Lawson Homicide Cliffhanger: $750,000 Awarded Late Yesterday to Kyle Zoellner Could be Reversed
Kyle Zoellner: two images–the one on the right is his arrest photo on the night of David Josiah Lawson’s homicide.
Wrapping up its 6th day of tumultuous civil trial hearings in the Northern District US Court in San Francisco, Kyle Zoellners’s defamation lawsuit against the City of Arcata a former Arcata Police Officer reached a cliffhanger decision yesterday afternoon, finding partially in Zoellner’s favor. However, the award hinges on the court’s decision as to culpability in the yet unresolved homicide of David Josiah Lawson in 2017. The City of Arcata Former Arcata police officer Eric Losey is tentatively – pending a final ruling by the judge – ordered to pay Kyle Zoellner about $700,000 in addition to the “punitive damages” awarded in the amount of $50,000. (The city has been paying Losey’s attorney and will pay the $700,000).
A photo of David Josiah Lawson at his memorial service held at HSU. [Image provided by Humboldt State University]
“The jurors were sending a message to police officers – and it’s not just Humboldt County – but this was the wrong case to send a message, when the suspect was obviously the right person that was arrested for DJ’s murder,” said Charmaine Lawson, reflecting on the day’s outcome.
Video taken by Charmaine Lawson, the mother of the victim, when she arrived at the Courthouse in San Francisco to watch the man she believes killed her son take his lawsuit before a judge and a jury.
Reiterating that the determination as to culpability rests in the hands of the judge, Lawson clarified that the impressions felt from the judge and the jury were both positive in her mind. She added, “I just want the judge to say, ‘They have probable cause to arrest [Zoellner]’ so that people still know he was the right person, regardless of what they did, he was still the right person arrested that night.”
Due to allegations by Zoellner and findings of the court that identified a discrepancy in the police report made by Arcata Detective Mike Eric Losey in the initial phases of the Lawson death investigation, Losey was named as a Respondent in Zoellner’s civil suit refuting the murder allegations against him resulting from the 2017 homicide of Lawson. By all accounts, at the preliminary hearing in 2017, Losey testified that he’d made “an error” in his official police report on the incident, in which he wrote that a witness had identified Zoellner as the man attacking Lawson when the witness had not identified anyone.
![Charmaine Lawson shared a selfie from the San Francisco District Courthouse as she awaited the resolution of Zoellner’s civil trial against the City of Arcata and a number of its law enforcement or former law enforcement officers. [Photo provided by Charmaine Lawson]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/310650599_1059025274790909_7474321339503782980_n.jpg)
Charmaine Lawson shared a selfie from the San Francisco District Courthouse as she awaited the resolution of Zoellner’s civil trial. [Photo provided by Charmaine Lawson]
While the ultimate reward assigned to Zoellner rests in the judge’s hands, according to Lawson and Ramos, Zoellner currently is poised to walk away with $750,000 in compensation awarded by the jury, for damages related to findings of falsified evidence in the case brought against him for the David Josiah Lawson homicide in 2017 – unless the judge finds that he was justifiably arrested with probable cause for the crime.
Local civil litigation attorney Erik Kirk said, “Does this mean that Zoellner can’t be prosecuted if new evidence emerges? I don’t believe so. There were several causes of action in addition to malicious prosecution, including false arrest, deliberate denial of medical treatment, and defamation. All of the causes of action were dismissed except for malicious prosecution based on Arcata Police Detective…Losey’s alleged falsification of evidence.” Kirk further explained, “The jury wasn’t called upon to determine whether or not Zoellner murdered Lawson, but only to determine whether Detective Losey’s evidence was falsified and whether that led to the prosecution. So there is no collateral estoppel or res judicata as to whether Zoellner actually murdered Lawson.”
Lawson, the mother of the victim, expressed a sense of appreciation for the jurors and the court staff, matched by a hope for justice related to the homicide investigation of her son, which remains unprosecuted in Humboldt County due to lack of evidence.
While the past five years have seen some encouraging developments in this case, such as a review of police investigation measures resulting in a detailed report suggesting ways to improve current and future death investigations, DNA evidence being found on the knife used to kill Lawson, and the testimony of some additional witnesses, time passing has also been fraught with confusion and discouraging delays in progress, Lawson told us.
Whether Kyle Zoellner takes home the $750,000 total awarded to him by the jury yesterday rests in the hands of the judge. And, Charmaine Lawson won’t know whether the man she believes responsible for her son’s death will be made richer because of yesterday’s decision.
