watchpaul: One blog rumor confirmed

Thursday, February 14, 2008

One blog rumor confirmed - UPDATED

UPDATED:

◼ Former Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen has been cleared of all major charges first filed against him in 2008. - Arcata Eye MARCH 2012

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Gundersen's ex-wife, who works for the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office as a legal office assistant, is represented by Arcata attorney Joan Gallegos, the wife of Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos. Attorney Christopher Metzger represents Gundersen in that matter.

The Times Standard reports Gundersen custody battle goes back 10 years
Gundersen hit with 12 counts of rape

UPDATED:

◼ Former Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen has been cleared of all major charges first filed against him in 2008. - Arcata Eye MARCH 2012

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12 comments:

Anonymous2/14/2008 8:16 AM
In the famous case (whatever its name was) where the deputy what's his name did or did not commit perjury, didn't the DA dq himself because his wife represented the victim? I guess it's ok if the wife only represents the reporting party who might be seeking an advantage by having her ex husband prosecuted by her lawyer's husband.
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Anonymous2/14/2008 8:31 AM
The reporting party is his current wife. His ex-wife made the same claims years ago. Coincidence? HA!

Wanna bet that controlled substance without a prescription they found is his "sex drug of choice?"
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Anonymous2/14/2008 8:59 AM
I'm confused. Who reported the alleged rape? The current wife who came to court with Clanton, or the ex wife, or the son? Or all three?
Or someone else?
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Anonymous2/14/2008 12:44 PM
did the current wife come to the court with Clanton today? where did you read that?
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Anonymous2/14/2008 1:33 PM
times standard said she was there, declined comment, Clanton had said she was coming with him, bit of reading, bit of inferring, lots of lazy lame reporting by the "news" papers.
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Rose2/14/2008 2:33 PM
I'd hardly call today's coverage lazy or lame - they looked into and found out that the ex-wife is indeed represented by the DA's wife Joan Gallegos.

Next question is - Will Gallegos then recuse himself and his office?

Then, the next question - how many cases does this guy have to recuse himself from?
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Anonymous2/14/2008 5:10 PM
8:32, the reporting party is not the current wife. The old allegations of rape by the former wife were rejected in court years ago. Now said former wife is reviving and expanding the allegations with the help of the DA who is married to her attorney. Can anybody honestly say that there's no bad smell in that situation?
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Anonymous2/14/2008 6:06 PM
Is that something you know 5:10?
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Anonymous2/14/2008 6:46 PM
Divorce attorneys work by the hour and get paid regardless of the outcome. In order to be a conflict of interest there has to be something to gain. Prosecuting a person to help his wife win a family law case in which they have nothing to gain or lose would be insane. Surely even you nutballs realize that?
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Anonymous2/15/2008 1:40 AM
No offense Rose but you have been digging yourself a pretty deep hole over the past few days. Chill out and keep your eyes on the prize, 2010.
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Anonymous2/15/2008 7:23 AM
I don't see the big hole 1:40 AM is talking about. This is big news locally and there are many unanswered questions.

This whole think smells. I do not like PVG and think he has been a disaster as the DA. I do not like Dave Gunderson. I really don't know much on how Dave has done as the Chief of Blue Lake but I'm sure his performance is marginal at best.

From what you read (and hear) this is very unusual. First a sitting chief of police, then the DA's office taking the lead on the investigation, then the relationship between the DA and the suspects ex-wife and the DA's relastionship with the suspect's lawyer. Not to mention the suspects ex wife works for the Sheriffs Office.

Does anyone really beleive that Joan Gallegos doesn't know everything there is to know about this investigation? Or that she has provided information to hubby DA Paul that she got from her client?

PVG asked the attorney generals office to take over the Arkley Glass affair because? Becasue he was in the building with several dozen other people and didn't see anything? Or because he considered both of them friends?

PVG says there is no conflict of interest. I disagree. At a very minimum there appears to be a serious conflict of interest.

Could this all be trumped up at lesat some because PVG's case against EPD's cheif and Lt is not going so well? Just a question, I have no inside information.

this whole thing is bizaaro.
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red2/15/2008 7:37 AM
That Mrs. Gallegos represents DG's ex is not unusual in a relatively small county. But under the circumstances of this case (i.e. all the stuff 7:23 points out, plus the prior failed prosecution), it does appear to be a conflict. That is without considering that the ex may be a (prosecution) witness (Evidence 1109), based on the prior allegation. A prudent prosecutor would hand this off, or at least stop handling it personally and talking to the press. The question is whether DG is less likely to be treated fairly. At some point I expect a judge will figure this out, no matter how smart we internet kibbitzers think we are. I await further developments. This must be what the proverbial "NASCAR fan watching in case there is a crash" feels like.
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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. (Paul Gallegos) - is the unfortunate truth that the D.A. (Paul Gallegos) 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. (Paul Gallegos) 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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Thursday, February 14, 2008

One blog rumor confirmed - UPDATED

12 comments: