3 days to go

3

San Jose pot clubs to offer voters free weed on primary day...

◼ California voters can expect to receive free weed from some pot clubs in the Bay Area city of San Jose for casting ballots in state primary elections next Tuesday that include local races and battles for governor and secretary of state. - Reuters

The city’s cannabis collectives, which have also offered up a voter guide to the races, are offering free marijuana and discounts when members show a ballot stub or an “I Voted” sticker on June 3.
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Hey! Isn't that illegal???

Yep. Illegal.

Codifying the ban on voter bribery, the United States Congress has prohibited the conspiracy to encourage illegal voting and stated that anyone who "pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."

And that's not just cash for votes that's outlawed there! "Not only is a direct payment for a vote prohibited, but any other 'valuable thing, to or for the use of another.'" Like delicious ice cream, which is very valuable. Or pot which is illegal....

BUT... "California...allows voters to receive incentives for voting, so long as the incentives are not offered to induce a voter not to vote, or to vote, or to refrain from voting for a particular candidate or ballot measure, and so long as no federal candidates are on the ballot." Richard L. Hasen, Vote Buying, 88 Cal. L. Rev. 1323, 1355 (2000) (citing Cal. Elec. Code. § 18522(a)(1996)).

Bodhi Tree Updates: Rhett August UPDATED & BUMPED

Note: Chiv often post early details of court proceedings, and then fleshes the story out later in the day, so it is recommended that you check back, to catch the full post, and the full flavor of the proceedings...

Rhett August, who was allegedly shot by Bodhi Tree, has a court case of his own *. EPD was responding to a domestic violence call and found meth..... ◼ (In February, he was released on a Cruz Waiver.) Now his own case is being delayed again, AND he is testifying about the events leading to the shooting...

◼ * Rhett August petition to revoke probation withdrawn, remains on probation - John Chiv/Words Worth

◼ Keeping vigil at Tree trial: 'She was one of my best friends' - Lorna Rodriguez/Times-Standard 5/31/14

◼ Tenuous Witness Cred Erodes State’s Case Against Tree - Paul Mann/Mad River Union 5/30/14

The heroin addictions and resulting memory loss of three prime witnesses in the Bodhi Tree triple murder trial are chipping away at the state’s charges.

Rhett August, the one victim to survive last spring’s shooting binge in Eureka and Arcata, remains unable to identify who shot him the night of May 15, 2013, when he answered the doorbell and stepped outside his Eureka apartment....

◼ "Russo seems very frustrated; Firpo defeating him at every turn"; general consensus among media covering case - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/30/14
◼ In my experience, in Humboldt County, a pound of marijuana would not get prosecuted in this era - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/30/14

Detective Cress explaining one of the reasons why he did not confiscate the marijuana in Rhett August's apartment. He also said when he saw the marijuana in the one, clear plastic bag, he was doing the initial sweep to secure the apartment for safety.

◼ Cress cross by Russo concludes in Bodhi Tree, Firpo still doing redirect - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/29/14
◼ 3 year supervised probation for Rhett August, alleged first victim in the Bodhi Tree case - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/14

Judge Feeney said that in addition to the Probation report, an addendum to the Probation report, he received character reference letters provided by August's family.

His tentative decision was to grant three years of supervised probation to August and to reinstate probation for four older cases.

◼ Brief Bodhi Tree update from today - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/14
◼ Cress still testifying: explains how Bodhi Tree connection with Eureka and Arcata happened - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/14 10:05
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4 days to go

4

THE FERRER, ROCHELEAU, STOIBER PRELIM Defendants held to answer on all charges

Two voices "Fuck you and your fat girlfriend" and "I am still following you"

KELLY NEEL PROSECUTING. WHERE IS PAUL?

DAY TWO:
◼ Ferrer defendants held to answer on all charges - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/29/14

Arraignment for trial on June 10 at 2 p.m. in Ctrm 4. Judge Wilson said counsel had good arguments and while he saw evidentiary issues and potential problems with jury instructions, he said Ferrer's actions did meet implied malice and that use of a knife in a physical alteraction was similar to bringing a gun to a knife fight.

◼ Reavis and Okin get Sligh to admit testimony left out during prosecution cross in Ferrer case - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/29/14
◼ Possibility of other assailants and more heroin connections raised in Ferrer prelim day 2 - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/29/14

DAY ONE:
◼ A witness in Ferrer case describes what she heard. Detailed testimony from today's preliminary updated later. - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/14

Ms. Neel's first witness APD Detective Dockweiler. Mr. Reavis doing cross.

