Posts Tagged ‘lawyer’
As noted in an earlier thread, 4th District Supervisor hopeful Virginia Bass is employing a dirty tactic of standing aside to keep her hands clean while purportedly unrelated groups sling mud at her opponent.
However, a few specks of grime appear to be lodged under her fingernails.
In a new television ad, Bass resurects her 2006 campaign platform of Jobs, Jobs, Jobs but fails to list any accomplishments in the last four years. So to fill the 30-second commercial she says “we can’t just say ‘no’ without hearing all the facts.”
It’s safe to assume Bass is piggy-backing on the propaganda slung by Rob Arkley’s various front groups accusing Bonnie Neely of somehow single-handedly stopping Arkley’s Home Depot development.
With no substance to offer, Bass appeals to community ignorance regarding what went down at that fateful Coastal Commission meeting in December. Despite the city’s best efforts, the Commission followed well-established protocol by granting a hearing on the appeal of the project. If and when Team Arkley provides additional information requested by the Commission, that hearing will be scheduled, and the city/Arkley presentation on the project will be heard. Neely asked staff to set the hearing ASAP.
But what Neely didn’t do, which is apparently her big evil crime, was ask the Commission to change the rules — just this once! — and allow city officials and Arkley lawyers to present their case right then and there. She didn’t plead with her fellow Commissioners to allow Councilman Jeff Leonard to “ramp it up.” Worst of all, she didn’t cave to political pressure in the form of advertisements, press conferences and hastily crafted last-minute letter to allow a dog-and-pony show ahead of schedule.
Even if Neely fervently believed the appeals had no merit, she alone could not have changed the day. It takes a total of 3 Commissioners to agree to hear from the applicant, which would result in a whopping 3-minutes at the podium — apparently plenty of time to address staff’s 82-page report.
At the basis of this very expensive shenanigan is the hope by Bass, Leonard and the Arkleyites that voters are as ignorant as those fools pretend to be. As pointed out by the Times-Standard, the blogs, and even the city’s own staff, the chances of them making a presentation at that particular meeting were slim to none.
The truth is the Bonnie-haters got what they wanted — a false pretense upon which to claim victimhood and blame Neely in order to boost her opponent in the 4th District supervisor race.
Tags: Arkley, Bonnie Neely, ca, California, CAMP, coast, Eureka, hearing, Home Depot, Humboldt, Jeff Leonard, job, law, lawyer, Local, Northern California, pot, Rob Arkley, Virginia Bass, vote
Posted in Humboldt Blogs, Opinion | Comments Off
As noted in an earlier thread, 4th District Supervisor hopeful Virginia Bass is employing a dirty tactic of standing aside to keep her hands clean while purportedly unrelated groups sling mud at her opponent.
However, a few specks of grime appear to be lodged under her fingernails.
In a new television ad, Bass resurects her 2006 campaign platform of Jobs, Jobs, Jobs but fails to list any accomplishments in the last four years. So to fill the 30-second commercial she says “we can’t just say ‘no’ without hearing all the facts.”
It’s safe to assume Bass is piggy-backing on the propaganda slung by Rob Arkley’s various front groups accusing Bonnie Neely of somehow single-handedly stopping Arkley’s Home Depot development.
With no substance to offer, Bass appeals to community ignorance regarding what went down at that fateful Coastal Commission meeting in December. Despite the city’s best efforts, the Commission followed well-established protocol by granting a hearing on the appeal of the project. If and when Team Arkley provides additional information requested by the Commission, that hearing will be scheduled, and the city/Arkley presentation on the project will be heard. Neely asked staff to set the hearing ASAP.
But what Neely didn’t do, which is apparently her big evil crime, was ask the Commission to change the rules — just this once! — and allow city officials and Arkley lawyers to present their case right then and there. She didn’t plead with her fellow Commissioners to allow Councilman Jeff Leonard to “ramp it up.” Worst of all, she didn’t cave to political pressure in the form of advertisements, press conferences and hastily crafted last-minute letter to allow a dog-and-pony show ahead of schedule.
