In my experience, in Humboldt County, a pound of marijuana would not get prosecuted in this era

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.

Today is the first day since opening that Christina's mom has been in the audience. The numbers of members of the public that attend has dropped off steadily. There has been one friend of Christina's that has been here every day.

Cress finally finished testimony. Mr. Russo was unsuccessful in discrediting Detective Cress' testimony.

In her re-direct, Ms. Firpo asked Detective Cress about the difference between a narrative and a report. Mr. Russo, the previous day had brought up the fact that not everything was in Detective Cress' report.

Detective showed his report on the case which was a binder "about 3 inches thick" and then he should his narrative which was a 1/4 inch. Detective Cress said that his narrative was a summary and responded with a "No" when Ms. Firpo asked, "Do you include everything in your narrative?"

Then questions were asked by Ms. Firpo and Detective Cress explained why the Melvin Matthews lead "dissipated." Detective Cress said that while a witness had seen someone, no one had specifically seen Melvin Matthews do the shooting. Detective Cress said he interviewed witnesses to substantiate Melvin Matthew's alibi. He mentioned the Christie Motel and gave other local addresses where he spoke to several people, some he was familiar with already as law enforcement interacts with them frequently. Detective Cress said that he could substantiate Melvin Matthews had been at those locations but not specific times.

Ms. Firpo showed photos of Melvin Matthew's face and hands. Detective Cress pointed out that there was no evidence of a physical altercation. This referred back to a fight Steve Upton had mentioned to the Detective that allegedly happened between Upton and Matthews. Detective Cress added that when he interviewed Sean Butler-Smith, he evaluated him in "sepcial way"  to determine his credibility  and that he was coherent and articulate and based on his interview with Smith, "Mr. Tree was a suspect" and again reiterated that in his investigation other leads had dissipated.

Detective Cress also explained that while it is ideal to record the entire statement while interviewing a witness, that parts of his interviews with Upton and John Buhne were not recorded because they were more forthcoming with names and details when they were not being recorded.