PLEASE NOTE: This article at first incorrectly reported that the City of Arcata was being sued. However, it is responsible for payment of the approximate $700,000 awarded by the jury. Former Officer Losey was held found to have falsified evidence, and the City of Arcata is covering his costs. We have corrected that and we deeply apologize for any problems our mistake caused.
Additional Documents Revealed in the Civil Court Case:
- What attorney’s for the defendants stated were facts.
- What Kyle Zoellner’s attorney provided as a list of facts about the stabbing of Josiah Lawson.
Earlier Stories about David Josiah Lawson:
- 19-Year-Old HSU Student Dies After Stabbing in Arcata Early This Morning
- 23-Year-Old McKinleyville Resident Arrested in Connection with HSU Student’s Stabbing Death
- HSU Offers Students Who Witnessed Stabbing Death Amnesty for Breaking School Rules; Asks Cooperation With Police
- Arcata Police Not Releasing Photo of Suspect in Stabbing Death for Now
- APD Received Anonymous Email About Fatal Stabbing; Pleads With Writer to Come Forward
- Celebration of the Life of Stabbing Victim Will be Held at Humboldt State University Today; Racial Bias Alleged to Have Led to Death
- Hundreds Mourn Slain HSU Student at Thursday Vigil
- Uncle of Fatal Stabbing Suspect Writes Letter to the Editor Urging Community Re-examine Public Statements Made in the Case
- Family of Arcata Stabbing Suspect Claims the Real Killer Has Not Been Caught (Includes Timeline of Events as Presented in Public Statements by Those at the Party)
- HSU and Arcata Police Issue Statements Following Release of Kyle Zoellner in the Stabbing Death of David Josiah Lawson
- District Attorney’s Office Issues Statement as Defendant in Racially Charged Case Released
- Family of Kyle Zoellner Who Was Released Today in Stabbing Death Issues Statement to Family and Friends of Victim
- Justice for Josiah Gathering Keeps Arcata Lively Tonight; Another Protest Called for Tomorrow
- Letter to the Community of Arcata from Kyle Zoellner’s Uncle
- Chanting “‘Justice for Josiah,’ Protesters Gather at the Courthouse
- Family Announces $10,000 Reward for Information Leading to Conviction of Killer of David Josiah Lawson
- APD Chief and Victim’s Mother Offer Updates on the Stabbing Death of David Josiah Lawson
- Letter From Family Member Questions Testimony of Witnesses in Hearing About Kyle Zoellner’s Possible Role in the Death of David Josiah Lawson
- ‘Reckless Statements’ Were Made by Tom Parker, and Lawson Attorney, Shelley Mack, Writes Uncle of Kyle Zoellner in Letter to the Editor
- Protestors Take Over Arcata City Council Meeting Demanding Justice for Josiah
- A Deeper Look at Last Thursday’s Disruption of the Arcata City Council by Protesters Demanding That Tom Parker Be Asked Back to Help in the Josiah Lawson Case
- Mother of Josiah Lawson Claims DNA on Knife Identifies her Son’s ‘Murderer’, Calls for Justice
- Grand Jury ‘Declines’ to Indict Anyone for Stabbing Death of David Josiah Lawson
- Arcata Police Say They Will ‘Work to Identify the Suspect who Murdered David Josiah Lawson’ After Grand Jury Declines to Indict Anyone
- APD Requests Public’s Help Identifying Potential Witnesses in Stabbing Death of David Josiah Lawson
- Zoellner’s DNA on Knife Used to Kill Her Son, Says Mother of David Josiah Lawson in Open Letter
- DA’s Office Responds to Letter From Mother of Slain HSU Student
- Who Killed Josiah? A Documentary About Humboldt County and Racism
- California Attorney General’s Office Declines to Take Up Case of David Josiah Lawson
- National Police Foundation Released its Independent Review of Josiah Lawson Case
- Three Years Ago Today–The Killing of David Josiah Lawson Changed This County
- David Josiah Lawson Oration Festival
- On 4th Anniversary of Fatal Stabbing, Arcata Police and Mother of David Josiah Lawson Release PSA Asking for Witnesses to Come Forward
- The City of Arcata and David Josiah Lawson’s Family Announce a Settlement
- Protestors Gather for the 51st Month Since the Stabbing Death of David Josiah Lawson
- A New Website and Billboard on 101: Mother Seeks Justice in Humboldt for the Fatal Stabbing of her Son, David Josiah Lawson
- Five Years After Unsolved Homicide Of David Josiah Lawson, A Family’s Continued Fight For Justice Faces Election Of A New Humboldt County District Attorney
Note: This article has been edited to reflect that the detective’s name is Eric Losey, not Mike Losey.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
Too many LA punks, of all types, are ruining our area. Then, at 2am, some of these LA punks get into a fight with a local. Someone dies … every. single. one. of the people there that night is responsible!
