A Point of Clarification on the Lawson Case in a Letter to the Editor
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In light of the recent decision of a grand jury in the matter of the death of David Josiah Lawson, some clarification may be in order. The criminal grand jury investigating the death of Mr. Lawson is in no way connected to the civil grand jury.
There has been some commentary in the news and social media that has some people attributing names of civil grand jury members as if they were part of the panel that found insufficient evidence to charge an individual in this matter. This is inaccurate. Grand jury members listed on the county website are not the ones included in the Lawson matter.
Criminal grand juries are selected by the court upon a request by the District Attorney and this is a process seldom used in Humboldt County. On the other hand, civil grand juries serve for a full year at a time and are selected from a pool of applicants for those positions. They investigate governmental issues and create reports on an annual basis.
For additional information, you may contact the Humboldt County Chapter of the California Grand Jurors Association at [email protected] or leave a message at 707-502-2168.
Jim Glover, secretary-treasurer, Humboldt County Jurors Association
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time to convict Lawsons buddy. he most likely was trying to stab zollner and stabbed his buddy instead. he has pushed his way into all investigations and been in the lime light all the way
I found it very strange that Josiah’s buddies beat the crap out of Zoellner yet were never arrested for assault. If processed they would all have their fingerprints entered into the system. I would like to see the Arcata Police Department request them to submit their fingerprints as part of the investigation. It would be interesting to see how they react! It is a strong theory that one of Josiah’s friends did the stabbing. Arcata Police Department in their rush and overcompensation to appear not racist ended up being racist after all and bungled a homicide investigation!
The APD would have been completely dismantled had they arrested his friends. His friends are black.
Very much a political move. If they were all white or all black, they all would have been arrested.
Because people are afraid to stand up against charges of racism. That’s why the case got bungled. I think that if it was white guys beating up a black guy they would be arrested. As they should. As should anybody regardless of skin color! The APD is bending over backwards so hard to not be “racist” that now they are! I don’t know if it was Kyle or Josiah’s friend but I feel strongly that they should all equally be considered as suspects. But APD avoided that level of professionalism out of fear of being politically incorrect. And so they ran a flawed investigation based on skin color. And even today the racist charges are flying and clouding the investigation… Sad story.
No financial gain for crappy parents.
Hmm,
thanks.
if they beat the crap out of him, why would they stab him? who the hell would go retrieve a kitchen knife at that point? the only known motive is a young male going to pick up his girlfriend at a late night party where he was not welcome and then there the phone issue. and as we all know from our own local news, meth makes you stabby. and who was in the business of having kitchen knives on his person. I can tell you right now there is an episode of “party down” where one of the employees of the catering company mistakenly takes some kitchen utensils from the house they were catering at home with him.
as far as this op-ed goes, this sums it up: “this is a process seldom used in Humboldt County”. is Maggie and her team who are also mostly from Costa Contra in a conflict of interest? there must be a defining reason this method was implemented.
I agree, although the friends should have all been arrested and potentially prosecuted, my guess is kyle stabbed josiah in self defense.
so you think they just beat him up for picking up his girlfriend and asking nicely for her phone?
Regardless of why they attacked him, even though it was said to be over accusing someone of stealing a phone… is being called a thief or even the n word justification to jump someone and choke them? Are you really out of line for stabbing someone who is taking part in jumping you and choking you? I mean if multiple people were kicking the crap out of me and attempting to strangle me, and i had a knife…. yeah i (and im pretty sure EVERYONE ELSE) would use the knife to defend myself…. both parties were clearly in the wrong on this scenario. Its kind of foolish to attack someone and expect them to do nothing back to you…..
no one went to Klye’s residence. Kyle went to this residence.
Kinda one sided for you to blame kyles love of meth without mentioning the other groups love of cocaine and fondness of violently assaulting people at parties on several occasions. Not defending meth just saying if your blaming narcotics all parties involved are apparently guilty
do you even know the difference between meth and coke?
It’s called mob mentality. Mob mentality mixed with drugs n alcohol, and this is what happens. No logic, just blind hate, “they” were trying to kill Kyle but it backfired. Simply put.
It sure would have been nice to see Josiah’s friends charged and processed and then ruled out as suspects in the stabbing. Then the assault charges could have been dealt with, even dropping the charges if that seemed right. But now we never will know, will we? As our community is raged upon for “being racist” and such bullshit accusations…because the fear of appearing racist made the murder unsolvable. The irony is palpable.
the cuts in Budget of the HCSO forensic unit several years ago, now relying on subcontracting to Shasta County is a large part I would think. The night it happened there were accusation that the EMTs were a little slow, but I wasn’t there. but I would assume it was a dark and confusing environment to do your job.
