television, where an officer can shoot a gun out of someone's hand.
”I wish people could be trained to be that good a shot,” he said.
Waters said there was a time when Humboldt County Mental Health had a crisis intervention unit that responded to situations like Moore's to talk with the person, but it was cut to budget constraints. It can be difficult for someone who's never been in that type of situation to understand that officers often have to make quick judgment calls in incredibly stressful situations, he said.
”They're looking not only at shoot or don't shoot, but am I going to be sued over this? Is it a safe shoot? Is this shooting legal? Is the use of force I'm going to use legal? Have I exhausted all my options?” Waters said. “They have to make a decision in a fraction of a second that judges, juries and the public will scrutinize for years.”
”It's a nightmare at times,” he said.
When the worst-case scenario does happen, there are widespread impacts to the community, other law enforcement agencies, the officers and their families, Waters said.
”They obviously are never going to forget that and if there's any doubt in their mind, it's going to be replayed in their mind every time they're in a situation even remotely like that,” he said.
Waters said officers regularly have to face a dark side of life that many people don't even realize exists in their town. That can have an impact and adds stress to an already stressful job. Many law enforcement officers don't talk about what they've seen when they get home, he said.
”My kids still don't know most of the stuff that went on,” Waters said.
He said the academy has a public service component that encourages the students to get out and interact with members of the community in a non-law enforcement way -- whether it's at a church, a school or volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul.
”Not everyone in the world is going to have problems and not everyone in the world grew up the way you grew up,” Waters said. “(It's) having empathy for what their situation is.”
Kimberly Wear covers the cities of Eureka and Arcata.
Kimberly Wear
Article Launched: 04/24/2006 04:30:00 AM PDT
EUREKA -- In a darkened room the size of a two-car garage, a local police officer stands alone facing a blank screen.
Instructors and other officers watch from behind a semi-sheer curtain as he receives a brief outline of the situation about to play before him like an interactive movie.
It's a man walking down the middle of a three-lane street mumbling to himself. He turns his back on the officer, who continues trying to make contact before the man puts up his hands and moves off the road, saying “OK. Don't shoot. Everybody needs a parent.”
In this case, the scenario ends without a weapon being drawn.
The realistic computer simulations are part of “force options” training for College of the Redwoods Basic Academy law enforcement students and current officers in surrounding cities. The situations can go in different directions depending on the reactions.
Each session is reviewed by instructors, all law enforcement officers, who discuss what was done right or wrong.
”This is designed for them to learn from their mistakes,” said Kevin Stonebarger, one of the force options simulator instructors at CR's Public Service Center.
Another scenario starts out as a routine
Advertisement
check on several men who appear to have car trouble. It turns life threatening in an instant when the individuals, including one camouflaged in some trees, suddenly open fire. The officer ducks for cover and fires back.
The decisions are made quick -- in the blink of an eye. The scenarios are based on true events and hundreds of alternatives can be produced by the computer. Each person runs through the training three times per session while the others watch and learn.
”In at least one of the scenarios they're going to have to utilize something other than deadly force,” said instructor Bob Ferrall. “We want to make sure you're going to react like you do on the street, where you're not going to pull your weapon all the time.”
The gun is real but modified to hold a laser that interacts with the computer. The air-compressed bullets even malfunction at times to add another level of reality. And, instructors can have the simulator shoot back rubber balls if an officer or student doesn't move from the line of fire.
”What they often find out when they go through this is it's not as easy to shoot at something or someone who's moving while you're moving,” said instructor Cliff Chapman. “This is the closest thing to actually getting involved in a shoot-out without having to hurt somebody.”
It's part of a training package that includes an overview of when force can be used -- from physically bringing a person under control to the use of pepper spray, tasers or the firing of a weapon. There are lectures on the legal justifications needed for use of lethal force, ethics and moral considerations and recent case law on the issue.
Many officers will never face such a decision, but the death of a 48-year-old mentally ill woman after a tense two-hour police standoff April 14 has some community members raising questions about the handling of the welfare-check call and whether it could have ended differently.
Few details have been released, but those who knew Cheri Lyn Moore said she was off her medication and distraught about the anniversary of her late son's birthday. At times, she waved a bright orange flare gun and threw objects out of her apartment window.
An investigation by the multi-agency Critical Incident Response Team is continuing.
Ron Waters, coordinator of CR's Basic Academy, said the state mandates students receive six hours of training on situations involving a person with a mental illness or developmental disability. The academy gives nine hours, including training from an instructor who works with developmentally disabled adults, he said. Current officers are required to have 24 hours of continued training in a variety of areas every two years.
A former Eureka Police Department officer with 30 years on the force, Waters said he has no inside information on the standoff that left Moore dead. He said some of the alternatives people are suggesting police could have used aren't realistic. Sometimes, he said, people expect situations to be resolved like they are on television, where an officer can shoot a gun out of someone's hand.
”I wish people could be trained to be that good a shot,” he said.
Waters said there was a time when Humboldt County Mental Health had a crisis intervention unit that responded to situations like Moore's to talk with the person, but it was cut to budget constraints. It can be difficult for someone who's never been in that type of situation to understand that officers often have to make quick judgment calls in incredibly stressful situations, he said.
”They're looking not only at shoot or don't shoot, but am I going to be sued over this? Is it a safe shoot? Is this shooting legal? Is the use of force I'm going to use legal? Have I exhausted all my options?” Waters said. “They have to make a decision in a fraction of a second that judges, juries and the public will scrutinize for years.”
”It's a nightmare at times,” he said.
When the worst-case scenario does happen, there are widespread impacts to the community, other law enforcement agencies, the officers and their families, Waters said.
”They obviously are never going to forget that and if there's any doubt in their mind, it's going to be replayed in their mind every time they're in a situation even remotely like that,” he said.
Waters said officers regularly have to face a dark side of life that many people don't even realize exists in their town. That can have an impact and adds stress to an already stressful job. Many law enforcement officers don't talk about what they've seen when they get home, he said.
”My kids still don't know most of the stuff that went on,” Waters said.
He said the academy has a public service component that encourages the students to get out and interact with members of the community in a non-law enforcement way -- whether it's at a church, a school or volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul.
”Not everyone in the world is going to have problems and not everyone in the world grew up the way you grew up,” Waters said. “(It's) having empathy for what their situation is.”
Kimberly Wear covers the cities of Eureka and Arcata.
11.10.2007
TS - Manila development withdrawn for revision
Manila development withdrawn for revision
Robert Riley's plans for a Manila housing development are off the Humboldt County Planning Commission's calendar for now.
Riley's agent Jesse Buffington said the planning commission didn't feel they could make the findings to approve the project, which came before the commission Thursday night.
Buffington said it's not known at this point when the project will be back, but the revised version will have fewer houses. The exact number hasn't been worked out yet, he said.
Riley had proposed a development of 17 parcels on an 8.5-acre plot off Peninsula Drive. The proposed plan was to build two-and three-story homes on roughly 3.5 acres of the total property, with the balance dedicated as open space to be owned and maintained by the Manila Community Services District.
Petitions were circulated in opposition to the project, with particular concerns about the density and its impact on the nearby dunes.
In other business, the commission also approved establishment of a commercial stable for up to 160 horses on Eel River Drive in Loleta. The applicant, Jerry Boots, was seeking to legitimize an existing 40-horse stable established without permits and to expand the facilities to accommodate an additional 120 horses, according to the county staff report. The approved expansion will include 20 additional outdoor horse runs, a 10,000-square-foot barn for indoor stables, a 10,000-square-foot area and an 11,250-square-foot barn for hay and supplies storage, a home and a compost building.
A requisite for the project was a manure management plan to prevent contamination of wells serving five homes downhill of the stables, according to the county staff report. After the state Regional Water Quality Board rejected the applicant's first plan in 2006, a second effort was approved this year.
Robert Riley's plans for a Manila housing development are off the Humboldt County Planning Commission's calendar for now.
Riley's agent Jesse Buffington said the planning commission didn't feel they could make the findings to approve the project, which came before the commission Thursday night.
Buffington said it's not known at this point when the project will be back, but the revised version will have fewer houses. The exact number hasn't been worked out yet, he said.
Riley had proposed a development of 17 parcels on an 8.5-acre plot off Peninsula Drive. The proposed plan was to build two-and three-story homes on roughly 3.5 acres of the total property, with the balance dedicated as open space to be owned and maintained by the Manila Community Services District.
Petitions were circulated in opposition to the project, with particular concerns about the density and its impact on the nearby dunes.
In other business, the commission also approved establishment of a commercial stable for up to 160 horses on Eel River Drive in Loleta. The applicant, Jerry Boots, was seeking to legitimize an existing 40-horse stable established without permits and to expand the facilities to accommodate an additional 120 horses, according to the county staff report. The approved expansion will include 20 additional outdoor horse runs, a 10,000-square-foot barn for indoor stables, a 10,000-square-foot area and an 11,250-square-foot barn for hay and supplies storage, a home and a compost building.
A requisite for the project was a manure management plan to prevent contamination of wells serving five homes downhill of the stables, according to the county staff report. After the state Regional Water Quality Board rejected the applicant's first plan in 2006, a second effort was approved this year.
11.03.2007
TS - Timber ordinance extension on tap
Timber ordinance extension on tap
Humboldt County supervisors will consider on Tuesday extending a controversial moratorium on issuing permits to build on land zoned for timber production.
The original emergency ordinance was spawned after the Pacific Lumber Co. submitted a plan to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas that called for building 136 high-end homes on 22,000 acres of timberland as part of reorganizing. But the decision to put the moratorium in place has caused a major backlash from many timberland owners, while supporters say it was necessary and remains so.
The staff report reads that since the board isn't meeting on Nov. 13 or Nov. 20, it has to consider the extension before the ordinance runs out on Nov. 24. The report recommends an extension for 90 more days, while the planning commission works to hammer out permanent rules for building in the timber production zone, or TPZ.
If it's not extended, county staff maintains, issuing building permits received during the gap between the new ordinance and the initial temporary ordinance could have substantial unintended consequences.
Attorney and landowner Bill Barnum said the county's initial reaction to Palco's plan was irrational and ill-advised. He said if there is a rush for building permits, it's the county which is to blame.
”You can't tinker and alter market conditions and then marvel when people respond,” Barnum said.
Staff has scheduled a Forest Review Committee hearing to discuss a slate of changes to the existing county policy on building in TPZ. That meeting, on Wednesday, will go over proposed changes to make it necessary to show that any home built in TPZ must be necessary for managing the forest; must have water storage sufficient to carry the residence through dry periods and prevent drawing down streams; and is compatible with adjacent landowners' habitat conservation plans, among others.
Those recommendations would be passed to the planning commission for a Nov. 15 meeting. The Board of Supervisors would hear the commission's recommendations on Dec. 11.
In the meantime, said the Humboldt Watershed Council's Mark Lovelace, there is a concern that people may take advantage of the gap to file permit applications that wouldn't meet the standards set by future ordinances.
”There's a concern that people will file anything to have their foot in the door,” Lovelace said.
Any extension would have to pass on a 4-1 vote.
There is little question that the emergency ordinance first adopted weighed heavily in the mind of bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt. The judge said he'd watched the proceedings and noted the county's concern over such a major development by Palco, and questioned whether the company's restructuring plan was feasible because of it. On Oct. 23, he directed Palco and its creditors to go into mediation and negotiate a plan.
But opponents of the ordinance have rallied against what they see as a subversion of the general plan process, and have planned protests, including one today at the courthouse. They claim that the emergency rule cheats landowners of their right to due process.
