Do you get the feeling the Feds are here to do the job Gallegos won't do?

◼ Wilde to make first federal court appearance; records indicate defendant was under financial pressure at time of shooting - TS

For the first time in recent memory, the U.S. government is taking on the prosecution of a Humboldt County murder case.

Mikal Xylon Wilde is scheduled to make his initial federal court appearance today -- three days after charges were officially dismissed against him in Humboldt County Superior Court. Wilde remains held in the Humboldt County jail on a federal detainer, more than a year and a half after he allegedly shot and killed Mario Roberto Juarez-Madrid at the scene of a Kneeland marijuana grow.

When the U.S. Attorney's Office unsealed a six-count indictment against Wilde last week -- charging him with murder, drug and weapons violations -- it represented the first time in decades that the federal government has taken over the prosecution of a local murder case, according to numerous officials in the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office and local law enforcement agencies.

The situation might, however, occur more often under the direction of Northern California U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, who is in her first term after being appointed to the office by President Barack Obama in August 2010, according to Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos.

”We have a new U.S. attorney, and she's being a good partner, and I appreciate that,” Gallegos said. “I think people are going to see more federal intervention here. I'm hoping that this sends a message that the federal government is committed.”