watchpaul

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Officials: Bodhi Tree is 'person of interest' in last week's Eureka shooting

◼ Officials: Bodhi Tree is 'person of interest' in last week's Eureka shooting - Times-Standard

The Eureka Police Department has named double murder suspect Bodhi Tree, who was released from prison in April, as a “person of interest” in a shooting near Eureka High School last week.

EPD Detective Ron Harpham said the department has some evidence pointing to Tree as a suspect but officials are still trying to determine probable cause. “We are still chasing down some leads,” Harpham said.

Harpham declined to say what evidence was found, citing an open investigation. The 28-year-old suspect in Saturday's double homicide in Arcata pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to two counts of murder and the special circumstance enhancement of multiple deaths, which qualifies the case for the death penalty.

Eureka High school student Christina Schwarz, 18, and 27-year-old Alan “Sunshine” Marcet were fatally shot.

According to officials, Eureka native Rhett August, 24, was shot once in the upper abdomen after he stepped out into an alley near the 1900 block of J street in Eureka to answer a knock at the door.

Harpham said the person the department originally suspected in the shooting has now been cleared.
Humboldt County Chief Probation Officer Bill Damiano confirmed Tree was released from state prison at the beginning of April under post-release community supervision, a program enacted under California prison realignment.

”He would have been released either way, either on parole or through realignment,” Damiano said.

◼ Police Looking at Bodhi Tree as a ‘Person of Interest’ in Eureka Shooting Last Week - Hank Sims/Lost Coast Outpost

Manhunt for Shane Miller: Day 15

◼ Manhunt for Shane Miller: Day 15 - Times-Standard

Miller has a criminal record and served time in prison. Authorities consider Miller armed and dangerous.

Community members are encouraged to call the sheriff's office at 445-7251 or the tip line at 268-2539 if they see anything suspicious or 911, in the event of an emergency.

Latest update: Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Lt. Wayne Hanson said Wednesday there is nothing new to report and the office is still following any leads it receives.

”We have two officers in the area 24 hours a day,” Hanson said. He said tracking dogs and dogs used to find cadavers are no longer being used.

Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey has said the most likely scenarios are Miller has killed himself or left the area.

Arcata double homicide suspect Bodhi Tree pleads not guilty: Case eligible for the death penalty

◼ Arcata double homicide suspect pleads not guilty: Case eligible for the death penalty - Lorna Rodriguez/The Times-Standard

Bodhi Tree, 28, is accused of killing Christina Schwarz, 18, and Alan “Sunshine” Marcet, 27, with a handgun, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson said. A special circumstance enhancement was added because there is more than one victim, which makes the case eligible for the death penalty, Wilson said.

Humboldt County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Neel said the district attorney's office hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty.

”It's too early to make that determination,” Neel said.

Public defender Kevin Robinson said he will represent Tree once any conflict of interest determination is made.

Tree audibly said, “I didn't commit no murders,” as he conferred with his attorney, who tried to quiet him in court. Tree, originally from Garberville, has a Humboldt County criminal history that stretches back to at least 2007 and includes a guilty plea to resisting arrest after a 2011 high speed chase, according to court documents.

UC Berkeley School of Law Professor Franklin Zimring said multiple deaths are one of several factors that can qualify a case for the death penalty.
__________________
◼ FOURTH UPDATE: No bail for double homicide suspect - The Times-Standard 5/18

◼ Officials: Looking for gun used in weekend's double homicide - The Times-Standard 5/21

----- Presumably, they tested his hands for gunpowder residue that night, right? ------

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Well said.

◼ Those who can do, do; those who cannot sue - John Chiv/Words Worth

Eureka attorney Peter Martin finally revealed the true agenda behind the lawsuit filed against the City of Eureka and invocations by saying he hopes that his motion to dismiss Superior Court Judge Dale Reinholtsen will better his odds for a favorable ruling.

In a May 17 Times-Standard article, Martin was quoted as saying that he decided to request the dismissal of Reinholtsen because he feels that the judge is “on the right flank of the political bent.”

