◼ Allan Dollison/My Word
I am running for the district attorney of Humboldt County to make serious reforms and bring organization, management and discipline to an office that has been sorely lacking that for quite some time.
The office suffers from poor management, a lack of resources, prioritization of what resources it does have and a loss of critical grants.
The mismanagement has reached a level where the Board of Supervisors has recently had to complete the office's budget, per two members of that body. The office has lost over 10 prosecutor positions under the current incumbent. Of those are two grant positions; a dedicated attorney for child abuse and child molestation cases; a dedicated attorney in the courts for fighting hard drugs, like methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine. It kept an auto insurance fraud grant, but lost these more important ones.
I think that is wrong and I will fight to insure that important grants like those that deal with dangerous violent crime and the terrible drug problem that we have in this county are maintained and I will fight to get them back.
Lack of resources often forces controversial plea agreements where individuals are not being held fully accountable for their actions. The litany of those cases is too long to include here but our papers and media outlets routinely cover these travesties of justice.
I would effectively deal with the serious problem of arrested individuals being released in the middle of the night. That is a decision of the sheriff, and there are laws and a Supreme Court case that dictate how it is to be handled.
I would work with the sheriff to reform that policy and insure that the district attorney's office statutory and constitutional right to review a case is protected, recognizing that if you are arrested, you can only be held for 48 hours, but I would work closely with the sheriff to insure that that the midnight releases end and the community is protected.
I have been a practicing attorney for over 18 years. Fully 1/3 of that was as a senior felony prosecutor here in Humboldt County. Over that period of time, I prosecuted thousands of cases. I am proud of the work I've done as a prosecutor, and would bring that zeal to the mostly younger prosecutors who currently work in the office, under what are extremely difficult and almost impossible conditions. In just felony cases, they are being asked to carry 4 times the amount of cases as the American Bar Association recommends, that can and frequently does lead to travesties in the administration of justice.
In 2011, during a leadership change, I was selected by District Attorney Paul Gallegos over and above my three opponents to be the chief prosecutor, the No. 3 attorney in the office underneath the district attorney and the assistant district attorney.
My most difficult case was People v. Brian Fiore. What began as a violent marijuana robbery turned into a murder where the suspects led law enforcement on a dangerous chase and the passenger (Mr. Fiore was the driver) began shooting at the pursuing officers. Ultimately the jury found Mr. Fiore guilty of Murder (and eight other felonies) for killing the passenger, his friend. It was a long complex trial that lasted two months with 35 witnesses, but I brought justice for a victim who himself had been involved in serious criminal activity but did not deserve to die at the hands of Mr. Fiore, who is now serving multiple life sentences.
I am a dedicated family man and my children are being educated in the public schools of Humboldt County, while my wife works as a manager at Staples. I have served my country in the Army for a quarter century, and am a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, I have been given critical leadership positions such as commanding a battalion.
I have traveled a lot, worked and lived in other communities and have a vast network of friends and associates throughout the state that I will call on to help fix the office. I will offer a laser focus on the problems of the office and work to reform justice for all victims of crime. My first priority will be to address the dangerous staffing shortages, assign trial teams to the most serious and violent cases, develop training programs for younger attorneys, and rebuild relationships with hard-working dedicated law enforcement officers.
3.16.2014
Meet your DA candidates: Elan Firpo
◼ Elan Firpo/My Word
y father and grandfather were career California Highway Patrolmen, my mother in police dispatch. Dad's career brought us to Garberville. I grew up in a law enforcement family with an unwavering respect for the law.
After graduating College of the Redwoods and Cal Poly, I became a high-tech design engineer. That led to a 13-year career designing computer components, then to supervising teams of 50 engineers and, eventually, to managing facilities with 3,000 employees around the globe. Rising to executive level in the private sector, my success demanded managing major operations, motivating employees and holding them accountable so that projects ran on time and under budget.
There is more to life than making good money. I heeded the call to public service instilled by my family's tradition, earned a law degree and returned to Humboldt in 2009 as a prosecutor: here, where my parents live and where I'm raising my children.
With proven executive experience and an engineer's obsession for solving problems, I will address the public safety issues of Humboldt County and manage the office of district attorney so that it works effectively and efficiently for you.
I will close the revolving door on those few who prey upon us, particularly repeat offenders that otherwise would have been imprisoned before realignment. As the only working deputy DA in this election, I have current working knowledge and experience navigating the new landscape created by the Governor's Plan that sent prisoners back to Humboldt and halved sentences.
While carrying a full case load at all times, I have also mentored summer interns, just as when I was an engineer. As district attorney, I'll establish prosecution protocols, which is management-speak for the way we prosecute ALL cases. By establishing clear guidelines for attorneys and support staff, we will prosecute as a team.
