An Alderpoint man found guilty of first-degree murder in 2023 appears headed for a new trial after a state appellate court recently overturned his conviction, finding a local judge erred in allowing the jury to be presented with “inflammatory and prejudicial” evidence that may have changed the outcome of the case. Jake Henry Combs, who […]
Stacey Eads
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DA Clears Officers in Eureka Shooting
Humboldt County District Attorney Stacey Eads has determined the shooting of 31-year-old Matthew Robert Williams by Eureka police officers was legally justified, saying Williams pulled a handgun, chambered a round and pointed it at an officer when police opened fire, fatally wounding him. “Clearly, Williams presented an imminent threat of death or series bodily injury to […]
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DA Declines to Prosecute 27 Arrested in Cal Poly Humboldt Protests
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office has decided not to criminally charge 27 of the 39 people arrested during the Pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus in late April, during which protesters occupied Siemens Hall for a week. Responding to a Journal inquiry, District Attorney Stacey Eads wrote in an email that she […]
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Latest Election Results: Arroyo’s Lead Grows in the Fourth District Race
The Humboldt County Elections Office released another update on the June election vote tally today. In the Fourth District contest, Natalie Arroyo upped her lead to 52.88 percent of the vote, followed by Mike Newman at 33.30 percent and Kim Bergel at 13.83 percent. If Arroyo can stay above 50 percent mark, she’ll avoid a […]
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Latest Election Results: Arroyo Gains Ground, Nielsen and Cervantes Poised for a Runoff
The numbers changed but not the overall status of local races in the latest round of election results released today. In the Fourth District contest, Natalie Arroyo buoyed her lead to 50.85 percent of the vote, followed by Mike Newman at 34.51 percent and Kim Bergel at 14.66 percent. If Arroyo can stay above 50 […]
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Eads Finishes Night With Decisive Win
FINAL ELECTION NIGHT REPORT: Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads will be Humboldt County’s next top prosecutor, taking over for her mentor Maggie Fleming, who announced she will retire at the end of the year. Eads has taken 59 percent of the 13,749 votes counted thus far in the race, far outpacing Deputy Public Defender Adrian […]
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Humboldt Judge Rescinds Release of Convicted Sex Offender
A Humboldt County Superior Court judge issued a ruling last week striking his December of 2016 order for the conditional release of a local man who’s been designated as a Sexually Violent Predator. According to a Humboldt District Attorney’s Office news release, Judge John Feeney’s Aug. 13 ruling was based not only on the inability […]
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Sexual Assault Hearing Raises Privacy Concerns (UPDATED)
A Humboldt County Superior Court judge ruled today there is sufficient evidence to hold David Bernard Anderson II to stand trial on charges he drugged and raped a 16-year-old girl in 2018, but not that he committed attempted sex trafficking. Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads is prosecuting the case, with local attorney Michael Acosta representing […]
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‘Grief and Despair’
Judge Kaleb Cockrum on Tuesday sentenced Marci Kitchen to eight years in prison for driving drunk and running down two 14-year-old girls, including her own daughter, saying he didn’t believe her version of events and felt the actions she took following the 2016 crash warranted a prison term rather than probation. Calling her behavior “several […]
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Marci Kitchen Pleads Guilty, Sentencing Set
Just weeks before her trial was set to begin, Marci Kitchen stood in front of Judge Kaleb Cockrum today and pleaded guilty to all the charges she was facing for fatally hitting two teenage girls, including her daughter, while driving drunk then fleeing the scene in 2016. Wearing a black and white brocade dress with […]
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Marci Kitchen Expected to Plead Guilty Monday
Judge Kaleb Cockrum today set a Monday hearing at which Marci Kitchen is expected to enter a guilty plea to the full set of charges she is facing for the hit-and-run deaths of two teenage girls, one of whom was her daughter. More than two years have passed since Kitchen allegedly was driving drunk and […]