IF YOU GO:
What: TPZ proposed emergency ordinance extension
Where: Humboldt County Courthouse
When: Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.
IF YOU GO:
What: Board of Supervisor's regular meeting
Where: Humboldt County Courthouse
When: Tuesday, 9 a.m.
John Driscoll The Times-Standard 11/03/2007
John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.
Humboldt County supervisors will consider on Tuesday extending a controversial moratorium on issuing permits to build on land zoned for timber production.
The original emergency ordinance was spawned after the Pacific Lumber Co. submitted a plan to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas that called for building 136 high-end homes on 22,000 acres of timberland as part of reorganizing. But the decision to put the moratorium in place has caused a major backlash from many timberland owners, while supporters say it was necessary and remains so.
The staff report reads that since the board isn't meeting on Nov. 13 or Nov. 20, it has to consider the extension before the ordinance runs out on Nov. 24. The report recommends an extension for 90 more days, while the planning commission works to hammer out permanent rules for building in the timber production zone, or TPZ.
If it's not extended, county staff maintains, issuing building permits received during the gap between the new ordinance and the initial temporary ordinance could have substantial unintended consequences.
Attorney and landowner Bill Barnum said the county's initial reaction to Palco's plan was irrational and ill-advised. He said if there is a rush for building permits, it's the county which is to blame.
”You can't tinker and alter market conditions and then marvel when people respond,” Barnum said.
Staff has scheduled a Forest Review Committee hearing to discuss a slate of changes to the existing county policy on building in TPZ. That meeting, on Wednesday, will go over proposed changes to make it necessary to show that any home built in TPZ must be necessary for managing the forest; must have water storage sufficient to carry the residence through dry periods and prevent drawing down streams; and is compatible with adjacent landowners' habitat conservation plans, among others.
Those recommendations would be passed to the planning commission for a Nov. 15 meeting. The Board of Supervisors would hear the commission's recommendations on Dec. 11.
In the meantime, said the Humboldt Watershed Council's Mark Lovelace, there is a concern that people may take advantage of the gap to file permit applications that wouldn't meet the standards set by future ordinances.
”There's a concern that people will file anything to have their foot in the door,” Lovelace said.
Any extension would have to pass on a 4-1 vote.
There is little question that the emergency ordinance first adopted weighed heavily in the mind of bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt. The judge said he'd watched the proceedings and noted the county's concern over such a major development by Palco, and questioned whether the company's restructuring plan was feasible because of it. On Oct. 23, he directed Palco and its creditors to go into mediation and negotiate a plan.
But opponents of the ordinance have rallied against what they see as a subversion of the general plan process, and have planned protests, including one today at the courthouse. They claim that the emergency rule cheats landowners of their right to due process.
IF YOU GO:
What: TPZ proposed emergency ordinance extension
Where: Humboldt County Courthouse
When: Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.
IF YOU GO:
What: Board of Supervisor's regular meeting
Where: Humboldt County Courthouse
When: Tuesday, 9 a.m.
John Driscoll The Times-Standard 11/03/2007
John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.
10.05.2007
TS - Attorney general says no for now on Arkley-Glass case
Attorney general says no for now on Arkley-Glass case
The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 10/05/2007 01:40:09 PM PDT
State Attorney General Jerry Brown's Office has refused a request by the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee to take over the investigation into the flap between Eureka City Councilman Larry Glass and local businessman Rob Arkley.
A letter from the office states, “Any request at this time appears premature”.
A Sept. 12 letter from the HCDCC to the Attorney General requested that office “take the lead in the investigation and prosecution of this alleged violation.”
It is alleged that Arkley shoved Glass and threatened to destroy him if he failed to support Arkley's Marina Center project. Arkley, in turn, has claimed that he was merely reacting to comments Glass has made about his daughters.
In a letter to the Humboldt Democratic Central Committee dated Sept. 26, Senior Assistant Attorney General Gerald A. Engler advised the committee his office would “respectfully decline your request to intervene.”
The letter states, “First and foremost, the district attorney is the elected prosecutor of Humboldt County. The law maintains a strong presumption that the district attorney -- not the attorney general -- will handle prosecutorial matters within the county.
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Only in extraordinary cases where an actual conflict of interest makes it unlikely the district attorney can fairly prosecute the case may the district attorney be recused. A mere appearance of conflict is insufficient to warrant recusal.”
In the initial letter, HCDCC Chairman Milt Boyd wrote that it is more than just the serious nature of the allegations that caused the committee to ask the Attorney General to handle the investigation.
”Due to political conflicts, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos will no doubt want to recuse his office from prosecuting the matter,” Boyd wrote.
Arkley made donations to Gallegos' recall campaign chest and Glass said he thought Gallegos had supported his election campaign.
In response to the letter from the Attorney General's Office, Boyd said the reply “clarifies the legal process involved” and added, “the allegations made in this case are unusual and serious and we appreciate this prompt and clear response from Attorney General Brown's office.”
The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 10/05/2007 01:40:09 PM PDT
State Attorney General Jerry Brown's Office has refused a request by the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee to take over the investigation into the flap between Eureka City Councilman Larry Glass and local businessman Rob Arkley.
A letter from the office states, “Any request at this time appears premature”.
A Sept. 12 letter from the HCDCC to the Attorney General requested that office “take the lead in the investigation and prosecution of this alleged violation.”
It is alleged that Arkley shoved Glass and threatened to destroy him if he failed to support Arkley's Marina Center project. Arkley, in turn, has claimed that he was merely reacting to comments Glass has made about his daughters.
In a letter to the Humboldt Democratic Central Committee dated Sept. 26, Senior Assistant Attorney General Gerald A. Engler advised the committee his office would “respectfully decline your request to intervene.”
The letter states, “First and foremost, the district attorney is the elected prosecutor of Humboldt County. The law maintains a strong presumption that the district attorney -- not the attorney general -- will handle prosecutorial matters within the county.
Advertisement
Only in extraordinary cases where an actual conflict of interest makes it unlikely the district attorney can fairly prosecute the case may the district attorney be recused. A mere appearance of conflict is insufficient to warrant recusal.”
In the initial letter, HCDCC Chairman Milt Boyd wrote that it is more than just the serious nature of the allegations that caused the committee to ask the Attorney General to handle the investigation.
”Due to political conflicts, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos will no doubt want to recuse his office from prosecuting the matter,” Boyd wrote.
Arkley made donations to Gallegos' recall campaign chest and Glass said he thought Gallegos had supported his election campaign.
In response to the letter from the Attorney General's Office, Boyd said the reply “clarifies the legal process involved” and added, “the allegations made in this case are unusual and serious and we appreciate this prompt and clear response from Attorney General Brown's office.”
TS - Sheriff: Armed man pointed gun at deputy
Sheriff: Armed man pointed gun at deputy/Grow may be related to earlier bust (with press conference video (pretty glitchy) TS)
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 10/05/2007 05:04:53 AM PDT
Humboldt County Sheriff Gary Philp said Thursday that the man killed near a marijuana grow found on private timber land pointed a shotgun at the deputy before he was shot.
Philp said two uniformed deputies and an evidence technician responded Wednesday to an area about 12 miles east of Holmes Flat after Pacific Lumber Co. personnel found the garden on company land.
Click Here to Watch Video
When they arrived at the scene, a Palco guard and the evidence technician stayed up on a ridge while the deputies followed a trail to the garden.
Philp said he believed the deputies announced themselves before splitting up. One deputy continuing on the trail noticed a man walking toward him with a full-length shotgun.
”The man raised his shotgun and aimed it at the deputy,” Philp said.
The two were about 15 yards apart.
Philp said the deputy shot “more than a few (bullets), but we don't have an exact count.”
Humboldt County Coroner Frank Jager identified the man as Eloy Infante-Toscano, 40.
A preliminary investigation indicated Infante-Toscano was shot once in the chest. An autopsy is scheduled for Sonoma County this morning.
”He doesn't have a local address, but he has ties to the Modesto area,” Jager said. “His mother and father live in Mexico.”
Jager said the Mexican embassy was in the process of notifying the parents.
Philp said Infante-Toscano's shotgun was loaded, but never fired, and medical aid was immediately called in.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter responded, but because of the remote location it didn't arrive until 1 p.m., about an hour after the shooting.
Deputies responding to marijuana grows on public and timber company land is nothing new, but the confrontation was unusual, Philp said.
”For us, (Wednesday's shooting is) an unusual circumstance,” Philp said. “People usually depart.”
The size of the garden is still under investigation, Philp said, but it is larger than initially reported.
Philp said he believes the garden is related to a 12,000-plant garden confiscated in the general area recently.
An encampment was found, but it is unclear if other people were in the area at the time of the shooting.
No other weapons were found in the encampment.
Both deputies have been placed on administrative leave and will not be identified until the investigation is complete, Philp said.
The investigation is being conducted by members of the California Attorney General's Office, the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office and personnel from the Sheriff's Department.
Chris Durant can be reached at 441-0506 or at cdurant@times-standard.com .
Comments from TS website (51) included below in comments section
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 10/05/2007 05:04:53 AM PDT
Humboldt County Sheriff Gary Philp said Thursday that the man killed near a marijuana grow found on private timber land pointed a shotgun at the deputy before he was shot.
Philp said two uniformed deputies and an evidence technician responded Wednesday to an area about 12 miles east of Holmes Flat after Pacific Lumber Co. personnel found the garden on company land.
Click Here to Watch Video
When they arrived at the scene, a Palco guard and the evidence technician stayed up on a ridge while the deputies followed a trail to the garden.
Philp said he believed the deputies announced themselves before splitting up. One deputy continuing on the trail noticed a man walking toward him with a full-length shotgun.
”The man raised his shotgun and aimed it at the deputy,” Philp said.
The two were about 15 yards apart.
Philp said the deputy shot “more than a few (bullets), but we don't have an exact count.”
Humboldt County Coroner Frank Jager identified the man as Eloy Infante-Toscano, 40.
A preliminary investigation indicated Infante-Toscano was shot once in the chest. An autopsy is scheduled for Sonoma County this morning.
”He doesn't have a local address, but he has ties to the Modesto area,” Jager said. “His mother and father live in Mexico.”
Jager said the Mexican embassy was in the process of notifying the parents.
Philp said Infante-Toscano's shotgun was loaded, but never fired, and medical aid was immediately called in.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter responded, but because of the remote location it didn't arrive until 1 p.m., about an hour after the shooting.
Deputies responding to marijuana grows on public and timber company land is nothing new, but the confrontation was unusual, Philp said.
”For us, (Wednesday's shooting is) an unusual circumstance,” Philp said. “People usually depart.”
The size of the garden is still under investigation, Philp said, but it is larger than initially reported.
Philp said he believes the garden is related to a 12,000-plant garden confiscated in the general area recently.
An encampment was found, but it is unclear if other people were in the area at the time of the shooting.
No other weapons were found in the encampment.
Both deputies have been placed on administrative leave and will not be identified until the investigation is complete, Philp said.
The investigation is being conducted by members of the California Attorney General's Office, the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office and personnel from the Sheriff's Department.
Chris Durant can be reached at 441-0506 or at cdurant@times-standard.com .
Comments from TS website (51) included below in comments section
9.19.2007
TS - Jury selected in Trinity County dog abuse case
Jury selected in Trinity County dog abuse case
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/19/2007 04:15:26 AM PDT
A jury for the Trinity County trial of a couple who is charged with numerous animal abuses was selected Tuesday.
The Trinity County District Attorney's Office confirmed that a jury was selected before lunch, but it was unclear if actual opening statements or testimony took place.
