One juror out with flu in Widmark trial; Brandon Widmark attempted to contact witness after testimony but was thwarted because her number was blocked by jail

 

(Jesse Widmark)

(Brandon Widmark)

Today's jury trial for Brandon and Jesse Widmark started off with juror #12 being excused because he has the flu. Judge Steven Steward was informed at 8:30 this morning. The male juror gave Judge Steward a note from his doctor at St. Joe's.

The case was called at 9:15 and attorneys were informed. For his health and safety of other jurors, juror #12 was excused and an alternate juror #5 was picked leaving four alternates. Both jurors are male so the makeup of the jury does not change.

Today, People's witnesses include DA Investigators Ryan Hill and Greg Hill. They are not related. Investigator Greg Hill formerly worked for Eureka Police Department. Since Investigator Ryan Hill testified; it was not necessary to have Investigator Greg Hill testify.

Defense won one motion which was to exclude any testimony about Brittaney Nunes demeanor. If you read my previous post, Investigator Hill's testimony at the 402 hearing will confirm my observations but more importantly give you insight why. Defense lost another motion about Brandon Widmark's attempt to contact Nunes after her testimony.

On 2/16, Nunes resolved her 2022 DUI case with a plea. Judge Steward sentenced her. Nunes is not the only People's witness with a criminal record.

Audience members today included Jesse Widmark's aunt. When the bailiff went out to get the jury this morning; Jesse Widmark glanced at his aunt and silently acknowledged her presence with a nod.

Brandon Widmark's mother is in Arizona and reached out to me since her only updates are from following my blog.

Both brothers look very different than their booking photos. Brandon Widmark with a high fade haircut, facial hair trimmed and in a suit. Jesse Widmark clean shaven in slacks and dress shirt. 

Several other witnesses testified including inmate and convicted felon Shawn Gallagher who refused to answer questions, was found in contempt of court and remanded into custody on a no bail status. Gallagher was granted immunity by the DA for his testimony in this trial. He has a pending 2025 case and the charges are possession of meth and unlawful posssesion of ammunition charges. That 2025 case is on for preliminary hearing on 2/25. 

2/19: Repeat of that again today with Gallagher. You can read the findings and orders Judge Steward issued.

Before evidence and more testimony from civilian witnesses, there was an argument on an objection by Ms. Linkous about the People wanting the preliminary transcript of Gallagher's testimony read into record. 

I covered a civil lawsuit Gallagher filed against Brandon Widmark which was dismissed in November 2024. I have covered Gallagher previously and mentioned his criminal record before this post. He has 28 cases in Humboldt Superior Court.

You can access those posts on that civil case via the search feature on the blog.

No other media in court again. These arguments and motions are key and often have information which won't be covered by anyone else. These are important in case there is an appeal.

Ms. Sullivan is being very strategic in choosing what she objects to and that is wise. There is a reason she is in demand in various counties all over California, including Humboldt.

Most of the objections are by Ms. Linkous. While I get that she is defending her client who has more to lose than his brother Jesse, this is wasting time and dragging out a trial estimated to last 6 weeks. She has lost most of the objections. Mr. Rees is an experienced, skilled prosecutor and today it was victory lap after victory lap for him. Judge Steward is explaining his rulings in detail and citing case law. Most of my readers who value details are in the legal community and will wait until I can update those details. Today, what happened with Gallagher and the testimony from EPD Officer Dimitrios Tagaropoulos was crucial. 

EPD Officer Cassidy's body cam recorded Officer Tagaropoulos talking with Gallagher at the hospital. Jurors saw that video. Gallagher talks about being struck by a red F-150 and the male driver fleeing the scene with a female  in the passenger seat. If you remember ny very first post on the case, I posted an exclusive video and information about the red truck and other information about the Widmark brothers.

The rest of today is mostly civilian witnesses. I am going to try and cover as much as I can of law enforcement testimony and questions by the attorneys.

District Attorney Stacey Eads and Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm were in court to observe some of the trial from 11 to noon.

I always know potential jurors on cases but on the Widmark case, I knew a lot. Some have been excused; others are jurors in this trial. Those potential jurors I see often and today some got live one on one updates.

2/18 court minutes:

Nunes plea:

2/19 court minutes:

Finding and orders regarding Shawn Gallagher:

Gallagher 2025 case:

On 2/7, Gallagher arraigned in 2025 case. 

On 2/10, OR bail. See court minutes for details.

Since the OR bail hearing, Gallagher's status was changed to no bail by Judge Steward for contempt in Widmark case as noted above in this post.

On 2/20, Gallagher had a preliminary hearing scheduled in the 2025 case. It was continued by DA to 2/25.

Previous posts:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/02/humboldt-county-sheriff-william-honsal.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-jury-panel-in-widmark-case-is-one.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/02/individual-jurors-being-questioned-in.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/12/people-seeking-life-sentences-for.html?m=1

The previous post from December 2024 has links to all previous coverage on the Widmark brother case from the incident, arrest up to the current trial including exclusive coverage.