Despite People's objection, Judge Killoran released David Anderson charged with criminal threats and child abuse of 4 children 10 years and younger

 

When I first saw David Anderson on the court calendar, I thought of the convicted human trafficker who I covered for years. Turns out the David Anderson with a 2025 case has a different middle name; Eric. This 62 year old has been charged with criminal threats and 4 counts of child abuse. Four victims, Jane Doe, John Doe 1, John Doe 2 and John Doe 3. The ages are 9, 6, 10 and 8 years old.

Anderson was arraigned on 4/17;  Public Defender's office appointed; Judge Lawrence Killoran denied defense request for release on OR. On 4/21, supervised release was granted by Judge Killoran despite Deputy Trent Timm's objection. The 4/29 preliminary hearing was continued by defense to 6/6.

Judge Killoran has been setting no bail, denying supervised release so I am surprised he allowed Anderson back on the streets. According to jail records, Anderson is on unsupervised work release. I am not sure how a 20 yard stay away protects the minor children.

Mendocino Sheriff deputy did not report damage to assigned county vehicle which he used while he was off duty to go to a bar, CHP and Mendocino DA investigating

On 04-24-2025 at approximately 1800 hours, a Sheriff’s Sergeant with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office arrived to work at the Willits Substation and noticed damage to a county-owned patrol vehicle.

Wisconsin Supreme Court temporarily relieves Hannah Dugan of her official duties

 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has temporarily relieved Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan of her official duties "in order to uphold the public's confidence in the courts of this state."

Last week, I posted the 13 page FBI complaint and affadavit charging Judge Dugan with two federal criminal offenses.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-13-page-fbi-criminal-complaint-and.html?m=1

In a two page order, "We conclude, on our own motion, that it is in the public interest that she be temporarily relieved of her official duties.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is the only one reporting Dugan "will continue to be paid her $174,512 annual salary while on administrative leave."

In-N-Out adds National Human Trafficking hotline number to their trucks

 

In-N-Out Burger Foundation's mission is

to assist children and youth who have been victims of child abuse and neglect, and to prevent others from suffering a similar fate.

Since 1984, In-N-Out Burger has paid all costs associated with the In-N-Out Burger Foundation.

The In-N-Out Burger Foundation was created by In-N-Out Burger’s cofounder Esther Snyder and her son Rich, with the help of Lynda Snyder in 1984. The Snyder Family’s personal encounters with child abuse and neglect, along with Esther’s belief that every child deserves a chance and a future, is what led to the Foundation’s passionate focus on prevention and intervention in the lives of children and youth.

**This is just some of the information from the In-N-Out Burger Foundation website**

I am not buying the PD's delay tactics on SVP Richard Stobaugh's hearing and neither did Judge Cockrum

 

On May 7, there is a public hearing regarding placement of sexually violent predator Richard Stobaugh at a proposed residence in Humboldt County. That could change based on the discussion in court this morning and Judge Kaleb Cockrum's ruling tomorrow.

Orange County Judge previously admonished by CJP for violating Code of Ethics now suspended from office without pay after second degree murder conviction, the victim was his wife

On April 25, the Commission on Judicial Performance issued a press release and order regarding Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson. He was suspended from office without salary after being convicted of second degree murder of his wife. He faces 40 years to life.

The order is brief as well and there is no mention of Judge Ferguson's public admonishment finalized in 2017 when "The commission determined that Judge Ferguson violated the Code of Judicial Ethics by posting a statement about a candidate for judicial office on Facebook with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth of the statement and remained Facebook friends with attorneys appearing before him."

United Indian Health Services sued by former drug and alcohol counselor for wrongful termination

(Logo from UIHS Potawot website)

(Lewis )

Jeff Lewis filed a lawsuit in 2022 against United Indian Health Services, Inc. That is a civil unlimited employment case alleging wrongful termination. Lewis worked as a drug and alcohol counselor for UIHS at the Potawot Health Clinic in Arcata.

