John Chiv: Will ousted petty Kreis retaliate against Conflict Counsel for this filing, Humboldt Superior Court is giving the middle finger to the CJP by assigning any criminal trial to Kreis because he has too many conflicts of interest

Mar 17, 2024

Will ousted petty Kreis retaliate against Conflict Counsel for this filing, Humboldt Superior Court is giving the middle finger to the CJP by assigning any criminal trial to Kreis because he has too many conflicts of interest

Ray Madrone's cases have been a mess with constant twists and turns.

Madrone had a drug case dismissed by Retired Judge Christopher Wilson; the DA refiled charges. Madrone also has an assault case with a co-defendant. Conflict Counsel Supervising attorney Meagan O'Connell represents Madrone in both cases. His co-defendant in the assault case, Carlos MartinezGutierrez, is represented by Ms. Andrea Sullivan and MartinezGutierrez] confirmed for trial. Madrone's drug case is consolidated with his assault case.

When two defendants have conflicting interests, it makes scheduling hard. Add to that more complications created by the ineptness and mismanagement of Humboldt Superior Court administration and former Presiding Judge Joyce Hinrichs and ousted but still current Presiding Judge Gregory Kreis. Madrone case is one of 3 cases I am covering which are trailing for assignment from 3/15 and on calendar for 3/18.

With disqualifications, lack of courtrooms, lack of court reporters and Humboldt Superior Court judges being lax in granting multiple continuances; this is just par for the course.

People objected to the defense motion to continue Madrone's trial. The ruling was deferred so the judge assigned to the trial would make a ruling. In addition to the motion to continue, Conflict Counsel filed a petition for mental health diversion.

If these factors were not enough Conflict Counsel disqualified Judge Cockrum filing a 170.6. Attorneys file 170.6 all the time. The trial was the assigned to Courtroom 7 which is Kreis' courtroom. Ousted Judge Gregory Kreis has had several 170.6 filed against him. But Conflict Counsel filed 170.1 which I don't recall being filed by an attorney against a Humboldt judge except the Jason Smith case and in that case the 170.1 was denied by a Del Norte Superior Court.

Kreis was reassigned to the juvenile court calendar because of the number of disqualifications against him by criminal defense attorneys. Yet, he keeps being assigned trials. The biggest travesty and injustice is this bufoon making $260,000 salary for the daily damage he does to the reputation of the robe; not to mention that he has no business being a judge.

In the 19 counts in the CJP proceedings against him, what Kreis did to Ms. O'Connell is mentioned. Why is Humboldt Superior Court administration assigning any criminal trials to Kreis. I hope the CJP, the California Judicial Council will pay attention to what happens with this 1701. Kreis has been defiant in the past on any recusal. Sending such a motion to be heard by a Del Norte or Mendocino judge is meaningless because these are neighboring counties and courts rely on each other. Kreis was voted out as a judge and until the CJP proceedings are going on; he should step down as Presiding judge but, as usual, his ego will not allow him and no one in Humboldt Superior Court administration or any other judge is going to bite the hand responsible for their paychecks.

Madrone looks nothing like his booking photo. The last time I saw him in court, he had a beard and wore his hair in a pony tail.

3/18: MartinezGutierrez looks like a go from court minutes with a dark day on 3/22. Motion to sever the cases was granted on 3/18 by Judge Timothy Canning. On 3/21, Madrone has a hearing for setting of mental health diversion petition; trial confirmation on 4/18; jury trial 5/6.

3/19: Martinez Gutierrez rejected People's offer.DA dismissed & intends to refile in Martinez Gutierrez just as they did with Madrone. This is the second case against Martinez Gutierrez the DA has dismissed.