"When I shot him, I snapped."

 

Today is Day 12 of homicide suspect Jake Combs' retrial for the murder of Trevor Earley.

Homicide suspect Jake Combs lost it on the stand just now during cross examination by Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm when after repeated questioning he is caught in a lie and his own previous testimony works against him.  Humboldt Superior Court Judge Kaleb Cockrum should have stopped him earlier and admonished him minutes ago. The Earley family is having to go through this due to Judge Cockrum's error. There was no need for Judge Cockrum to say anything to  Ms. Timm because he failed to control Combs rambling on the stand. Combs was not following court procedure and how you testify. Ms. Timm repeatedly tried to get Combs to answer what was asked. You don't get to do whatever you like under oath, on stand and be rude to attorneys.

Deputy Public Defender Emery Welton is apparently the lead chair. He just sat there and despite the dress shirt and pants, Combs lost his temper. I have no idea why Welton is lead when Deputy Public Defender Ryan McClurg has a better demeanor and in my observation of Humboldt court cases; better than Welton.

Both are no match for Ms. Timm.

Ms. Timm was questioning Combs about him going to get his keys from the car. After a lot of denial, I don't recall, Ms. Timm should Combs his previous testimony. He finally had to admit what he kept denying.

"Mr. Combs you never said you had a gun," said Ms. Timm.

Ms. Timm: "You told police he didn't have a gun when he was shot. 

Ms. Timm: "You have lied multiple times." 

Unable to deny his own previous testimony and his words now, Combs lost it, "When I shot him, I snapped." 

Clearly the cross examination by Ms. Timm was effective. I covered the first trial. Combs and his attorneys should have taken the plea deal before trial.

A brief break before questioning resumes.  We will see how jurors feel Combs behavior in court this morning. 

I have included yesterday's court minutes. There is relevance in them to today's coverage.

5/11/26 court minutes:

These are links to prior coverage on the retrial.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/05/testimony-about-dna-evidence-from.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/05/even-in-her-grief-look-how-respectful.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/04/due-to-judge-cockrums-error-and-jake.html?m=1

This is a 2022 case. If you want links to all the posts on this case from the beginning, for free you can access them via the search feature on the blog or you can chose paid options for convenience