Even if Neely fervently believed the appeals had no merit, she alone could not have changed the day. It takes a total of 3 Commissioners to agree to hear from the applicant, which would result in a whopping 3-minutes at the podium — apparently plenty of time to address staff’s 82-page report.
At the basis of this very expensive shenanigan is the hope by Bass, Leonard and the Arkleyites that voters are as ignorant as those fools pretend to be. As pointed out by the Times-Standard, the blogs, and even the city’s own staff, the chances of them making a presentation at that particular meeting were slim to none.
The truth is the Bonnie-haters got what they wanted — a false pretense upon which to claim victimhood and blame Neely in order to boost her opponent in the 4th District supervisor race.
Tags: Arkley, Bonnie Neely, ca, California, CAMP, coast, Eureka, hearing, Home Depot, Humboldt, Jeff Leonard, job, law, lawyer, Local, Northern California, pot, Rob Arkley, Virginia Bass, vote
Posted in Humboldt Blogs, Opinion | Comments Off
Attorneys representing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have asked an appellate court to block the order that ended “Furlough Fridays” for tens of thousands of state workers, but leaves others taking off three unpaid days each month.
The governor’s move came just four days before the government is scheduled to shut down again. The court will probably act quickly, legal experts said, given that informal deadline.
But some state workers, who just a week ago were celebrating a furlough lawsuit win that they hoped would return regular schedules and full pay to at least some colleagues, were feeling whipsawed by the governor’s latest move.
“People were happy,” said Renee Lee, an activist with Service Employees International Union Local 1000. “Now they’re mad again. They want this to end. People just want to get on with their lives.”
The uncertainty also comes as state workers and their families are trying to plan for a holiday weekend. State offices are closed Wednesday for Cesar Chavez Day, and many workers made Easter weekend plans thinking Friday was a furlough day. Until the judge rules, they won’t know for sure.
The governor’s appeal seeks to delay Alameda County Judge Frank Roesch’s order to end furloughs for employees in about 70 departments that get a significant slice of their budgets from sources outside the state’s deficit-ridden general fund. Those departments employ roughly a third of the 200,000 employees on furlough.
Roesch agreed to postpone his ruling ordering back pay for the furlough days until Schwarzenegger’s appeal can be heard. But he refused to postpone the order on furloughs themselves, saying state employees should head back to work while lawyers fight it out in the appellate court.
Now Schwarzenegger has appealed that decision.
Roesch’s decision threatens to irreparably damage the government and “has created confusion and disparity,” Schwarzenegger’s lawyers said in Monday’s court filings.
“For example, if (Roesch’s) rulings and judgment are not stayed, the state will be faced with a situation in which state employees performing like work will or will not be furloughed depending upon the funding source,” the governor’s lawyers argued. That breaks with the concept of equal pay for equal jobs in state civil service.
When presented with that argument in Roesch’s courtroom last year, the unions successfully argued that state law requires the governor to take into account things like a department’s funding source before furloughing workers.
The law, union attorney Adam Zapala said at the time, “requires the government to use a scalpel” and perform “an individualized analysis” of department needs when cutting employee hours.
That wasn’t done, the unions said, so the furloughs are irrational.
Look for the appellate court to move quickly on Schwarzenegger’s request, said Sacramento attorney Wendy York.
“The more significant the legal issues, the more attention these cases receive from the appellate courts,” York said.
A deadline seems to help. In January, after Roesch ordered the state to end furloughs for roughly 35,000 correctional officers, Schwarzenegger asked the 1st Distict Court of Appeal to block the mandate while the governor appealed the decision behind it.
The governor’s attorneys filed the petition for writ of supersedeas on Jan. 13. The court granted it on Jan. 15. The two sides are still battling at the appellate level – and correctional officers are still on furlough.
Tags: attorney, ca, California, court, Governor, Humboldt, job, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Local, Northern California, Sacramento
Posted in State News | Comments Off
A “drunk girl” lying on the ground at 11th and F streets was approached by two guys. One of them flashed some sort of badge at someone nearby, and said they were going to take the girl home.
