John Chiv: In a letter, Kreis' ex wife of 30 years calls him a pathological liar, talks about discovering his affair, calls him a predator, corroborates drug use and says he has used the anti-semitic slur before with a Sacramento Jewish lawyer

Feb 21, 2024

In a letter, Kreis' ex wife of 30 years calls him a pathological liar, talks about discovering his affair, calls him a predator, corroborates drug use and says he has used the anti-semitic slur before with a Sacramento Jewish lawyer

Brenda Elvine was married to Gregory Kreis for 30 + years. In a letter attached to the motion for new trial by former Deputy Public Defender Rory Kalin's lawyers as Exhibit G, she says "Greg is a pathological liar who was living a double life. " Brenda Elvine's letter says Kreis demanded sexual favors from women he supervised at the Public Defender's office. She talks about an incident at a bar where Kreis sat in a friend's wheelchair and pretended to be disabled.

Cisco Lassiter is a private investigator who works for defense attorneys and public defenders. And those people include Kreis' enablers and endorsers. Lassiters' livelihood in a small county is dependent on these attorneys and certainly on the Presiding Judge of Humboldt Superior Court, the position Kreis currently holds. That is the only reason some people have endorsed him. How do you say no to someone who controls your paycheck? Aren't a couple others who were considering endorsing him relieved they waited?

Brenda Elvine names Tanya Ellis and her affair with Kreis. Ellis is the attorney for Humboldt Superior Court self help and deals with family law cases. Kreis was assigned to family law court and currently to the Courtroom hearing juvenile cases. Brenda Elvine discovered a love letter from Ellis to Kreis. Brenda Elvine calls Kreis a predator, says he uses drugs and has used cocaine and she names the court clerk who was fired for telling the truth about Kreis' dalliance with Ellis. I called Kreiscand Ellis out on this for 4 years and repeatedly before the CJP press release and notice of formal proceedings against Kreis. Both Ellis and Kreis had plenty of opportunities to come clean.

I had left court clerk Lois Casacca's name out until it appeared in court records because of the ongoing investigation but everyone at the courthouse knew who I was talking about in my posts. For Casacca, I also did it to protect her from more retaliation. Lois did settle. In the past 4 years, I told more than a few people that Tanya is stupid if she thinks Kreis will remain faithful to her and not dump her when he is done using her like he did his ex-wife. Once a cheater; always a cheater. Kreis is living at Tanya's house after he sold his house and boat. I wrote about this, their vacations, their living together before February 2024. His campaign records, her property records were provided in the post. I also have divorce records confirming they live together.

Kreis judged others and made rulings in family law cases based on who the attorney was and I have written about at least two cases; how other judges had to fix Kreis ' mistakes and many of his cases overturned on appeals. Personally and professionally, Kreis is a disaster and unfit to be a judge.

Kreis' buddy and lawyer in the Kalin lawsuit, Mr. Patrik Griego was dismissive in court about Kreis' cocaine use. This was when I first reported in July 2023 about Joann Carter's deposition that she had observed Kreis using cocaine. That has been corroborated in the CJP notice of formal proceedings and in Brenda Elvine's letter. Joanne Carter is also the attorney and friend Kreis exposed his penis to which mentioned in the CJP proceedings and again in Brenda Elvine's letter. I have written about the special deals Janssen Malloy got for their clients. Griego still works there. David Nims used to and Kreis' favor is mentioned in the CJP proceedings.

Brenda Elvine says that she has heard Greg use the term "Jew boy" and believes he was joking but that Kreis has used that term before and while she does not believe that Kreis is anti semitic, she raises doubt if she still believes that about Kreis.

Kreis makes more than the $180,00 Brenda Elvine incorrectly states in her letter. When Kreis was appointed in 2017 by former Governor Jerry Brown, the press release stated, "The compensation for this position is $191,612." According to a source who would know the court salaries, he currently makes $260,000.

Kreis defenders can deflect by saying one disgruntled employee, an ex wife but it is several people and corroborating facts. Kreis did play a role in getting Lois fired. FACT. I know this directly. He is having an affair with Ellis. FACT. His womanizing and "Brenda finally getting tired of him" is talk in legal circles and was directly said to me. Kreis has had rulings overturned on appeal. FACT. He partied as a judge with people who appear in court with him. FACT. He has been recused on so many cases by defense attorneys and public defenders FACT.

Kreis wants people to believe him with no evidence. Opinions about Kreis from people who have not seen him in court as a judge and knew him 30 years ago or self serving people and other endorsers who gain to profit from his position are irrelevant and misleading. His lame excuse that everyone else lying is projection. Kreis has been caught in a lie after lie from his sordid affair to falsely claiming when he was served with the CJP notice of proceedings. He was exposed with a court proof of service. I am not going to go into all other examples I have provided with court documents and coverage for years.

I first reported on January 29 and then again last Friday on the motion for a new trial filed by former Kalin's lawyers against Humboldt Public Defender Luke Brownfield and former Public Defender Marek Reavis. The other co-defendant Humboldt Judge Gregory Kreis settled his case before the election. Kreis has been in the news recently after the Commission on Judicial Performance filed 19 counts in a notice of formal proceedings.

After one of my posts about Kreis having an affair and this was years before the CJP notice came out, I noticed Brenda Elvine-Kreis (at that time neither of them had dropped the hyphenated name), Gregory Kreis' wife liked my Facebook page. I found that odd and shared that with a few people at that time. Whether that is still the case, I don't know.

I was just told that Kreis is telling people that if his ex-wife talks badly about him and he loses income, that she is the one who won't get her money. So Kreis is attempting to influence how his ex-wife testifies?

Brenda Elvine and Gregory Kreis' divorce case is stil open in the system and had to be moved to Sonoma Superior Court. She is receiving spousal support. I don't want to post the divorce court records I have unless it is relevant. There is a tip I received which is relevant to Brenda Elvine's letter and this veiled threat from Kreis to a potential and crucial witness.

The motion for new trial is very lengthy, hundreds of pages with exhibits and depositions from Judge Kaleb Cockrum, the letter from Brenda Elvine-Kreis, emails and deposition from Reavis and Brownfield.

There is some stuff regarding claims made about Kalin's performance where Brownfield is asked about the time he was at the DA's office and four incompetent DAs. Reavis could not provide specifics how many times Kalin appeared before Judge Kaleb Cockrum, Judge Kelly Neel and Retired Judge Christopher Wilson.

What was Judge Wilson's criticism of Kalin? That he argued after a ruling was made. Other public defenders do that; none of them have been fired or demoted. So do private attorneys. And many of these are Kreis' endorsers. Kalin was an outsider and not a part of the good ole boy Humboldt partying, womanizing club. Does Judge Wilson recall his own scandal? It was a long time ago and before I had this blog but everyone in the legal community knows exactly what I am referring to and when it happened. Judge Wilson is also one of Kreis' endorsers.

I have done many exclusives and regular coverage on the CJP investigation, the Kalin lawsuit and on Kreis on my blog which has regularly covered Humboldt Superior Court for 10 years. I reported in 2020 that the CJP was investigating Kreis and covered a lot of information in the alleged 19 counts in real time with court documents.

The motion is currently scheduled to be heard on 2/26. On 2/13, the defendants filed an opposition to this motion for new trial. On 2/20, Kalin's lawyers filed a reply to that opposition.