Lewis is represented by Mr. Benjamin K. Karpilow and Mr.Lewis Brown, attorneys with Meechan, Rosenthal & Karpilow law firm from Santa Rosa. UIHS, Inc. by Ms. Brittany S. Greenhill, an attorney with Gordon & Rees Scully Mansukhani which is a law firm in San Francisco.

The case has been assigned to Judge Steven Steward. Time estimate is two weeks. 

Judge Steward is hearing arguments on motions in limine. He ruled on some motions in limine today and others were taken under submisions with rulings tomorrow. Jury selection started on 4/30.

Convicted felon Nathan Ruptak already has 48 cases in Humboldt court system and just entered a plea last December

(2023 booking photo)

(HCSO 2025 arrest)

HCSO sent out a press release about convicted felon and parolee Nathan Ruptak's who was arrested yesterday this morning. He already has 48 cases come up in a search in the Humboldt Superior Court system. The last case in the local court system for Ruptak was filed on 12/23/24. He resolved that case before preliminary hearing by pleading guilty to the one count of PC 30305 (a) (1) on 12/27/24 which was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor as part of the plea agreement. The last time I covered one of his cases was in 2023. 

Ronald Rieke arrested by HCSO for assault with a deadly weapon

 

44 year old Ronald Allen Rieke was arrested by HCSO yesterday evening for PC 245(a)(1) assault with a deadly weapon. He posted bond.

58 searches come up in Humboldt Superior Court for Ronald Rieke, Ronald Rieke Jr and Ronald Rieke III.

"The CA Coastal Commission is one of the most out-of-control agencies in the country."

 

This on X today.

This press release on March 5 on Kiley's website. He is the  U.S. representative for California's 3rd congressional district.

It took almost two months for some media to cover the State Bar of California 2025 exam debacle

 

The State Bar of California issued this press release on March 6. It took the media who reported on it a month and three weeks to cover this including the Daily Journal who should on top of this debacle.

Thank you to the LA tipster who alerted me to another failure from the State Bar of California.

On April 3, the State Bar of California issued another press release. "The State Bar Board of Trustees has approved exam software and testing locations for the in-person July 2025 California Bar Exam as it continues efforts to improve the test-taking experience and find appropriate remedies for those impacted by issues experienced during the February exam."

  

Retired Judge Ksenia Tsenin used to be the only one to hear cases involving Gregory Kreis, that seems to have changed recently

 

Once again, I was in a courtroom covering another case and Mr. Gregory Kreis was there for another defendant, Freddy Doolittle. I have seen Kreis on an average of two or three times a week at the courthouse. 

Until recently, it was only Retired Judge Ksenia Tsenin would hear any case Mr. Kreis was assigned to as an attorney. It seems things have changed and now the Humboldt bench is hearing cases involving Mr. Kreis. As you will see from court minutes from 4/24/25 which the day I was in Humboldt Presiding Judge Kelly Neel's courtroom that she made a disclosure. Since I was not in court on other days, I don't know if other judges made similar disclosures and they were not in court minutes or they did not make disclosures.

14 people arrested in second search by HCSO this year as a result of search warrant on Aaron Stott's property in Mckinleyville

(Evidence seized by HCSO in the January 25 arrest)

(Evidence seized by HCSO in the January 25 arrest)

All these people were arrested with Aaron Stott and booked at the same time on the jail log at 10:24 a.m. Anyone who pays attention to the jail log or local crime headlines will recognize some of the names. I only see 14 names on the jail log.  I contacted HCSO Lt. Jesse Taylor and he confirmed and clarified it was 14 arested; not 15.

