Last night, upon request by Mr. Brownfield, Sgt Dokweiler did further investigation.
A paring knife that was part of the set of three knives was found in a compartment in Kyle Zoellner's bag that was alleged to have been missing was discovered in a hidden compartment.
Further testimony by Sgt. Dokweiler did not paint Arcata Police Department in a favorable light. He was the People's last witness.
The defense presented only one witness, Zoellner's Supervisor at work, Alexander Begovich.
(will update later today after ruling post this afternoon).
From all that I have read (here and in LOCO, I am discounting Mad River for reasons too obvious to require description), APD dealt fairly well with a chaotic scene. But the two mistakes we know about, reporting that a witness id'd Zoellner as jabbing at the victim (the description is consistent with what a stabbing might look like) and now, reporting that a knife was missing from the bag, are pretty dire. This was a weak case to begin with and now it seems unlikely that there will be a holding order. I am not knocking the DA, she had a very short amount of time to file the case (he was arrested on 4-15, case had to be filed 4-18 to keep him in custody)and I suspect much of what came out in the PH came in after the charges were filed.
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