Kim Starr must be kicking herself for not thinking of this brilliant and objective strategy in Occupy Eureka’s lawsuit against the City. In the last 2 years, the mantra of those who only know how to blame and create drama has been: “If I don’t get my way and if my mud slinging does not work, I will just sue” has backfired both at the ballot and with the public. Nevertheless, they continue to employ the same tired tactics. It has hurt any legitimate cause and sincere people Martin and Starr claim to represent.... read the rest, at the link.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Double homicide in Arcata: Suspect in custody

◼ DOUBLE HOMICIDE ON EYE STREET (Update 2) - Kevin Hoover/Arcata Eye

Two people, a male and a female, were killed in a house on Eye Street early this morning.

People staying at the house said that a suspect, another houseguest, shot the two with a revolver. Police have no one in custody, but are pursuing a “person of interest,” according to APD Lt. Ryan Peterson.

Victims have not been identified. The houseguests said the female was an 18-year-old high school student.

Peterson said the female was pronounced dead at the scene. The male died shortly thereafter at Mad River Community Hospital. names have not yet been released.

◼ Update: Police searching for Arcata double homicide suspect - Times Standard
◼ Suspected Double Homicide in Arcata This Morning (UPDATING) - Hank Sims/Lost Coast Outpost (image source)

The suspect has been taken into custody on Shirley Avenue. Photos by Andrew Goff. (Click to enlarge.)

◼ Bodhi Tree, 28, arrested in connection with this morning's double homicide. - Kevin Hoover/Arcata Eye

◼ SECOND UPDATE: Police ID suspect arrested in double homicide - Times Standard

In October 2011, a 26-year-old Eureka man named Bodhi Tree was arrested following a high-speed pursuit by Humboldt County sheriff's deputies that began at the Bear River Casino parking lot and ended with the suspect arrested on suspicion of vandalism to a patrol car, resisting arrest, assault with a deadly weapon and public drunkenness.

◼ Bodhi Tree Booked On Two Counts Of Murder - Kevin Hoover/Arcata Eye

◼ A footnote to history: Bodhi Tree is used to being arrested, sometimes with the aid of APD K-9 officers. He has a history of petty crime in Arcata and elsewhere.... - Arcata Eye Facebook

◼ High Speed Chase Ends with Officers uh…Treeing Suspect (click here for previous arrest information) - Kym Kemp/Lost Coast Outpost

◼ THIRD UPDATE: APD details search, arrest of double homicide suspect - Times Standard

Stay updated at ◼ The Eye, ◼ Lost Coast Outpost, and ◼ The Times Standard. (Also, ◼ The Eye on Facebook)

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Paul Gallegos

The Humboldt County Grand Jury found that "Weak leadership and poor managerial practices" have undermined the office... Implicit in all evidence gathered by the Grand Jury - including interviews with the D.A. - is the unfortunate truth that the D.A. exhibits a limited understanding of how things are done in the department" Gallegos "lacks the global perspective needed to keep the department operating efficiently," and quotes an unnamed staff member as saying, "The D.A. does not fully understand the functionality of many of the things we do here" - Years later, in his own words: "I’m not an administrator, they didn’t elect me to be an administrator, they elected me to make sure this office runs..."

Douglas & Zanotti

CASE TOSSED The district attorney misrepresented the law and failed to provide evidence of former Eureka Police Chief David Douglas' and Lt. Tony Zanotti's innocence during a criminal grand jury inquiry into the 2006 shooting death of Cheri Lyn Moore, defense attorneys argued in court documents filed Thursday... ”Our judicial system stands as a real and necessary check on the grand jury indictment process,” one of the documents states. “This court has the authority and the means by which to halt this prosecution, which is justified neither by the undisputed facts, nor by the law.”

Gallegos has taken what was "arguably the state's best small DA's office, with a cutting edge CAST program that "trained the trainers"... into a bunch of time serving bureaucratic wannabee brown nosers, lightly sprinkled with a couple of earnest learners who are sure to split as soon as possible.

