Judge to decide on Tsurai village civil suit discovery; tree service joins civil suit, waiting on criminal case's conclusion

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The suit alleges that former Trinidad Planning Commission Sam Pennisi and his wife Sharon Ferrett hired Coastal Tree Service to clear a 105-foot-by-210-foot area on the 12.6 acre historic site, knowing that it would be a violation of the law to do so. City officials said they were unaware of the project, and put a stop to it when they saw work being done in June 2010. Pennisi resigned in August.

The ceremonial burial site sits below the Memorial Lighthouse in Trinidad and is located adjacent to the couple's property.

According to the court calendar, the civil suit has become a 15-party lawsuit, and includes nine members of the Tsurai Ancestral Society, the city of Trinidad, and Coastal Tree Service and its owner Tom Head.

Timothy Wykle, an attorney for Pennisi and Ferrett, said most of the civil complaint was “piggy backed” on the criminal charges brought on by the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office, which he said over charged the couple.

”Both the civil and criminal matters have serious issues surrounding consent, lack of damages, standing and over charging,” he said. “These issues will eventually all be sorted out.”

The District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against the couple in February, including one felony count of vandalism each for Pennisi and Ferrett, as well as misdemeanor charges of trespassing, destroying standing timber and injuring a historical object. The case has a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 28.