The DA must be a justice partner with other law enforcement agencies. All departments involved in public safety should coordinate our efforts to keep streets safe. My plan will bring together mental health programs, probation, social services, treatment facilities and the hard-working men and women in police organizations. By detailing one deputy DA to work with each agency, for example, we will be better able to distinguish criminals from addicts. Applying this approach to other types of cases, we bring about outcomes best suited for resolution of their impact in the community.
Marijuana grows that dry streams, damage the environment or attract violent criminals will be shut down. I advocate setting certifiable guidelines for legal 215 grows. In that way law enforcement will not come down on legal activities only to have cases thrown out in court, and growers can call on law enforcement when they're victimized.
I will optimize current resources and regain the confidence of the Board of Supervisors and the public by providing a quality work product in the form of consistent and rigorous prosecution. By putting in place proven management structures, ones that I'm very familiar with, we can improve our service to the county, attract more grant funding, and provide the supervisors with solid reasoning to support budget requests.
The broad coalition that supports this campaign is proof positive that the polarization of the DA's office will end under my watch. When the senior vice president of Green Diamond Resources and prominent environmental advocates agree on one candidate, that's a sign that we can truly rise above our differences. When two conservative Eureka City Council members and two former supervisors from the heavily Democratic Arcata's 3rd District stand together, we know that polarization can be surmounted. Humboldt constituencies who are worlds apart on passionate core issues set aside those differences to be in agreement that I exercise good judgment based solely on the facts and evidence. In a free, open society, it's essential that all sectors trust the structure and application of the law, under which we all thrive.
My candidacy refutes the wrong-headed notion that we must be combative in order to protect what we value most, or that bullying achieves results. Instead, in working together, my supporters find that all of us desire a clear impartial line in administering the law, that political persuasion curries no favor, and that I'm the candidate who has earned their trust to exercise the impartial judgment expected of the chief law enforcement officer of Humboldt County.
Yes, we can be one community working together for our common safety. I respectfully ask for your vote for district attorney to do just that.
y father and grandfather were career California Highway Patrolmen, my mother in police dispatch. Dad's career brought us to Garberville. I grew up in a law enforcement family with an unwavering respect for the law.
After graduating College of the Redwoods and Cal Poly, I became a high-tech design engineer. That led to a 13-year career designing computer components, then to supervising teams of 50 engineers and, eventually, to managing facilities with 3,000 employees around the globe. Rising to executive level in the private sector, my success demanded managing major operations, motivating employees and holding them accountable so that projects ran on time and under budget.
There is more to life than making good money. I heeded the call to public service instilled by my family's tradition, earned a law degree and returned to Humboldt in 2009 as a prosecutor: here, where my parents live and where I'm raising my children.
With proven executive experience and an engineer's obsession for solving problems, I will address the public safety issues of Humboldt County and manage the office of district attorney so that it works effectively and efficiently for you.
I will close the revolving door on those few who prey upon us, particularly repeat offenders that otherwise would have been imprisoned before realignment. As the only working deputy DA in this election, I have current working knowledge and experience navigating the new landscape created by the Governor's Plan that sent prisoners back to Humboldt and halved sentences.
While carrying a full case load at all times, I have also mentored summer interns, just as when I was an engineer. As district attorney, I'll establish prosecution protocols, which is management-speak for the way we prosecute ALL cases. By establishing clear guidelines for attorneys and support staff, we will prosecute as a team.
The DA must be a justice partner with other law enforcement agencies. All departments involved in public safety should coordinate our efforts to keep streets safe. My plan will bring together mental health programs, probation, social services, treatment facilities and the hard-working men and women in police organizations. By detailing one deputy DA to work with each agency, for example, we will be better able to distinguish criminals from addicts. Applying this approach to other types of cases, we bring about outcomes best suited for resolution of their impact in the community.
Marijuana grows that dry streams, damage the environment or attract violent criminals will be shut down. I advocate setting certifiable guidelines for legal 215 grows. In that way law enforcement will not come down on legal activities only to have cases thrown out in court, and growers can call on law enforcement when they're victimized.
I will optimize current resources and regain the confidence of the Board of Supervisors and the public by providing a quality work product in the form of consistent and rigorous prosecution. By putting in place proven management structures, ones that I'm very familiar with, we can improve our service to the county, attract more grant funding, and provide the supervisors with solid reasoning to support budget requests.
The broad coalition that supports this campaign is proof positive that the polarization of the DA's office will end under my watch. When the senior vice president of Green Diamond Resources and prominent environmental advocates agree on one candidate, that's a sign that we can truly rise above our differences. When two conservative Eureka City Council members and two former supervisors from the heavily Democratic Arcata's 3rd District stand together, we know that polarization can be surmounted. Humboldt constituencies who are worlds apart on passionate core issues set aside those differences to be in agreement that I exercise good judgment based solely on the facts and evidence. In a free, open society, it's essential that all sectors trust the structure and application of the law, under which we all thrive.