Ms Lawson needs to go home and stop calling our community something that it is not. I’m sorry your son has passed away, but his actions led him there. He was completely a part of the scuffle that went down, a scuffle in which the primary objective was to beat someone else up! He was probably collateral damage from one of his own buddies stabbing in the dark. Even if it were Z, I believe it highly suspect to call it related to anything but self defense.
Such a sad situation, but her throwing shade on our collective community has got to end. It’s pathetic and it is not garnering her any more sympathy.
Ms Lawson is doing her son’s legacy no good with her continuing attacks on Kyle. With her public (including this article) insistence that Kyle is guilty without solid evidence she taints the very jury pool in Humboldt she would need to see her crusade through. At this point, if a jury were to be convened, one or several members would likely see the prosecution of Kyle as revenge.
She’ll never get what she wants all the while continue to trash and falsely accuse someone of murder. She should be very careful if Kyle does get his money because Ms Lawson might be opening herself up to liabilities that can be acted upon.
Seems Z should sue Ms Lawson for defamation if she can’t prove what she’s been saying for years
He did it everyone knows it.
No he didn’t. Maybe the his friends that were at this drug and drunk party. Should tell the truth.
maybe he needs to stop shielding his girlfriend
Really? Josiah stabbed himself? Is that what you’re saying?
Kyle should sue the Lawson , brothers united , and hsu while he is at.
The thing you are right about is that it was actually one of J. Lawson’s friends who did the stabbing. It was an accident. That kid left town never to return.
Please add what you know to the police case.Although I have known another who went to them and…it seems like maybe…this particular theory is being…downplayed or even censored? Does anybody know why would Arcata do that?!
The police already know who did it. They have overwhelming evidence on him, but the DA refused to prosecute because everyone already ran to the press saying it was a Racial Hate Crime, and if they arrest a black guy for it, everyone’s going to say it was racist.
Doesn’t fit the narrative that a white man killed a person of color.
You are right. Baring a confession, there will be no resolution in this case. Ms Lawson needs to bind her wounds and accept that her son’s death is at least partially his responsibility. Sad but true
Would you accept it if it were your son? I doubt it.
You do not know me.
When people fight rather than retreat, both hold a portion of respnsibility. I walk my talk.
who is the local? Kyle is from Concord.
They were both fighting that night. Nothing good happens after midnight. Stay home and play with yourself DJ. Don’t bring this LA gangster shit up here.
As if the redneck shit is better…
Uhhhhhh Kyle got jumped by 15 guys.
* 15 members of brothers united *
Victim blaming? Humboldt County deserves plenty of blame when it comes to racism.
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. And a person should ask themselves why every great reggae band from Jamaica to Africa, from the Marleys to Steel Pulse to Burning Spear to Pato to Lucky to Alpha to Eek Mouse to Rita to Cindy Breaksphere, to Yellow Man to Oliver to Anthony to Morgan to the I Threes to the Diamonds to Bunny to Misty in Roots showed up here to play to honky racist white people? They didn’t. The Rainbow Bridge does exist if you look.
Racism is one thing, expecting the integration of two different cultures is just a result of your brain washed programming.
Hope that young man gets the pay out he deserves . Seems like he is a victim in all of this.
He’s already won. The BAD guys have to prove there was probable cause, and their sole witness for that turned on them.
Justice for Kyle ! Hope Kyle sues brothers united, hsu, and ms Lawson.
What was the falsified evidence?
“By all accounts, at the preliminary hearing in 2017, Losey testified that he’d made “an error” in his official police report on the incident, in which he wrote that a witness had identified Zoellner as the man attacking Lawson when the witness had not identified anyone.”
It’s not clear from this account if Losey actually deliberately “falsified” evidence or if he simply misspoke.
ill bet my dollar this isn’t the first cop in humboldt to make “ errors” on their reports.
appears as a separate case from the Lawson incident.
I have sympathy for CL. Losing a child must be among the most painful possible tragedies. I have no sympathy for DJL who was killed while he and his friends were attacking and beating KZ. If he had not been in the process of beating KZ, he would not have been killed. Choices have consequences.