In August 2006, 13 dogs that appeared to be starving were taken by an animal rescue group from a property in Mad River linked to Stacy and John Malcolm.
The remains of a number of other dogs were also found on the property and at two other locations.
At one point in the case the Malcolms were charged with more than 40 counts of felony animal abuse.
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/19/2007 04:15:26 AM PDT
A jury for the Trinity County trial of a couple who is charged with numerous animal abuses was selected Tuesday.
The Trinity County District Attorney's Office confirmed that a jury was selected before lunch, but it was unclear if actual opening statements or testimony took place.
In August 2006, 13 dogs that appeared to be starving were taken by an animal rescue group from a property in Mad River linked to Stacy and John Malcolm.
The remains of a number of other dogs were also found on the property and at two other locations.
At one point in the case the Malcolms were charged with more than 40 counts of felony animal abuse.
9.13.2007
TS - DA says no request yet for grand jury in Moore case
DA says no request yet for grand jury in Moore case
John Driscoll/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/13/2007 04:24:22 AM PDT
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos insists he has not decided whether to ask a judge to convene a grand jury in the fatal police shooting of Cheri Lyn Moore in April 2006, contrary to a news report this week citing unspecified public officials.
Gallegos said that remains a possibility, as he has said repeatedly. A request to a judge would be confidential and a jury would meet in closed session until an indictment was handed down or dismissed.
Arnie Klein, the prosecutor said in the news report to have been asked by Gallegos to begin the process of convening a grand jury, also said no decision had been made.
”The reporter for the Eureka Reporter has never contacted me, never verified with me, or verified it -- to my knowledge -- with any responsible or knowing authority,” Klein said Wednesday.
Klein said that all cases are ongoing, and that when a final decision has been made, the DA's office would act on it.
Cheri Lyn Moore was shot after a standoff with Eureka police officers on April 14, 2006. A mentally ill Moore brandished a flare gun and threatened to burn down her apartment building at Fifth and G streets. Police have said they believed Moore had put down the flare gun when the order was given to kick in her door. But when officers went in, according to police reports, Moore was pointing the signal-flare gun at them. They shot her multiple times.
Gallegos has yet to announce whether he will press charges against the police department and the officers who shot Moore, or whether to pursue a grand jury route.
According to California law, a presiding judge -- or a judge appointed by the presiding judge -- can impanel a grand jury, or decide to at the request of the district attorney. The judge would select a jury from a list of trial jurors. A grand jury meets in secret, hearing evidence and returning an indictment if it finds probable cause. If an indictment is issued, the matter would be tried by a regular jury.
Gallegos said that if the grand jury course is pursued, he has to think of the effects the media has had on potential jurors in the county. The case has been the subject of intense and continual media and public attention, and has been revisited after each of several police shootings and police-related deaths in 2006 and 2007.
If the case does go to the grand jury, Gallegos said, he hopes jurors can be found that haven't been tainted by press reports.
”Everyone is entitled to an impartial finding,” he said.
The Times-Standard
John Driscoll/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/13/2007 04:24:22 AM PDT
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos insists he has not decided whether to ask a judge to convene a grand jury in the fatal police shooting of Cheri Lyn Moore in April 2006, contrary to a news report this week citing unspecified public officials.
Gallegos said that remains a possibility, as he has said repeatedly. A request to a judge would be confidential and a jury would meet in closed session until an indictment was handed down or dismissed.
Arnie Klein, the prosecutor said in the news report to have been asked by Gallegos to begin the process of convening a grand jury, also said no decision had been made.
”The reporter for the Eureka Reporter has never contacted me, never verified with me, or verified it -- to my knowledge -- with any responsible or knowing authority,” Klein said Wednesday.
Klein said that all cases are ongoing, and that when a final decision has been made, the DA's office would act on it.
Cheri Lyn Moore was shot after a standoff with Eureka police officers on April 14, 2006. A mentally ill Moore brandished a flare gun and threatened to burn down her apartment building at Fifth and G streets. Police have said they believed Moore had put down the flare gun when the order was given to kick in her door. But when officers went in, according to police reports, Moore was pointing the signal-flare gun at them. They shot her multiple times.
Gallegos has yet to announce whether he will press charges against the police department and the officers who shot Moore, or whether to pursue a grand jury route.
According to California law, a presiding judge -- or a judge appointed by the presiding judge -- can impanel a grand jury, or decide to at the request of the district attorney. The judge would select a jury from a list of trial jurors. A grand jury meets in secret, hearing evidence and returning an indictment if it finds probable cause. If an indictment is issued, the matter would be tried by a regular jury.
Gallegos said that if the grand jury course is pursued, he has to think of the effects the media has had on potential jurors in the county. The case has been the subject of intense and continual media and public attention, and has been revisited after each of several police shootings and police-related deaths in 2006 and 2007.
If the case does go to the grand jury, Gallegos said, he hopes jurors can be found that haven't been tainted by press reports.
”Everyone is entitled to an impartial finding,” he said.
The Times-Standard
9.01.2007
TS on Gallegos getting his AR-15s
DA force policy cleared by county administrator
The county administrative office has reviewed and approved an updated use of force policy drawn up by District Attorney Paul Gallegos' office, and will leave a decision to purchase eight assault rifles up to him.
County Administrative Officer Loretta Nickolaus said she returned the policy to the district attorney Friday afternoon. Nickolaus had asked Gallegos in May to provide a revised policy before she approved the purchase of the AR-15 rifles for DA investigators.
She said, however, that she remains concerned that use of the rifles could increase the liability exposure for the county. But the money for the weapons is in the district attorney's budget, Nickolaus said.
”The rest is a judgment call on his part,” Nickolaus said.
Nickolaus had questioned Gallegos' stance that district attorney investigators act like other police officers, and need the weapons for operations in remote areas. Nickolaus said that her opinion is that the district attorney's authority is best applied independent of other law enforcement agencies. A conflict of interest could arise if one of Gallegos' investigators is involved in a shooting incident that the district attorney's office would normally investigate, she said.
Gallegos and chief investigator Mike Hislop were out of town Friday afternoon, according to the office. Assistant District Attorney Wes Keat said he was not intimately involved in the issues, but said in an e-mail that there is a protocol for handling conflict of interest.
”The usual legal remedy when a DA has a conflict is that the matter is handled by the state DOJ-- the Office of the Attorney General,” Keat wrote.
Gallegos is expected in the office Tuesday, Keat wrote.
The DA's office has two similar, older rifles. All told, the eight rifles would cost $12,000, which would come from the District Attorney Asset Forfeiture trust funds.
John Driscoll/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/01/2007 04:30:15 AM PDT
The county administrative office has reviewed and approved an updated use of force policy drawn up by District Attorney Paul Gallegos' office, and will leave a decision to purchase eight assault rifles up to him.
County Administrative Officer Loretta Nickolaus said she returned the policy to the district attorney Friday afternoon. Nickolaus had asked Gallegos in May to provide a revised policy before she approved the purchase of the AR-15 rifles for DA investigators.
She said, however, that she remains concerned that use of the rifles could increase the liability exposure for the county. But the money for the weapons is in the district attorney's budget, Nickolaus said.
”The rest is a judgment call on his part,” Nickolaus said.
Nickolaus had questioned Gallegos' stance that district attorney investigators act like other police officers, and need the weapons for operations in remote areas. Nickolaus said that her opinion is that the district attorney's authority is best applied independent of other law enforcement agencies. A conflict of interest could arise if one of Gallegos' investigators is involved in a shooting incident that the district attorney's office would normally investigate, she said.
Gallegos and chief investigator Mike Hislop were out of town Friday afternoon, according to the office. Assistant District Attorney Wes Keat said he was not intimately involved in the issues, but said in an e-mail that there is a protocol for handling conflict of interest.
”The usual legal remedy when a DA has a conflict is that the matter is handled by the state DOJ-- the Office of the Attorney General,” Keat wrote.
Gallegos is expected in the office Tuesday, Keat wrote.
The DA's office has two similar, older rifles. All told, the eight rifles would cost $12,000, which would come from the District Attorney Asset Forfeiture trust funds.
John Driscoll/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 09/01/2007 04:30:15 AM PDT
8.22.2007
TS - Inmate accidentally released from jail
Inmate accidentally released from jail
The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/09/2007 04:15:32 AM PDT
A Humboldt County Jail inmate was accidentally released Friday, and within hours of authorities noticing the mistake Wednesday he was taken back into custody without any problems.
Brenda Godsey of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Departement said Clinton Lee Harris III, 26, was taken into custody about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday when authorities found him at a house on A Street in Arcata.
Harris, who was in custody on rape, burglary and a separate drunken driving charge, was accidentally freed when his name appeared on a list of inmates to be released.
Harris was part of the Sheriff Work Alternative Program for the DUI charge at the time of his April arrest on suspicion of rape and burglary by the Arcata Police Department.
When he was rebooked, the DUI charge was put on his list of charges and he automatically began serving the jail sentence for the DUI.
His DUI sentence was completed Friday, which triggered his appearance on the release list.
”His name came up as he completed his DUI sentence,” said Brenda Godsey of the Sheriff's Department.
Comments from TS site:
he was probably grateful to be out and had every intention and will to go straight with his new found freedom and probably would have while contributing to society by working, paying taxes, purchasing local goods from wherever he was. But instead he is back in jail at the outrageous cost we, the taxpayers have to spend. I think this guy would have been fine if left alone and now we have a expensive tab to pay for years of incarceration along with the grudge he might hold to society; which is the biggest personal crime of all we, as a people, can inflict upon another.
John M | 08.09.07 - 7:50 pm
Yea he wouldn't have been fine out there if it was your daughter, wife, grandchildren or some other female in your life that was raped. You're a moron. I gladly as a tax payer will pay my taxes to keep people like that off the streets.
Anonymous | 08.09.07 - 10:02 pm
The first writer is a humorist, not a moron. Well done, old chap! Bravo!
Free Ramos and Campean | 08.09.07 - 11:06 pm
You know, a description and mug shot of this guy would've been nice.
As a survivor of an assualt and rape I can imagine the fear going through the minds of his vicims.
The writer of the first item I know was being tongue in cheek even if it was a bit tasteless. Over sensitivity isn't my style and we do have a right to express ourselves no matter how inane.
Officer Liles, can ya bag this one for us, too? Hey we all need our heroes!
Rebelle | 08.10.07 - 6:35 pm
What ever happend to being innocent until proven guilty. Who's to say there was really a victim? Im sure he was just as surprised as everyone else to have been released.But is he to be held accountable for that??
APRIL | 08.14.07 - 3:53 pm
The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/09/2007 04:15:32 AM PDT
A Humboldt County Jail inmate was accidentally released Friday, and within hours of authorities noticing the mistake Wednesday he was taken back into custody without any problems.
Brenda Godsey of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Departement said Clinton Lee Harris III, 26, was taken into custody about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday when authorities found him at a house on A Street in Arcata.
Harris, who was in custody on rape, burglary and a separate drunken driving charge, was accidentally freed when his name appeared on a list of inmates to be released.
Harris was part of the Sheriff Work Alternative Program for the DUI charge at the time of his April arrest on suspicion of rape and burglary by the Arcata Police Department.
When he was rebooked, the DUI charge was put on his list of charges and he automatically began serving the jail sentence for the DUI.
His DUI sentence was completed Friday, which triggered his appearance on the release list.
”His name came up as he completed his DUI sentence,” said Brenda Godsey of the Sheriff's Department.