My candidacy refutes the wrong-headed notion that we must be combative in order to protect what we value most, or that bullying achieves results. Instead, in working together, my supporters find that all of us desire a clear impartial line in administering the law, that political persuasion curries no favor, and that I'm the candidate who has earned their trust to exercise the impartial judgment expected of the chief law enforcement officer of Humboldt County.
Yes, we can be one community working together for our common safety. I respectfully ask for your vote for district attorney to do just that.
Meet your DA candidates: Maggie Fleming
◼ Maggie Fleming/My Word
The duty of a prosecutor is to seek justice. Justice can take many forms -- from not filing a case brought by law enforcement to pursuit of a prison sentence -- but it takes knowledge, a firm ethical foundation, and a lot of hard work to identify the right outcome in each case. I'm running for district attorney because I am the candidate who can bring these qualities to the DA's office. I have served Humboldt County for over 20 years, and I know that in order to maintain justice and keep our community safe, we need an experienced, professional, and independent district attorney.
I served as a prosecutor for over 25 years (my career started in Contra Costa County.) I have prosecuted all types of cases and over 120 jury trials. I have presented cases to four criminal grand juries and argued before the court of appeals.
Over my entire career, I have consistently demonstrated qualities that are fundamental to an ethical and effective district attorney's office. I have: 1) consistently treated everyone involved in the criminal justice system with respect; 2) worked hard and never negotiated a case without all available information in hand and knowledge of sentencing options; 3) maintained open lines of communication with defense attorneys, the survivors and victims of crime, and law enforcement agencies; 4) never shown favoritism in applying the law -- I have prosecuted attorneys and police officers, and have obtained justice for victims from all walks of life, including prostitutes and the homeless.
Finally, I have recognized the fundamental role of community standards in criminal justice. Ultimately, the community as represented by juries, makes the decisions about guilt or innocence; ethical prosecutors keep this fact in the forefront when making charging decisions. True criminal justice is not driven by the political views or opinions of any individual. As DA I will give all cases brought to the office careful consideration; charged cases will be pursued with knowledge, skill and tenacity.
The district attorney's office under my supervision will be an office in which hard work, knowledge of the law, high ethical standards, professionalism, and collaboration are pervasive. I will accomplish this in part by mentoring early-career prosecutors. Humboldt County has historically attracted top-notch people to the DA's office. I believe my work and association with other prosecutors throughout the state will contribute to recruitment. I will strive to retain those people who eagerly and effectively meet the prosecutor's duty to seek justice -- which is not equivalent to seeking convictions. The Humboldt County DA's Office has also been fortunate to attract highly skilled, hard-working support staff. I will strive to attract and retain excellent staff by providing a well-organized, respectful working environment.
I will have a significant personal role in the review and management of individual cases, thereby creating consistency that increases justice and efficiency.
I will emphasize communication with the community: people will be given clear, honest and timely explanations for the actions of the district attorney's office.
I will collaborate with great energy on crime prevention. As with many societal problems, prevention of crime is much preferable to dealing with it after the fact. Through hard work and collaboration with other groups and agencies, the district attorney can have substantive roles in crime prevention. In general, incarceration of people affected by drug addiction or mental health issues does not benefit the individuals or society. As district attorney I would work with other county agencies as well as non-profits to see that these individuals receive treatment as part of sentencing. Some nearby counties (like Marin) have seen a drastic drop in recidivism using a collaborative approach that focuses on intensive treatment as an alternative to incarceration for people with mental health issues who have committed crimes.
Justice is not well-served when political considerations have influence. I believe our community has an overwhelming amount of common ground. We agree the justice system should seek to reduce the risk from people who have seriously threatened public safety. I believe community members are similarly united in their views on illegal actions that seriously damage our natural resources. I seek to create an apolitical DA's office that brings ability, hard work and the highest ethical and professional standards to the job every day.
The duty of a prosecutor is to seek justice. Justice can take many forms -- from not filing a case brought by law enforcement to pursuit of a prison sentence -- but it takes knowledge, a firm ethical foundation, and a lot of hard work to identify the right outcome in each case. I'm running for district attorney because I am the candidate who can bring these qualities to the DA's office. I have served Humboldt County for over 20 years, and I know that in order to maintain justice and keep our community safe, we need an experienced, professional, and independent district attorney.
I served as a prosecutor for over 25 years (my career started in Contra Costa County.) I have prosecuted all types of cases and over 120 jury trials. I have presented cases to four criminal grand juries and argued before the court of appeals.