More, at the link.

◼ Arcata detective describes scene of fatal stabbing - Will Houston/Times-Standard 5/28/14

The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue (Thursday) at 9 a.m.

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And WHERE was Paul, who was to have handled this case PERSONALLY?
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PREVIOUSLY: Gallegos informed Reinholtsen that he had not had the opportunity to speak with Anderson-Jordet's family

◼ Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said... he has reassigned the Douglas Anderson-Jordet fatal stabbing case from Deputy District Attorney Elan Firpo to himself.

”It was my own inner sense of justice for everyone involved and my disappointment that some would use this case for political purposes instead of trying to seek justice,” Gallegos said....

So, WHERE was Paul?

People are calling about the Rio Dell 'debate'

Arnie has posted: Last night in Rio Dell: I went to a forum and turned it into a debate.....

Here's the ◼ AUDIO.

Here's the ◼ VIDEO.

Well worth a listen...

Apparently very contentious - Discuss.

(THANK YOU, RIO DELL TIMES)

5 days to go

5

Interesting Case from Supreme Court

◼ Stating the obvious, after a while - scotusblog

◼ Martinez v. Illinois – While the case kept getting put off, for one reason or another, things started to move in July 2009. But the prosecutor sought several delays, because it could not find Binion and Scott. Finally, the judge ordered the trial to begin in May 2010. The judge was exasperated, commenting that the two complaining witnesses were “convicted felons…well known in Elgin.”

Insisting on starting, the judge then was notified by the state’s prosecutors that they would not take any part in the trial. A jury was chosen and sworn in, but still the state held back. Given repeated opportunities to call witnesses, the prosecutors each time said they were not participating.

So, at the request of Martinez’s lawyer, the judge ruled that he was not guilty of either charge, and dismissed them. The prosecutors appealed, and first a middle-level appeals court and then the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Martinez had never been put “in jeopardy” and that the judge should have delayed the trial further. Because the prosecutors never put on a case against him, the state supreme court found, Martinez was never “at risk.”
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In addition, the Court turned down a plea by James Holmes, the Colorado man accused of the massacre of theater-goers in Aurora, Colorado, in July 2012. He was seeking to force a Fox News reporter in New York, Jana Winter, to go to Colorado to take the witness stand and reveal the sources of information she received about a notebook Holmes had written to a college psychiatrist. The notebook apparently reveals incriminating information about his case. The case was Holmes v. Winter. The New York Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) protected Winter from having to testify, under that state’s “shield law” for news reporters.

Ferrer preliminary scheduled for this morning

◼ The Ferrer case has been moved to Courtroom 6 with Judge Christopher Wilson. Will start at 2:30 today and continue tomorrow at 8:30. - John Chiv/Words Worth 5/28/14

(Note: for those who aren't familiar with John Chiv's coverage, it is typically updated throughout the day, and finalized after the court day is over, so check back, at the link.)

6 days to go

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7 days to go

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8 days to go

8

[An exchange of insults at a party leads to ‘a truly horrific’ beating]

Issues with women, gets beat up by some guys at a party, describes his rage, and his plans to come back and punish them... oddly similar to what must have been going on with Bodhi Tree... only Bodhi Tree wasn't as calculating... based on the reports so far.

Elliot Rodger, the suspect in a rampage near UC Santa Barbara, outlined his intentions in a 137-page document that he sent Friday night, shortly before the killings, to someone he knew from an online body building forum.

The document was forwarded to KEYT-TV Channel 3 in Santa Barbara, which provided a copy to The Times.

WARNING: The document contains graphic language.

◼ Isla Vista shooting: Read Elliot Rodger's elaborate attack plan - LA Times

...A whole group of the obnoxious brutes came up and dragged me onto their driveway, pushing and hitting me. I wanted to fight and kill them all. I managed to throw one punch toward the main attacker, but that only caused them to beat me even more. I fell to the ground where they started kicking me and punching me in the face. Eventually, some other people from the street broke up the fight. I managed to have the strength to stand up and stagger away.

It was the first time in my life that I had been truly beaten up physically to the point where my face was bruised up. I had suffered a lot of bullying in my life, but most of it wasn’t physical. I had never been beaten and humiliated that badly. Everyone in Isla Vista saw what happened, and it was truly horrific....