Comments from TS site:
he was probably grateful to be out and had every intention and will to go straight with his new found freedom and probably would have while contributing to society by working, paying taxes, purchasing local goods from wherever he was. But instead he is back in jail at the outrageous cost we, the taxpayers have to spend. I think this guy would have been fine if left alone and now we have a expensive tab to pay for years of incarceration along with the grudge he might hold to society; which is the biggest personal crime of all we, as a people, can inflict upon another.
John M | 08.09.07 - 7:50 pm
Yea he wouldn't have been fine out there if it was your daughter, wife, grandchildren or some other female in your life that was raped. You're a moron. I gladly as a tax payer will pay my taxes to keep people like that off the streets.
Anonymous | 08.09.07 - 10:02 pm
The first writer is a humorist, not a moron. Well done, old chap! Bravo!
Free Ramos and Campean | 08.09.07 - 11:06 pm
You know, a description and mug shot of this guy would've been nice.
As a survivor of an assualt and rape I can imagine the fear going through the minds of his vicims.
The writer of the first item I know was being tongue in cheek even if it was a bit tasteless. Over sensitivity isn't my style and we do have a right to express ourselves no matter how inane.
Officer Liles, can ya bag this one for us, too? Hey we all need our heroes!
Rebelle | 08.10.07 - 6:35 pm
What ever happend to being innocent until proven guilty. Who's to say there was really a victim? Im sure he was just as surprised as everyone else to have been released.But is he to be held accountable for that??
APRIL | 08.14.07 - 3:53 pm
8.20.2007
TS - Doctor gives view on sane verdict in Applegate case
Promised as some in-depth analysis of the murderer, Thomas Applegate, there is nonetheless nothing new in this article, but it's part of the record.
Dr. Robert Soper
Doctor gives view on sane verdict in Applegate case
Man set to be sentenced for murder in Bridgeville
Dr. Robert Soper, the psychiatrist who was a prosecution witness in the sanity phase of the Thomas Applegate trial, described Applegate as being “on the run” when he walked into a Bridgeville home high on methamphetamine and shot two men, killing one.
Thomas Applegate
A jury found Applegate was sane at the time he killed Joey Patrick Church in May 2003. Another man was wounded. The same jury found Applegate guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. His sentencing is set for Tuesday.
Soper talked to Applegate on two different occasions, but well after he was arrested for assaulting a woman in Southern California just days after the killing. Soper said Applegate was on meth for about two weeks when he drove from Southern California believing he was going to buy Bridgeville.
Soper learned that Applegate had been using controlled substances and alcohol since he was a young teenager. He used methamphetamine for about 15 years, stopped for eight years, and recently, just months before the killing, started again, Soper said.
Feeling lethargic and depressed may have led him to use meth again, Soper said.
”Amphetamines, in the short run, would help with his depression,” Soper said.
“In essence, he was self medicating.”
Applegate's attorney, Kevin Robinson, declined to comment on Soper's comments, saying they “exceed areas of his testimony at trial.”
Soper listed the possible effects Applegate may have been experiencing: Enhanced energy, enhanced concentration, improved mood, euphoria, talking fast, erratic train of thought and grandiose beliefs.
”He was going up to Bridgeville to buy Bridgeville,” Soper said. “That's grandiose.”
A methamphetamine-induced psychosis is very similar to schizophrenia psychosis or mania, Soper said.
Applegate was hearing things and because he can't remember the incident, exactly what may have sent him into a homicidal mode is unknown.
”It's crazy because he had no motive to shoot these people,” Soper said.
But, Applegate wasn't insane at the time of the killings, Soper said.
He claims not to remember anything about the shootings. But, according to Soper, there are some signs that he understood he was doing something wrong.
For instance, when Applegate entered the home, he made the children go into another room before shooting the two men.
”It shows there's some awareness of what he was doing was wrong and it was something kids should not see,” Soper said.
Other signs are that he returned the gun, which he took from his parents' house, and he attempted to hide the weapon's cartridges in the couch of an acquaintance.
”It is my experience that most people who are using meth, like alcoholics, do not understand how much their behavior has changed,” Soper said. “It's a tragedy for everyone involved.”
The awareness of the damage meth does to people, families and communities is on the rise, not just in Humboldt County, but nationwide.
Mike Goldsby, program manager for health education for the Department of Health and Human Services, said meth has been a problem since about the late 80s in Humboldt County.
”When a drug has been prevalent for a lot of years you begin to see multi-generational effects,” Goldsby said.
And the problems add up.
”The problems caused by meth are out of proportion to the number of people who use,” Goldsby said.
He explained that by saying meth users tend to get into more kinds of trouble and need more kinds of services, from health to social services, than other drug users, and that adds to the toll the drug takes on a community.
Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith, part of the Speed Prevention and Awareness Network, said he's beginning to see a results from numerous efforts.
”We think we're making a difference with the youth we're doing outreach with,” Smith said.
But, he recognizes there's a lot of work left to rid the area of the drug.
”We're hitting it every which way we can,” Smith said.
Chris Durant The Times-Standard Article Launched: 08/20/2007 09:13:54 AM PDT
Chris Durant can be reached at 441-0506 of at cdurant at times-standard.com .
Dr. Robert Soper
Doctor gives view on sane verdict in Applegate case
Man set to be sentenced for murder in Bridgeville
Dr. Robert Soper, the psychiatrist who was a prosecution witness in the sanity phase of the Thomas Applegate trial, described Applegate as being “on the run” when he walked into a Bridgeville home high on methamphetamine and shot two men, killing one.
Thomas Applegate
A jury found Applegate was sane at the time he killed Joey Patrick Church in May 2003. Another man was wounded. The same jury found Applegate guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. His sentencing is set for Tuesday.
Soper talked to Applegate on two different occasions, but well after he was arrested for assaulting a woman in Southern California just days after the killing. Soper said Applegate was on meth for about two weeks when he drove from Southern California believing he was going to buy Bridgeville.
Soper learned that Applegate had been using controlled substances and alcohol since he was a young teenager. He used methamphetamine for about 15 years, stopped for eight years, and recently, just months before the killing, started again, Soper said.
Feeling lethargic and depressed may have led him to use meth again, Soper said.
”Amphetamines, in the short run, would help with his depression,” Soper said.
“In essence, he was self medicating.”
Applegate's attorney, Kevin Robinson, declined to comment on Soper's comments, saying they “exceed areas of his testimony at trial.”
Soper listed the possible effects Applegate may have been experiencing: Enhanced energy, enhanced concentration, improved mood, euphoria, talking fast, erratic train of thought and grandiose beliefs.
”He was going up to Bridgeville to buy Bridgeville,” Soper said. “That's grandiose.”
A methamphetamine-induced psychosis is very similar to schizophrenia psychosis or mania, Soper said.
Applegate was hearing things and because he can't remember the incident, exactly what may have sent him into a homicidal mode is unknown.
”It's crazy because he had no motive to shoot these people,” Soper said.
But, Applegate wasn't insane at the time of the killings, Soper said.
He claims not to remember anything about the shootings. But, according to Soper, there are some signs that he understood he was doing something wrong.
For instance, when Applegate entered the home, he made the children go into another room before shooting the two men.
”It shows there's some awareness of what he was doing was wrong and it was something kids should not see,” Soper said.
Other signs are that he returned the gun, which he took from his parents' house, and he attempted to hide the weapon's cartridges in the couch of an acquaintance.
”It is my experience that most people who are using meth, like alcoholics, do not understand how much their behavior has changed,” Soper said. “It's a tragedy for everyone involved.”
The awareness of the damage meth does to people, families and communities is on the rise, not just in Humboldt County, but nationwide.
Mike Goldsby, program manager for health education for the Department of Health and Human Services, said meth has been a problem since about the late 80s in Humboldt County.
”When a drug has been prevalent for a lot of years you begin to see multi-generational effects,” Goldsby said.
And the problems add up.
”The problems caused by meth are out of proportion to the number of people who use,” Goldsby said.
He explained that by saying meth users tend to get into more kinds of trouble and need more kinds of services, from health to social services, than other drug users, and that adds to the toll the drug takes on a community.
Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith, part of the Speed Prevention and Awareness Network, said he's beginning to see a results from numerous efforts.
”We think we're making a difference with the youth we're doing outreach with,” Smith said.
But, he recognizes there's a lot of work left to rid the area of the drug.
”We're hitting it every which way we can,” Smith said.
Chris Durant The Times-Standard Article Launched: 08/20/2007 09:13:54 AM PDT
Chris Durant can be reached at 441-0506 of at cdurant at times-standard.com .
8.16.2007
TS - Kesser cuts deal in murder case
Kesser cuts deal in murder case
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/16/2007 04:27:16 AM PDT
A Fortuna man accused of hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife in 1991 reached a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office Wednesday that could require him to testify against his former girlfriend.
Richard Craig Kesser's retrial was scheduled to begin this week.
Under the agreement, Kesser is required to make a full statement and answer any questions regarding the death of his estranged wife, Mary Kesser. He will also have to take a polygraph test and testify “truthfully” in any trial related to her death.
If Kesser completes all of the conditions, he will be convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. If he lies during questioning or commits perjury while testifying, Kesser will be convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
The District Attorney's Office also agreed to drop the special circumstance count of murder for monetary gain, a move which makes Kesser eligible for parole. As part of the deal, Kesser waives his right to appeal his conviction.
Kesser may be called to testify in the trial of his one time codefendant and girlfriend, Jennifer Gayle Leahy.
Leahy and Kesser were granted retrials by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based on the actions of a former deputy district attorney. The appeals court found the former deputy district attorney rejected potential jurors “on the basis of their race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.”
Kesser and Leahy allegedly hired Duane Chiara to kill Mary Kesser, reportedly for her life insurance money.
The young mother was killed in her N Street home in Fortuna on Nov. 26, 1991. She was stabbed multiple times with what is believed to be a machete-type weapon. Leahy is due in court Monday for a hearing.
Chiara has also been brought back to Humboldt County as a possible witness in the case.
”The parties have the power to call him,” said District Attorney Paul Gallegos, the prosecutor in Kesser's retrial.
If Kesser refuses to testify, make statements or take the polygraph, the plea agreement is off the table.
”That would be in violation of the agreement,” said Superior Court Judge Dale Reinholtsen.
Kesser, with slicked back hair and a short beard, quietly answered yes to all of Reinholtsen's questions.
After Wednesday's proceeding, Kesser shook hands with his attorney Glenn Brown and was escorted back to the jail.
Fortuna Police Chief Kris Kitna, who worked on the Kesser case in 1991, said he trusted the district attorney's judgment.
”As far as the Fortuna Police Department is concerned, we are essentially satisfied with this agreement,” he said.
If the plea agreement is accepted, which won't officially happen until Leahy's trial is completed, and Kesser complies with the orders of the agreement, he will also be convicted of a felony criminal threats charge, which is a strikeable offense.
”If he's ever paroled, he'll have two strikes against him,” Gallegos said.
If Kesser is convicted of the second-degree murder charge, he may be immediately eligible for a parole hearing because he's been in prison for 16 years. Gallegos said it is unlikely that Kesser will be paroled.
Gallegos also said Mary Kesser's family was made aware of the plea agreement and was part of the decision process.
”They have to know; it's their right,” Gallegos said. “And it's common decency.”
A deal for Leahy will not be discussed now, Gallegos said.
”We have to see what Mr. Kesser has to say,” he said.
Brown declined to comment on the plea agreement, citing Leahy's pending case.
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/16/2007 04:27:16 AM PDT
A Fortuna man accused of hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife in 1991 reached a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office Wednesday that could require him to testify against his former girlfriend.
Richard Craig Kesser's retrial was scheduled to begin this week.