Yes it was a dark, confusing, and hostile environment for the first responders. And it was deliberately confusing, preventing a thorough initial investigation – securing the scene, getting all possible information from all witnesses, and seeking recorded evidence from smartphones.
There is no evidence that Zoellner was doing meth that night. There is plenty of evidence that party goers were high on cocaine and alcohol. There is no evidence that Zoellner had one of his kitchen knives on his person and the knife tied to the stabbing was not from the set that was in Zoellner’s equipment bag. The first fight broke out between Zoellner’s hysterical and coke-addled girlfriend and Lawson’s girlfriend and during that fight Lawson jumped Zoellner. That was when Lawson got pepper sprayed. Then Lawson and his friends jumped Zoellner a second time and Zoellner was beaten unconscious. The knife was moved while Zoellner was out of it. Of course, none of Lawson’s friends were able to recount anything from the mob beatdown reliably.
Had you been following the passing of the case from APD to the DA’, rather than wallowing in your “Justice for Josiah” reality distortion field, you would know that the DA forwarded DNA evidence from the knife to the California Department of Justice to review and resolve ambiguity of DNA evidence. That issue was crucial for using the DNA evidence to identify a suspect. Apparently, the Grand Jury decided the DNA evidence wasn’t sufficient per the DOJ’s review.
Your whining about the DA stems from your inability to accept the fact that your prejudices are not borne out by any evidence.
you got it. i would like to add the knife had fibers that didnt jive with kyles clothes. and they sent kyle to jail for a few weeks while he was all beat up and bruised. and they didnt arrest anyone else that night, just the unconscious beat up white boy, probably because he looked out of place not because of evidence, and the party goes were probably yelling at the cops that he did it even though none of them were good witnesses
I would have like to have them question the young man that refused to get out of the ambulance with Josiah. It delayed precious time. Why would he not get out? Your friend is bleeding out and you refuse to move your self from the ambulance? Was he afraid Josiah would say something that would incriminate? Of course it is all speculation but I think every time this comes up, why did they not finger print and get DNA samples from ALL individuals there? Just round them all up then and there and take them in.
it probably had nothing to do with the love of a friendship and possibility of loss.
Was it one of the same loving friends that refused to let the first responders access their dying friend by yelling (edit) The Police? They didn’t seem concerned as he bleed out on the grass, nice friends
Does a knife in evidence have that persons prints on it? Did this person have anyone’s blood on their clothing, or did he 2 years ago? If those things are not in evidence there’s probably zero chance they can be found 2 years later.
Glover is incorrect. When a Criminal Grand Jury is called for my the DA, members of the Civil Grand Jurors are not excused. No one knows who is selected for the Criminal Grand Jury. It is a secret. Therefore Glover would not know how many Criminal Grand Juries have been formed. The DA can subpoena witnesses to a Criminal Grand Jury, but a Civil Grand Jury has no subpoena powers. There are two types of subpoenas: (1) a subpoena duces tecum which commands the person to produce certain documents and (2) a subpoena ad testificandum which commands a person to appear before the grand jury on a particular date to testify. In this case they could be FBI agents, police officers, detectives and possibly first responders. All can hire an attorney, but no attorney representing a subpoenaed witness is permitted into a Criminal Grand Jury hearing. Criminal Grand Jurors could be excused at a jury selection before the trial, but they would not be known to the defense attorney. Nothing presented at a Criminal Grand Jury would preclude a Civil Grand Jury member from serving on a Criminal Grand Jury. Nor a trial jury. I don’t know if Civil Grand Jurors can be excused, that would be up to the Superior Court Judge.
A criminal Grand Jury is: a group of citizens – empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify.
A Criminal Grand Jury is presented with evidence from the District Attorney, the prosecutor in criminal cases. The grand jury determines whether there is “probable cause” to believe an individual has committed a crime and should be put on trial. If the grand jury determines there is enough evidence, an indictment will be issued against the defendant.
Consists of 16-23 people.
Grand jury proceedings are not open to the public.
Defendants and their attorneys do not have the right to appear before the grand jury.
Criminal Grand Jury’s are rarely countermanded by the State’s Attorney’s General Office or State Grand Jury’s. Unless there would be gross mistakes in the collection of evidence and a county Grand Jury would have noted that my guess is there is nothing for the State Attorney’s to investigate. Therefore it would be unlikely the State Attorney General would accept a county criminal case that has gone through a county Criminal Grand Jurors process. Unless there was new evidence in the way of a confession the police and the DA office have discovered whatever evidence is already known. Nationwide One in four murders are not solved.