KZ started the fight.
Nope. Lawson did. He ran up and threw the first punch, then he died in the fight he started.
Those seem to be a lot of defense facts presented which from a layman don’t seem to indicate the accused did anything but get beat down. Let’s see the prosecutors facts and let everyone decide. It appears the prosecutors have no case and never did otherwise they would have indicted the accused. —- “a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich”. Given the pressure from the Arcata liberal blm mass hypnosis public, it is doubly weird the grand jury didn’t indict “a ham sandwich.” Very weird. If the situation is at appears to a layman, the accused, whose character has been irreparably damaged, should be awarded $20 billion from the city of Arcata and the accusers should be made to publicly apologize in public on the courthouse steps. If.
Fake news. Everyone knows who did it.
Yeah but he fled to LA where he’s getting famous as an activist over the murder he committed.
Has anyone looked into the girlfriend of Kyle and her friend ?? Maybe they should start there hope the right person sees this
She was allowed to drive his car away from the crime scene with possibly evidence in it. She started the fight. She – more than Kyle- hates black people. She was right there. She is known to be ” trouble”. She is never investigated, interviewed or discussed….hmmm….
Isn’t she the one who bit another woman there… she does indeed seem like trouble. It’s funny, all the TV crime shows got onto surprising us with the fact that the guilty party was female, decades back… but in real life, in Humboldt at least, most often any female is dismissed as perp possibility without a second thought. Why?
agree 100%, she started shit by her accusations about her phone being stolen and by biting Lawson’s girlfriend. She is trouble, yet she got to drive away from the poorly managed crime scene……
i read every word of the court transcripts of the josiah lawson case. basically josiah and two of his fraternity brothers jumped on kyle lawson for no reason and beat the living shit out of him. fellow brother paris wright from the brothers united fraternity testified under oath “im not gonna lie, kyle was totally respectful when asking about the missing cellphone.” paris was kicked out of his all black fraternity after he told the truth but thank god at least somebody stood up and told the truth. he also stated that he “had a hard time pulling josiah lawson off of kyle zoellners unconscious body.” josiah had kyle in a headlock and a body lock and paris wright further stated that he was ‘worried that josiah lawson was going to kill kyle zoellner.” OVER WHAT. take that riverside attitude straight back to hell. believe me i could go on and on with all the important details that the lamestream media was afraid to mention because they didnt want to make black people look bad because its politically incorrect nowadays and OF COURSE nobody wants to rub salt into the wounds of another needless tragedy. the college shut down the entire football program immediately because this was not the first time that there were fairly extreme problems. like i said i could go on and on but, personally, having read every word of the case earlier, i think kyle zoellner definitely deserved a settlement without a doubt. sorry to josiahs family and everyone effected by this needless tragedy
Making sweeping racist comments about who should and should not be here doesn’t help Zoellner if he is innocent. There was a reason. A classic reason that often get two young men into fights: drunk girlfriends (Remember, these are all young kids, relatively new at drinking, and being out on their own) Zoellner’s girl friend left her phone in the party (after a verbal altercation?) And sent him in to retrieve it. Zoellner, there to pick her up walked into a situation of drunken tension. No matter what actually happened, I understand Charmaine Lawson’s frustrations. Her son was stabbed, and killed. And there’s no closure. She has every right to get to the bottom of it, and also, unless there’s good evidence one way or the other, grant her son the benefit of the doubt. I would if I was in her shoes.
Over a phone!
Thank you
it’s jealousy and fear that starts all late night fights over a woman. it seems everyone forgets that Kyle was there to pickup his girlfriend after he got out of work. she forgot her phone and then had to go back to get it. he had a set of knives related to his work in his car. motive and weapon.
Except the knives were all there and didn’t match the wounds, plus they FOUND the murder weapon and it wasn’t his. You should probably read……I dunno, LITERALLY ANYTHING about this before commenting.
“…unless there’s good evidence one way or the other, grant her son the benefit of the doubt. ”
Grant him what? That Kyle is guilty? APD/DA have not been able to do so, what makes you think this whole attack by a hurt mother is appropriate? I get she’s upset, but most times life is completely unfair and there is not resolution. Ms Lawson probably should get some grief counseling.
I should be rich and pretty, but….
