by Bruce McEwen
The AVA hit the tabletop like a flyswatter. Judge Moorman seemed to jump in her seat. To emphasize an un-filed motion, the youthfully demonstrative public defender Andrew Higgins smacked my newspaper on the defense table, apparently wishing he could smack me directly. The boy defender was upset, or at least pretending to be upset, about [...]
by Bruce McEwen
As the sun set on 2011, a flurry of paperwork obscured the murky gun theft from the Sanchez home on Mountain View Road, Boonville. The house was broken into and a variety of sporting arms taken in December of 2010. The Sanchezes were away. The brother-in-law keeping an eye on their place found that the [...]
by Bruce McEwen
The court was waiting for the defendant, Ira ‘Redhawk’ Reyes. Reyes was on his way to the County Courthouse in Ukiah from his home in Covelo. We knew Redhawk was on the way because his public defender, Dan Haehl, said Redhawk was on his way. Lawyer and client were in cell phone contact. Judge Leonard [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Rey Reyes shot his stepson dead a year ago in Laytonville. The shooting occurred on a Wednesday night, December the 1st, 2010. Reyes’ murder trial began December 4th of this year.Subscribe now to access our entire site—only $25 for 1 year. Rather pay with a check? No problem— e-mail and let us know. Or, sign [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Defense attorney Keith Faulder is a long-time friend of DA David Eyster. Faulder is also a former senior prosecutor. Faulder said recently, “I told Dave if he’s going to keep filing these shit cases, then he should try them — and not pass them on” [to the deputy prosecutors]. Faulder was referring to a case [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Willie Braxton Williams went down last week. He’s been a Courthouse fixture for many years, the recipient of vast stores of leniency and judicial understanding, but he finally went down, which just goes to show that even the nicest, most likeable criminals, sooner or later, go down. Now 56, Willie Williams is the nicest guy [...]
by Bruce McEwen
They’re Here, There and Everywhere, the proliferation of gangs in Mendocino County. Our headline writers decided this sweepingly inclusive distillation would just about cover all the bases. But it turns out to have been something of an understatement.Subscribe now to access our entire site—only $25 for 1 year. Rather pay with a check? No problem— [...]
by The AVA
Sheriff Bobby Grubbs is the top cop in Brownwood, Texas, a small town of some twenty thousand church-going souls smack in the center of the Texas vastness between Abilene and Fort Worth. Brownwood has a big reputation for drug arrests in a state with a bigger reputation for life sentences for even small amounts of [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Last week, a juvenile delinquent being tried as an adult for attempted murder was looking at attempted murder plus four other criminal counts and 11 special allegations that will get him 70 years in prison if he’s convicted.Subscribe now to access our entire site—only $25 for 1 year. Rather pay with a check? No problem— [...]
by Bruce McEwen
The judges played musical chairs at the Courthouse last week. Her Honor Ann C. Moorman became the new judge of Department A, the County’s main criminal court, which made the lawyers from the Public Defender’s office particularly happy. These poor souls, the lowliest of the legal beagle breed, have suffered a long, long time as [...]