In 2015 there were 1861 murders, 1145 were solved and that is 61% or about 40 % were not solved. I could not find records for 2018, 2017 or 2016. One can presume the total numbers of murders has gone up as it has in nearly every state. But that the solved rate has gone up is not known for California.
A criminal grand jury can consider a case in secrecy. The prosecution thus gets a “test run” of their case without disclosing their evidence to defense or public view. And, of course, a grand jury can issue a true bill to indict, which may be kept secret until the arrest(s) are made.
On the other hand, a grand jury can refuse to indict. The prosecution may conclude more evidence is needed. And arrests may or may not be made.
Everyone is an authority on something. Who knows what happened. Hopefully someday a person or persons will be held to answer for the death of Josiah Lawson. That’s really all anyone can say.
Criminal Grand Jury’s are ALWAYS conducted in secret. It is NEVER a public hearing. And the members selected for a Grand Jury are also secret. All of the gathered evidence is presented to, the usually 12 member Grand Jury, and they and only they make the decision to issue an arrest warrant or not issue an arrest warrant. To even propose that every member of the Grand Jury are all racist is statistically impossible. Maybe if this were Mississippi in the 1930’s. And the DA does not have the power to hand select the members of the Grand Jury. Statements like, Kyle is the most likely person to commit this crime is NOT evidence. There are checks and balances.
I’m not going to try and guess whodunit but I have to say I find it hard to believe that a stabbing went down at a party and nobody saw anything. The failure to build a case they feel they can win depresses and infuriates me.
I’m not sure I’m ready to blame Maggie Fleming and the sheriff for everything yet. There are people out there who know but they ain’t talking. I sure hope someone breaks silence soon and justice can be served.
Meanwhile as the family and friends grieve, somewhere out there is somebody that is always nervous just waiting for the ax to fall.
The sooner the better!
Now that Freedom of Speech is mandated for all universities again, there’s hope they’ll step forward.
This letter seems to indicate that members of the civil grand jury have been targeted for harassment by the “Justice for Josiah” mob. Tampering with a trial jury is illegal. Does the same hold true for a civil grand jury? Does the outing of the civil grand jury’s identities constitute criminal solicitation? It seems that a strong warning could be in order.
Agreed.
If Jussie Smollett looked like Kyle Zoellner looked after the beating he took, the entire world would have believed his story, maga hats, noose and Subway sandwich.
Josiah got exactly the justice he deserved.
That’s a terrible thing to say. Why because he won a good old fist fight? Only to get stabbed in the back by a little tweak weasel? Man I’ll tell you what- you trump types are really showing your stripes. You really want to paint this as a race issue, when it was just a couple dumb kids at a college party. It’s really obvious who did the deed. There might not be enough evidence to charge Kyle, but everyone without a racial dog in the fight knows whodunnit. It’ll come around I’m sure
And I’m pretty sure that Josiah’s wannabe thug friends jumped Kyle as a group, beat him unconscious and one of them even tried to stab him except instead he accidentally killed his own wannabe thug friend Josiah. But I don’t have enough evidence for my theory either! Guess we can all meet at the empty McKinley space and fight it out?
“You really want to paint this as a race issue,” Did you think before making this comment. Are you saying the “Trump types” are saying this is racial? Try again.
Yes that’s what I’m saying. It’s really, super obvious and clear what went down at this party, and I think Josiah’s friends and family are 100% right in calling out the community for being racist in this case. Look at the ignorant comments here. I don’t see any explanation that makes sense other than Kyle did it, to protect his image in front of his girlfriend, or whatever, after he got his ass completely beat. Any other explanation is grabbing at straws… remember he was stabbed repeatedly- not just once. Also, seeing as he was already beat, why would someone come and try to stab him- Kyle I mean. Doesn’t add up. It’s fine if there isn’t enough evidence, so they say- that’s our system and that’s how it works. But it doesn’t change my mind. That’s my 2 cents- I call it like I see it
Wc… everybody knows it was one of the dead guys buddies, you don’t get out much,or haven’t been in the military have you! Keep your liberal leaning in willow creek.
What does politics have to do with it? Because I’m not backing the white kids story? I’m middle of the road politically, and I have a daughter who is the same age as these kids. She gives me the real scoop- Kyle and his girlfriend and his crew are typical mckinleyville druggy local-yocals. You know the type- and so do we all. It’s not a left/right thing unless you ignore the facts and take the white kids side! And, what does military service have to do with it? Jeez you might as well say what you mean. The facts are pretty straightforward, it’s just too bad there isn’t enough to charge the little tweaker!