Over my entire career, I have consistently demonstrated qualities that are fundamental to an ethical and effective district attorney's office. I have: 1) consistently treated everyone involved in the criminal justice system with respect; 2) worked hard and never negotiated a case without all available information in hand and knowledge of sentencing options; 3) maintained open lines of communication with defense attorneys, the survivors and victims of crime, and law enforcement agencies; 4) never shown favoritism in applying the law -- I have prosecuted attorneys and police officers, and have obtained justice for victims from all walks of life, including prostitutes and the homeless.
Finally, I have recognized the fundamental role of community standards in criminal justice. Ultimately, the community as represented by juries, makes the decisions about guilt or innocence; ethical prosecutors keep this fact in the forefront when making charging decisions. True criminal justice is not driven by the political views or opinions of any individual. As DA I will give all cases brought to the office careful consideration; charged cases will be pursued with knowledge, skill and tenacity.
The district attorney's office under my supervision will be an office in which hard work, knowledge of the law, high ethical standards, professionalism, and collaboration are pervasive. I will accomplish this in part by mentoring early-career prosecutors. Humboldt County has historically attracted top-notch people to the DA's office. I believe my work and association with other prosecutors throughout the state will contribute to recruitment. I will strive to retain those people who eagerly and effectively meet the prosecutor's duty to seek justice -- which is not equivalent to seeking convictions. The Humboldt County DA's Office has also been fortunate to attract highly skilled, hard-working support staff. I will strive to attract and retain excellent staff by providing a well-organized, respectful working environment.
I will have a significant personal role in the review and management of individual cases, thereby creating consistency that increases justice and efficiency.
I will emphasize communication with the community: people will be given clear, honest and timely explanations for the actions of the district attorney's office.
I will collaborate with great energy on crime prevention. As with many societal problems, prevention of crime is much preferable to dealing with it after the fact. Through hard work and collaboration with other groups and agencies, the district attorney can have substantive roles in crime prevention. In general, incarceration of people affected by drug addiction or mental health issues does not benefit the individuals or society. As district attorney I would work with other county agencies as well as non-profits to see that these individuals receive treatment as part of sentencing. Some nearby counties (like Marin) have seen a drastic drop in recidivism using a collaborative approach that focuses on intensive treatment as an alternative to incarceration for people with mental health issues who have committed crimes.
Justice is not well-served when political considerations have influence. I believe our community has an overwhelming amount of common ground. We agree the justice system should seek to reduce the risk from people who have seriously threatened public safety. I believe community members are similarly united in their views on illegal actions that seriously damage our natural resources. I seek to create an apolitical DA's office that brings ability, hard work and the highest ethical and professional standards to the job every day.
Meet your DA candidates: Arnie Klein
◼ Arnie Klein/My Word
During my six years as a Humboldt County deputy district attorney, I saw first-hand many of the ingrained obstacles and missed opportunities present in the district attorney's office. Two of the most egregious issues I noticed were the very outdated system and the lack of staff experience.
Humboldt DA's office is outdated and inefficient: The Humboldt County DA's Office is running on an antiquated system filled with inefficiencies and time-consuming paperwork. The workload per deputy district attorney is already unacceptably high, especially considering the average experience level currently in that office, but the 25-year-old platform they're operating on is making that load even more cumbersome.
A great deal of time is wasted, for example, on a form called Factual Statement of the Case. Staff members take more time filling this form out fully and correctly than it took to write the original police report. The fact is this form is unnecessary and just wastes valuable time -- time that could be used to actually prepare for a case.
This is one of many examples of wasted effort in the Humboldt DA's office. There are several unnecessary processes and paperwork chains bogging down the office that I will do away with as part of a larger modernization effort when I am elected district attorney.
A worrying lack of experience: Were you the best at your job when you first started? Or did you get better overtime? Experience means a lot when it comes to doing a job well. A lack of experience becomes tragic when it's present in the DA's office. High priority cases in Humboldt County aren't getting the seasoned prosecutors they should because there is a lack of experienced deputy district attorneys. We deserve better.
When the right leadership is in place, Humboldt County can have a well-rounded prosecutorial team with the experience to tackle high priority cases. Having such a team would also mean the less experienced deputy district attorneys could be mentored properly by senior staff and the DA to become better prosecutors. Mentoring has sadly been lacking in the DA's office over the last few years, and we're worse off because of it.
How best to address these problems: The most important action that can be taken in the DA's office is to increase the number of deputy district attorneys. I would bring in those with ample experience to competently prosecute high priority cases, such as the tragic murder of Rev. Eric Freed. To ensure justice and the community are served, the prosecutor handling a complex and sensitive case like that one needs to have extensive experience as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. Cases will not be assigned based on a political priority.