Lawson absolutely bilked the local taxpayers. Consequences for promoting the Marxist victim mentaility and the cultural erasure of personal responsibility/morality for “marginalized” groups. The national resistance to this type of behavior will turn into more of a true hostile opposition. This isnt good for anyone in the short-term, but is now necessary lest our society cannibalize itself from the inside out. Its long since time that people show courage in their speech, condemning behavior and culture that is cancerous and parasitic. If we dont take an immediate off-ramp on our trajectory, there will be only synergistic decay and permanent loss of our freedoms to raiders of our sacred heritage. It will not be traditional American values, but the lack thereof, bearing full responsibility. Wake up.
Describe your “Sacred heritage”. I’m imagining double knit polyester pants, but, go ahead!
The oceans of blood spilled and mountains of labor for an increasingly thankless and amoral posterity. This “sacred heritage” is running through our fingers like so much sand, and many don’t have the courage to even delineate the cause in plain speech.
“Marxist victim mentality?” I’ve never heard about that before. What did Marx write about it?
On Q threads, Truth Social, Mar a Lago basements, Rudy’s cognac closet and Infowars.
It’s all there man, promise!
Are you not a victim if you view yourself as oppressed? The “oppressed” are busy disemboweling society and our collective futures. Language has been perverted;history has been rewritten; violence is excused and even encouraged.And even our local towns are riddled with mayhem and increasing economic decay. The way out of this mess is in the opposite direction. It certainly is’t sacrificing the limited economic impetus to the social resentments and grift of out-of-towners looking to capitalize on our hard-working and well-meaning locals. This was a hit job, and the community should rally behind and protect our own against the malevolent and resentful intentions of a scorned and dishonest vendetta. Your dictatorship of the proletariat is just neofeudalism soaked in blood.
A man was stabbed to death? This isn’t the first or last time drunk kids get into a fight and beat the shit out of each other- justice must be served for the person who murdered this man. There is no just reason to stab a man to death. Ever. Self defense is self defense but the murderer lost their ability to claim that when they swallowed the truth. Local or not- frat or not. This was cold blooded murder. Getting away with that is NOT freedom
[edit] Your racism is showing even though you try to use neutral words. What exactly are traditional American values? Racism, genocide and misogyny?
Ah there it is. Never takes long. Those are certainly anything but neutral words. They are words of truth and condemnation, in the spirit of protecting and supporting my community.
The red herring racism card lost its chutzpah a long time ago. You’re shooting blanks. A proverbial cap gun at the ok corral.
Lol
Can’t present a reasonable rebuttal so you throw the leftist lie…
But, but… Racism!
They should give Kyle 1.5 million for waiting soo long! This poor kid was the victim!
justice 4 Kyle!
Kyle caught a beating, then he got arrested on false reports. Give the man 2 million while we’re at it
Agreed!!
He can still sue the city. This was just against the one cop.
I hope Kyle sues the city, hsu , brothers united , and ms Lawson herself , go get them tiger
That seems like a pretty big “error” Det. Losey made by stating inaccurately that Zoellner had been identified by a witness. I have a hard time seeing how the detective made such an assertion (and in writing) not knowing it was false. That “error” had major consequences for Zoellner, and he should be compensated and apologized to by the detective for his “error.”
Police do similar things every day.
Common practice for cops to lie on their police reports.
The murder weapon (a knife) has Kyle and David’s DNA on it.
Kyle was seen retreating to his car after altercations due to his drunk girlfriend accusing everyone of stealing her phone.
Kyle’s estranged friend said after the murder that his knife bag was missing a knife.
Kyle kept his knife bag in the trunk of his car.
Your limited evidence is proof you have a bias. I know you’re smart enough to do better.
You can click to the older articles for more of my comments with links.
Of course the knife has both of their DNA on it. From all accounts, the stabbing happened while they were actively wrestling. And from all available evidence Kyle was bleeding fairly heavily by that point.
And by no evidence was there more involved in “actively wrestling” on the ground at that time than Kyle and David.
And Gleasons testimony about Kyles bag missing a knife is backed up by the polices’ mistake of thinking there were only 2 knives in the bag, when in court they were shown that actually 3 knives were in the bag.
How did Gleason know more about the bag than the police who had custody of it?
There were 3 knives [in the bag], but there was supposed to be 4.
Whose fingerprint was on the knife?
That puts Kyles estranged friend at the scene of the knives.
That makes the estranged friend a suspect.
No Zoellner dna located on knife that is false.
???????