Under the agreement, Kesser is required to make a full statement and answer any questions regarding the death of his estranged wife, Mary Kesser. He will also have to take a polygraph test and testify “truthfully” in any trial related to her death.
If Kesser completes all of the conditions, he will be convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. If he lies during questioning or commits perjury while testifying, Kesser will be convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.
The District Attorney's Office also agreed to drop the special circumstance count of murder for monetary gain, a move which makes Kesser eligible for parole. As part of the deal, Kesser waives his right to appeal his conviction.
Kesser may be called to testify in the trial of his one time codefendant and girlfriend, Jennifer Gayle Leahy.
Leahy and Kesser were granted retrials by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based on the actions of a former deputy district attorney. The appeals court found the former deputy district attorney rejected potential jurors “on the basis of their race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.”
Kesser and Leahy allegedly hired Duane Chiara to kill Mary Kesser, reportedly for her life insurance money.
The young mother was killed in her N Street home in Fortuna on Nov. 26, 1991. She was stabbed multiple times with what is believed to be a machete-type weapon. Leahy is due in court Monday for a hearing.
Chiara has also been brought back to Humboldt County as a possible witness in the case.
”The parties have the power to call him,” said District Attorney Paul Gallegos, the prosecutor in Kesser's retrial.
If Kesser refuses to testify, make statements or take the polygraph, the plea agreement is off the table.
”That would be in violation of the agreement,” said Superior Court Judge Dale Reinholtsen.
Kesser, with slicked back hair and a short beard, quietly answered yes to all of Reinholtsen's questions.
After Wednesday's proceeding, Kesser shook hands with his attorney Glenn Brown and was escorted back to the jail.
Fortuna Police Chief Kris Kitna, who worked on the Kesser case in 1991, said he trusted the district attorney's judgment.
”As far as the Fortuna Police Department is concerned, we are essentially satisfied with this agreement,” he said.
If the plea agreement is accepted, which won't officially happen until Leahy's trial is completed, and Kesser complies with the orders of the agreement, he will also be convicted of a felony criminal threats charge, which is a strikeable offense.
”If he's ever paroled, he'll have two strikes against him,” Gallegos said.
If Kesser is convicted of the second-degree murder charge, he may be immediately eligible for a parole hearing because he's been in prison for 16 years. Gallegos said it is unlikely that Kesser will be paroled.
Gallegos also said Mary Kesser's family was made aware of the plea agreement and was part of the decision process.
”They have to know; it's their right,” Gallegos said. “And it's common decency.”
A deal for Leahy will not be discussed now, Gallegos said.
”We have to see what Mr. Kesser has to say,” he said.
Brown declined to comment on the plea agreement, citing Leahy's pending case.
TS - Homicide retrial now looking to start Thursday
While the Eureka Reporter reports (DA says plea deal a possibility in murder retrial) that Gallegos is likely to cut a plea deal with the convicted murderer, Kesser, the Times Standard reports that the trial has been postponed:
Homicide retrial now looking to start Thursday
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/15/2007 04:15:47 AM PDT
The retrial of a man suspected of hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife in 1991 has been postponed a few more days.
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said Tuesday that the homicide retrial of Richard Craig Kesser now looks like it will start Thursday.
Last week, Gallegos said he believed the trial would start Monday.
Kesser and his girlfriend, Jennifer Gayle Leahy, allegedly hired Duane Chiara to kill Mary Kesser, reportedly for her life insurance money.
The young mother was killed in her N Street home in Fortuna.
She was stabbed multiple times with what was believed to be a machete-type of blade.
Chiara was arrested a day later when he was found hiding in a closet. A sawed-off shotgun was found nearby. The other two defendants were arrested after a month.
Retrials were granted to Kesser and Leahy by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based on the actions of a former deputy district attorney. The court found he rejected potential jurors “on the basis of their race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.”
It is unclear if Leahy and Kesser will be tried together.
Turns out, the next day, Gallegos does indeed cut a deal with Kesser, (Kesser cuts deal in murder case) not with Leahy, who played the lesser role in the murder for hire scheme they were convicted of, but with Kesser - who as part of the plea deal will "tell the truth" and presumably testify against Leahy.
It is part of the incomprehensible record of paul Gallegos, who will prosecute Sean Marsh for allowing his toddler to walk too far in front of him on the sleepy streets of Ferndale, but who will let jurderers and rapists strike deals.
Homicide retrial now looking to start Thursday
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/15/2007 04:15:47 AM PDT
The retrial of a man suspected of hiring a hitman to kill his estranged wife in 1991 has been postponed a few more days.
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said Tuesday that the homicide retrial of Richard Craig Kesser now looks like it will start Thursday.
Last week, Gallegos said he believed the trial would start Monday.
Kesser and his girlfriend, Jennifer Gayle Leahy, allegedly hired Duane Chiara to kill Mary Kesser, reportedly for her life insurance money.
The young mother was killed in her N Street home in Fortuna.
She was stabbed multiple times with what was believed to be a machete-type of blade.
Chiara was arrested a day later when he was found hiding in a closet. A sawed-off shotgun was found nearby. The other two defendants were arrested after a month.
Retrials were granted to Kesser and Leahy by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based on the actions of a former deputy district attorney. The court found he rejected potential jurors “on the basis of their race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.”
It is unclear if Leahy and Kesser will be tried together.
Turns out, the next day, Gallegos does indeed cut a deal with Kesser, (Kesser cuts deal in murder case) not with Leahy, who played the lesser role in the murder for hire scheme they were convicted of, but with Kesser - who as part of the plea deal will "tell the truth" and presumably testify against Leahy.
It is part of the incomprehensible record of paul Gallegos, who will prosecute Sean Marsh for allowing his toddler to walk too far in front of him on the sleepy streets of Ferndale, but who will let jurderers and rapists strike deals.
8.15.2007
TS - Inmate who escaped from Sempervirens caught
Inmate who escaped from Sempervirens caught
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/15/2007 04:15:46 AM PDT
A man who escaped from Sempervirens Hospital while he was an inmate at the Humboldt County Jail was arrested in Manila Tuesday by Humboldt County Sheriff's detectives .
Derek Wendell Bowman, 26, answered the door of a Manila home and was arrested just before 3:30 p.m.
He escaped from the mental hospital on Aug. 5.
The Sheriff's Department said Detective Troy Garey received information that Bowman was hiding at the house on the 100 block of Phillips Court.
Garey, other detectives and a U.S. marshal arrived at the home and Bowman was arrested without any problems.
He was booked into the jail on suspicion of escape and for a series of charges pending while he was in custody the first time, which include forgery and resisting arrest.
In August 2006, Bowman was sentenced to 180 days in jail for forgery, second-degree burglary, interfering with a police officer and possession of drug paraphernalia convictions.
He is not eligible for bail.
Chris Durant/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 08/15/2007 04:15:46 AM PDT
A man who escaped from Sempervirens Hospital while he was an inmate at the Humboldt County Jail was arrested in Manila Tuesday by Humboldt County Sheriff's detectives .
Derek Wendell Bowman, 26, answered the door of a Manila home and was arrested just before 3:30 p.m.
He escaped from the mental hospital on Aug. 5.
The Sheriff's Department said Detective Troy Garey received information that Bowman was hiding at the house on the 100 block of Phillips Court.
Garey, other detectives and a U.S. marshal arrived at the home and Bowman was arrested without any problems.
He was booked into the jail on suspicion of escape and for a series of charges pending while he was in custody the first time, which include forgery and resisting arrest.
In August 2006, Bowman was sentenced to 180 days in jail for forgery, second-degree burglary, interfering with a police officer and possession of drug paraphernalia convictions.
He is not eligible for bail.
7.17.2007
TS - Possible Edwards visit has hairdressers primed
Possible Edwards visit has hairdressers primed
James Faulk Opinion Column/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 07/17/2007 04:25:02 AM PDT
The possibility of a Humboldt County visit by top-tier Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has kicked off a wave of manic competition among the area's hair management specialists.
Beauty pushers county-wide have been sweeping and re-sweeping their tiles floors and obsessively filling their perfumed spray bottles, anxious to cash in on what has become the most expensive political race in the history of American politics.
”If I can get just one haircut from Mr. Edwards, I'll be set for the quarter,” said one anonymous stylist.
Many hairdressers in the county are self-employed. They rent booths from shop owners, but buy their own supplies and pay for their own insurance.
Having to float their own boats makes it hard to get ahead. So any opportunity to land a hairy fish as big as Edwards, one who indiscriminately flings cash at anyone who attempts to tame his sandy blond bouffant, is a blessing.
Many local lock snippers, embittered by recent Humboldt County elections, pointed to the rifts created in their industry in last race for district attorney.
Paul Gallegos, flush with a full head of hair, seemed an obvious choice for the local beauty industry. But Worth Dikeman, man of the charming flesh-colored dome, had friends at least who needed haircuts, and many of those have been known to drop generous tips.
So the bloodbath ensued -- hairdresser versus stylist, sister versus sister, mother versus daughter, stylish man versus talkative woman.
In the end, youth and beauty won the day, but even the memory of that bitter battle has some wary now to partake in this Great Humboldt Haircut Hullabaloo of 2007.
For some, it's just too early to commit to one candidate. If Edwards wins, that's all fine. But what if Hillary takes the cake? While she may frequent the beauty shop, she's appears to be more frugal with that expense -- and all her donors have flocked to Obama.
And what if Obama wins? Some in the beauty biz might say this is a worst case scenario -- the attractive young candidate has been spotted more than once this past year in Chicago-area barber shops, touting his cultural credentials, and scaring the daylights out of stylists the world over.
Faulk truism No. 714: A barber is not a hairdresser, nor vice versa. And don't forget it.
It's like Yankees/Red Sox, or 49ers/Rams, between the two shearing camps. There's only so much hair to be cut, and too many scissors.
Note to readers: I made this all up. I “Jayson Blair'ed” it for fun. But it's OK -- my wife's a hair stylist. And don't call my editors. They already know.
James Faulk can be reached at 441-0511 or jfaulk@times-standard.com.
James Faulk Opinion Column/The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 07/17/2007 04:25:02 AM PDT
The possibility of a Humboldt County visit by top-tier Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has kicked off a wave of manic competition among the area's hair management specialists.
Beauty pushers county-wide have been sweeping and re-sweeping their tiles floors and obsessively filling their perfumed spray bottles, anxious to cash in on what has become the most expensive political race in the history of American politics.
”If I can get just one haircut from Mr. Edwards, I'll be set for the quarter,” said one anonymous stylist.
Many hairdressers in the county are self-employed. They rent booths from shop owners, but buy their own supplies and pay for their own insurance.
Having to float their own boats makes it hard to get ahead. So any opportunity to land a hairy fish as big as Edwards, one who indiscriminately flings cash at anyone who attempts to tame his sandy blond bouffant, is a blessing.
Many local lock snippers, embittered by recent Humboldt County elections, pointed to the rifts created in their industry in last race for district attorney.
Paul Gallegos, flush with a full head of hair, seemed an obvious choice for the local beauty industry. But Worth Dikeman, man of the charming flesh-colored dome, had friends at least who needed haircuts, and many of those have been known to drop generous tips.
So the bloodbath ensued -- hairdresser versus stylist, sister versus sister, mother versus daughter, stylish man versus talkative woman.
In the end, youth and beauty won the day, but even the memory of that bitter battle has some wary now to partake in this Great Humboldt Haircut Hullabaloo of 2007.
For some, it's just too early to commit to one candidate. If Edwards wins, that's all fine. But what if Hillary takes the cake? While she may frequent the beauty shop, she's appears to be more frugal with that expense -- and all her donors have flocked to Obama.