When elected, I will make the DA's office the tip of the sword in leading law enforcement to prosecute. Using my experience as a defense attorney and 20 years as a deputy district attorney for four California counties, I am prepared to lead the department in a way that allows us to more efficiently and more intelligently prosecute cases.
During my six years as a Humboldt County deputy district attorney, I saw first-hand many of the ingrained obstacles and missed opportunities present in the district attorney's office. Two of the most egregious issues I noticed were the very outdated system and the lack of staff experience.
Humboldt DA's office is outdated and inefficient: The Humboldt County DA's Office is running on an antiquated system filled with inefficiencies and time-consuming paperwork. The workload per deputy district attorney is already unacceptably high, especially considering the average experience level currently in that office, but the 25-year-old platform they're operating on is making that load even more cumbersome.
A great deal of time is wasted, for example, on a form called Factual Statement of the Case. Staff members take more time filling this form out fully and correctly than it took to write the original police report. The fact is this form is unnecessary and just wastes valuable time -- time that could be used to actually prepare for a case.
This is one of many examples of wasted effort in the Humboldt DA's office. There are several unnecessary processes and paperwork chains bogging down the office that I will do away with as part of a larger modernization effort when I am elected district attorney.
A worrying lack of experience: Were you the best at your job when you first started? Or did you get better overtime? Experience means a lot when it comes to doing a job well. A lack of experience becomes tragic when it's present in the DA's office. High priority cases in Humboldt County aren't getting the seasoned prosecutors they should because there is a lack of experienced deputy district attorneys. We deserve better.
When the right leadership is in place, Humboldt County can have a well-rounded prosecutorial team with the experience to tackle high priority cases. Having such a team would also mean the less experienced deputy district attorneys could be mentored properly by senior staff and the DA to become better prosecutors. Mentoring has sadly been lacking in the DA's office over the last few years, and we're worse off because of it.
How best to address these problems: The most important action that can be taken in the DA's office is to increase the number of deputy district attorneys. I would bring in those with ample experience to competently prosecute high priority cases, such as the tragic murder of Rev. Eric Freed. To ensure justice and the community are served, the prosecutor handling a complex and sensitive case like that one needs to have extensive experience as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. Cases will not be assigned based on a political priority.
When elected, I will make the DA's office the tip of the sword in leading law enforcement to prosecute. Using my experience as a defense attorney and 20 years as a deputy district attorney for four California counties, I am prepared to lead the department in a way that allows us to more efficiently and more intelligently prosecute cases.
12.14.2013
SAVE: Paul Gallegos restored honor to DA's office, Ken Miller's MY WORD revisionist history
Paul Gallegos restored honor to DA's office
Ken Miller/My Word
POSTED: 12/14/2013 02:35:33 AM PST
UPDATED: 12/14/2013 02:35:34 AM PST
Susan Dodd celebrates Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos' coming departure with a litany of accusations (”Good riddance to Paul Gallegos,” Times-Standard, Dec. 6, Page A4), but misses his signature accomplishment: restoring dignity, independence and integrity to an office that was blind to some of Humboldt's most successful crooks. Two examples are illustrative:
Mr. Gallegos' courageous lawsuit vs. Maxxam/Pacific Lumber stood out in stark contrast to the conciliatory stance adopted by every other political and regulatory agency official, who acted mostly as enablers, beneficiaries, or appeasers, while the venerable PL was looted, and our watersheds and forests liquidated with catastrophic consequences for residents, fish, and the future of our forest products industry.
Despite accumulating a record of California Department of Forestry violations, despite causing ongoing flooding and loss of domestic water supplies in Elk River, despite despoiling Freshwater, Jordan, Stitz, and Bear Creeks as well, our regulators and policymakers stood by while protesters were castigated and arrested. When the California Regional Water Board entered the fray with its independent authority, local ranchers and foresters rose up to defend Maxxam/PL, and opposed appropriate regulations to restore water quality, thereby turning against their own neighbors.
It was in this context that Gallegos showed his independence and integrity. He challenged only one of Maxxam/PL's deceitful practices, when PL allegedly cheated on the environmental documents submitted in support of the Headwaters Deal.
Maxxam prevailed only because of legal technicalities that in part may be summed up as “The Right to Lie.” But Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson, before his unfortunate removal from the case, ruled that if PL/Maxxam's actions prevented fruition of the process, it could be guilty of “extrinsic fraud,” thereby bypassing that so-called right to lie. And prevent it it would have: Another Wilson, Richard, former head of CDF, proclaimed that had he been aware of the evidence, he would not have approved the deal.
It should be recalled that Gallegos was forced to go it alone against Hurwitz's legal team when our supervisors declined to accept the offer of pro bono legal assistance from the powerful law firm of Cotchett et al. in the Bay Area. That's right: they declined free legal help from one of the state's finest law firms, which pretty much sums up the county's near total capitulation to, and conflicts of interest with, Maxxam during the firm's two decades of rapacious liquidation in Humboldt County.
