So many people showed up to speak at Joshua Cooley's placement hearing, it was moved to the Board of Supervisor Chambers

Sexually violent predator Joshua Cooley's placement hearing was moved to the Board of Supervisors Chambers since Courtroom 4 was packed and there were still  people outside. This was suggested by Judge John Feeney.



Nicole Riggs, Alison Talbott  and others are scheduled to speak. Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson is here. Supervisor Rex Bohn is here.

The Humboldt County District Attorney, the Humboldt County Sheriff and community members are against this placement.

If you haven't been following the extensive coverage and background about this case, all posts are linked below. News about this placement was first reported on this blog.

A lot of information is in my previous coverage.

The hallway was packed with community members here. Deputy DA Stacey Eads is here for the People. Conflict Counsel Supervising Attorney Ms. Meagan O'Connell is here for Cooley. Ms. O' Connell informed Judge Feeney that "I came into this case rather late."

After public comment, there were additional comments from Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads and Conflict Counsel Supervising Attorney Meagan O'Connell. Judge Feeney denied the placement in Freshwater.

Several Freshwater residents said they did not receive any notice about this hearing. However, that was addressed by Ms. Eads and Judge Feeney. Ms. Eads said, " we were   initially given an inaccurate address."

DA Maggie Fleming was present for the hearing. HCSO Scott Hicks read  a letter from Sheriff William Honsal. There was applause from the audience.

"You can restrict access but these sexual offenders will find a way" was one such statement from Sheriff Honsal's letter. He also said GPS monitors  don't work in heavily wooded areas.

Next review date is October 23 in Courtroom 3 at 8:30.

A previous photo was deleted per request by Sgt. Blake Massaro, who later told media and public that any photos taken needed to be deleted and all courtroom rules about no photos  recording applied.

There are two other posts on this morning's hearing above.

Previous posts:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/08/freshwater-resident-nicole-riggs-in-her.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-desired-placement-location-howard.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/08/glad-to-see-after-several-posts-on.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-humboldt-county-district-attorney.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/07/no-information-or-case-listed-about.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/06/over-objection-of-district-attorney.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-confidential-placement-has-been-found.html?m=1