And what if Obama wins? Some in the beauty biz might say this is a worst case scenario -- the attractive young candidate has been spotted more than once this past year in Chicago-area barber shops, touting his cultural credentials, and scaring the daylights out of stylists the world over.
Faulk truism No. 714: A barber is not a hairdresser, nor vice versa. And don't forget it.
It's like Yankees/Red Sox, or 49ers/Rams, between the two shearing camps. There's only so much hair to be cut, and too many scissors.
Note to readers: I made this all up. I “Jayson Blair'ed” it for fun. But it's OK -- my wife's a hair stylist. And don't call my editors. They already know.
James Faulk can be reached at 441-0511 or jfaulk@times-standard.com.
7.16.2007
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.
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.
7.01.2007
TS/LE - Fewer weapons, not more
Even his supporters respond to Gallegos' inexplicable decision to acquire assault weapons to use in asset forfeiture raids.
Fewer weapons, not more
Letters to the editor
Article Launched: 06/07/2007 04:14:57 AM PDT
I have been proud to display signs for Paul Gallegos in our front yard each time he has been challenged. Perhaps I will again. At this time, however, I am grateful that he has not yet been permitted to purchase the eight requested assault rifles. Our communities need fewer, not more, implements of mayhem and death. And we need our district attorneys to avoid armed confrontations and focus on investigating, evaluating, and prosecuting.
Chip Sharpe
Bayside
Fewer weapons, not more
Letters to the editor
Article Launched: 06/07/2007 04:14:57 AM PDT
I have been proud to display signs for Paul Gallegos in our front yard each time he has been challenged. Perhaps I will again. At this time, however, I am grateful that he has not yet been permitted to purchase the eight requested assault rifles. Our communities need fewer, not more, implements of mayhem and death. And we need our district attorneys to avoid armed confrontations and focus on investigating, evaluating, and prosecuting.
Chip Sharpe
Bayside
6.21.2007
TS - Ferndale council rejects Marsh's claim
All I have to say is that, if there is to be a lawsuit, Cunningham is going after the wrong person/entity if he goes after Ferndale. One person could have stopped this madness, and had the responsibility to do so - the Humboldt County District Attorney, Paul Gallegos, who "personally investigated" the "crime," a street corner in Ferndale.
Ferndale council rejects Marsh's claim
Jessie Faulkner The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 06/21/2007 04:42:10 AM PDT
FERNDALE -- A former resident's $25,000 claim alleging the police chief violated his civil rights was unanimously rejected by the City Council, which opens the door for a lawsuit, the city's attorney said Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the council rejected the claim by Sean Marsh in a 4-0 vote during a closed session. Councilman Michael Moreland was not present. Marsh filed the claim in response to his arrest last year on charges of child endangerment. He was acquitted in February.
City Attorney David Martinek said Tuesday that state law allows a City Council to reject a claim or wait 45 days without action, at which point a claim is deemed rejected. If the claimant decides to pursue legal action, Martinek said, he or she has six months to file a lawsuit.
Martinek said he had not received notice from Marsh or Marsh's attorney that they plan to file a lawsuit.
The child endangerment charges -- stemming from allegations he let his 2-year-old son almost run into Main Street in May 2006 -- and resisting arrest.
The former owner of Village Baking and Catering in Ferndale was also accused of declining to provide written proof of identification to Ferndale Police Chief Lonnie Lawson.
Marsh's attorney, Dennis Cunningham of San Francisco, provided a copy of the claim. Repeated attempts to acquire a copy from the city of Ferndale were unsuccessful.
Lawson arrested Marsh and booked him into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility after the May 2006 incident, where he remained overnight on $50,000 bail. According to the claim, Marsh was released the following morning with the explanation that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. Marsh was subsequently charged with child endangerment and resisting arrest.
The three-page claim identifies Lawson as the responsible official and states that Marsh suffered the public humiliation of being falsely arrested and the arrest made him miss a work-related assignment that ultimately led to loss of his job.
”At the hands of defendant Lawson,” the claim stated, “claimant Sean Marsh then suffered ongoing humiliation, harassment and expense when he was vindictively prosecuted on groundless charges, of which he was eventually acquitted; and the stigma of being accused on child endangerment persists.”
Ferndale council rejects Marsh's claim
Jessie Faulkner The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 06/21/2007 04:42:10 AM PDT
FERNDALE -- A former resident's $25,000 claim alleging the police chief violated his civil rights was unanimously rejected by the City Council, which opens the door for a lawsuit, the city's attorney said Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the council rejected the claim by Sean Marsh in a 4-0 vote during a closed session. Councilman Michael Moreland was not present. Marsh filed the claim in response to his arrest last year on charges of child endangerment. He was acquitted in February.
City Attorney David Martinek said Tuesday that state law allows a City Council to reject a claim or wait 45 days without action, at which point a claim is deemed rejected. If the claimant decides to pursue legal action, Martinek said, he or she has six months to file a lawsuit.
Martinek said he had not received notice from Marsh or Marsh's attorney that they plan to file a lawsuit.
The child endangerment charges -- stemming from allegations he let his 2-year-old son almost run into Main Street in May 2006 -- and resisting arrest.
The former owner of Village Baking and Catering in Ferndale was also accused of declining to provide written proof of identification to Ferndale Police Chief Lonnie Lawson.
Marsh's attorney, Dennis Cunningham of San Francisco, provided a copy of the claim. Repeated attempts to acquire a copy from the city of Ferndale were unsuccessful.
Lawson arrested Marsh and booked him into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility after the May 2006 incident, where he remained overnight on $50,000 bail. According to the claim, Marsh was released the following morning with the explanation that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. Marsh was subsequently charged with child endangerment and resisting arrest.
The three-page claim identifies Lawson as the responsible official and states that Marsh suffered the public humiliation of being falsely arrested and the arrest made him miss a work-related assignment that ultimately led to loss of his job.
”At the hands of defendant Lawson,” the claim stated, “claimant Sean Marsh then suffered ongoing humiliation, harassment and expense when he was vindictively prosecuted on groundless charges, of which he was eventually acquitted; and the stigma of being accused on child endangerment persists.”
5.27.2007
TS - Enough secrecy in the DA's office
Enough secrecy in the DA's office
The Times-Standard Editorial Article Launched: 05/25/2007 04:29:32 AM PDT
The chief prosecutor of Humboldt County has us scratching our heads with his waffling over making his office's “use of force” policy available to the public.
The issue arose when District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his new investigator, former Eureka police Sgt. Mike Hislop, proposed to beef up their firepower with the purchase of eight AR-15 semiautomatic rifles. This triggered questions from Loretta Nicklaus, Humboldt County's administrative officer, who wondered whether the DA had the need, training and policies in place for such an arsenal -- a use of force policy, in particular.
While working on a story about the new weapons, two Times-Standard reporters sought a copy of the DA's policy. Gallegos initially said he would get them a copy, then changed his mind and wouldn't even let them view the document. The Times-Standard then made a formal request a week ago under the state Public Records Act. Gallegos has 10 days to release the use of force policy, or to explain his legal reasons for withholding it.
Since then, Gallegos has offered these comments about the issue, via e-mail:
* “I never said that the information was not available under the Freedom of Information Act. Quite the contrary, I informed you that our use of force policy is not a public record.” To throw around some legal Latin, that's a non sequitur. A FOIA request is the federal equivalent of the California Public Records Act, and is a tool used to pry PUBLIC records out of reluctant PUBLIC officials.
* “I have some reluctance to make use of force policies public information . . . especially when there is no claim that anyone (in the DA's office) has unlawfully used force.”
That has no bearing on whether a policy is public or not. But perhaps Gallegos and his team are being overly sensitive to community polarization about four shooting deaths involving Eureka police officers, going back to Cheri Lyn Moore more than a year ago. DA investigations and findings on three of those deaths are pending, including Moore's.
* “I also informed you that, if you heard from others that (our use of force policy is a public record), to let me know and I would consider others' determinations.”
The Eureka Police Department and the county sheriff's department say their use of force policies are open to the public, as does the DA in San Diego County. So do two open-records experts we checked with -- attorneys who said the law is clear: The public not only has a right to view use of force policies, but to receive copies.
Also, the California Peace Officers' Association says such policies are important in creating public confidence in law enforcement. To do that, of course, the public must know what the policy is.
We have to wonder: Why all this bobbing and weaving, especially by somebody who should know the law? If the DA's office has a use of force policy, let's see it. If it does not, then it should 'fess up and create one (the California Peace Officers' Association has a sample you can adapt). Then put it online, so everyone can see it. That should free up time to produce the long-overdue report on Moore's death.
Related stories:
DA under fire over assault rifles
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors AGENDA March 6, 2007 Consent Calendar Item c-5
New questions arise after Gallegos' answers about rifles
Concerns raised over DA investigator weapons
Other Blogs discuss:
DA's office requests hand grenades...
Eric - Gallegos wants guns
Fred - DA's Office Follows Vroman's Lead
The Times-Standard Editorial Article Launched: 05/25/2007 04:29:32 AM PDT
The chief prosecutor of Humboldt County has us scratching our heads with his waffling over making his office's “use of force” policy available to the public.
The issue arose when District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his new investigator, former Eureka police Sgt. Mike Hislop, proposed to beef up their firepower with the purchase of eight AR-15 semiautomatic rifles. This triggered questions from Loretta Nicklaus, Humboldt County's administrative officer, who wondered whether the DA had the need, training and policies in place for such an arsenal -- a use of force policy, in particular.
While working on a story about the new weapons, two Times-Standard reporters sought a copy of the DA's policy. Gallegos initially said he would get them a copy, then changed his mind and wouldn't even let them view the document. The Times-Standard then made a formal request a week ago under the state Public Records Act. Gallegos has 10 days to release the use of force policy, or to explain his legal reasons for withholding it.
Since then, Gallegos has offered these comments about the issue, via e-mail:
* “I never said that the information was not available under the Freedom of Information Act. Quite the contrary, I informed you that our use of force policy is not a public record.” To throw around some legal Latin, that's a non sequitur. A FOIA request is the federal equivalent of the California Public Records Act, and is a tool used to pry PUBLIC records out of reluctant PUBLIC officials.
* “I have some reluctance to make use of force policies public information . . . especially when there is no claim that anyone (in the DA's office) has unlawfully used force.”
That has no bearing on whether a policy is public or not. But perhaps Gallegos and his team are being overly sensitive to community polarization about four shooting deaths involving Eureka police officers, going back to Cheri Lyn Moore more than a year ago. DA investigations and findings on three of those deaths are pending, including Moore's.
* “I also informed you that, if you heard from others that (our use of force policy is a public record), to let me know and I would consider others' determinations.”
The Eureka Police Department and the county sheriff's department say their use of force policies are open to the public, as does the DA in San Diego County. So do two open-records experts we checked with -- attorneys who said the law is clear: The public not only has a right to view use of force policies, but to receive copies.
Also, the California Peace Officers' Association says such policies are important in creating public confidence in law enforcement. To do that, of course, the public must know what the policy is.
We have to wonder: Why all this bobbing and weaving, especially by somebody who should know the law? If the DA's office has a use of force policy, let's see it. If it does not, then it should 'fess up and create one (the California Peace Officers' Association has a sample you can adapt). Then put it online, so everyone can see it. That should free up time to produce the long-overdue report on Moore's death.
Related stories:
DA under fire over assault rifles
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors AGENDA March 6, 2007 Consent Calendar Item c-5
New questions arise after Gallegos' answers about rifles
Concerns raised over DA investigator weapons
Other Blogs discuss:
DA's office requests hand grenades...
