Eureka police shooting investigation awaits DA's decision... And....

◼ The district attorney's office will rule whether it was a justifiable homicide - Times Standard

...And, every so often, he does the right thing. Sad as it is for the families involved. It is the right choice.

◼ DA: No Charges Will Be Filed Against Officer for Death of Tommy McClain - Andrew Goff/Lost Coast Outpost

After reviewing the report in its entirety, the District Attorney’s Office concluded that that the evidence does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an officer committed a crime. Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed against any officer arising out of the September 17, 2014, shooting of Thomas McClain.

Specifically, the evidence establishes that, on the early morning hours of September 17, 2014, Thomas McClain was in possession of a BB gun that resembled an actual firearm. Thomas McClain was carrying the BB gun in the front waistline of his pants. The BB gun was perceived as an actual firearm by law enforcement officers. On lawfully engaging with Thomas McClain, law enforcement officers directed him to put his hands up and comply with their orders. At that time, the officers observed what they believed was Thomas McClain moving his hand toward the BB gun. Believing that the BB gun was an actual firearm, and that Thomas McClain would shoot them, the officers responded and Thomas McClain was shot and killed. The perceived firearm was later determined to be an unarmed BB gun.

The District Attorney stated that: “Thomas McClain’s death is a terrible tragedy. He is mourned by his family, his friends and this community but it was not caused by any criminal activity that I can see on the part of the law enforcement officers. My heart and my prayers go out to Thomas McClain, his family and friends and the law enforcement officers involved in this terrible tragedy. It is my sincere hope that time brings comfort and solace to all.”

Something we agree on

◼ Gallegos weighs in on 'stand-your-ground' laws: Amid national controversy, Humboldt County DA supports California self-defense law - Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard

While the nation's top cop strongly condemned “stand-your-ground” laws, and protests over self-defense legal statutes raged across the nation in the wake of George Zimmerman's acquittal last week, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said Friday he doesn't have a problem with the statutes.

”No matter what you do, things can go bad,” Gallegos said. “But the idea behind stand your ground is that the process of retreating can also put you in danger, even graver danger in some cases. The reality is if someone comes at you, you should be able to stay there and defend yourself.”

Gallegos gets it.

University of California Hastings College of Law professor David Levine, on the other hand, does not get it.

DA Press Release

◼ Former Hoopa school district employee found guilty of sexual abuse, lewd contact with children - Times-Standard

The following is from a Humboldt County District Attorney's Office press release:

On 4/8/2013 a Humboldt County jury returned guilty verdicts today against Joseph Saint Orozco for having lewd and lascivious contact against three separate minors. Two counts of violating Penal Code Section 288(a) and one count of violating Penal Code Section 288.5(a), continuance sexual abuse of a minor. All three victims were under the age of eleven (11) when they were abused. He will be sentenced May 2, 2013 at 2pm by the Honorable Judge Christopher Wilson.

Orozco worked for the Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District. He was assigned to work in the afterschool program at the Hoopa Elementary School. It was at this program that Orozco offended against these children.

An investigation was launched after one of the children reported to her parents that what Orozco had done to her. She had helped Orozco distribute some papers in the teacher's lounge and when she finished he gave her money for the vending machine.

When she returned from the vending machine he asked the child for a hug and then put his fingers down the front of her shirt. She was able to get away from Orozco and as she did he commented to her, “Don't be shy.” She told her parents about the incident which led to her and other children being interviewed via a forensic interview at the Child Abuse Services Team (CAST) office. The interviews revealed other victims.

Search warrants obtained as a part of this investigation revealed Orozco had a large amount of child pornography as well. Much of which depicted children of similar age to the children he molested.

”The courage of all of these children to testify about the abuse they endured by Orozco cannot be overstated. Orozco was in a position of trust and had easy access to the children he victimized while working with an afterschool program.” Paul Gallegos, District Attorney.

This case was investigated by the Hoopa Valley Tribal Police with assistance from the District Attorney's Office and was prosecuted by Paul Gallegos.
_____________

We'll put this in the 'GBP' file.

