Grand Jury leaks

URGENT ALERT! This case was TOSSED by the Judge - never made it to trial.
☛ ER http://eurekareporter.com/article/080826-judge-throws-out-douglas-zanotti-case
Feeney said the indictments the grand jury handed down to Douglas and Zanotti in December 2007 weren’t supported by probable cause. Insufficient evidence regarding the former leaders’ alleged failure to oversee other law enforcement was also presented to the grand jury, Feeney said, and instructions given on “exigent circumstances” were inadequate.
The grand jury should have also been instructed on justifiable homicide by law enforcement officials, Feeney said.
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Original post: EPD officers to face indictments in death of Cheri Moore?

Officials in the Eureka Police Department and District Attorney’s Office would not confirm Wednesday two EPD officers are to be indicted and arraigned Monday by the criminal grand jury investigating the death of Cheri Lyn Moore.

The Times-Standard reported Wednesday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the grand jury proceedings, that the jury will be indicting former Eureka Police Chief Dave Douglas and Lt. Tony Zanotti.

As reported in The Eureka Reporter, Moore, 48, was shot and killed April 14, 2006, by Eureka police officers after brandishing a flare gun during a standoff that lasted approximately two-and-one-half hours.

Assistant DA Wes Keat said if an indictment was made, it is still secret.

“It’s a crime, in fact, to reveal such material until it has been made public,” he said.

Keat said he couldn’t go into particulars of the case and was unable to comment how revealing an indictment could potentially effect the investigation.

If an indictment does come to court, the DA’s Office will be able to comment, he said.

Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen said he was not aware of the indictments, only what he had read in the newspaper.

Nielsen said if it is true Zanotti and Douglas are indicted, it will have a potentially far-reaching impact.

In 30 years of law enforcement, Nielsen said this would be the first time he is aware of commanders in a situation like the Moore case being charged in a criminal grand jury investigation.

Even if they are indicted, they are still innocent until they go to trial and are proven guilty, he added.

“All it is at this point is an allegation,” he said.

Nielsen said the Moore incident has been difficult for the department, but said the department has been on a positive track for the past several months.

He said he can’t imagine the announcement of the indictments having an impact on the grand jury proceedings unless it came from someone who had been admonished by a judge.

“I think this is going to be, certainly, a very important case,” Nielsen said, relative to the ability for the department to make decisions in similar situations.

Humboldt County Grand Jurors Association President Allan Edwards, who said he is not involved with the Moore criminal grand jury investigation, said impartiality is compromised when proceedings are revealed.

“In the past, grand juries have dismissed people for having loose lips,” he said.