Eric - Gallegos wants guns
Fred - DA's Office Follows Vroman's Lead
5.19.2007
TS - Concerns raised over DA investigator weapons
Concerns raised over DA investigator weapons
Chris Durant The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 05/19/2007 04:29:32 AM PDT
The proposed arming of district attorney investigators with semiautomatic rifles is raising some questions about whether that unit of the district attorney's office should act as a police force.
Humboldt County Administrative Officer Loretta Nickolaus asked District Attorney Paul Gallegos earlier this month to explain the proposed purchase of eight AR-15 rifles.
Nickolaus laid out a series of concerns in an e-mail and questioned whether the weapons were “outside their course and scope of work” and whether it would create a conflict if investigators were at the scene of a standoff or hostage situation as backup.
”Does the DA's office have a use of force policy, and or training programs or policies for any of this stuff?” she wrote in an e-mail to Gallegos. “There are many questions, and I need answers before I can approve these purchases.”
A meeting between Nickolaus and the district attorney's office is scheduled for May 29.
In a series of interviews this week, Gallegos said his investigators are like any other police officers and need to be well-equipped because they sometimes act on their own in remote areas without police backup.
He said his office has a use of force policy, but refused to turn over a copy to the Times-Standard, saying it's not public record.
The Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department said their use of force policies are public record. The EPD immediately faxed over a copy.
The San Diego County district attorney's office also said its use of force policy is public record.
The weapons request came soon after chief investigator Mike Hislop moved over to the office from the Eureka Police Department earlier this year.
”I want my guys equipped just as much as the other officers,” Hislop said.
He gave a recent example of investigators accompanying an attorney to check out an old homicide scene in Weitchpec without any other police presence. DA investigator Tom Cooke, who this week assisted other agencies in a large marijuana bust on public lands where an AK-47 was found, said he was the only officer on the scene without a rifle.
Investigator Wayne Cox said he has accompanied witnesses, attorneys and victims to crime scenes in remote areas without other law enforcement.
”And backup is a long way away,” Cox said. “I don't want to get in a gunbattle with a pistol against someone with an AK-47.”
A small survey of other district attorney's offices in rural areas found rifles weren't unique, but other similarly sized offices were not armed to the degree Gallegos is proposing.
Dan Kartchner, chief investigator for the Shasta County district attorney's office, said there are three assault rifles available for his investigators to use on a check-out basis. The rifles have been used in fugitive pursuits and to patrol remote areas during natural disasters such as fires, Kartchner said
Ed Kanutsen, chief investigator with the Napa County district attorney's office, said his office does not have assault rifles but would buy them if he had the resources.
The request has come to the attention of other North Coast law enforcement officials.
”From my perspective, I'm a little puzzled by it,” said Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen. “But it's up to the district attorney to use his resources as he sees fit.”
Nielsen, who just moved to the area from a Sheriff's Department in Oregon, said when he worked with district attorney investigators in Oregon, they were more in a follow-up investigation role.
Gabe Harp, a senior consultant for Police Officer Standards and Training, said DA investigators do engage in special investigations and he noted there is a lack of backup in remote areas.
”Because of the types of investigations they might get, a little handgun can seem impotent at times,” Harp said.
As for the number of weapons requested, Hislop said each rifle's sights would be adjusted to an individual investigator who would have to qualify with their weapon at a range every three months.
”If they don't qualify, they don't get the rifle,” Hislop said.
Five of the eight investigators were police officers in local departments before coming to the district attorney's office.
Hislop added that if another agency requested assistance from his investigators, and they were able, they would respond and assist.
The $12,000 being used to purchase the weapons comes from the District Attorney Asset Forfeiture trust funds which Hislop said can only be used to purchase equipment.
The DA's office has two similar but older rifles. Investigator Mike Losey has been with the office for 10 years and said there were plenty of times he armed himself with one of the rifles during an investigation.
Hislop said he's scheduled to meet with Nickolaus to talk about the concerns.
”I have an answer to all her questions,” he said.
Staff Writer John Driscoll contributed to this story.
Chris Durant can be reached at 441-0506 or cdurant at times-standard.com.
Comments on TS site:
If they have 2 I don't think they need a further 8. It sounds like they do have use for some rifles, though maybe not AR-15s. Gallegos should stop being a weirdo and hand over their use of force policy.
Max | 05.19.07 - 5:27 am | # |
I am beginning to really dislike the arrogance of Gallegos. What next? I think all social workers should be heavily armed. You never know when they will have to clear out a room.
Bill the Chimp | 05.19.07 - 7:36 am | # |
With some in the community questioning the impartially of the D.A's Office investigating major police incidences and calling for the formation of a Citizen's Review Board, the intended acquision of AR-15 rifels by the D.A. Investigator's office under the guise of being ready to assist local agencies in drug raids and swat type situations does nothing to put those questions to rest. The D.A Investigators would do well to remember that they are an investigative unit...not Rambos
John | 05.19.07 - 8:54 am | # |
Is there something mentally wrong with this guy? Bribes, plagiarism, mismanagement, one failed prosecution after another, and now he wants his own assault team. Shouldn't we run the moron out of office BEFORE we pay a small fortune to arm him to the teeth?
anonymous | 05.19.07 - 9:14 am | # |
OH OH!! Don't sound good...........
D Jones | 05.19.07 - 9:30 am | # |
"Rambo"?___The "Terminator"? [What's the diff?]
DtB | 05.19.07 - 9:38 am | # |
Oh my ! Arming law enforcement officers ? The DA investigators are law enforcement officers by the way.
Has the Arcata syndrome infected everybody in Humboldt County ? Maybe we should get rid of all their guns & give them peace symbols instead.
Jim E | 05.19.07 - 9:57 am | # |
Did anyone check out some of the prices?
$1900 per rifle is pretty high for a AR-15, even with a red dot halo site and a couple of extra mags.
And the ammo cost must be a misprint, $198 would buy about 800-1000 rds, not a 20 rd box.
Anon12345 | 05.19.07 - 9:58 am | # |
No one questions whether DA investigators should have guns, Jim. Of course they have them, and this is proper. What they should not have is an in-house assault team commanded by a rogue cop who answers to an incompetent attorney. It's unnecessary, it's unprecedented and it's just plain wrong.
Ronald | 05.19.07 - 10:31 am | # |
Somebody needs to take a close look at the conflict-of-interest issues here. Loretta Nickolaus raised the question, and it needs to be answered. The second the DA's office begins to conduct its own raids and sweeps, it can no longer impartially investigate those incidents. More important, it can no longer operate with legal immunity for these voluntarily assumed duties, which opens the county up to enormous liability. If you think paying off Tammy Falor was expensive, wait until one of the DA's gun nuts shoots someone.
ReedJ | 05.19.07 - 10:38 am | # |
I wonder if anyone has told Paul's traditional SoHum supporters that he wants the weapons and other equipment to augment his asset forfeiture efforts. I would think that might make a few growers rethink their generous cash contributions to his next campaign.
Ronald | 05.19.07 - 10:41 am | # |
Regarding the comment by Bill The Chimp: "What next? I think all social workers should be heavily armed."
Have you ever stood in line or had to be at the local social services/welfare office? That is where all our tweakers and crackheads are! (Sorry to the few minority of people that REALLY are there for deserving reasons...). Anyways, I bet you ask a few social workers, they would agree with your meant to be sarcastic comment! That place gets petty freaky!
But back on the subject...Maybe those used-to-be-cops should have stayed cops and should accept their new job for what it is.....I think they should have a few rifles on hand, but stay out of the standoffs, that's what the police officers are for.
- | 05.19.07 - 10:52 am | # |
Seems to me that Hislop came over to the D A' S Office from gestapo minded epd (I hope the new chief and it sounds like he will change epd"s attitude they have towards the public)with no supervisory experience except car crashes.. Now lets see the smoker Gallegos hires him to be the chief investigator, which is supposed to be in charge of all investigations for the district attorney. Seems just like another "smoked uped" decision to hire hislop by Paul. Now hislop wants assault weapons. come on what are you two smokin. they do not need assault guns, After all how many arrest have they made in the past 25 years.
annon | 05.19.07 - 11:17 am | # |
The local media should be ashamed of itself for this tabloid atmosphere in which it shrouds every story. This is a non-story, and he will get his guns. You guys will have your story if they are ever used. Since when have the local papers turned into God, determining which law enforcement officers get to have what equipment?
The local news media is toxic.
Anonymous | 05.19.07 - 11:57 am | # |
Yes, while they are sworn officers with a badge and a gun, they have elected to leave the "streets" and step into an investigative unit. Most often crimes are investigated after they have occured. And we have police officers and deputies on the streets and in the courthouse to handle incidences as they arise. I'm assuming that they are qualified to do their job or they would not have been hired... big assumption I know. Therefore, there should be no reason for the DA investigators to "come to the rescue" of other officers who are trained, equipted and competent to do the job they signed up for. Ya know, for as long as I have lived here, EPD has had the reputation of being egotistical big fish in a small pond. Not that I believe all of them are, but in my opinion, these investigators helped EPD get that reputation in the first place and have not yet let go of it... their ego that is.
Tami | 05.19.07 - 12:08 pm | # |
Gotta love it folks! When the "right" crowd whacks out, the "left" crowd becomes suspicious of everything. Hehehe! Sound familiar?
Look at it this way... big guns are big guns. Bad guys have big guns too. So, there needs to be balance.
Arming DDA's with artillery is much less expensive then hiring a new police officer. More money left over for those all important social services that never end.
You all have more to gain by obeying the laws. It ain't a football game, don't ya know?
Mike | 05.19.07 - 12:26 pm | # |
Yea, Mike we all know life isn't a football game! However, everyone has a role to play.. ie: Police Officers for the city streets, Sheriff's Deputies for the county areas and the D.A Investigators for INVESTIGATIONS.. get it?
John | 05.19.07 - 12:33 pm | # | Report this comment for offensive material
Hey! I have another idea! Why not sponsor a fund raiser!
Raise money for the purchase of those assault weapons by selling arts and crafts and perhaps some of your dope behind the tent? Raffles are always a winner, too!
Door prizes... get out of jail "free" cards!
That'll work! Community involvement!
Mike | 05.19.07 - 12:37 pm | # |
Just a thought. The investigator is investigating a 2 strikes doper for meth production out in the middle of nowhere. Investigator is looking for sites, and runs across the doper. The Investigator has a 9mm pistol, the doper has an ak. The Investigater is now in trouble. Remember there are bad people, many have multiple felonies. With a Carbine the Investigator has a much better chance of survival.
Is it because the rifle in question is an AR 15 that some are upset? As for mutual aid, if a Ferndale cop is in trouble and calls for assistance, the theory seems to be that the DA's investigator can't respond. That's ****.
tj | 05.19.07 - 1:13 pm | # |
If a Ferndale cop needs help, the Sheriff's Office or Fortuna PD would respond.
The Hislop/Gallegos connection is troubling. Hislop replaced Jim Dawson. Dawson is Hislop's father-in-law. How is it that Dawson was allowed to handpick his unqualified son-in-law to replace him? Wasn't there a background investigation into Hislop's cloudy past?
Dig deeper folks. There's a rotten smell coming from the DA's Office and it started when Hislop got hired. Its going to get worse.
Ask questions about the EPD shootings and find out what role Hislop played in them and what role he'll have investigating them. Now there's a conflict, eh?
Annon | 05.19.07 - 1:47 pm | # |
Can either the Times-Standard or Eureka Reporter discuss these issues without such blatant animosity towards the DA? I have a feeling if you guys sniffed some sort of controversy over the DA's office NOT having enough AR-15's for the officers you would run with that story!
