Alleged sex trafficker Darin Ward looking to retain Redding lawyer instead of Ken Bareilles

 

Alleged sex trafficker Darin Ward was held to answer by Humboldt Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge on all 14 counts and special allegations last November after a lengthy preliminary hearing. 

Alleged molestor charged with 18 felonies resolves case pleading to three counts with two felonies reduced to misdemeanors

 

Alleged molestor Peter Zeller was charged with 18 felonies involving a minor. Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm is the prosecutor for the case. Zeller retained Mr. Michael Robinson. As I previously reported, Ms. Joanne Carter joined later as co-counsel. 

On 1/15/25, Zeller had his preliminary hearing scheduled as well as a defense motion to continue. Instead Zeller entered a plea and was sentenced the same day. When I saw the defense motion to continue was off calendar and Mr. Robinson going over the plea form and talking with Zeller before court; I knew the case would most likely resolve.

Thank you Ryan Burns and Lost Coast Outpost

I want to thank Ryan Burns for his article on the small claims case Gregory Kreis filed against me and for attending yesterday's hearing. I appreciate him reaching out to First Amendment experts and the law firm in his article. I want to thank Lost Coast Outpost for covering the important issue of First Amendment.

Hard working City of Eureka crew working through lunch on the water main

 

I did not get the City of Eureka logo in the photo of the white truck because I did not want to interrupt them, especially since they are working through lunch. This us a two person crew on Commercial. I introduced myself to them and then called Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery to make sure it was okay to appease one of the workers and got his permission. I appreciate Miles answering his phone during lunch. One of the benefits of reporting in a small town. These kind of impromptu posts are my favorite because it gives me a chance to spotlight hardworking people and routine business by government rarely recognized.

Maria Cuevas tearfully responds to Judge "yes" to her 25 years, 8 months plea in double collision case

 

I already reported on gross vehicular manslaughter suspect's Maria Cuevas' plea deal in CR2402083. 

last week. It was continued to this week since her attorney, Ms. Andrea Sullivan was in trial for the Jackson Parrott case and so Ms. Sullivan could go over all the complex details of the plea.

Once again, no media in court. It is now 8:48 a.m. David Sprague's wife was not in court today but his daughter, Jessica Sprague was in court and his other daughter Natosha Sprague appeared again via Zoom. Ms. Jennifer Dixon was in court. Ms  Sullivan spoke with Cuevas before court.

Retired Judge Ksenia Tsenin has the plea form and is in chambers with Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees and Ms. Sullivan as well as attorneys for the victims; Mr. William Stein for Sprague's family and Ms. Heidi Wells for Humboldt Bar Association President Ms. Dixon.

I have covered this case and been in court for hearings when other media has been MIA. I don't have to do a new post unless necessary. Regular readers of my blog know that I value their time and I don't need to do a new post on what I have already reported and first. Regular readers know where to go for scoops, breaking news and live coverage, especially of Humboldt Superior Court. 

9:06 a.m. Hearing just concluded. Still no media in court.  Time waived for sentencing which is scheduled for March 10 and expected to be an hour and half long.  While the victim statements are cathartic for them, I have covered the case and preliminary hearing and done exclusive reporting and there is nothing significantly new that I will learn from the victim statements so I may just add court minutes from sentencing to this post as well as any press release from the DA. 

Arraignment on information and details of the charges are in the  post I did last week.

Cuevas was arraigned on the information today with Count 1 being dismissed. Judge Ksenia Tsenin had to renumber the complaint in court. Judge Tsenin asked Cuevas if she needed a break when she teared up and answered "yes" to the 25 years, 8 months in prison sentence.

Restitution is reserved; fine for parole revocation is stayed but will be imposed if Cuevas violates probation. Custody credits at 15% " instead of half" Judge Tsenin told Cuevas.

Judge Tsenin went into the plea in detail and read each charge and the rights Cuevas was giving up and told Cuevas the consequences if any additional crimes were committed in the future.

People dismissed Count 1. Count 2 renumbered is now gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Cuevas entered guilty pleas to charges and admitted special allegations.

In no way am I minimizing Cuevas' actions but in 11 years of covering Humboldt Superior Court, there are many defendants who drag out out the process and refuse to accept pleas this early in the process making victims and their family members come to court for years. There is always a chance Cuevas could withdraw her plea deal but if she does go through with sentencing; the victims should be grateful Cuevas having an experienced attorney like Ms. Sullivan and the decades of experience Judge Tsenin has on the bench and prior to that as an attorney. 

I will add court minutes from the plea to this post when they are available in e court. Due to an ongoing jury trial in Courtroom 2 who are in deliberations, per Courtroom admin, minutes for Cuevas as well as the small claims will probably not be up until tomorrow.