Former Supervisor Roger Rodoni rented hundreds of acres from Maxxam/PL for a pittance, and former Supervisor Bonnie Neely was married to Gallegos' opponent, Terry Farmer, who lost the 2000 election.
It's no wonder that Maxxam financed the failed recall of Mr. Gallegos.
Unsurprisingly, Gallegos lost in court against the high-priced team of lawyers for Maxxam/PL, but we are the big losers.
Paul took a lot of heat that should rightly have been directed at the biggest crooks to despoil our county in modern times.
In another act of political independence and bravery, Gallegos took the highly unusual, and politically and personally risky, step of prosecuting the architects of the killing of Cheri Lynn Moore. Here you had a mentally distraught woman armed with a flare gun, holed up in her own apartment in downtown Eureka. She wanted help, so she called mental health services, and the cops went into action. After denying her friend access, claiming Ms. Moore posed an imminent risk of fire, they charged her locked door and killed her when she turned in surprise holding the flare gun, unfired.
Had the Eureka SWAT police evacuated her building, called in the fire department, consulted ballistic experts about flares, and waited while mental health professionals resolved the now safely secured standoff, Cheri Lynn Moore would be alive today. Entering the apartment with shields and fire extinguishers would have resulted in the same end.
Instead, led by Chief Douglas and Lt. Zanotti, they did the opposite. Despite claiming imminent fire hazard, police stationed their command and control center below the proclaimed fire threat instead of safely across the street with a view of her apartment, and charged into her apartment without shields or extinguishers.
Again, legal technicalities involving the Grand Jury scuttled Mr. Gallegos' laudable effort to hold the perpetrators accountable.
But Gallegos' gutsy efforts will and should be long remembered, and recounted, not as unsuccessful (or “botched”), but as instances of courage and integrity in the face of fire, and examples of why we need a DA who is independent of, and unintimidated by, the powers that be.
Ken Miller resides in McKinleyville.
Ken Miller/My Word
POSTED: 12/14/2013 02:35:33 AM PST
UPDATED: 12/14/2013 02:35:34 AM PST
Susan Dodd celebrates Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos' coming departure with a litany of accusations (”Good riddance to Paul Gallegos,” Times-Standard, Dec. 6, Page A4), but misses his signature accomplishment: restoring dignity, independence and integrity to an office that was blind to some of Humboldt's most successful crooks. Two examples are illustrative:
Mr. Gallegos' courageous lawsuit vs. Maxxam/Pacific Lumber stood out in stark contrast to the conciliatory stance adopted by every other political and regulatory agency official, who acted mostly as enablers, beneficiaries, or appeasers, while the venerable PL was looted, and our watersheds and forests liquidated with catastrophic consequences for residents, fish, and the future of our forest products industry.
Despite accumulating a record of California Department of Forestry violations, despite causing ongoing flooding and loss of domestic water supplies in Elk River, despite despoiling Freshwater, Jordan, Stitz, and Bear Creeks as well, our regulators and policymakers stood by while protesters were castigated and arrested. When the California Regional Water Board entered the fray with its independent authority, local ranchers and foresters rose up to defend Maxxam/PL, and opposed appropriate regulations to restore water quality, thereby turning against their own neighbors.
It was in this context that Gallegos showed his independence and integrity. He challenged only one of Maxxam/PL's deceitful practices, when PL allegedly cheated on the environmental documents submitted in support of the Headwaters Deal.
Maxxam prevailed only because of legal technicalities that in part may be summed up as “The Right to Lie.” But Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson, before his unfortunate removal from the case, ruled that if PL/Maxxam's actions prevented fruition of the process, it could be guilty of “extrinsic fraud,” thereby bypassing that so-called right to lie. And prevent it it would have: Another Wilson, Richard, former head of CDF, proclaimed that had he been aware of the evidence, he would not have approved the deal.
It should be recalled that Gallegos was forced to go it alone against Hurwitz's legal team when our supervisors declined to accept the offer of pro bono legal assistance from the powerful law firm of Cotchett et al. in the Bay Area. That's right: they declined free legal help from one of the state's finest law firms, which pretty much sums up the county's near total capitulation to, and conflicts of interest with, Maxxam during the firm's two decades of rapacious liquidation in Humboldt County.
Former Supervisor Roger Rodoni rented hundreds of acres from Maxxam/PL for a pittance, and former Supervisor Bonnie Neely was married to Gallegos' opponent, Terry Farmer, who lost the 2000 election.
It's no wonder that Maxxam financed the failed recall of Mr. Gallegos.
