epitaph prophetique

"... it is now unmistakingly clear to me that we can only bring necessary change to the District Attorney's office by changing the man entrusted with leading the office..."

"...The crisis with methamphetamine and heroin, domestic violence, and child and elder abuse in our community has been met with too little resources and too late for those facing these problems...."

I would say it is unmistakably clear. 8 years later.

Eureka Police Officers Association (EPOA) endorses Allison Jackson

From the EPOA:

The Eureka Police Officers Association (EPOA) represents the rank and file employees of the Eureka Police Department. We are privileged to serve the City of Eureka and all of its citizens.

The Eureka Police Officers Association is proud to announce that it will endorse Allison Jackson for Humboldt County District Attorney.

The Eureka Police Officers Association believes this election will have a significant impact on the City of Eureka. Quality of life, community safety and victim’s rights are all at stake in this election.

The Eureka Police Officers Association believes change is needed in how criminal cases are dealt with within our community.

The Eureka Police Officers Association cites the following cases:

A case in which a suspect, already on probation and with a prior DUI conviction, hits and kills a pedestrian crossing the roadway in a crosswalk in downtown Eureka. The suspect faced a potential prison term of 2 – 6 years; however, a plea agreement was reached resulting in a 1 – year jail term and additional count of felony probation.

A case in which a suspect, on parole, brandished a firearm at a citizen. Officers subsequently located the suspect parolee who was still in possession of the firearm and ammunition. The suspect received a plea agreement of 16 months in prison versus the 6 – 9 years he could have received upon a jury conviction.

The Eureka Police Officers Association firmly believes that District Attorney Candidate Allison Jackson will bring much needed professional change to the District Attorney’s Office if elected.

The Eureka Police Officers Association strongly urges citizens to vote for Allison Jackson for Humboldt County District Attorney.

***

◼ Election Roundup: Jackson has recently added the following endorsements: The Arcata Police Association, The Eureka Police Officer's Association, The Humboldt County Deputy Sheriffs Organization, The Humboldt County Correctional Peace Officers Association, the Fortuna Police Employees Association, as well as the endorsement of three north coast Sheriffs; Gary Philp, (Humboldt), Tom Allman (Mendocino) and Dean Wilson (Del Norte).

Which begs the question...

◼ Times Standard Editorial Be informed, register and vote

Are you then going to cover the issues? How exactly are people supposed to become informed?

For starters - it is not the EUREKA District Attorney. It is the HUMBOLDT COUNTY District Attorney.
***************

Did you send a reporter to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and the Child Abuse Prevention Coordinating Council of Humboldt County Forum for DA Candidates at the Eureka Inn on the 27th?

Did you send a reporter to the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project's Forum for DA Candidates in Garberville?

Important issues were discussed. Are they being covered? Reported?

Do you even know what the issues are? Do you care?

Hint: It is more than who has the most Facebook friends.

cellphone/driving laws really do keep you safer - Southern California man arrested in McKinleyville was talking on his cellphone.

◼ Southern California man arrested in McKinleyville with $121,000 cash, 55 pounds of marijuana
The California Highway Patrol arrested a man in McKinleyville Tuesday after pulling him over for reportedly talking on a cell phone, and finding more than $121,000 in cash and 55 pounds of marijuana in his car....

Horror

◼ Fight over supplies led to Kneeland grow shooting
Court documents claim that 28-year-old Mikal Xylon Wilde shot two men tending his Kneeland marijuana garden in anger when he found the two had left the grow to make a phone call after he told them he'd no longer provide them with food.

According to a statement of probable cause for search warrants in the case, three men had been staying on the Mountain View Road property to tend the pot grow, for which they would be paid $10,000 each for three months of work. About a week before the Aug. 25 shooting, Wilde came to the site to inform the workers that he could no longer provide food for them as he had been. He also couldn't afford to run a water truck to water the plants, and it would now have to be done by hand, according to the statement, which cites one worker as the source of the information.

Two of the men “did not like this,” and wanted to be paid for the work they'd done and to leave.

On Aug. 25, they went to the Kneeland Airport to call someone to pick them up, the statement reads. Later that day, Wilde came to the property and got into an argument with the two men who had protested, and said he was mad that they had left the property. Wilde left, then came back, driving up to a travel trailer on the property where the two men were standing outside. The other man was inside the trailer, according to the documents.

Wilde pulled out a revolver and fired six shots, the man who was inside the trailer told deputies, and the other two ran. Wilde ran after them, and 20 minutes later, the man in the trailer heard three shots. The man in the trailer hid in the woods the remainder of the night, the statement said, and saw Wilde driving along the roads in his truck, shining a spotlight into the woods. The next morning, the man contacted a jogger, who led deputies to him.

At about the same time on the morning of Aug. 26, apparently without knowledge of the shooting, deputies visited Wilde's Greenwood Heights home, then went on to the Kneeland property on Mountain View Road. They were investigating the growing operation that was spotted in early July. A deputy used a PG&E key to get through a Humboldt Redwood Co. gate that would allow them to access a road leading to the Ashland Ranch property. The deputies saw a photo of two men and a woman on a gate along with a “newspaper-type article” and medical marijuana information, according to the statement. They then left.

The Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Drug Enforcement Unit had been investigating the expansive marijuana grow for more than a month before the shooting.