Wow.. Between the virtual “Cornucopia of Ignorance” displayed in the comments pertaining to the illegal treatment of a fellow human being by the local hospital and the overflowing “Treasure Trove of Bigotry” trailing out the back end of this article like defecation on a poor mother’s tears, pain, 4broken heart and sorrow.. Just when I thought I was as disgusted as I could get with the dumboldt regulars on here, you, TYSON have gone ahead and lowered the bar yet again, sequestering yourself head, shoulders, horns and tail well below the foul smelling surface of the cesspool, beneath even the other bottom feeders with your:
“Josiah got the justice he deserved” comment. By your (lack of) rationale, six and a half million Jews probably got what they had coming in WW2 as well, nu? And just so you don’t write me off as a delusional leftist whacko, I’ll go ahead and say that if asked my opinion based solely on what I’ve read and heard in the media, I would guess that Josiah sadly was killed while he was an active participant in the commission of, (along with his friends) a coordinated felony assult (I’ve seen/heard nothing that suggests this was a “good old fistfight” gone terribly awry.. everything I’ve read suggests it was a group beat down) against Mr Zoellner. Now, were that true, it’s not inconceivable that Mr Lawson’s friends are the ones that would need to be prosecuted for the murder. California law makes it very clear that if someone dies during the commission of a robbery, the whole acting party, no matter how small their role, are responsible and thus I should be charged as murderers, no reductions to manslaughter.. I only wonder if those same rules could or should be applied here with regards to the assult. That said, all that I gather from the grand jury decision not to prosecute is that, at this time, there simply is not enough evidence against any of the parties involved to even charge, let alone convict, anyone for this sad, pointless loss of a precious, young life. Whatever side you choose to cast your lot with, I pray that we all can try to keep in mind that there is a heartbroken mother grieving for the senseless loss of her loving and intelligent son(no matter the cause), the years they spent together and the loss of the years they had left to share together. She also grieves for the loss of companionship,comforting and caregiving that son would have provided her in her twilight years that she had so well earned and indeed deserves through “Love Equity” of the hardwork, struggle and sacrifice of guiding, loving, teaching and raising a child safely through all the challenges and dangers only to have such a devastating tragedy take place at this, the dawn and doorstep of his adult life. I’m sorry Mrs. Lawson, for Josiah, yes, but moreso for you. I pray you may find peace and comfort even if the justice you seek is withheld.
The felony murder law to which you refer has been changed.
Nice try though.
Thank you Anne- what a bunch of terrible comments. Go to LoCo all you trolls. I’m ashamed to live in the same county as you all.
Kym, if the comment above by Tyson is not racist, White Supremacist, liberal-baiting and anti-Semitic, what would be?
Is that level of hate speech acceptable on your blog?
At 6:29 Tyson said “Josiah got exactly the justice he deserved.”
Is calling a stabbing death (a murder) a “just” killing allowable, by site standards?
Please check what message is being sent here, by Tyson and by your editing style and sensibilities. Thanks for your attention to my concerns.
anti semitic? what? p.s. there was nothing about race in tysons comment. maybe he was saying he thinks thug life deserves death? there are other conclusions, if you want to believe it is racist then you go right ahead but maybe tyson is black, who knows. he wasnt calling for action. and why are you trying to claim victimhood because you are a liberal, yes i know you are a liberal, blue hues.
You don’t think basically blaming the Jewish people for their own deaths in concentration camps counts as anti semitic?
“It was the jews who declared war against Germany. Economic war, designed to destroy the German economy.”
Bonnie…O Booho go cry to some one else…
I don’t agree with Tyson’s comment but there is nothing racist in what he said… not very nice but I did not read any slurs or hateful adjectives. He called the young person by his name instead of some lame epithet. We don’t have to like his opinion nor agree with it but we still live in America where we have Freedom of Speech in some small form regardless of who edits or censors what is said or written.
I have a communication rules to minimize the amount of insults I have to wade through.You can check them out here: https://kymkemp.com/?s=comment+rules
Areas that Tyson broke the rules include using slurs including gay as a slur as opposed to a description, libtard (I don’t allow RepUGLican either) among many others.
Aw, thanks, Kym. I’m relieved that was addressed, and that I have an understanding of your “rules of the road” (Daily Kos). You remain my hometown heroine, though I read more than post now-a-days.