Unsurprisingly, Gallegos lost in court against the high-priced team of lawyers for Maxxam/PL, but we are the big losers.
Paul took a lot of heat that should rightly have been directed at the biggest crooks to despoil our county in modern times.
In another act of political independence and bravery, Gallegos took the highly unusual, and politically and personally risky, step of prosecuting the architects of the killing of Cheri Lynn Moore. Here you had a mentally distraught woman armed with a flare gun, holed up in her own apartment in downtown Eureka. She wanted help, so she called mental health services, and the cops went into action. After denying her friend access, claiming Ms. Moore posed an imminent risk of fire, they charged her locked door and killed her when she turned in surprise holding the flare gun, unfired.
Had the Eureka SWAT police evacuated her building, called in the fire department, consulted ballistic experts about flares, and waited while mental health professionals resolved the now safely secured standoff, Cheri Lynn Moore would be alive today. Entering the apartment with shields and fire extinguishers would have resulted in the same end.
Instead, led by Chief Douglas and Lt. Zanotti, they did the opposite. Despite claiming imminent fire hazard, police stationed their command and control center below the proclaimed fire threat instead of safely across the street with a view of her apartment, and charged into her apartment without shields or extinguishers.
Again, legal technicalities involving the Grand Jury scuttled Mr. Gallegos' laudable effort to hold the perpetrators accountable.
But Gallegos' gutsy efforts will and should be long remembered, and recounted, not as unsuccessful (or “botched”), but as instances of courage and integrity in the face of fire, and examples of why we need a DA who is independent of, and unintimidated by, the powers that be.
Ken Miller resides in McKinleyville.
10.08.2013
Saved: Time for honesty in government - Salzman Letter to the editor
◼ Time for honesty in government - Times-Standard
POSTED: 10/08/2013 01:59:59 AM PDT
UPDATED: 10/08/2013 02:00:00 AM PDT
I recently read in the Times-Standard that in a Central Valley town citizens can no longer drink their own tap water due to contamination from agricultural run-off. Interestingly, the Times-Standard has not bothered to cover a similar situation here in Humboldt Country, where residents on the South Fork of the Eel River can no longer use their water source due to contamination from beef cattle brought in to graze on property upriver from their homes.
Moreover, our Board of Supervisors wants to open up property in flood plains to development, which will inevitably lead to yet another example of the public picking up the tab for emergency services so that private property owners can increase their short-term profits.
Meanwhile the House of Representatives wants to cut the food stamp program for the poor (one out of every seven people in the U.S.) but does nothing to stop multi-million-dollar handouts to corporate farmers.
Isn't it time to bring more honesty to the discussion of who exactly is sucking on whose teat?
Richard W. Salzman
Arcata
POSTED: 10/08/2013 01:59:59 AM PDT
UPDATED: 10/08/2013 02:00:00 AM PDT
I recently read in the Times-Standard that in a Central Valley town citizens can no longer drink their own tap water due to contamination from agricultural run-off. Interestingly, the Times-Standard has not bothered to cover a similar situation here in Humboldt Country, where residents on the South Fork of the Eel River can no longer use their water source due to contamination from beef cattle brought in to graze on property upriver from their homes.
Moreover, our Board of Supervisors wants to open up property in flood plains to development, which will inevitably lead to yet another example of the public picking up the tab for emergency services so that private property owners can increase their short-term profits.
Meanwhile the House of Representatives wants to cut the food stamp program for the poor (one out of every seven people in the U.S.) but does nothing to stop multi-million-dollar handouts to corporate farmers.
Isn't it time to bring more honesty to the discussion of who exactly is sucking on whose teat?
Richard W. Salzman
Arcata
1.26.2013
Case highlights lack of safeguards during jail interviews; Judge: Inmates can't be expected to know the law
◼ Case highlights lack of safeguards during jail interviews; Judge: Inmates can't be expected to know the law - Grant Scott-Goforth/The Times-Standard
Case highlights lack of safeguards during jail interviews; Judge: Inmates can't be expected to know the law
Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson said a Eureka Police Department detective stepped over the line when he interviewed a burglary defendant without an attorney present in February.
Public defender Gregory Elvine-Kreis, who heads the county's Conflict Counsel Office, said the police department lacked safeguards for defendants' attorney-client privilege when EPD Detective Ron Prose interviewed his client about an alleged burglary. Elvine-Kreis sought a dismissal of charges against his client, which Watson denied Friday.
Watson said it's not unusual for an attorney to allow a client to speak with police when it doesn't regard the case at hand. This keeps the attorney from hearing information relevant to other clients that he or she may have.
”The attorney is, in essence, shielded from that information,” Watson said.
