Day 9 - Friends and experts - 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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☛ TS Expert: Domestic violence is about power, control
...Arnot testified that she was a friend of Seal's for about five years prior to her relationship with Gundersen, but that Gundersen made Seal choose between their relationship and her friendship with Arnot.

”She told me that it was either Dave or me -- if she went with Dave, she couldn't have me in her life,” Arnot testified. She said prior to Gundersen's arrest, she hadn't spoken to Seal since 2001.

Before talking about the specifics of her recent conversations with Seal, Arnot made it clear she was uncomfortable doing so.
”She spoke to me in great confidence and, in answering these questions, I'm breaking her confidence and that's something that's always going to weigh heavily on my heart,” she said.

Arnot testified that she spoke to Seal on Feb. 15, one week after Gundersen's arrest, and the two have renewed their friendship. She said Seal told her the marriage soured in 2005 when she became aware of Gundersen's extra-marital affairs and, consequently, did not want to be intimate with him.

Arnot told her Gundersen became verbally abusive at home and at work, where Seal served as a sergeant with the Blue Lake Police Department.

Things got so bad, Arnot testified, that Seal even said she made several complaints to Blue Lake City Manager Wiley Buck accusing Gundersen of sexual harassment in the workplace and other issues, but nothing ever came of them.

”She told me nothing was ever done about that,” Arnot testified. “It was completely ignored.”...

☛ ER With heavy heart, Seal’s friend speaks of rape allegations she heard

...A longtime friend of Darcie Seal testified in former Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen’s trial Thursday about allegations of rape and verbal abuse Seal made to her in confidence prior to his arrest.

Expert on police-perpetrated domestic violence Diane Wetendorf also explained to the jury key characteristics found in victims of that kind of violence....

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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