Tags: APD, Arcata, assault, ca, California, court, downtown, Humboldt, law, lawyer, Local, meth, Northern California, Old Arcata Road, pot, Samoa
Posted in Arcata Eye | Comments Off
Eric Clawson knocked out a bar patron, and witnesses say a racial epithet preceded the Chico attack.
A San Francisco man is facing prison after being found guilty Wednesday of punching an African American man because of his race and the fact he was enjoying himself at a Chico bar.
A jury of six women and six men deliberated 2½ hours at the conclusion of a three-day trial in Sacramento federal court before finding Eric Loren Clawson guilty of a hate-based violation of Carl Whitfield’s civil rights.
Clawson, 28, was taken into custody following the verdict. He was handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom by deputy U.S. marshals as distraught family members, including his parents and sister, looked on.
Once an amateur mixed martial arts champion in the light heavyweight division, Clawson knocked the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Whitfield down and out with one punch. Witnesses said he was out for 20 to 30 seconds, and in a daze for a while.
Clawson testified he approached a group that included Whitfield and inquired why they were looking across the room at him and “seemed disturbed.” When he asked, “What’s the problem?” Whitfield stood up and faced Clawson, looking angry and “ready to fight,” so Clawson went on the offensive, he said.
The element of surprise is a bar fighter’s best friend, and Clawson testified he’s been in dozens of them.
He acknowledged that earlier, in ordering and paying for drinks, he made two remarks to the bartender that included a racial epithet generally applied to African Americans.
But, Clawson testified, he was not describing Whitfield but meant it as a euphemism for “cheap.” He said he saw Whitfield only later when he and others around him began staring and acting as if they were unhappy with Clawson.
Whitfield, his girlfriend and bartender James Kellon Thompson testified that as Clawson and friend Joe Grivette entered Riley’s Bar & Grill on the night of July 6, 2008, somebody said, “I’m not sitting here with that n—–,” and it came from their direction.
The three prosecution witnesses said Clawson, without provocation, wordlessly walked up behind Whitfield, tapped him on the shoulder and, when Whitfield turned, hit him.
Clawson denied using the epithet in reference to Whitfield, insisting he didn’t even see Whitfield when he came into Riley’s that Sunday night.
“That’s nonsense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Carlberg told the jury in a rebuttal argument.
“He saw Carl Whitfield. Everybody knows it. He picked him out and attacked him.”
Defense lawyer Emily Doringer told the jury in her closing argument that, while her client is a brawler, he bears no racial animus and only one other of his many altercations involved an African American man.
“He has no problems interacting, socializing and otherwise dealing with African Americans,” she said. “There’s just no history here.”
She noted that Whitfield and girlfriend Noelle Keese testified they heard a racially derogatory comment when Clawson and Grivette came in, but did not tell that to Chico police officers who took their statements shortly after the incident.
“That means there is doubt,” Doringer argued.
She also said that, if Clawson were going to direct an epithet at Whitfield, he would have done it when he approached him, but he said nothing.
“That is serious doubt about what was going through Mr. Clawson’s mind,” she told the jury.
“He let his fist do the talking,” was Carlsberg’s rejoinder.
Clawson and Grivette were both charged with the hate crime.
Grivette, 29, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge a week ago and validated the prosecution’s version of the incident.
Grivette was outside when Clawson felled Whitfield. But minutes before the punch, as he left Riley’s, he assured his friend, “Whatever you do, I’ve got your back.”
Under the terms of a plea bargain, Grivette’s lawyer is free to argue for as little as two months behind bars.
Clawson’s sentencing is set for June 10. His crime carries a maximum 10 years in prison.
Tags: attorney, ca, California, court, Humboldt, law, lawyer, marsh, Northern California, Sacramento, San Francisco, Trial
Posted in State News | Comments Off
Want a sneak preview of what court proceedings might be like if Kathleen Bryson wins the race for Humboldt County District Attorney?