According to the court documents, the garden was spotted by helicopter on July 5 during a search for pot grows. Investigators learned that the grow was occurring on 10 rural parcels totaling 663 acres owned by Ashland Ranch LLC, of which Wilde is apparently a principal owner. The land had been bought by Ashland Ranch earlier this year for $1.5 million, according to the statement.... more

Cardelli case

◼ Former pastor denied release; prosecutor says Dino Cardelli made admissions to law enforcement 9/16/2010
◼ Arcata pastor pleads not guilty, resigns; judge grants protective order 9/15/2010
◼ Arcata pastor Dino Cardelli faces molestation charges 9/14/2010

Prosecutor: Kelly Neel Defense Attorney Mark Bruce

Fatal shooting ruled to be justified

◼ Fatal shooting ruled to be justified; report found no unlawful conduct in police shooting of Eureka man
A report detailing the events of the fatal shooting of a Eureka man found no evidence of misconduct, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said earlier this week.

Pure comedy gold

◼ http://khum.streamguys.us/John_Matthews_KSLG-Paul_Gallegos091510.mp3 30 minute podcast
You gotta listen to the whole thing.

RELATED:
◼ Quite a LEAP for state of California: Humboldt County law enforcement officials sign on to group's support for Proposition 19

I think I am going to open comments for this one - weigh in...

It's right up there with ◼ this performance

Comments are closed

Traffic is up. So I know you are still interested. I'll leave the info here, and will post new articles as they come up, but the blog is effectively shut down.

I will be devoting my energies, along with other volunteers, to helping Allison Jackson in her campaign to replace Paul Gallegos.

It is imperative that we elect a new DA.

Eureka dog killer sentenced to five years probation

◼ Eureka dog killer sentenced to five years probation
The 22-year-old Eureka man who allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend's dog and later created a MySpace page to taunt the family was sentenced in Humboldt County Court on Tuesday.
Donavan Nathaniel Baltzley was given five years probation by Judge Joyce Hinrichs, who said that the “easy decision” would have been to send Baltzley back to prison. Baltzley pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in March and was sent to San Quentin state prison.
Hinrichs opted to suspend Baltzley's current three-year prison sentence in favor of a five-year probation that includes 1,000 hours of community service, one year of anger management courses as well as regular treatment with a psychologist and a restraining order that mandates Baltzley stay at least 100 yards away from the family of the dog, a poodle named Sarah Lou....

“It Is Such A Pretty Morning, Isn’t It?”

.


Remember.

Eric Darrell Schwenk sentenced to 30 years in prison

◼ Man sentenced to 30 years in prison

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 31, 2010
CONTACT: District Attorney, Paul V. Gallegos
PHONE: (707)445-7411

Eric Darrell Schwenk

Today, in Humboldt Superior Court, Judge Timothy P. Cissna sentenced Eric Darrell Schwenk to serve 30 years in prison for felony child molestation. The aggravated sentence is based, in part, upon Schwenk's 1995 conviction for Lewd and Lascivious Acts on a child under age 14, under circumstances strikingly similar to those described by the child who was the victim in this case.

On July 2, 2010, a jury returned guilty verdicts against Schwenk, 45 years old, of Eureka, on two felony counts of Lewd and Lascivious Acts on a child under 14 years of age. The case was developed by the Child Abuse Services Team (CAST) based on a referral from a mandated reporter of suspected abuse.

District Attorney Paul Gallegos continues to express his pride in the job done by CAST, commenting "CAST plays a vital role in protecting our children and ridding our community of predatory pedophiles. "

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Elan Firpo.
Mr. Marek Reavis, Esq. defended Mr. Schwenk.

◼ Eureka man found guilty of 'lewd' acts with a child - Allison White/The Times-Standard... Posted: 09/11/2009 01:15:34 AM PDT
--- ◼ archived - Eureka man found guilty of 'lewd' acts with a child

TS - Man convicted of child molestation charges
07/03/2010 - A Humboldt County Superior Court jury on Friday convicted Eric Darrell Schwenk, 45, of two felony violations of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 years of age, according to the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office....

TS - Schwenk pleads not guilty to child molestation
10/29/2008 - A 43-year-old registered sex offender who has been charged with allegedly molesting his former girlfriend's 10-year-old son in 2002 pleaded not guilty at his Tuesday arraignment. Eric Darrell...

TS - Eureka man found guilty of 'lewd' acts with a child
09/11/2009 - The jury in a 2007 child molestation case found a Eureka man guilty on one count Thursday, acquitted him on another and was unable to reach a verdict on a third. Eric Darrell Schwenk, 44, was...

TS - Man facing trial for allegedly molesting girlfriend's son
10/16/2008 - A 43-year-old registered sex offender from Stanislaus County sat in court Wednesday morning as a judge found there was sufficient evidence to try him for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old boy from...

A three part series

◼ Eureka depositions retrace police investigation; officials' testimony shed light on harassment allegations, ensuing 'global' investigation
...Hansen filed the suit in November 2009, alleging that the city, and specifically Tyson, vindictively and unreasonably delayed and diluted an investigation into complaints that Hansen was being harassed... vs. ...he best way to address Hansen's complaint, and others coming from the department, was through a global investigation... At some point, Christie testified, Tyson decided to launch a single global investigation that would address Hansen's harassment allegations along with other allegations and complaints coming from within the department, including allegations of race, age, gender and religious discrimination. Tyson testified that he felt the global investigation would be most efficient in addressing the concerns coming from within the department, and Christie testified that she agreed with that decision.

”We can do individual investigations from now until forever, or we can do one global investigation, and, hopefully, address everyone's concerns,” Christie testified...."

Makes sense to me.