Red and white roses surrounded a photo of David Josiah Lawson on the front steps of the Humboldt County Courthouse this evening as people gathered to voice their concerns, frustrations and support for the slain Humboldt State University student. “My heart is filled with rage and sadness,” Renee Saucedo, a supporter, told the crowd of […]
Maggie Fleming
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Charmaine Lawson: DNA Evidence Identifies Son’s Killer
The mother of slain Humboldt State University sophomore David Josiah Lawson took to Facebook this morning to express frustration that the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office still hasn’t made a charging decision in her son’s case two months after the Arcata Police Department handed over its investigation. “The Department of justice [has] identified my son’s […]
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DA: Lawson Review Will Likely Take Another 4-6 Weeks
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming says her office will need another month to six weeks to complete its review of the David Josiah Lawson homicide investigation to determine what — if any — charges are appropriate in the case. The Arcata Police Department completed its investigation into Lawson’s April 15, 2017, stabbing death and […]
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Officers Cleared in Fatal Plaza Shooting (With Video)
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office has determined the Sept. 9, 2017, fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man on the Arcata Plaza by a university police officer was legally justified. Responding to a report of a fight and a suspect brandishing a firearm in front of Arcata’s bar row, University Police Department officer Louis Altic […]
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Lawson Case in DA’s Hands, Initial Review Likely to Span Several Weeks
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming confirmed this morning that the Arcata Police Department has officially submitted its investigation into the 2017 stabbing death of David Josiah Lawson to her office for review. “We have received all the reports,” Fleming wrote in an email to the Journal, adding that an initial review revealed that there […]
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Contrary to Report, DA Sees ‘No Legal Basis’ to Appeal Kitchen Sentence
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming has no plans to challenge the eight-year prison sentence that Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Kaleb Cockrum handed down to Marci Kitchen last week for the 2016 DUI crash that killed two teenage girls, including Kitchen’s own daughter. In the last few days, you may have read a piece […]
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Chico Man Arraigned on Double Murder Charges
County prosecutors have identified the victims of an alleged double murder in Southern Humboldt Aug. 14 as Tiffany Marie Ellebrecht and Jeremy Dieter Kuemmel. Their alleged killer, 24-year-old Ulisses Rodriguez, who was arrested in Chico a week after Ellebrecht and Kuemmel’s bodies were found in a burning vehicle on Briceland Road near Ettersburg Junction, made […]
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Retired FBI Agent Disputes Claim He Has Nothing More to Offer Lawson Investigation
The retired FBI agent who protesters have been lobbying to have brought back onto the ongoing investigation into the 2017 slaying of a Humboldt State University sophomore is disputing the implication that he declined the city’s invitation to return. Protesters effectively shut down Arcata City Council meetings Wednesday and Thursday, occupying city council chambers and […]
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Mistrust Led to Ex-FBI Agent’s Departure from Lawson Case
The former FBI agent who had been consulting on the investigation into the homicide of David Josiah Lawson said his decision to step away from the case Monday was the result of his belief that the Arcata Police Department wasn’t being forthright with him or following his recommendations. Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer doesn’t dispute […]
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Fortuna City Manager Mark Wheetley Receives Jail Time for DUI
Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming confirmed this afternoon that Fortuna city manager Mark Wheetley pleaded guilty to driving involving alcohol (Vehicle Code section 23103.5, also known as a “wet and reckless”) and violation of probation due to a previous DUI arrest. Court commissioner Timothy Canning sentenced Wheetley to three years probation and 15 days […]
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Man Sentenced to 52 years to Life in Arcata Shooting
Two months after being convicted by a jury of second degree murder, Billy Joe Giddings, 38, was sentenced today to 52 years to life in prison for the death of Arcata resident Trevor Mark Harrison in a marijuana deal gone wrong. Another defendant, Robert Louis Huntzinger, was acquitted but still faces charges in unrelated cases. […]
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Defense Attorneys Urge Supes to Scrap Public Defender Hire, Start Over
It’s very hard to say exactly what recently hired Public Defender David Marcus has been doing for the last five years since his controversial tenure leading Lassen County’s defense services for the indigent came to a close. The resume Marcus submitted to the county indicates that, since leaving Lassen County in 2012, he has worked […]