One weeps for Max Cardoza who won Angellel, and for Maggie Fleming who won so many impossible victories. Mired in Humboldt for personal reasons, they have to suffer the ignominy of working for Paul, with Yougo, yes, yougo who has freed more people as a prosecutor than he did as a defense attorney. As has Paul. Anonymous comment

Gallegos has answers for everything. I’ve never met anyone whose answers came so quickly, with such polish - except about his law school(s). He likely sounded the same way when promising to get prosecutors off their anachronistic “at will” status and onto civil service status. It never happened. Indeed, he told them, “Disloyalty will not be tolerated” – a real morale builder.

He sounds great. What progressive doesn’t want to believe in him? But it’s a myth. He’s an intellectual lightweight and self-aggrandizer who tries to please everybody with glib answers. Jim Fahey for The Arcata Eye

The Humboldt County DA's office is one of the most exciting prosecutorial
offices in California.

Its District Attorney, Paul Gallegos, is willing to charge anyone who commits
wrongdoing--no matter how wealthy, sacrosanct, or ruthless. He believes in total equality before the law. He also plans to be innovative in promoting programs of prevention and treatment. He wants to make it the best prosecutorial office of its size in the nation.... Gallegos' Help Wanted ad

Gallegos' OWN Quotes

★ ...District Attorney Paul Gallegos said he believes the statute of limitations clock, even on misdemeanors, doesn't start running until law enforcement knows or reasonably should have known of the offense. In this case, Gallegos said, that means the statute of limitations would not run out at least until Feb. 8, 2009, or one year after Gundersen's arrest and the discovery of the photographs in question...

★ "...some people actually molest out of different feelings, some times out of feelings of love....” DA Gallegos explaining why Child Abuse prosecutions were down

★ “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.” Paul Gallegos to the Times Standard 5/25/07

★ ...“One is that I do everything to make people happy which means I don’t stand for anything except for just something,” he said. “The other is I stand for something and I try to be a leader and take some people, a group of people, a community someplace and I say guess what folks, this is who I am. I stand for your beliefs. We share these beliefs or we don’t. You get the option to judge that. This is who I am and I am committed to leading us this place, wherever it is...." Eureka Reporter Gallegos defends record, looks ahead 7/3/2005

★ Note the difference between what he SAID, and what he DOES..."...So what are these issues? Top on Gallegos' list is the proliferation of "garbage cases," small-time crimes and overcharged cases that he said are clogging up the court system.

Garbage cases, said Gallegos, come in two forms: Cases that would lose if actually brought to trial and cases that are overcharged for the crimes committed. The idea behind filing both kinds of garbage, he said, is to get the defendant to plead guilty, netting a conviction without having to go into court.

Again, the IRONY is astounding! Look at what he SAYS, and then think about what he DOES! "Probably 95 percent of the cases that are filed plead guilty. In fact, there are a lot of cases that are filed on the assumption they will plead guilty, because of the time and expense involved in defending them. But these cases shouldn't even be filed in the first place, because if they were challenged, they would lose," Gallegos said. Better yet: If they weren't filed at all, it would save the county time and money...." North Coast Journal 2/21/02 Too bad he didn't take his own advice.

★ “Tim’s a stud,” he said. “He really is; anyone would be stoked to have him.” Gallegos on his second in command right hand man Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen. (Former second in command right hand man to Jim Jones/People's Temple.)

NOTE:

"Helping Crush Progressivism" - ie: exposing the predatory litigious orgs and those who seek power for power's sake.... The original purpose of watchpaul is to post important documents relating to Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his handlers who seek to gain power through the acquisition of political offices. This includes, but is not limited to, the manipulations of "Humboldt Watershed Council," "EPIC," "Baykeeper," and other activist groups - the unregulated orgs. It also includes the master manipulators, such as Richard Salzman and Ken Miller.

Links to key stories and documents are also included in the sidebar, so that you do not have to try to scroll back through what has become a lengthy series of posts. I encourage you to use the Search and Labels features as well.

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