by Bruce McEwen
The prosecution didn’t have much of a case against him, but Timothy S. ‘Coke’ Elliott, 38, was found guilty of Second Degree Murder last week at the end of a two-week trial attended throughout by many members of the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians. Samuel Billy, 29, was found with a knife puncture in his [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Last Thursday afternoon a nicely dressed woman carrying three A-2 assault rifles walked out of the DA’s office on the ground floor of the Mendocino County Courthouse. It was two days after Mariano Lopez Fernandez, 31, of Boonville, was shot and killed by three deputies in a marijuana garden in the Cahto country west of [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Last week began with a murder trial, but all the excitement was in civil court. Why? A dog. An adorable little dog, so adorable people steal him, go to court over him. Subscribe now to access our entire site—only $25 for 1 year. Rather not use PayPal? No problem—you can still subscribe to TheAVA.com in [...]
by Bruce McEwen
David Eyster, candidate for Mendocino County Dis trict Attorney, does not enjoy the unanimous support of local law enforcement. Except for the Fort Bragg Police Department, Eyster did not get the endorsements of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies, the Ukiah City cops, or the Major Crimes Task Force, that eclectic rov ing band of badged dope fighters [...]
by Bruce McEwen
The prevailing sentiment at the courthouse is that newly anointed judge Ann Moorman, is going to usher in a New Age of Liberalism when she ascends to the bench at the first of next year. The county’s defense lawyers think that the sitting judges are too subservient to the DA’s office. They and bide their [...]
by Bruce McEwen
The high profile bust featuring the Bulgarians of Covelo has devel oped an added angle — and more defendants.
by Bruce McEwen
Monday morning the court calendar was cleared before the bus got to Ukiah from Boonville at 10:37 am. At that time, there was only one courtroom open, Department A, Judge Richard Henderson’s court. Last Friday Judge Cindee Mayfield was filing in for Henderson, but on Monday he was back on the Bench, instructing a jury [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Everyone in a position to know says this is another banner year for the marijuana cultivation business, Mendocino County franchise. Sheriff Allman says simply, “It’s everywhere.” And it’s drawing people from everywhere. Last year law enforcement grabbed young people from Italy, Bulgaria, Israel, China, Spain, Russia, and, of course, Mexico who had come to Mendocino [...]
by Bruce McEwen
Last week we left Bess Sanderson hanging at the County Jail. We thought she’d made bail. In fact, she’d hadn’t bailed. She was still hanging Wednesday morn ing, and she hung for over an hour waiting for her law yer, Mark Kalina once she got to the Court House. Bess’s two kids — the ones she left [...]
The news took less time to filter through the crowd of over 500 than the spark from a spliff filled with Bell Springs Blue Dream picked up by the cool afternoon breezes that meander through the coastal canyons of Mendocino County. The place: Area 101, about ten miles north of Laytonville on Highway 101. The [...]