◼ Elliot Rodger's YouTube manifestos

Fascinating, and psychotic. Surreal. Like it was a reality murder TV show.







◼ 'Sexually frustrated' Santa Barbara killer promised to 'kill as many people as possible' - NY Daily News

The killer stabbed three men to death at his Isla Vista apartment before he embarked on the killing spree that also wounded 13 people on Friday night.

◼ 'I will slaughter every single blonde s**t I see': lonely killer posted chilling video warning of 'retribution' because he was still a virgin at age 22 - Daily Mail
◼ Rodger details throughout his manifesto that he filled a void in his life with violent video games starting at a young age. - The Blaze

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So, focusing on this one for a minute - Aspbergers, off his meds, and violent video games. You can't blame the parents for this one. But you CAN see how having the tools that enhanced his narcissism (video cam, so he can look at himself, obsess on his delusions, YouTube, so he can post it, and thrill in the knowing that someone might HEAR him, indulging in the ultimate 'they'll all be sorry now' wallowing) helped fuel the fire. He had everything, but he had nothing. But what went wrong in his wiring, in HIS head, had nothing to do with anyone but him.

Well, that and, when the police were called, they gave him the Jeffrey Dahmer treatment. Which is to say, they didn't inquire, they let it go. In Dahmer's case they returned the terrified victim BACK to Dahmer.

The political ping-pong ball

◼ Kerrigan’s largest donors were hardware store owner Bill Pierson, who gave his campaign committee $2,000 this period, and former pot doc/environmental activist Ken Miller, who gave $1,850.

No special interests at work here, nosireebob, uh uh, no way, no how.
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Both Kerrigan and LaTour are running because somebody is pissed off about the General Plan being re-examined.

Remember: As the General Plan was being wrapped up, the following passage was discovered, tucked into the County of Humboldt Climate Action Plan (CAPE) which is an Appendix U to the Draft EIR for our local General Plan Update, and may be included as a background document for the Energy Element of the General Plan:
"B. Family Planning

(Big Brother*) The County should support the notion that every woman and every couple should have the resources and the power to control their own reproductive lives. By ensuring that every child in the County is planned, the County will make significant progress toward solving unnecessary increases in local contributions to global warming impacts. The County Public Health Department should implement a program to address the potential of unplanned pregnancies which unnecessarily add to future population increases, which in turn add to further greenhouse gas emissions due to addition(al?) consumption.."

I submit that the people who are pissed off about the re-examination of the General Plan are either ignorant of this fact, or are worried that their other Easter Eggs will be discovered. And they want a chance to put it back in.

NOW - You can ask Ms. LaTour what she thinks about this. As a pastor, it will be very informative to hear what she thinks about government encouraging abortion, and acting like China. Ask Chris Kerrigan, too. Better yet - ask them what Bill Pierson thinks. And Ken Miller the pot doc.

But here's the real question - the General Plan is slated to be FINISHED by December, BEFORE either one would be seated if elected. IF they do get elected, are we to expect that the WHOLE damn process begins again? So they can reinsert that passage, or worse?

The Lovelace/Pierson/Faust/Miller/Kerrigan/LaTour camp created this game of political ping-pong. We should be glad someone stepped in to clean up the mess, and will pass it without crap like that added in there.

No 460 feeding frenzy?

So far, only one mention...

◼ Once again, Maggie outspends her opponents and raises almost twice as much as her opponents - John Chiv/Words Worth
◼ Nothing new here: LoCo's Humboldt Campaign Finances

◼ Ahh, there it is: Election Money, Down to the Wire: Kerrigan Outraises Bass Over Last Two Months; Fleming Dominates DA Contributions - Hank Sims/Lost Coast Outpost

◼ Maggie Fleming PDF
◼ Elan Firpo PDF
◼ Allan Dollison PDF
◼ Arnie Klein
◼ Chris Kerrigan PDF
◼ Virginia Bass PDF
◼ Ryan Sundberg PDF
◼ Sharon LaTour PDF

◼ United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 5 gave Kerrigan $500 yet he shops at WINCO for a fundraiser? - John Chiv/Words Worth
◼ Kerrigan campaign collects union dollars and spends at Winco? WOW! Union conundrum! - Samoa Softball

◼ Sharon LaTour does not file Schedule E, and has no expenses? Are she and Hezekiah Allen roomies now with same address? - John Chiv/Words Worth

◼ Candidates show us the money - Jillian Singh/Times-Standard