It’s very possible that the murder and the fight had nothing to do with skin color. Just dumb drunk young men getting in a dumb ass fight with one complete idiot bringing in a knife. Or was it self-defense? Kyle certainly got beat unconscious by more than one guy jumping on him…All the skin color accusations and BLM hype got stirred up the next day. And it affected this PC city council to pressure the police department to find a villain. Ironic in that this is what usually happens when they string up an innocent black man! The main culprits here are the kids who have video and eyewitness accounts that they have held back….including the members of Brothers United who took a stand against speaking about that night at all. Why weren’t they brought up on assault charges and pressured to speak? Reverse racism? Why did they never agree to be interviewed? Anybody who was there who has a piece of the puzzle and has not spoken up is partially guilty of allowing a murderer to go free….
Right on to Kyle!
Kyle’s crackhead mother arrested here:
https://kymkemp.com/2016/11/04/king-salmon-couple-arrested-last-night-for-maintaining-a-drug-house/
Great family people!
Kyle was arrested for meth in 2013.
David Lawson had no criminal history and was in Humboldt attending college.
What are you saying? That a prior drug arrest and a drug addicted mother means Zoellner was guilty of murder? Otherwise why bring it up?
I love how you brought that point up re Hunter Biden…
Frankly I’m making sure there is more perspective to the narrative.
I thought I remembered that not long before Lawsons murder, Zoellner was arrested for physically assaulting his sister.
I could not find that charge.
We keep records on people for a reason, hence criminal history.
I brought it up because people paint Kyle to be a victim, and I’m not seeing that by any review of the evidence or record.
I’ve never talked about Hunter Biden at all that I remember. And still “perspective” is not going to translate to either guilt or innocence. If it was, then George Floyd would have never been the subject of a murder investigation. There is more than enough rampant speculation as is and none of it has been offered except to justify aleady existing prejudices..
The point was that you didn’t tell the regular Biden mongers what you just said to me.
This is a local with a criminal record, not just him, but some of his family too.
It’s ok to talk about that.
I never connected meth to murder anyhow, I just connected a man with his history.
So you think his mother’s criminal record sticks to him?
I’m not surprised. This is the same mentality that says children today should pay for the crimes of people long since deceased.
it seems you know nothing about meth. meth makes you evil and we have seen locally, over the years, that it also makes you stabby. meth also makes people, mostly men, sex offenders but that is off topic here.
So arrest everyone who has ever used meth when they are in the vicinity of a crime? Oookkaaay… Sounds a little bit lynchy but okay.
Some people get stabby. But if meth use was even moderately correlated with stabbiness then we would all be getting stabbed daily around here! So I’m saying your meth- stab connection is invalid. But hey- I hate the meth too
Kyle was on his back, in a headlock, on top of his attacker. Does meth also make you double jointed?
Meth brings out what is allready within people and at the time of the incident looks drug free and employed.
Lame attempt at diverting the problems. The past issues of Kyle and his mother have nothing to do with this situation. Very disappointed with your post. Who are you trying to help here?
We knew his Dad who was somewhat active in environmental issues around here. But you shouldn’t blame kids for their parents. That’s just weird
Kyle himself was charged for meth.
Not just his mom.
Why you trying hard to suppress the information of a criminal history?
Kyle was charged for meth the night he was arrested? I had not heard that before. Or are you talking about some that happened years earlier and is unrelated to the events in question?
Sounds like a smear campaign…Ms Lawson hire you all the way out here in HF valley?
I hate meth. I hate what it turns people into- most of the time. But it really has little correlation with murder. I just think you can make better arguments. I’ve seen your research on here. One time you had me reevaluate everything I thought I knew about this case. Thank you for that TRB! I just don’t think bringing his Mom into it is your strongest argument…or his meth arrest. Not only assholes use meth- sometimes it’s stupid kids too
And enjoys with the company of thuggish frat brothers beating people mercilessly for looking for their friends phone.
This women has mental issues. I hope this innocent kid sues the pants off of her and she moves back to wherever the hell she came from. She needs to learn what happened to the Infowars dude
No case. The defamation cause of action was dismissed from this case. In order for a plaintiff to prevail on defamation, in the U.S. (unlike England) you have to prove the falsehood. That means he has to explain where the knife came from and why his DNA is on it. And even then, he has to prove that she was negligent in assuming that he was guilty. That’s a tough hill to climb even if he’s innocent. It’s harder when you have the burden of proof.
