Good faith settlements reached with most parties in two civil lawsuits; does not include convicted felon Maria Cuevas

 

I covered both convicted felon Maria Cuevas' criminal case and her civil case extensively. The January 21, 2026 post on the civil case is the last post I did and has updates which give the timeline to this post.

The post on the criminal case is not the most recent one but it is the one that has details about the plea.

Most readers and locals are familiar with the basics and victims in the criminal case and who filed the civil lawsuit.

If you are someone who has not read previous coverage, all posts on any case I covered are accessible via the search feature or Google. There are paid options for convenience.

I was in the courtroom on 6/5/26 and 6/12/26. Besides my notes, I have included 6/5/26 court minutes mainly for names of attorneys and court documents filed by Janssen Malloy's William Stein. Those court documents cover the details you need to know if you don't wish to read all previous coverage.

Mr.Stein represents Jessica Sprague. Ms. Heidi Wells represents local attorney, Ms. Jennifer Dixon in a related civil case but the basis for all victims is the criminal case.

On 6/5/26, I was in Courtroom 4 for CV2401803 Jessica Sprague vs Commerce Enterprises and CV2500534 Jennifer Dixon vs Commerce Enterprises.

Mr. Stein told Humboldt Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning there is "potential for global resolution and two related good faith settlements" for Jessica Sprague. Case remains live for Cuevas."

He mentioned another potential defendant, pending notice of appeal and therefore asked dates be set over a year. Ms. Wells and other attorneys agreed. 

A Case Management Conference was scheduled for November 30, 2026.

Since the 6/5 hearing, another hearing was scheduled on 6/12 for order determining good faith settlement. 

Mr. Stein was in court. Judge Canning granted his motion as there was no opposition to the settlement. Mr. Stein asked if in the other related case, email about notice of settlement would be enough. Judge canning said "yes."