Trucking company suing Ray Christie agrees to give him time to respond after requesting entry for default, on Friday, Ray Christie filed for divorce from Jennifer Christie

 

On March 25, I did a post on a Idaho trucking company suing Ray Christie claiming he owes them money.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/03/idaho-trucking-company-sues-ray.html?m=1

Prince Trucking represented by Mr Randall Cooling Nelson from Carr, Kennedy, Peterson and Frost which is a Redding law firm. Christie had no attorney listed. He still has no attorney listed but in the withdrawl for a request for entry for default filed on 4/14/25, Mr. Nelson said he was contacted by an attorney for Christie who said he would be representing Christie and Prince Trucking agreed for an extension of time so an answer to the complaint could be filed. The attorney was not named. Christie was served at his Jackson Ranch residence in Arcata. After my post, on 4/28, Mr. Ken Bareilles filed an answer for Christie on 4/28 and he is now listed as Christie's attorney in e court.

On 4/25, Mr. Ken Bareilles filed paperwork in a divorce case for Ray Christie from his wife Jennifer Christie. "Irreconcilable differences,",  date of marriage and how long they have been separated are all in court documents. I have not seen Ray for months but few years ago while his 2018 case was still open, he had a younger, significant other for years and children with her and a business. I have no idea nor am I interested if they are still together. Not sure why Ray waited so long to file for divorce from Jennifer Christie.

The 13 page FBI criminal complaint and affadavit against Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan is very specific and detailed

( Photo of Judge Dugan's arrest)

Judge Dugan's attorney released a statement which most "mainstream media" hasn't even included and those posting on X have parts of the statement with no attribution or name of her attorney.

Joshua Neff gets sentenced to one year probation for misdemeanor battery

 

Retired Judge John Feeney sentenced Joshua Neff to 1 year unsupervised probation. He has 10 year restriction on owning firearms. Four day jail sentence was imposed but Neff was given credit for time served. Neff has to stay 20 yards away from Rio SavageClanton.

Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Buckley-Stein opposed the grant of probation.

In my previous post, I reported that on Tuesday, the jury found Neff guilty of misdemeanor battery on Rio SavageClanton. The jury verdict on criminal threats was not guilty.

Several people wrote letters and attended today's sentencing in support of Neff. Mr. Paul Gallegos is Neff's attorney.

Sean Quincey and Tom Mattson leaving County jobs? And is it because of budget woes?

 

In the last year, I have been the only one to report about exits from the County, whether it be County Counsel's office or other departments. I hinted at more people leaving.

Humboldt County budget woes are no secret. I just learned through the grapevine that Deputy County Administrative Sean Quincey and Public Works Director Tom Mattson are leaving or thinking of leaving. 

I have reached out to both for comment. They may or may not respond and they may deny for many reasons. One of the reasons I am doing this post now is because I do not want them to go to other media before answering me. Another reason is that if this is untrue, then better to shut down the rumor mill right away.

Got an automatic response that Sean is out of the office today. Tom Mattson responded at 11:05 , "No plans to leave anytime soon. "

Sean did send me a lengthy response at 12:32 p.m. Summary is that he says he is not leaving. After you read his response, my next sentence will make sense.

Sean, as the next in line after CAO Elishia Hayes, of course your present and future career plans are newsworthy.

Convicted felon Hector Godoy Standley arrested again after a plea 5 months ago

 

Convicted felon Hector Godoy Standley who was one of the Manila five arrested again by Eureka Police Department yesterday and booked for PC 22810(a) felon in possession of tear gas, VC 2800 disobeying a peace officer, VC 5200(a) failure to display license plates,  PC 1203.2(a) probation violation. He was released from custody on a program on 4/25, according to the jail log. 

I did a post about his November arrest, plea and sentence. Here he is back in custody 5 months later.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/11/one-of-manila-5-picks-up-new-2024-case.html?m=1

Godoy Standley has been working at Grocery Outlet in Eureka. Another repeat offender whose mother keeps making excuses for instead of some tough talk with her son about the choices he makes that keep getting him in custody.

Man in custody for domestic violence later identified as the same suspect who assaulted local attorney

On March 26, I reported on an assault on local attorney, Mr. Delman Smith.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/03/epd-investigating-assault-on-local.html?m=1

I just learned this afternoon that a suspect who was arrested for domestic violence was also identified as the same suspect in the assault on Mr. Smith. It was a man who hung around Mr. Smith's law office.