AND…. it’s completely douchey! She lost her son to a stabbing. Let her say whatever she wants; this woman is in pain. But let us all remember that she is speaking through her pain and angyish so maybe not exactly accurately. I don’t even care that she calls everybody in Arcata a racist because she is in pain. It’s the people that advance that untrue narrative that I don’t like. But Josiah’s mom? Let her be….
He doesn’t have to prove where the knife came from. He doesn’t have to prove ANYTHING but the fact that she spread falsehoods and that he was damaged by them.
No Zoellner Dna found on knife.
At one time didn’t Lawson claim to have a tape that she had obtained about this case. I seem to remember an article about a tape she would not show until after some sort of hearing. What ever happened to that tape? I remember that this case moved to the preliminary hearing faster than I have ever seen any “murder case” before. Could it be that “Public Opinion” played too much of a role and caused this investigation to fall apart? Seems like there were too many facts that caused more questions than answers.
“I have the evidence, and it will tell the truth!” said all the followers of tRump, also. But so far, haven’t seen it.
Charmaine Lawson has fueled a shitstorm over her son who is dead because he and his friends were beating the hell out of a smaller man over basically nothing. Nobody should receive a dime. I cant believe Arcata paid her a small fortune. Did the police have probable cause to arrest Zoelner. Probably. But the evidence against him has never risen to the probable cause required to make him stand trial, and never will. This woman needs to go away,
Has it been 5 years yet? At some point she might want to consider moving through the grieving process for her own health. Atleast this public crusade needs to end.
So she took some money? Well that was her que to exit stage left.
How much did Lawson get?
“Those photographs of Zoellner’s clothes assisted him in his belief that Zoellner had killed Lawson. The amount of blood on Zoellner’s clothing and the location of the blood on his clothing shows that the blood did not come from him but from David Josiah Lawson. The blood on the t-shirt showed that the blood leached through the hoodie.”
“The knives at Zoellner’s home suggested to Losey that Zoellner was no stranger to knives. He has a variety of knives. The police were not just looking for a Henkels brand knife, the type of knife Zoellner used to stab Lawson. (753:6-755:17). Henkels knives were located at Uniquely Yours, Zoellner’s place of employment.”
“The photographs of Zoellner’s pants shows a large amount of blood that came from
Lawson. The amount of blood on Zoellner’s pants is not consistent with his injuries and being in a
fistfight. The blood is consistent with someone in direct contact with someone bleeding
profusely. The blood does not appear to be coming from his face. The blood on the clothes does
not look like blood from someone who has been hit in the nose. The clothes show blood transfer.”
“The t-shirt under the hoodie had blood on it, reflecting saturation. Kitchen knives and a knife case were found at Zoellner’s house. Dokweiler knew that Ortega had found the knife bag in Zoellner’s car and looked to see what knives were in the bag. She thought one was missing. That was the car that Zoellner drove to the cul-de-sac. Dokweiler knew that Zoellner’s orange knife case could hold more knives. He also knew that Zoellner had other kitchen knives in his house. Dokweiler knew that Zoellner was a chef at Uniquely Yours Catering and had access to Henkel knives. ”
“Kyle Zoellner has zero memory of the incident. He has zero memory “from
the time that [he was] hit until [he] ended up in general population in jail.” Despite
him being alert and chatty in Nilsen’s MAV, Zoellner claimed he “lost consciousness; and then,
like I said, the next thing I remember is just waking up in jail.” ). Zoellner never suffered
any type of memory loss before the incident. He has never suffered memory loss since
the incident. (805:22 – 806:1). This was the only time in his life that he suffered complete
memory loss. (806:2-4). Before he “went unconscious,” Zoellner did not see anyone else with a
kitchen knife. (841:10-12). He never saw anyone else fighting with Lawson. (841:17-18).
Zoellner claims all of the blood on his clothing came from a nosebleed and the cuts on his
face.”
Looking forward to reading the civil court proceedings. Wonder if Zoellner has perjured himself in these civil proceedings..
Dna evidence was not found on Zoellner’s clothes.
Wouldn’t it be spectacularly amazing if those that defend zoellner could do so without using racist tropes and outright racist speech??
Wouldn’t it be great if the blacktivists had just let the police do their job instead of insisting this was automatically a racial hate crime?