Guilty verdict in rape case; prosecutor says victim's courage 'can't be overstated'

◼ Guilty verdict in rape case; prosecutor says victim's courage 'can't be overstated' - TS

The jury -- comprising seven women and five men -- found Walker guilty of forcible rape while acting in concert and forcible oral copulation in concert more than one year after he was arrested for raping 20-year-old Jane Doe in a wooded area near the Arcata Sports Complex.

Walker, 38, of Eureka, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender for life.

Jane Doe, who testified in the case and appeared in court Thursday to hear the verdict read, hugged prosecuting Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin and DA investigator Jack Bernstein after the hearing, thanking them with tears in her eyes.

”I'm elated with the verdict and really proud of Jane Doe,” McLaughlin said. “I don't say this as hyperbole, but she really showed a level of courage that can't be overstated. She came into court and faced her rapist and showed him she is not the easy target of opportunity he thought she would be.”

Attempts to contact Walker's attorney Owen Tipps were not immediately successful.

APD Chief Tom Chapman attended Thursday's hearing and commended the people who came forward at the scene to help Jane Doe, which he said allowed his officers to take Walker into custody in short order and conduct a thorough investigation. Chapman also said the DA's Office's work on the case was “outstanding.”

”The DA's Office was tireless in its effort to seek justice in this matter,” Chapman wrote in an email to the Times-Standard. “Kevin Walker is a predator. He belongs in prison.”

Walker was arrested in May 2008 after witnesses reported him and two other men fighting in a Trinidad beach parking lot. Witnesses said Walker and another man were holding the third man on the ground, hitting him in the head with a metal pipe and stepping on his face while shouting racial slurs. Walker and the other assailant, Collin Roczey, were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, sodomy and kidnapping, and later pleaded guilty to the assault charge in a plea agreement reached when the victim in the case refused to cooperate with their prosecution.

Walker was on probation from the 2008 case when he committed the rape -- a violation that will add another year to whatever prison sentence a judge imposes.

”We all thought that Kevin Walker really eluded justice with respect to his conduct in 2008, and everybody was very committed to prosecuting this case to the best of our abilities,” McLaughlin said. “We invested ourselves quite a bit in the case. In light of his prior conduct that was sexualized violence against another party, this verdict is obviously important because he now has a conviction to reflect who he is and what he is.”

A win

◼ Arcata man gets maximum sentence in child sex abuse case

A Humboldt County judge sentenced an Arcata man on Wednesday for the continual sexual abuse of a minor, dissuading the minor from testifying against him and committing a felony while out on bond.

W. Bruce Watson sentenced Wayne Thomas Bukowski, 37, of Arcata, to 20 years, eight months in prison -- the maximum sentence allowed by law. Bukowski is also required to register as a sex offender for life.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kelly Neel.

Arcata man pleads guilty to molestation charges

◼ Arcata man pleads guilty to molestation charges

Arcata resident Wayne Thomas Bukowski, 37, pleaded guilty Monday to one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a minor and committing a lewd and lascivious act with a minor, attempting to dissuade a witness while out on bail and three violations of a court order to have no contact with the victim.

Bukowski is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge W. Bruce Watson on July 25. He faces up to 20 years, 8 months in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

WHOO HOOOO!

◼ Eureka man pleads guilty to two felony counts
Bradlee Sanders, 24, of Eureka, entered guilty pleas on Tuesday to two felony counts of resisting a law enforcement officer ad two counts of driving on a suspended driver's license.

Chad Larsen receives 25 years to life

◼ Convicted sex offender sentenced for soliciting murder: Chad Larsen receives 25 years to life
Chad Andrew Larsen, 30, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison for soliciting the murder of a 16-year-old girl who was poised to testify against him in a statutory rape case.
The ruling came after Judge Timothy Cissna rejected a motion by Larsen's attorney to recuse the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office from the case because of a campaign advertisement. Cissna said that while parts of the commercial were inaccurate, it “had no effect whatsoever on the judgment in the case.”
Deputy District Attorney Kelly Neel said that the sentence was “a long time coming.”
”Now I get to call the victim and her mother and tell them it's over,” Neel said. “I think they can take comfort in the fact that the justice system held Mr. Larsen accountable for his actions.”
Neither the victim nor her family was in court for the ruling, but Neel said that she would call them with the news.
In addressing the court, Larsen said the advertisement would put his life at risk in prison.
”I'm going to be killed now,” he said. “I need to go to a mental asylum or something.”