18 year old Eureka High School student Ivan Gunner Hatch Logan arrested on firearm and explosive charges

 

Eureka Police Chief Brian Stephens just sent out this press release. A key point Chief Stephens stressed is, "This investigation has revealed that there was no threat or intent that the seized items were to be used towards any students/staff of EHS or against the campus. " 

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Explosive Ordinance Team assisted in the investigation. Tannerite is the illegal explosive seized.

Besides Reddit and Lost Coast Pride, why haven't we heard about this alleged assault on Ferndale pastor Tyrel Bramwell?

In this You Tube video, you see the man on the right come up to Tyrel Bramwell and grab the mic and remove his glasses. Bramwell says, "hey that is assault." "What's your name? What's your name?" The man does not answer.

I have no way of knowing if the You Tube video was altered in any way but if it was not, you see Bramwell was speaking and the man came up and grabbed the mic. 

I followed up today on inquiries about Ferndale pastor Tyrel Bramwell who claims to the alleged victim in an assault case that allegedly occurred last year at Ferndale pride. 

First hearing according to a Lost Coast Pride Facebook post was on 12/19/24 in Courtroom 2. Dave is a Coast Guard veteran according to his wife and she admits he disconnected the mic in this Facebook post. Without a person's full name or a court case number, it is hard to look up court records. The online calendar changes daily. It is also almost a month later. I haven't seen any media coverage. Today in e court, there is no case with the name Tyrel Bramwell. At least the public and media section of e court. 

I will see what I can find out tomorrow about this claim of a police report. Without a suspect's last name, getting a case number from the DA or court records is challenging and I have other current news to report this week.

The comments below are from his You Tube video.

1/16/25: Even with the vague information provided, Ferndale Police Chief Ron Sligh promptly responded to me this morning. 

"I am familiar with the case and the incident that occurred on 6/30/24. Mr. Bramwell reported the incident after the fact that day. There was no call to us at the time of the incident. Mr. Bramwell reported that he was assaulted, and his property was damaged at a Pride Event being held at the Fireman’s Park. Our Officer took Mr. Bramwell’s statement and then responded to the park in an attempt to locate the suspect. The suspect was not located at the time and our Officer received a few leads on the identity of the suspect. The Officer was eventually able to identify the suspect and was able to contact him for a statement. Since the crimes reported were misdemeanors that did not occur in our presence, we submitted the case to the DA with a declaration in support of a warrant."

This is for people who do not understand the law and free speech and the trolls whose comments on my Facebook news page violated not just my rules but what is posted above. It is not a defense of Tyler Bramwell but you don't get to put your hands on someone else and take the law into your own hands even if their words are hateful and reprehensible.  

Dave isn't looking good from the portion of video viewed and the information I got from Ferndale Police Chief Sligh. His wife conveniently left out her husband's full legal name. Anyone can claim anything on social media and we have too many "community" pages putting out information from certain perspectives. 

There is a difference when an actual reporter or journalist verifies and does follow up on the information. 

I had to waste time today I don't have because "Dave's" wife, Lost Coast Pride and Bramwell supporters did not provide any information that would allow me to find the court case. 

Then I had to go the DA's office, use my goodwill and waste the DA staff time with this vague information but I did get the case number and the full legal name of the suspect which is William David Cadorette. And I am glad I did. 

The DA charged Cadorette with battery and vandalism under $400. The case number is CR2403086. Cadorette was arraigned on 11/20/24, the 12/19 hearing was for a motion on diversion which was granted. Future dates are 3/19/25 & 12/25/25. Court records, minutes, screenshots of timeline of the case included below.

Hate crimes suspect Daniel Epperson and alleged victim Lee Ulansey were both on the second floor of the courthouse this morning waiting for Judge Killoran's ruling

 

Today, I saw one of the alleged victims Lee Ulansey at one end of the hallway of second floor of courthouse. He was near Courtroom 4. Lee knows who I am; we have not spoken in years. Usually, Karen Brooks and a couple other have been at hearings to support Lee. His son, Joshua Ulansey, is the other alleged victim.

On the other end of the hallway on second floor near Courtroom 5 was hate crimes suspect Daniel Epperson who recognized me. He was there with an older woman; I have no idea who she is and I had a busy court morning checking on multiple cases which is a daily occurence.

I have been covering the Epperson case regularly. In my last post on December 16, 2024, I reported about the defense petition for mental health diversion.

Judge Lawrence Killoran took the matter under submission and today he issued his ruling granting mental health diversion. Epperson still has to abide by the criminal protective order.

Epperson's VOP case was trailing. In a related civil case, filed against Epperson by Melody Islam; a restraining order was granted for 3 years.