Tags: attorney, ca, California, court, District Attorney, Humboldt, Humboldt County, law, lawyer, Northern California
Posted in Humboldt Blogs, Opinion | Comments Off
Marcos Escareno, 17, was set to be sentenced Friday after he pleaded no-contest last year to charges he faced in the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Enoch Cruz on the Manchester reservation in 2007.
Tags: California, Humboldt, law, lawyer, Northern California, shooting, Ukiah
Posted in Mendocino-Lake Counties | Comments Off
The outcome of the case involving local lawyer Ken Bareilles’ three apparently illegal Titlow Hill land parcels will go far beyond the courtroom. In addition to Bareilles — along with his family and even his ability to practice law — the
Tags: court, Humboldt, Humboldt County, Humboldt County News, law, lawyer, Local
Posted in Times-Standard | Comments Off
Being a lawyer, I tend to think about Abraham Lincoln from time to time. Lincoln is the American patron saint of lawyers (the actual patron saint of lawyers, per the Catholic Church, is Thomas More, another entry for another time).
Tags: assault, felony, Humboldt, Humboldt County, Humboldt County News, law, lawyer, McKinleyville, pot
Posted in Humboldt Blogs, Opinion | Comments Off
San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox is taken from her courtroom on a stretcher after being attacked by David Paradiso, who was on trial on a murder charge.
Tags: attorney, California, court, felony, Humboldt, Humboldt County News, injuries, law, lawyer, meth, methamphetamine, murder, Northern California, shooting, Trial
Posted in State News | Comments Off
State court officials in December announced they’re moving forward with plans to build a new Mendocino County Courthouse, and there’s every likelihood the $119.9 million project won’t be downtown, potentially sucking some of the life from Ukiah’s core.
But after 19 years of running a booming business across from the Ukiah courthouse, Zach Schat is worried.
Tags: California, court, downtown, Humboldt, Humboldt County News, law, lawyer, Mendocino, Northern California, Ukiah
Posted in Mendocino-Lake Counties, Santa Rosa Press Democrat | Comments Off
The City of Eureka and its manager David Tyson will mount a legal challenge in Humboldt County Superior Court Friday morning against a lawsuit filed by former police dispatcher Tawnie Hansen.
Tags: attorney, California, court, employment, Eureka, hearing, Humboldt, Humboldt County, Humboldt County News, Humboldt County Superior Court, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Northern California, Santa Rosa, sex, sexual
Posted in Humboldt County Blogs | Comments Off
US District Judge Jeffrey White ordered a new trial date in the lawsuit by Humboldt Baykeeper against Security National subsidiary CUE VI over clean-up of Eureka’s toxic Balloon Track. Trial is now set for August 30, 2010 rather than the quickly-approaching March 22nd.
Tags: Arkley, Balloon Track, Bonnie Neely, California, coast, court, Eureka, Humboldt, Humboldt Bay, Humboldt County News, law, lawsuit, lawyer, Marina Center, Northern California, railroad, San Francisco, Security National, Trial
Posted in Humboldt County Blogs | Comments Off
ABA Journal
A bar joke more than 20 years ago by a then-deputy attorney general in San Francisco isn’t so funny now. Made to a bartender at Eureka’s Waterfront Cafe, where a waitress happened to be a juror in a capital case, it resulted in an evidentiary hearing earlier this year after defense lawyers found out about the incident, reports the Recorder.
Tags: attorney, court, Eureka, hearing, Humboldt, Humboldt County, Humboldt County News, law, lawyer, San Francisco, W. Bruce Watson
Posted in Humboldt County Blogs, Humboldt Online Newswires | Comments Off
Aquafornia News Blog
“Secretary for Natural Resources Mike Chrisman Monday announced Blue Ribbon Task Force (BRTF) membership for the Marine Life Protection (MLPA) Initiative’s North Coast Study Region, drawing criticism from fishing groups, environmentalists and Indian Tribes that only one local person was appointed to the panel that will develop “marine protected areas” (MPAs) for the region.
Tags: coast, Humboldt, Humboldt County, Humboldt County News, law, lawyer, Local
Posted in Humboldt County Blogs, Humboldt Online Newswires | Comments Off