◼ link

Court sentences convicted rapist to 422 year

◼ Court sentences convicted rapist to 422 years; Judge Miles says Samoa man exhibited cruelty and callousness over years
A man convicted of repeatedly raping and abusing his step-daughters was sentenced in Humboldt County Superior Court to 422 years in state prison on Friday.
Paul Alan Jasnosz, 43, of Samoa, sat handcuffed in an orange jumpsuit, donning a white beard and glasses as Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Marilyn Miles read through the 44 felonies Jasnosz was convicted of by a jury in January. Miles said that she had read the 63-page probation report on the case and statements submitted by the two women and their mother who were the victims.
Miles said that the crimes exhibited a high degree of cruelty and callousness and had a serious and lasting impact on the victims, adding that Jasnosz had opportunities to consider his actions between the assaults. She said the sentence serves the best interest of justice and society.
”There is no question in the court's mind that the victims will be impacted by your crimes for the rest of their lives,” Miles said to Jasnosz, “and so it is that you will be held accountable for those crimes for the rest of your life.”
A jury of seven men and five woman found Jasnosz guilty of 31 counts of forcible rape, six counts of oral copulation of a minor, two counts of assault with a firearm, two counts of making criminal threats with the use of a firearm, two counts of false imprisonment with use of a firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

...The case was investigated by Humboldt County Sheriff's deputies Charles Lamb, Kevin Kastler and Jamie Barney and detectives Julia Oliveira and Troy Garey and Humboldt County District Attorney investigators William Honsal and Richard Grimm. Gallegos tried the case, and Public Defender Jonathan McCrone represented Jasnosz.

Outside the courtroom, Gallegos said that the sentence Jasnosz received was profound, but appropriate for the crimes.
”He terrorized these people their whole lives,” Gallegos said.

He added that the victims' testimony in the case was vital, and represented an “immensely brave and heroic act on their part.”

Gallegos wins a RAPE case, YAY!! Whoo Hoo!!!~

#9724; Jasnosz convicted of 31 rape counts
Anonymous has left a new comment:
I'm sure Rose will post this article shortly: http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_14206255
Actually, I added it as an update to the prior post on the jury going for deliberations,
But if you are wanting to hear some cheering for Paul, have at it.

There ya go. However, I suggest you click on the "rape" label in the sidebar, or run a search for the word "rape" here.

Paul Alan Jasnosz Rape trial - convicted of 31 rape counts

◼ Rape trial for stepfather goes to jury for deliberation
The trial of a stepfather who allegedly molested his own stepdaughters went to the jury for deliberations Thursday.
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos confirmed deliberations have started in the trial of Paul Alan Jasnosz, 43.
Jasnosz is facing 45 counts, including 31 counts of forcible rape, making criminal threats and false imprisonment.

The trial started early last month.

Gallegos said in a Thursday interview that he appreciated the fact that the victims testified.

”We know it's really tough,” Gallegos said.

According to a complaint issued by the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office, the two stepdaughters, now in their 20s, were 6 and 7 years old when the molestation allegedly began.

Jasnosz was arrested Oct. 5, 2008. Jury continues deliberation today.

Update: ◼ Jasnosz convicted of 31 rape counts
The man accused of repeatedly raping his stepdaughters and wife was found guilty of 44 felony counts Friday.
A five-woman, seven-man jury returned the verdicts against Paul Alan Jasnosz after two days of deliberating. Each verdict was read individually, and all but one came back as a felony. The 45th count was reduced to a count of misdemeanor battery.

Jasnosz was found guilty of 31 counts of forcible rape, six counts of oral copulation of a minor, two counts of assault with a firearm, two counts of making criminal threats with the use of a firearm, two counts of false imprisonment with use of a firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The Humboldt County District Attorney's Office said he faces a minimum possible prison sentence of 380 years. He's scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 16.