HCSO arrested two suspects involved in multiple shooting incidents in December 2024

HCSO issued an update today about the arrests of two suspects in multiple shooting incidents including the one at Toni's restaurant.

The original press release was issued on December 31, 2024.

"Doesn't defamation have to be false?" Judge Tsenin asks Kreis; judgement suspended in his small claims case against me "at this time"

As you read this post and any coverage of this small claims case, keep in mind this summary of former judge Gregory Kreis and this excerpt from the screenshot which is from the Commission on Judicial Performance. 

"Judge Kreis engaged in multiple

acts of misconduct. In at least

44 cases over which he presided, Judge Kreis failed to

disclose his relationships with

seven attorneys; his familiarity

with individuals involved in

matters before him; or the

extent of his relationships with

the individuals. The extent and

type of his misconduct was

serious. The commission also

took particularly seriously the

judge's sexual misconduct with

a female acquaintance. The

commission also based the

censure and bar on Judge

Kreis's conduct in treating

attorneys and litigants poorly,

including making inappropriate,

sarcastic, and gratuitous

comments to them."

Judge Kreis's misconduct was

aggravated by prior discipline. In

2018, the commission issued an

advisory letter to Judge Kreis for

intemperate and inappropriate

remarks he made about a

criminal defendant during a

sentencing hearing." CJP

Just EPD doing their job every day, not every call makes headlines

 

(Photo: John Chiv)

Just Eureka Police Department doing their job every day, not every call makes headlines. Took this photo a few minutes a few minutes after 4 p.m. today. I have now lived in Eureka for 21 years. My feelings of gratitude for EPD remain consistent.

Directed verdict in Jackson Parrott trial for attempted murder, torture and mayhem

Directed verdict granted in Jackson Parrot case for attempted murder, torture and mayhem by Judge Kaleb Cockrum. He has two other cases trailing. Later case was absorbed into this trial, so the counts in that case still exist;  older case is trailing.

Ms. Andrea Sullivan is Jackson Parrott's attorney. Deputy District Ian Harris is the prosecutor. Christopher Overholt is representef by Mr. Paul Gallegos.

You can read court minutes starting from 1/8/25 which include defense Batson challenge being denied by Judge Kaleb Cockrum during jury selection; Christopher Overholt was held for contempt by Judge Cockrum and put on a no bail status unless he testified. As I reported previously, Overholt has an immunity agreement with the DA's office. The next day, the DA amended the immunity agreement and agreed to testify but that he was doing it under duress. The contempt order was set aside and Overholt is released only on this case.

Thank you to KMUD's Kelley Lincoln for the shout out about my coverage of the opening statements and asking permission to.include some of the content.

https://kmud.org/local-news-01-14-2025/

Setting of sentencing on 2/27/5 and 3/10/25.

This week, you won't find most of the Humboldt Superior Court judges in their regular courtrooms

Judge April Van Dyke just got assigned her first criminal trial. 

It is the retrial for Steve Boudreaux which I have been covering. Check that case where I have been adding updates aincluding the new date . The trial has been continued several times. I reported previously in December that two judges had been disqualified. Deputy Public Defender Casey Russo disqualified Judge Steven Steward, then Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm disqualified Judge Kelly Neel. Judge Kaleb had been assigned to the retrial but then dates got rescheduled.

Right now with Judge Joyce Hinrichs' retirement, disqualifications, jury trial assignments resulting in judges having to move courtrooms; it may be a while before we find out 2025 court permanent assignments.

Right now with jury trials, this week in Ctrm 2 it is Retired and Visiting Judge Ksenia Tsenin who is assigned to a trial; Ctrm 3 is Judge Timothy Canning; Courtroom 5 Ctrm 5 has  Retired Judge Marilyn Miles; Judge Kaleb Cockrum is in Courtroom 1 for a jury trial and Judge Lawrence Killoran in Courtroom 6 for a jury trial. Judge April Van Dyke was in Courtroom 8.

Last I heard, Judge Van April Van Dyke is permanently assigned to Courtroom 6 family law; Presiding Judge Kelly Neel Courtroom 7 juvenile law and Judge Lawrence Killoran is moving from Courtroom 1 to Courtroom 5. Judge Cockrum is now in Courtroom 1. Courtroom 2 has been a Visiting Judge or whoever will replace Retired Judge Joyce Hinrichs whenever that happens.

Frequent offender Marcus Wade Smith is just one example of wasted law enforcement, probation and court resources because of California's soft on crime laws and Newsom closing down prisons

 

Google this case. Marcus Wade Smith had his probation terminated decades ago, his name is familiar to anyone who checks the Humboldt jail log and on January 12, he was arrested by HCSO again for fleeing from law enforcement and probation violation.