Thank you to EPD Chief Brian Stephens and EPD PIO for confirming Steven Dernard Miller aka Steven Denard Miller was the suspect arrested. He has two 2025 cases. One is the domestic violence case and the other is the aasault case on Mr. Smith. You can read the complaint and all the charges for both cased, arraignment and OR minutes from court records. He was arraigned on 4/22. At OR bail on 4/24, Judge Lawrence Killoran denied supervised release. With $190,000 total bail for both cases, he is still in custody.  Preliminary hearing is on 5/1.

Doubt declared by defense for Daryl Jones; he will be evaluated to see if he is competent to stand trial

 

Terrostic and criminal threat suspect Daryl Ray Jones' preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 24. He is charged with 19 felonies.

The case was originally on calendar in Courtroom 3. Judge Steven Steward recused himself pursuant to PC 170.1 (a) (6) (c). Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm appeared on the case in Courtroom 3 for the sole purpose of that recusal and for the case to be sent to Courtroom 7.

Lear Asset Management makes headlines for security at GOP town hall meeting in Idaho

 

I am covering local court cases right now and there has already been coverage regionally and by LA Times. 

This article is one of the rare ones that has some details. So far, the coverage has been one sided but Lear Management hasn't released even a brief statement. Whether that is Lear's decision or on advice of an attorney, who knows? None of the coverage so far included any court documents.

https://cdapress.com/news/2025/mar/08/details-emerge-in-security-companys-license-revocation/

 

I covered rapist Valentin VargazDiaz's case, verdict, court minutes have more and complete details from the sentencing

 

I covered the Valentin VargazDiaz verdict and case and added his 6 year prison and sentence and court minutes to my March post. 

Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm is the prosecutor for the case. Ms. Andrea Sullivan is VargazDiaz' s attorney. 

The DA just sent out a press release which was prepared on April 21. The DA issued this clarification at 3:30 p.m.

"Good afternoon,

Please note that the email below with the accompanying press release was meant for issuance on 4/21/25, and was delayed in distribution to all intended recipients due to a technical error. Some recipients may have previously received the same press release whereas others may have not received the April 21st press release until today’s date.

I would like to clarify that Mr. VargasDiaz was sentenced on April 21st, 2025, not on today’s date.

Thank you for your understanding."

A coalition of 40 bipartisan AGS wants Congress to fund civil legal aid for low income Americans

 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a bipartisan coalition of 39 other attorney generals submitted letters to Congress to fund civil legal assistance for low income Americans.

I agree there is a need but not without monitoring and ensuring who is receiving these services and how the money is spent. The intention is nice but the reality is that who gets help, often in rural areas, is based on selective criteria and if it makes headlines. I doubt that Congress will do anything. They should start by making PACER free, at least for some basics.

Jesse Hanson well known to local law enforcement arrested by Fortuna PD for burglary, vandalism and grand theft

Today, Jesse Hanson was taken into custody by HCSO deputies and Fortuna Police Department. He had a felony warrant for his arrest after being identified as a suspect in several burglaries in Fortuna.

Ms. Andrea Sullivan relocating her Northern CAoffices is Humboldt's loss

There are days that it is difficult to do this blog and they are Humboldt specific problems. Today, I am sad for a different reason.

Ms. Andrea Sullivan is relocating south and is closing her Northern California offices. Even before she advertised with me, I covered many of her cases. Humboldt courts and defendants are very lucky to have her. I wish Ms. Sullivan the best. I know where she is going and very happy for her.

I continue to do this blog because the readers I have built over 11 years are not just from Humboldt or California and it gives me the opportunity to highlight the talented local attorneys, our local law enforcement and local businesses. The local judges, attorneys, the law enforcement I have known for years make it worth covering local courts; even on difficult days.

4/25: Ms. Sullivan has been so busy but I briefly saw her today. Thankfully, she will still be around for another month because she still has cases. Like any other attorney, she can always travel to Humboldt and appear on a case.

