Monday, July 23, 2007

Countdown to a decision - Day 466

Now that Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos is involved in a retrial of a 15-year-old murder, it appears certain that his decision on the Cheri Lyn Moore shooting will have to wait till the trial's completion in October. And few are taking bets that we may not have to wait until 2008 for the DA to remove Moore from the bottom of his to-do pile...

...The DA has had his share of controversy, but the Times-Standard has not piled on with the rest. We supported him during an effort to recall him from office. But we have been persistent -- some might say shrewish -- in harping on Gallegos' delay on the Moore decision.

Is it not a district attorney's job to make these tough calls? If the police involved were wrong, then they need to be called to answer for it. If they were not, it is cruel to keep them and their families -- the whole department, really -- twisting in the wind. The saying, “Justice delayed is justice denied” was never more true than in this case...

...We believe each passing day is significant. But the DA says he won't be pressured, so further editorials no doubt will be fruitless. So instead we'll track our wait with the Gallegos Countdown -- the number of days since Cheri Lyn Moore died, and another day without action by our district attorney.

466: The number of days since the Cheri Lyn Moore shooting without action by District Attorney Paul Gallegos.
Read the full Times Standard Editorial

And it has been longer than that for Lisa LaDeRoute.

15 comments:

  1. They (the TS) supported him in the recall...even though those in the know said this man was incompetent.

    They (the TS) supported him in the last election, even though they admitted that Dikeman was far more qualified and Gags did a horrible job his first term.

    They (the TS) says “it is cruel to keep them (EPD officers) and their families -- the whole department, really -- twisting in the wind. Welcome to how and what Gallegos truly is...out of his own mouth when he has said that “most people think I am a nice guy...I am not at all.” In fact, he is a sociopath who doesn’t care about anyone or anything except for himself, but like Ted Bundy, can hoodwink those who refuse to use their common sense.

    The TS seems amazed at his callousness and the lack of regard that Gags has for the office. Well they get what they deserve. They have done a great disservice to this county and should be hanging their heads in shame over it. What did Dikeman say last May....that the case must go to the AG’s office. Did the TS even understand what that meant or did they send a reported with a Gallegos agenda to that press conference?

    And TS - what in the hell do you mean by his “legacy?’ A failed civil case where he got the law so wrong it was thrown out? Or the bogus case against the Fortuna city councilwoman, most charges thrown out as totally meritless except one which was thrown out because of the DA’s gross violation of the councilwoman’s due process rights. Or the complete gutting of his office so much that the Monday trial calendar is referred to as the “dismissal calendar” and that victims are not spoken to or are treated with disdain and contempt. Or the retention of such absolutely unqualified employees...some who have been disbarred for dishonesty and fraud. Or the fact that humboldt county is a haven for criminal and dope dealers.

    Oh yeah, TS, I have my little violin out and am playing you “cry me a river!”

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  2. Hey Rose so the TS is coping you now huh?

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  3. What happened in that press conference is that Worth, who genuinely likes the reporters, answered many questions at great length, and didn't keep it short and sweet. But the reporters seized on a few key phrases, most notably his comment that he was "out of the loop" meaning that he was no longer in the DA's office (he was not working while campaigning), and not privvy to the discussions as to how to proceed in the Cheri Moore case.

    That apparently meant more to the reporters than the real point, which was that neither Worth nor Paul should be involved in the decision, that both should hand it off to the Attorney General, for a multitude of conflict-of-interest reasons.

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  4. Oh hell, it wasn't lost on them. They (Faulk) just didn't like the way it sounded so he focused on making Paul look better INSTEAD of informing the public. Underscores why people really believe that the TS is biased. Maybe they can redeem themselves...maybe not, but they own this mess along with other supposedly “educated” persons in this community who care more for sound bites than for making sure that we have a safe and respectable community to live in. Hey, I reread their editorial last year supporting Gags. Again it read like a dikeman support until you got to the ending. Maybe they ought to put that editorial on their bathroom wall so they are forced to read it several times each day.

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  5. I have an idea that the Eureka police department may want to consider.How about taking necessary time and precaution,and allowing mentally disabled patients who are in need,access to their meds,their care providers,and friends who may be able to help them through,instead of blocking all contacts and not allowing the patient to talk to friends who may have been able to help.And it might be a decent idea to wait things out instead of invading someone's space after only 2 and a half hours.
    It's too bad these weren't taken into consideration before the decision was made to shoot her.Remember,the decision was made to shoot her prior to them entering the apartment.
    Certainly Paul is fuckin up here big time by not getting to the bottom of this asap,but by no means he responsible for what happened on that day.And I find it disingenuous that the police department is now pointing all fingers at him as if this lawsuit was his fault.It seems that the Eureka PD has a hard time accepting responsibility.Good luck working with that Garr.
    I sure hope that both the t-s and Garr Nielson are making sure that above recommendations I made and recommendations made by the jury have been looked at and fixed by the Eureka police department.
    This thing needs to go to the AG,asap.

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  6. mrequan - the point is that it should have gone last May to the AG exactly like Dikeman said.

    - the point is also, you and others that supported this fuck up get what you bargained for.

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  7. I agree esquan that the idiot is not responsible for the shooting. But he is responsible for putting it on the back burner to string everyone out.

    Face it...he is dishonest and incompetent. And the fact that the Moore family, the police and the community is suffering is irrelevant to Gallegos. Remember, you and others just elected him and he sees you as little people who are beneath him. Wow......hope you guys are happy.

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  8. Uh, didn't I see a picture in the paper showing Mr. Gallegos "on scene" before the shooting? If so, what are the implications of that?
    What consequences would there be for his action/inaction? I mean, surely he won't say he did nothing, that he just went there to get photographed. He's the county's chief law enforcement officer, surely he did or said something? If not, why not?

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  9. Actually, he did go there just for the photo. When he arrived and saw the photographers, he ran back to his car to get files to make it look like he was pulled from court with his files in hand. If it wasn't so pathetic it would have been funny.

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  10. It seems to me that if he was there, he needs to explain why, what he did and didn't do, to whom he did and did not speak, what he heard, what he saw. Did he write anything down? I expect the Moore family lawyer, or the police lawyers, will depose him on the issue of whether he, as a law enforcement officer, had any critical or positive endorsements or observations.

    And if not, why not? How does one in that position NOT WRITE OR SAY ANYTHING after such an event.

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  11. Uh, because he had Salzman and Ken Miller and the rest of the Orks to do all the talking? He knew that day that he had won the election. They could turn this, use it to discredit Worth's Law Enforcement endorsements, endorsements Gallegos could never have gotten. By painting the cops as bloodthirsty killers, and combining that with the murderer's mother on the courthouse steps, the dirty tricks department had been handed a coup. He was able to exploit a tragedy. And play innocent.

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  12. Well, at a deposition, he'll be on his own. Unless he brings a lawyer to represent him.

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  13. Why doesnt the T/S or E/R sit in on the Kesser trial (all 4 hours per day) two days in a row and give us some analysis of what PVG is supposedly so busy about? Jury selection is generally a matter of eating donuts and making guesses
    (careful Paul, no more Wheeler errors) and the rest of the case is already scripted. So aside from having Hislop's investigators hunt down the old witnesses (and if they are unavailable, the old transcript is simply read to the jury). Just curious.

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  14. Hislop is too busy doing the secretary's job, filling Public Records Act Requests.

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  15. Haven't heard much about Ken miller lately? What's he up tp ?

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