New Deputy PD Ehvan Schectman scores a win in his first jury trial and it is also partial vindication for Ernest Choate

(Choate has been convicted by a jury and the Ninth Circuit ruling no longer applies to his booking photo)

I did this post on Ernest Choate's case two days ago. Unless you are an advertiser, contributor or subscriber, you can read the link to the previous post for context and background. There are at least 10 other cases from today that I am working on right now and all day.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-man-currently-in-trial-and-struggling.html?m=1

Yesterday, Judge Lawrence Killoran granted Deputy Public Defender Ehvan Schectman's motion for a directed verdict and he was acquitted on Count 2. Deputy Trent Timm is the prosecutor. Minutes are not up from today so I will update, probably next week, on what happened with the remaining two petty theft counts.

A directed verdict is a ruling entered by a trial judge after determining that there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to reach a different conclusion. 

The trial court may grant a directed verdict either sua sponte or upon a motion by either party.  A directed verdict may be granted at any time, but usually occurs after at least one party has been fully heard.

Closing arguments concluded today. Jury deliberating. Note from jurors around 2:25.

3:12 p.m. Guilty verdict 1 & 3 petty theft.

Remanded until sentencing on 9/4. "This is bullshit," he said as bailiffs cuffed him. Choate told his attorney his stuff was outside the courthouse. 

BFD, Trent Timm and the DA's office won a case for two petty thefts. I am for prosecuting property crime but I am also not going to give kudos to the DA for this case which was a waste of court resources and the DA's office should have worked harder on a plea deal.

Trent Timm, next time you actually get justice for this community and prosecute a successful case against a Daryl Jones or a Gary Lee Bullock, maybe you can brag to a judge how "cool" you are. Trent Timm said this to Judge Kaleb Cockrum as he was leaving yesterday for the day. 

Mr. Timm and I didn't speak for days after the Tim Smith case. I take back the compliment I gave Trent Timm in the last Choate post.

Choate was acquitted on one count; found guilty of two others by jurors. 

We have people with multiple violations of protective orders and other more serious crimes out on the streets who are granted diversion. And this is what the DA's office focuses their time and efforts on?

DA Stacey Eads, several Deputy District Attorneys and court staff were in court for a verdict on two petty theft counts? They don't have work to do on a Friday afternoon? 

If a certain DA employee wants to post on my FB page attacking me, 1. Read the post before commenting. 2. In the past, I was too busy to note when you posted but this time I noted the time and if it was while you were working and being paid by the taxpayers, not only are you lazy  but you misleading the public by not revealing who you are 3. Unlike you, I am multi tasking and not sitting collecting a government paycheck with time to waste during business hours on a Friday.

Maybe if this was Target or another local business, I would feel differently.  I have included three posts I did  Hensel's Ace Hardware which is one business listed in the complaint for this case. Tractor Supply Co. is the other business and there is more than one location which is not clarified in the complaint by Mr. Timm. I know nothing about them so as far as the verdict for them, I have no opinion.

The People made an offer through Deputy DA Andy Truitt. Choate chose to go to trial. Mr. Timm seemed annoyed that Mr. Schectman brought up a previous offer of no additional jail time. If that was made by Deputy DA Andy Truitt, then maybe Mr. Timm should acquaint himself with details of the case. It isn't like he is prosecuting homicides or sex abuse cases these days and is buried in work like some other prosecutors. 

I have been complimentary to Mr. Timm and the DA's office in the past but in court today, he looked like a bully using the power of his office against a homeless man. Ever since Mr. Timm has been prosecuting these retail cases, he has become a jerk. Lately, based on his behavior in the courtroom and outside the courtroom, I could care less if Trent Timm stays at the DA's office or not. He may not speak to me again for days and months as was the case after my Tim Smith trial coverage or ever and I don't care. No one at the Courthouse is my friend and my job as a reporter is not to stroke anyone's ego. It is to report the case and in context with my observations about other cases and the flaws in the criminal justice system in a small rural county court with multiple conflicts of interest and a local court I have covered daily for almost 12 years where justice often depends on who you are; who you can afford and zero oversight by the bureaucratic state judicial organizations in this Democrat controlled state who are not for the people. People at the Courthouse are fickle. They forget all the times you spoke up for them, complimented them and pout when a reporter does their job. It happens elsewhere in Humboldt but the Courthouse is where the public goes hoping for fairness and justice. The power the courts have over life and freedom is not the same as anywhere else. Some people at the County and Courthouse are aware of my political and business connections and that my readers include people who influence their livelihood; others are not and live in their bubble. What matters most is the results of the past elections, especially from judges to elections office. The community isn't impressed with some taxpayer paid attorney in the Courthouse. Most people trust "mainstream media" which is a misnomer because they do not serve the people and they are no longer the only source for news. Locally, the good ole boys and the groupies can hype whatever they want but the good ole boy candidates have had losses in the past few elections. 

Guess it is a notch in the win column for CA soft on crime Gavin Newsom and the retail theft grant the Humboldt DA's office received. Gavin Newsom needs to change the laws which have created the situation where retail theft and more serious crimes occur in California. 

8/28/25 court minutes:

9/3/25: Choate was released from custody; time served.