"We hadn't received an offer in two years, not even a bad one, until today, when Trent offered me a felony and Sarah a dismissal. So, even though am the least culpable person, they expect me to bend over and take a felony for everyone else."

Deputy District Attorneys Trent Timm and Ian Harris have taken over the Michael Acosta and Sarah Caroll case from Deputy DA Jane Mackie.

Depending on when the trial actually proceeds, Mr. Harris who is taking over Humboldt County Drug Task Force cases will be the prosecutor for the trial. 

I had not seen Mackie for a while and wondered if she was still employed with the Humboldt County DA's office. Since that came up while covering today's hearing, I  contacted DA Maggie Fleming and she confirmed Mackie resigned on May 31. 

Mackie leaving will allow the Humboldt DA's office to hire a competent prosecutor. If you have read my blog, Mackie in court was a disaster with her colleagues constantly picking up the slack. Maybe she can go over to the Humboldt Public Defender's office like Adrian Kamada and Luke Brownfield.

I am posting a statement from Acosta about today's hearing. There is a draft of a motion Acosta sent. I am not going to print a draft but I have included another statement in reference to that draft. If you followed my coverage of the Acosta case, this issue of discovery has been addressed, more than once.  Exclusive information you heard here first. There is other information if you search the posts on this blog. Read those to see if Acosta's claim of a "political witchhunt" is applicable.

 I am the only one covered the other co-defendants. Some were never charged and other got plea deals.

I did contact Mr. Timm and Ms. Fleming to see if they wanted to respond to Acosta's statement. Court minutes indicate that "People believe all discovery has been given." There is no formal offer from the D. A. Like most cases, there are informal discussions about resolving cases.

Michael Acosta statement:

Today in court, an out-of-county Judge who has never seen my case and a deputy DA who just received the file last week decided summarily that all discovery has been provided by the People before a motion to compel discovery has even been filed.  

You may recall, that at the last hearing in front of Judge Wilson, the lack of the codefendant's cell phone data was specifically discussed, and former deputy DA Jane Mackie agreed to provide such discovery without the necessity of a motion to compel.  Jane Mackie never provided such info before her sudden resignation shortly after the DA election results were posted, showing that Adrian Kamada was not going to win the election.  

Now, Trent Timm is assigned to the case, and was given marching orders to pretend and advocate that all discovery has been given to the defense, ignoring the thorough on-record discussion from the prior hearing.  The codefendant's cell phone data clears my name and is routinely given as part of discovery in every case except this one.  In fact, the DA's office can't seem to find any of the items that clear my name, as the video from my home DVR that was seized has also been lost.  Furthermore, we have never received confirmatory tests of the controlled substances, nor their net weight assessment, which is the most fundamental evidence in a drug case.

I would like to also point out that of the six people arrested that day, two were never charged with anything by the DA's office, despite each being on felony probation, two were given misdemeanors before prelim, which leaves Sarah and myself.  We hadn't received an offer in two years, not even a bad one, until today, when Trent offered me a felony and Sarah a dismissal.  So, even though am the least culpable person, they expect me to bend over and take a felony for everyone else.  

Mr. Haberman (one of the misdemeanor resolutions, had a half-pound of heroin and 30 guns in his home, some of which were assault weapons and some of which were stolen.  I am not charged with any firearm violations and had no usable quantity of any controlled substance, nor was there more than a half-ounce of substances on all four people in my house collectively, but they want me to take a felony.  Tracie Nichols (the other misdemeanor resolution) was charged with the same lead felony as me (possession for sale of heroin), but she was given a misdemeanor before prelim.  Sarah's response was that she would agree to take a felony if they just dismissed the case against me, and the answer was no.  Why would that be the case, if what they want is a felony conviction, then why would it matter if it was on me or Sarah.  It's sexism in the system and a political witchhunt.  Like I said the visiting judge already made a ruling on the discovery motion today, and there was no motion before him.  I cannot get a fair trial in this county.

Statement on Discovery motion:

This draft discovery motion highlights 24 items that have not been provided to me in my case due to former deputy DA Jane Mackie stonewalling me. Most of them are routinely provided without necessitating a motion to compel discovery compliance, such as cell phone data from codefendants, DVR video from home surveillance equipment seized, confirmatory test results showing net weights, and RAP sheets of everyone present.  This case had special master appointed during the search warrant and we haven't' even received the report of his involvement. 

     So basically, the DA's office is trying to convict me by cheating (i.e. by not providing exculpatory discovery).  Why is the DA's office afraid of a fair fight?  I am not trying to delay this trial, but just give me the damn discovery and let's get on with it.

Earlier post:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/06/trial-dates-confirmed-or-last-minute.html?m=1

Other related defendants:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/03/will-michael-acosta-and-sarah-carroll.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/plea-deal-three-cases-dismissed-and.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/09/tracie-nichols-arraigned-on-two-drug.html?m=1

These are just some of the posts I did on co-defendants.