Anonymous | 05.19.07 - 1:49 pm | # |
Chris Durant The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 05/19/2007 04:29:32 AM PDT
The proposed arming of district attorney investigators with semiautomatic rifles is raising some questions about whether that unit of the district attorney's office should act as a police force.
Humboldt County Administrative Officer Loretta Nickolaus asked District Attorney Paul Gallegos earlier this month to explain the proposed purchase of eight AR-15 rifles.
Nickolaus laid out a series of concerns in an e-mail and questioned whether the weapons were “outside their course and scope of work” and whether it would create a conflict if investigators were at the scene of a standoff or hostage situation as backup.
”Does the DA's office have a use of force policy, and or training programs or policies for any of this stuff?” she wrote in an e-mail to Gallegos. “There are many questions, and I need answers before I can approve these purchases.”
A meeting between Nickolaus and the district attorney's office is scheduled for May 29.
In a series of interviews this week, Gallegos said his investigators are like any other police officers and need to be well-equipped because they sometimes act on their own in remote areas without police backup.
He said his office has a use of force policy, but refused to turn over a copy to the Times-Standard, saying it's not public record.
The Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department said their use of force policies are public record. The EPD immediately faxed over a copy.
The San Diego County district attorney's office also said its use of force policy is public record.
The weapons request came soon after chief investigator Mike Hislop moved over to the office from the Eureka Police Department earlier this year.
”I want my guys equipped just as much as the other officers,” Hislop said.
He gave a recent example of investigators accompanying an attorney to check out an old homicide scene in Weitchpec without any other police presence. DA investigator Tom Cooke, who this week assisted other agencies in a large marijuana bust on public lands where an AK-47 was found, said he was the only officer on the scene without a rifle.
Investigator Wayne Cox said he has accompanied witnesses, attorneys and victims to crime scenes in remote areas without other law enforcement.
”And backup is a long way away,” Cox said. “I don't want to get in a gunbattle with a pistol against someone with an AK-47.”
A small survey of other district attorney's offices in rural areas found rifles weren't unique, but other similarly sized offices were not armed to the degree Gallegos is proposing.
Dan Kartchner, chief investigator for the Shasta County district attorney's office, said there are three assault rifles available for his investigators to use on a check-out basis. The rifles have been used in fugitive pursuits and to patrol remote areas during natural disasters such as fires, Kartchner said
Ed Kanutsen, chief investigator with the Napa County district attorney's office, said his office does not have assault rifles but would buy them if he had the resources.
The request has come to the attention of other North Coast law enforcement officials.
”From my perspective, I'm a little puzzled by it,” said Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen. “But it's up to the district attorney to use his resources as he sees fit.”
Nielsen, who just moved to the area from a Sheriff's Department in Oregon, said when he worked with district attorney investigators in Oregon, they were more in a follow-up investigation role.
Gabe Harp, a senior consultant for Police Officer Standards and Training, said DA investigators do engage in special investigations and he noted there is a lack of backup in remote areas.
”Because of the types of investigations they might get, a little handgun can seem impotent at times,” Harp said.
As for the number of weapons requested, Hislop said each rifle's sights would be adjusted to an individual investigator who would have to qualify with their weapon at a range every three months.
”If they don't qualify, they don't get the rifle,” Hislop said.
Five of the eight investigators were police officers in local departments before coming to the district attorney's office.
Hislop added that if another agency requested assistance from his investigators, and they were able, they would respond and assist.
The $12,000 being used to purchase the weapons comes from the District Attorney Asset Forfeiture trust funds which Hislop said can only be used to purchase equipment.
The DA's office has two similar but older rifles. Investigator Mike Losey has been with the office for 10 years and said there were plenty of times he armed himself with one of the rifles during an investigation.
Hislop said he's scheduled to meet with Nickolaus to talk about the concerns.
”I have an answer to all her questions,” he said.
Staff Writer John Driscoll contributed to this story.
Chris Durant can be reached at 441-0506 or cdurant at times-standard.com.
Comments on TS site:
If they have 2 I don't think they need a further 8. It sounds like they do have use for some rifles, though maybe not AR-15s. Gallegos should stop being a weirdo and hand over their use of force policy.
Max | 05.19.07 - 5:27 am | # |
I am beginning to really dislike the arrogance of Gallegos. What next? I think all social workers should be heavily armed. You never know when they will have to clear out a room.
Bill the Chimp | 05.19.07 - 7:36 am | # |
With some in the community questioning the impartially of the D.A's Office investigating major police incidences and calling for the formation of a Citizen's Review Board, the intended acquision of AR-15 rifels by the D.A. Investigator's office under the guise of being ready to assist local agencies in drug raids and swat type situations does nothing to put those questions to rest. The D.A Investigators would do well to remember that they are an investigative unit...not Rambos
John | 05.19.07 - 8:54 am | # |
Is there something mentally wrong with this guy? Bribes, plagiarism, mismanagement, one failed prosecution after another, and now he wants his own assault team. Shouldn't we run the moron out of office BEFORE we pay a small fortune to arm him to the teeth?
anonymous | 05.19.07 - 9:14 am | # |
OH OH!! Don't sound good...........
D Jones | 05.19.07 - 9:30 am | # |
"Rambo"?___The "Terminator"? [What's the diff?]
DtB | 05.19.07 - 9:38 am | # |
Oh my ! Arming law enforcement officers ? The DA investigators are law enforcement officers by the way.
Has the Arcata syndrome infected everybody in Humboldt County ? Maybe we should get rid of all their guns & give them peace symbols instead.
Jim E | 05.19.07 - 9:57 am | # |
Did anyone check out some of the prices?
$1900 per rifle is pretty high for a AR-15, even with a red dot halo site and a couple of extra mags.
And the ammo cost must be a misprint, $198 would buy about 800-1000 rds, not a 20 rd box.
Anon12345 | 05.19.07 - 9:58 am | # |
No one questions whether DA investigators should have guns, Jim. Of course they have them, and this is proper. What they should not have is an in-house assault team commanded by a rogue cop who answers to an incompetent attorney. It's unnecessary, it's unprecedented and it's just plain wrong.
Ronald | 05.19.07 - 10:31 am | # |
Somebody needs to take a close look at the conflict-of-interest issues here. Loretta Nickolaus raised the question, and it needs to be answered. The second the DA's office begins to conduct its own raids and sweeps, it can no longer impartially investigate those incidents. More important, it can no longer operate with legal immunity for these voluntarily assumed duties, which opens the county up to enormous liability. If you think paying off Tammy Falor was expensive, wait until one of the DA's gun nuts shoots someone.
ReedJ | 05.19.07 - 10:38 am | # |
I wonder if anyone has told Paul's traditional SoHum supporters that he wants the weapons and other equipment to augment his asset forfeiture efforts. I would think that might make a few growers rethink their generous cash contributions to his next campaign.
Ronald | 05.19.07 - 10:41 am | # |
Regarding the comment by Bill The Chimp: "What next? I think all social workers should be heavily armed."
Have you ever stood in line or had to be at the local social services/welfare office? That is where all our tweakers and crackheads are! (Sorry to the few minority of people that REALLY are there for deserving reasons...). Anyways, I bet you ask a few social workers, they would agree with your meant to be sarcastic comment! That place gets petty freaky!
But back on the subject...Maybe those used-to-be-cops should have stayed cops and should accept their new job for what it is.....I think they should have a few rifles on hand, but stay out of the standoffs, that's what the police officers are for.
- | 05.19.07 - 10:52 am | # |
Seems to me that Hislop came over to the D A' S Office from gestapo minded epd (I hope the new chief and it sounds like he will change epd"s attitude they have towards the public)with no supervisory experience except car crashes.. Now lets see the smoker Gallegos hires him to be the chief investigator, which is supposed to be in charge of all investigations for the district attorney. Seems just like another "smoked uped" decision to hire hislop by Paul. Now hislop wants assault weapons. come on what are you two smokin. they do not need assault guns, After all how many arrest have they made in the past 25 years.
annon | 05.19.07 - 11:17 am | # |
The local media should be ashamed of itself for this tabloid atmosphere in which it shrouds every story. This is a non-story, and he will get his guns. You guys will have your story if they are ever used. Since when have the local papers turned into God, determining which law enforcement officers get to have what equipment?
The local news media is toxic.
Anonymous | 05.19.07 - 11:57 am | # |
Yes, while they are sworn officers with a badge and a gun, they have elected to leave the "streets" and step into an investigative unit. Most often crimes are investigated after they have occured. And we have police officers and deputies on the streets and in the courthouse to handle incidences as they arise. I'm assuming that they are qualified to do their job or they would not have been hired... big assumption I know. Therefore, there should be no reason for the DA investigators to "come to the rescue" of other officers who are trained, equipted and competent to do the job they signed up for. Ya know, for as long as I have lived here, EPD has had the reputation of being egotistical big fish in a small pond. Not that I believe all of them are, but in my opinion, these investigators helped EPD get that reputation in the first place and have not yet let go of it... their ego that is.
Tami | 05.19.07 - 12:08 pm | # |
Gotta love it folks! When the "right" crowd whacks out, the "left" crowd becomes suspicious of everything. Hehehe! Sound familiar?
Look at it this way... big guns are big guns. Bad guys have big guns too. So, there needs to be balance.
Arming DDA's with artillery is much less expensive then hiring a new police officer. More money left over for those all important social services that never end.
You all have more to gain by obeying the laws. It ain't a football game, don't ya know?
Mike | 05.19.07 - 12:26 pm | # |
Yea, Mike we all know life isn't a football game! However, everyone has a role to play.. ie: Police Officers for the city streets, Sheriff's Deputies for the county areas and the D.A Investigators for INVESTIGATIONS.. get it?
John | 05.19.07 - 12:33 pm | # | Report this comment for offensive material
Hey! I have another idea! Why not sponsor a fund raiser!
Raise money for the purchase of those assault weapons by selling arts and crafts and perhaps some of your dope behind the tent? Raffles are always a winner, too!
Door prizes... get out of jail "free" cards!
That'll work! Community involvement!
Mike | 05.19.07 - 12:37 pm | # |
Just a thought. The investigator is investigating a 2 strikes doper for meth production out in the middle of nowhere. Investigator is looking for sites, and runs across the doper. The Investigator has a 9mm pistol, the doper has an ak. The Investigater is now in trouble. Remember there are bad people, many have multiple felonies. With a Carbine the Investigator has a much better chance of survival.
Is it because the rifle in question is an AR 15 that some are upset? As for mutual aid, if a Ferndale cop is in trouble and calls for assistance, the theory seems to be that the DA's investigator can't respond. That's ****.
tj | 05.19.07 - 1:13 pm | # |
If a Ferndale cop needs help, the Sheriff's Office or Fortuna PD would respond.
The Hislop/Gallegos connection is troubling. Hislop replaced Jim Dawson. Dawson is Hislop's father-in-law. How is it that Dawson was allowed to handpick his unqualified son-in-law to replace him? Wasn't there a background investigation into Hislop's cloudy past?
Dig deeper folks. There's a rotten smell coming from the DA's Office and it started when Hislop got hired. Its going to get worse.
Ask questions about the EPD shootings and find out what role Hislop played in them and what role he'll have investigating them. Now there's a conflict, eh?
Annon | 05.19.07 - 1:47 pm | # |
Can either the Times-Standard or Eureka Reporter discuss these issues without such blatant animosity towards the DA? I have a feeling if you guys sniffed some sort of controversy over the DA's office NOT having enough AR-15's for the officers you would run with that story!
Anonymous | 05.19.07 - 1:49 pm | # |