That permission is usually based on the expectation that only collateral information will be discussed, Watson said. In this instance, the detective should have asked the public defender if he could talk to his client about an alleged burglary. The attorney arranged the interview, but apparently was unaware that the conversation would lead to the matter currently before the court.
That interview led to a confession, in addition to other information the detective was seeking.
Former Deputy District Attorney Allan Dollison, who was informed of Prose's interview as early as March, could have used a confession to counter any testimony the defendant gave in court.
”The problem is the defendant is not expected to be, nor schooled in those finer points of law,” Watson said.
Prose testified that he had frequently spoken to inmates to gather information, and his supervisors did not warn him against talking to the defendant about the burglary case.
He said the content of inmate interviews are sensitive because it can put defendants at risk if it becomes known they collaborated with police.
Eureka Police Chief Murl Harpham was subpoenaed but did not appear at the hearing to discuss the protocols of interviewing inmates.
”Harpham is the boss,” Elvine-Kreis said. “He is not aware of this case, he knows nothing about this interview, he is being called to lay the foundation that the Eureka Police Department doesn't have any safety mechanisms in place for violations of citizen's constitutional rights.”
Reached on the phone Thursday, Harpham said he told Elvine-Kreis in a conversation prior to the hearing to contact him if he wanted him to appear, although he was surprised to receive a subpoena.
”There's nothing I can offer,” he said, saying he wasn't familiar with the “convoluted” case or the interview.
He said he called the county's Conflict Counsel Office and asked why he was subpoenaed and was told, “just be on call that day.”
”All he has to do is phone,” Harpham said. “I'm not gonna go sit up there all day for something I don't know about.”
Harpham said while he doesn't have a policy dictating how detectives should talk with defendants in custody, that there's an expectation the officers are aware of laws regarding their rights.
He said the defense attorney requested a meeting with EPD, and they granted that request.
Watson said it didn't appear that EPD or the district attorney's office attempted to hide the interview or stood to benefit from hiding it.
”There doesn't seem to be anything to be gained by any purposeful non-disclosure,” Watson said.
Case highlights lack of safeguards during jail interviews; Judge: Inmates can't be expected to know the law
Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson said a Eureka Police Department detective stepped over the line when he interviewed a burglary defendant without an attorney present in February.
Public defender Gregory Elvine-Kreis, who heads the county's Conflict Counsel Office, said the police department lacked safeguards for defendants' attorney-client privilege when EPD Detective Ron Prose interviewed his client about an alleged burglary. Elvine-Kreis sought a dismissal of charges against his client, which Watson denied Friday.
Watson said it's not unusual for an attorney to allow a client to speak with police when it doesn't regard the case at hand. This keeps the attorney from hearing information relevant to other clients that he or she may have.
”The attorney is, in essence, shielded from that information,” Watson said.
That permission is usually based on the expectation that only collateral information will be discussed, Watson said. In this instance, the detective should have asked the public defender if he could talk to his client about an alleged burglary. The attorney arranged the interview, but apparently was unaware that the conversation would lead to the matter currently before the court.
That interview led to a confession, in addition to other information the detective was seeking.
Former Deputy District Attorney Allan Dollison, who was informed of Prose's interview as early as March, could have used a confession to counter any testimony the defendant gave in court.
”The problem is the defendant is not expected to be, nor schooled in those finer points of law,” Watson said.
Prose testified that he had frequently spoken to inmates to gather information, and his supervisors did not warn him against talking to the defendant about the burglary case.
He said the content of inmate interviews are sensitive because it can put defendants at risk if it becomes known they collaborated with police.
Eureka Police Chief Murl Harpham was subpoenaed but did not appear at the hearing to discuss the protocols of interviewing inmates.
”Harpham is the boss,” Elvine-Kreis said. “He is not aware of this case, he knows nothing about this interview, he is being called to lay the foundation that the Eureka Police Department doesn't have any safety mechanisms in place for violations of citizen's constitutional rights.”
Reached on the phone Thursday, Harpham said he told Elvine-Kreis in a conversation prior to the hearing to contact him if he wanted him to appear, although he was surprised to receive a subpoena.
”There's nothing I can offer,” he said, saying he wasn't familiar with the “convoluted” case or the interview.
He said he called the county's Conflict Counsel Office and asked why he was subpoenaed and was told, “just be on call that day.”
”All he has to do is phone,” Harpham said. “I'm not gonna go sit up there all day for something I don't know about.”
Harpham said while he doesn't have a policy dictating how detectives should talk with defendants in custody, that there's an expectation the officers are aware of laws regarding their rights.
He said the defense attorney requested a meeting with EPD, and they granted that request.
Watson said it didn't appear that EPD or the district attorney's office attempted to hide the interview or stood to benefit from hiding it.
”There doesn't seem to be anything to be gained by any purposeful non-disclosure,” Watson said.