UPDATE: Following in the footsteps of Judicial Watch, President Donald Trump and his campaign and the Republican state and national parties filed two separate lawsuits today over the tax return law recently signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Each case alleges California’s move to make releasing a candidate’s tax returns a prerequisite to being placed […]
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Brazen Gun Theft Suspect Pleads Guilty, Most Weapons Still Unaccounted for
The Eureka man with an outlaw name who was behind a brazen gun theft at Pacific Outfitters nearly four years ago was recently sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to the crime in federal court. Jesse James Marquez was 19 when he cut power lines to the sporting goods store in August […]
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County Counsel Suit Alleges Conspiracy in Legal Billings; Supes Approve $1.4M in Retro Payments, New Contract with Law Firm
The county’s head attorney has filed a civil lawsuit against two fellow top administrators, an outside attorney and her Bay Area-based law firm alleging they conspired against him when he tried to expose excessive billing practices. According to Jefferey Blanck’s lawsuit, bills from Liebert Cassidy Whitmore “increased three-fold” from 2016 to 2018 — from $137,000 to […]
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Dunaway Paroled 25 Years After Amber Slaughter Murder
Thomas Jerome Dunaway is a free man, released from prison some 25 years after participating in the execution-style murder of a 14-year-old Eureka girl. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Dunaway was paroled last month to the San Francisco area. While Dunaway had faced life in prison for the 1994 murder of […]
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Judge Denies Placement of Sex Offender in Eureka
Judge John Feeney today decided against approving plans to have a man deemed by the courts to be a sexually violent predator placed under supervised release in Eureka, according to media reports and a Facebook post by Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson. The proposed placement would have had Joshua Cooley staying in a rotating set […]
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Release of Sex Offender to Garberville Denied
Multiple media outlets are reporting that Judge John Feeney today denied the placement of a man deemed by the courts to be a sexually violent predator for the second time in less than a year, this time to Garberville. However, according to a Times-Standard article, Feeney did agree with his attorney’s argument that Joshua Cooley […]
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Judge Rules Mother of Stabbing Suspect Will Not Stand Trial
Several media outlets are reporting that a Superior Court judge ruled today there was insufficient evidence for the mother of a teenage accused in the fatal stabbing of another boy to stand trial for murder. According to the Times-Standard’s article, Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis said the prosecution’s argument that Lorna Jean Leen “acted with ‘implied malice’ […]
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ACLU Lawsuit Accuses St. Joseph Hospital of Transgender Discrimination (Updated with Statement from St. Joseph)
UPDATE: St. Joseph Health issued a brief statement last night in response to the civil rights lawsuit filed yesterday alleging transgender discrimination at its Eureka hospital, saying it takes the allegations “very seriously” and is committing its “full attention to investigating this matter.” “At St. Joseph Health, we believe health care is a basic human […]
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‘This Doesn’t End;’ Hundreds Attend Vigils Demanding ‘Justice for Josiah’
Red hats, scarfs and sweaters enveloped the exterior of the Humboldt County Courthouse and “Justice for Josiah” and “I stand with Charmaine Lawson” signs sat on the steps, as Lawson began to speak. “We’re not going to stop fighting, this doesn’t end,” she said. “Thursday’s decision doesn’t end. Maggie Fleming, if you can hear me, […]
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Attorney: Zoellner Thanks Jurors, Hopes Police Will Seek ‘Truth’ in Lawson Investigation
After a criminal grand jury targeting him opted not to issue an indictment, a McKinleyville man suspected in the stabbing death of David Josiah Lawson hopes the jury’s decision “will allow law enforcement to investigate the case from a new perspective and seek the truth,” according to a press release from his attorney. “Kyle Zoellner […]
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Charmaine Lawson Vows to Keep Fighting for Son, Plans to Attend Tomorrow’s Vigil
The mother of slain Humboldt State University sophomore David Josiah Lawson says she won’t give up in her quest to find justice for her son, despite yesterday’s announcement that a criminal grand jury convened in the case declined to hand down indictments. “I am heartbroken by the (grand jury’s) decision, my family is heartbroken. We […]