Before the verdicts were read, Jasnosz began reading a statement, but Judge Marilyn Miles quickly ordered him to stop.
”I ask that you not interrupt, or I'll have you removed,” Miles said.

Jasnosz eventually stopped and the verdicts were then read, which took about an hour.

While guilty verdict after guilty verdict was being handed down, Jasnosz whispered to his attorney and scanned the crowd, stopping and slightly shaking his head while looking at one woman in particular.

After a few instances of this, Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Detective Troy Garey, who was an investigator in the case, stood up in the crowd to block the line of sight between Jasnosz and the woman.

”It's been a long trial,” said Jasnosz' attorney Jonathan McCrone after the hearing.

In the hallway afterward, District Attorney Paul Gallegos hugged the woman who had attracted Jasnosz' attention during the proceedings.

”The family are the true heroes,” he said later
Gallegos reiterated that all sentencing decisions are up to the judge.

Belant, guilty

◼ Belant guilty on all counts
A Humboldt County jury on Monday convicted Brian Andrew Belant of each of the 17 felony charges of child molestation and possession of child pornography he faced.

”The evidence was overwhelming,” said juror No. 8, who asked not to be identified. “We looked at all the evidence and came to a unanimous decision.”

A teacher's aide and youth pastor, Belant, 26, was arrested March 1, 2008, at his Eureka home after a Humboldt County Sheriff's Office investigation revealed Belant had molested three boys under the age of 14.

After the investigation turned up another victim, Belant was eventually held to answer to a total of 17 charges relating to four victims, including two charges of possessing child pornography and nine counts of molestation, in some cases by means of force or fear.

Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said the verdict means Belant is facing four life sentences.

Belant's attorney, Andrew Pruitt, was not immediately available for comment after Monday's verdict.

Gallegos said his office offered Belant a plea bargain that would have seen him serve 40 years in prison in exchange for providing law enforcement with the names of other victims.

”Mr. Belant was always willing to be cooperative, but the price he wanted for that cooperation was never palatable,” Gallegos said, adding that he's still willing to offer Belant a use immunity agreement in exchange for information he can provide n any other potential victims in the case so the victims can have access to support services.

Closure

☛ TS Huntzinger's body found
An Arcata High School student, the 14-year-old Huntzinger went missing May 19, 1990, after last being seen at his sister's home. Last week, the DA's Office arrested Stephen Daniel Hash, 53, of Sebastopol, on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter after Hash gave a complete confession, according to District Attorney Paul Gallegos...

...The DA's Office said Hash has been very cooperative with the investigation, even leading investigators to the location where he said he buried Huntzinger.
***
On Monday afternoon, around 2 p.m., the boy's skeleton was located, entangled in a ball of roots under less than two feet of soil. The grave, which was dug about 35 yards from the road, was surrounded by a dense stand of young redwoods, and blanketed by a thick mat of leaf litter and poison oak.

But in 1990, when Huntzinger is presumed to have been buried, that grave site looked very different.

Chief DA Investigator Mike Hislop said when Hash allegedly dumped the body, the area looked like a “moonscape,” as a result of heavy logging and burning activity.

Despite those major changes to the landscape, Hash was reportedly able to recall the location of the grave well enough to lead investigators within 25 feet of where the body was found, said DA investigator Wayne Cox.

”It must be a vivid memory that's permanently imbedded in his (Hash's) hard drive,” he said.

The same tract of land was searched in 1999 by teams using cadaver dogs, but authorities came up empty. This time, Cox said investigators deployed new methods.

According to Hislop, the body was found by a volunteer who canvassed the area using a high-end metal detector loaned by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The grave was located when the metal detector picked up a faint signal from a small piece of metal on Huntzinger's remains -- possibly a zipper or a coin.

Members of the Huntzinger family were immediately notified, and brought to the site before the body was exhumed, said District Attorney Paul Gallegos.

As the redwoods grew back after the logging, they lifted nutrients from Huntzinger's grave, entwining the remains in roots.