Juror in Joshua Neff case excused after conversation with neighbor about the trial

 

In my last post on Joshua Neff's jury trial for battery and criminal threats, there are court minutes and I reported that jury deliberations started on 4/18/25.

The 4/18 court minutes were not available until this morning. Before closing arguments, Retired Judge John Feeney informed Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Buckley-Stein and Mr. Paul Gallegos that a juror may have had outside  contact or a conversation about the trial. After questioning the juror which involved conversation and statements by a neighbor; that juror was excused. Today, jurors requested readback.

4/21: in the afternoon, jurors said they had reached a verdict on Count 1 but were hopelessly deadlocked on Count 2. After some clarification, the jurors are deliberating until only 10:30 a.m. today. 

4/22: Verdict. Guilty Count 1. Not Guilty Count 2. Sentencing on 4/25.

CHP, Humboldt County bomb squad and SWAT team, CALFire all involved in two arrestsfor possession of destructive devices and being prohibited persons in possessions of a firearm

 

CHP Garberville Officer Christian Zepeda released two reports and the following information about the arrests of Andivere Hill and Andizere Hill for possession of destructive devices and being prohibited persons in possessions of a firearm.

People dismiss 2022 case against Gary Landergen

 

After a hung jury on all counts, Gary Landergen's case was scheduled for retrial but today it was dismissed by the People.

I am updating the post now. This just happened a couple minutes ago. 

I spoke with Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm after court. "He lost his job and the girls had their day in court," said Ms. Timm. "Most of the witnesses have moved out of the area and it was dismissed due to issues with proof."

They won't make the news but these people were not looking for publicity; just making a difference in one life with one act of kindness.

I found out after the fact that Cal Poly Humboldt and students from Sonoma who spent time this weekend helping Betty.  I observed many other acts of kindness this weekend done quietly, privately and randomly. They won't make the news but these people were not looking for publicity; just making a difference in one life with one act of kindness.

Convicted molestor Steve Boudreaux's phone was sent to another agency, talks about a possible resolution are premature

 

Trial setting for a third jury trial for convicted molestor Steve Boudreaux is scheduled for 5/7. 

Just like former Humboldt Superior Court judge Gregory Kreis, The Commission on Judicial Performance imposed a severe public censure on Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Michael Carrozzo. Just like Kreis, he agreed to a deal, which includes going on leave, an irrevocable resignation from office and an agreement not to serve as a judicial officer in the State of California

 

(Carrozzo)

Just like former Humboldt Superior Court judge Gregory Kreis, The Commission on Judicial Performance imposed a severe public censure  on Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Michael J. Carrozzo. Just like Kreis, he agreed to a deal. After Carrozo goes on leave, just like Kreis, the agreement includes an irrevocable resignation from office and an agreement not to serve as a judicial officer in the State of California.

Both Carrozzo and Kreis were appointed by former California Jerry Brown. The useless California Judicial Council and the joke that passes as the State Bar of California do exactly what ? If the JCC and State Bar of CA did their jobs properly and held people accountable;  things would not get to a point where the CJP needs to be involved. It takes a lot for the CJP to open an investigation.

Like Kreis, will Carrozo also be hanging his shingle as an attorney and in Santa Barbara? 

The CJP issued a press release about Carrozo on 4/17.

Elderly St. Bernard parishioner settles "Choo Choo Train" lawsuit against Redwood Acres

 

St. Bernard parishioner Josephine Silva has a conditional settlement in her lawsuit against Redwood Acres. Dismissal was filed on 4/4/25.

Silva is represented by the local Zwerdling Law Firm. On 4/20, I just happened to see Josephine and her son out in the community and glad to see she is looking well.

If you are a new reader,  you can read previous coverage about other parties and attorneys and more details.

"Anglosaxxon" you will never be a patriot; cowards and obsessive abusers are not worthy of that title

 

This was sent to me today. Another email on March 27, 2025 was sent directly to me.