According to Deputy Coroner Roy Horton, the search team excavated the approximately 400-pound root ball, which contains Huntzinger's remains.

Now the Coroner's Office is tasked with the painstaking removal of those remains from the root encasement.

Horton said that while they have not been able to positively identify the remains through DNA or dental records, there are other signs it is Huntzinger. The clothing found around the skeleton -- a black jacket and tennis shoes -- are consistent with the outfit Huntzinger was last seen wearing. And there appear to be signs of blunt force trauma to the skull, Horton said.

Although Gallegos and the DA investigators have declined to release the cause of Huntzinger's death, a criminal complaint in Hash's court file charges him with using a barbell to kill the 14-year-old.

The body was found unbound, and Horton said he believes Huntzinger was dead before he was buried.

☛ TS Never too late for resolution

☛ TS editorial Never too late for resolution
☛TS Hash receives 11 years in prison
◼ Curtis Huntzinger's mother wins wrongful death lawsuit

Gallegos: No criminal conduct in Cotton death

Gallegos: No criminal conduct in Cotton death
Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos held a press conference Thursday to announce his investigation into the August 2007 death of Martin Frederick Cotton II is complete, and no criminal charges will be filed.

“There is no evidence — or certainly not evidence of a compelling nature that a crime was committed,” Gallegos said.

Though numerous witnesses were interviewed, due to the lack of evidence, “we simply could not bring a case to trial that would win,” Gallegos said, adding that unlawful use of force by the Eureka Police Department could not be proven...
,,,Upon arrival to the jail, he was too combative for a medical evaluation — a process that normally occurs prior to being booked into the facility, Nielsen said.

He was placed in a “sobering” cell which has an approximately one-quarter-inch thick rubber coating on the floor and on short wall that surrounds the toilet and sink. The cement walls are not coated.

Gallegos said that on a video from a motion-sensor camera that monitors the cell, Cotton was seen striking his head and body parts on the cell.

“He is very combative with himself, or what he may perceive as another person,” Gallegos said. “The padding would not necessarily prevent the sort of injuries that Mr. Cotton had.”

The video also showed correctional officers checking on him periodically, and reacting promptly when he was unresponsive.

The cause of the fatal injury to Cotton’s head — an acute subdural hematoma due to blunt force trauma — could not be pinpointed, Gallegos said.

NCJ Who Killed Martin Cotton?
Blogthing - Martin Cotton Redux
TS No charges coming in Cotton's death
Cotton's estate has filed a wrongful death and civil rights violation claim against the City of Eureka, the County of Humboldt, the Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office as well as unidentified corrections officers.,,,

...Cotton's aunt, Lynda Rumburg, said she wasn't surprised by Gallegos' decision.
”I think he is a coward,” Rumburg said. “I think (Eureka Police Chief Garr) Nielsen is a coward. I think the sheriff is a coward. And, most of all, the officers that first responded, then the officers that were in jail and did nothing other than watch my nephew die a horrible, awful death are cowards.”

In this case, Madam, Gallegos has done the right thing, and the EPD officers who risk their lives going into a situation like this deserve thanks.

DA says no charges in CHP shooting

DA says no charges in CHP shooting

EUREKA -- The Humboldt County District Attorney's Office has determined that the CHP officer who shot and injured Rodney Bartow in September on Snow Camp Road acted with reasonable cause, and that the shooting was legally justified.

At a press conference held Wednesday, the decision was announced.

” ... I have concluded that (CHP) Officer (Jeff) Goodwin has reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Bartow was resisting arrest, committing an aggravated assault, and was engaged in conduct that posed an immediate threat of serious physical injury or death to himself and/or others,” said a press release from the office of District Attorney Paul Gallegos. “Specifically, he was placed in a tense, highly uncertain and rapidly evolving situation. He made a split second judgment intended first to avoid to avoid the use of force and then, facing an immediate threat of serious physical injury or death to himself or others, to use deadly force.”

Bartow, 54, is currently being prosecuted for alleged crimes committed at the time of the shooting. He was shot after he drove in reverse toward a CHP officer after coming to a locked gate near Korbel.

The chase started after someone called to report apossible drunken driver near a Blue Lake gas station.
The CHP officer found the car, but Bartow took off when the officer tried to pull him over. Bartow lead the officer on Blue Lake Boulevard, through Korbel and almost to Snow Camp before reaching the gate.

Bartow was shot in the shoulder. He was eventually handcuffed and taken to a Redding hospital, where he was treated and released into police custody.

Credit when credit is due. Is this the third "Good Boy Paul?"

BREAKING NEWS: Applegate gets three life sentences

ER Thomas Arthur Applegate was sentenced Tuesday to 65 years to life plus seven years for the May 4, 2003, murder of Joey Church and the attempted murder of Ross Condemi.
***
TS - Judge slams Applegate with 72 years

Superior Court Judge John T. Feeney sentenced Thomas Applegate today to 72 years in prison for the May 2003 murder of Joey Patrick Church and the attempted murder of another man at Church's Bridgeville home.

The sentence includes 15 years to life for the murder of Church plus 25 years to life for the discharge of a firearm causing death; seven years for the attempted murder of Ross Condemi; plus 25 years to life for the discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury.

Feeney noted that an appeal is automatic.

The judge also ruled against defense attorney Kevin Robinson's request that the sentences run concurrently. Applegate was also fined $10,000.

THANK YOU Judge Feeney!

More:
KILLER GETS 72 YEARS TO LIFE

For this is awarded one "Good Boy Paul" Point.

I'm taking suggestions - anyone have any to add?

Two down - decision on Honda shooting

DA: Police not at fault in death of Jonni Honda

Officers involved in the December shooting of Jonni Honda acted lawfully and in self defense, according to a copy of a report released by the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office today.

Jonni Kiyoshi Honda, 51, of Big Bar, was killed in a standoff last December when detectives learned he was in a room at the Super 8 Motel in Eureka and showed up to arrest him on suspicion of child molestation.

"Compelling evidence establishes that Officer (Joe) Marsh, Officer (Rob) Mataxas and Sgt. (Michael) Johnson were presented with a situation that actually and reasonably appeared to be a life-threatening situation to some or all of them and others," said the report from District Attorney Paul Gallegos. "In fear for their lives, and the lives of others, and forced to make split-second decisions because of the nature of the circumstances and locations of the respective parties, they fired several rounds at Honda ending the threat posed by Honda by his death."

The report said the use of deadly force was "reasonable and justified."

TS 'Self-defense' in Jonni Honda shooting
ER DA commends police in shooting

One down

BREAKING NEWS: DA does the right thing...
Cooke shooting 'justified,' DA says
The Eureka Police Department announced early Wednesday that the Humboldt County District Attorney will file no charges in the Jan. 4 shooting death of 18-year-old Zachary Cruz Cooke.

A news release issued by the EPD stated DA Paul Gallegos “affirmed” the department’s conclusion that officers “acted lawfully and in self-defense and the use of deadly force was reasonable and justified.”

Cooke was killed by police during an arrest attempt after a string of Eureka-area robberies and shootings in which he was believed to have been involved.

That's good. Now. - about the Cheri Moore incident...

UPDATE:
TS DA's decision leaves questions in its wake
ER Case closed on police shooting 8/1/2007
TS Chilling review describes barrage of gunfire 08/02/2007

Related:
ER Father of slain teen files claims against city of Eureka, county 7/3/2007
ER Omholt returns to court Monday 5/21/2007
ER Omholt arraigned on charges 2/15/2007
ER Omholt to face trial in 3rd case 2/10/2007
ER Omholt preliminary hearing begins 2/9/2007
ER DA's investigation of shooting almost done 2/2/2007
ER Omholt bound over for trial 1/30/2007
ER Cooke tests positive for meth 1/19/2007
ER letter Shooting victim was a child led down the wrong path by his brother 1/15/2007
ER DA's Office files new charges against Omholt Thursday 1/12/2007
ER Preliminary autopsy results show Cooke had 11 wounds 1/11/2007
ER Obit Zachary Cruz Cooke 1/10/2007
ER Omholt arraigned on attempted murder charge of HCSO deputy 1/9/2007