Oh no it’s even worse than that. Some of the black folks there were from the all black fraternity with the motto “brothers above all others” and it seems fairly obvious that upon arrival of law enforcement they were worried about their 3 brothers who had just beat the shit out of Kyle 3 on 1 for no reason (see my previous comment) and they were intentionally obstructing justice before they realized Josiah had been stabbed. as is usual when 3 guys disgustingly beat up one guy nearly killing him and the cops come, they were getting the hell outta there pronto. Another point that is often overlooked in this case is that the grand jury did look very closely at the Kyle zoellner question and concluded that even if Kyle did do it, it would have been SELF DEFENSE
Also, it’s worth noting that the entire reason this case hasn’t been solved is the fact that our leos are not trustworthy or adept at their jobs. Also, based on the amount of racist comments on this entire story, it’s not too much of a stretch to believe leos also brought some racism to that house party. Let’s not forget they couldn’t seem to coordinate timely medical transportation to a hospital LESS THAN A MILE AWAY for a dying young person. Their ineptitude will always be a cloud over this investigation. We must demand better! ✊♥️???????
To Ms. Charmain: Keep your head up, Sis. We all want to see justice for your son, regardless of the vociferous racists in this community. He mattered, and could’ve brought a change to the awful nature of criminal justice. Your strength in the face of adversity is inspiring and needed. Thanks for working hard to ensure our community no longer needs to suffer under low vibrational thought processes by our “law enforcement “. Now, it’s our turn to work to relieve some terrible leos of their jobs , overtime, and pensions.
Oh yes, everyone is a racist. Anyone who disagrees with you and ms Lawson, or won’t railroad the closest suspect is totally racist. Haha you’re making a mockery of someone’s death. Please leave well enough alone. It’s time for everyone to go home. Your race cards are all worn out.
The case was solved years ago! The DA didn’t want to prosecute because she knew she’d get called a racist for arresting the actual killer. Ahearn specifically told her there was mountains of evidence pointing to one specific person (who wasn’t Kyle Zoellner) and the closer he got to naming this individual, the more resistant she became to his report.
There were people from the party violently confronting the police. The EMTs are not allowed in until the site is secure. It could be argued that the people confronting the police actually caused Josiah to die…but not the police. They made some mistakes but getting Josiah medical care was not one of them…
Documents from this trial and from the Lawson homicide case are available at thelawsoncase.blogspot.com. This includes the false charging summary filed by Eric Losey that was at the center of this trial as well as the actual testimony of the witness in question.
https://thelawsoncase.blogspot.com/
This entire article appears biased in favor of Ms Lawson. I thought “journalism” was about presenting facts that allow readers to draw their own conclusions.
As far as getting different sides, the Zoellner family has not responded the last several times I requested their input–sadly, as they were very informative in the begining. Ms Lawson, however, has been easy to reach for interviews.
But we did our best to present the info we had neutrally including making sure the photo of Zoellner’s badly beaten arrest shot was at the top of the article and the link to Zoellner’s list of facts about the homicide (which are really interesting btw you should read them–I can tell almost no one has).
well that link paints quite a read and a story. Has everyone forgotten this is All happened over a dang phone the girlfriend isn’t sure she lost or was taken.
Such a melee by so many, it’s just not a pretty story about the 21st century in any way, especially young people.
You’re right, that WAS interesting reading. And yes, I guarantee that anyone who still thinks Zoellner is the guilty party has not reviewed the facts in evidence.
Well the Arcata police botched up the investigation. Are their detectives going back to school to learn how to write a witness report now?
Or secure a crime scene!
Kym, one more point, the City of Arcata is actually no longer a party to this lawsuit. They were dismissed back in March along with all other defendants but Eric Losey. They city was not being sued here and was not ordered to pay anything. See Document 233 at the link below. Eric Losey is personally being sued. The City of Arcata, however, has continued to pay for Losey’s defense and will pay the $726,300 in compensatory damages if there is not a ruling that changes that. There are reasons for this, but it is NOT by an order of the court. Losey would be personally responsible for the $50,000 in punitive damages.
https://thelawsoncase.blogspot.com/2022/03/zoellner-v-city-of-arcata-documents.html
Can you save me a pinch of time and remind me where the police found Kyle’s knife bag?
Anyone?
Was it found in the car trunk or in the apt?
It was located in Zoellner’s apartment during APD’s second search warrant at the residence. Detective Todd Dockweiler testified to this in 2017. The page numbers are listed in my notes and the transcript can also be accessed there.
https://thelawsoncase.blogspot.com/2022/07/2017-preliminary-hearing-transcripts.html
TLC, thank you for that clarification. We were wrong and fixed the article. Without your comment here, I might have missed that.
Kym, thank you for your work. The video and photo captions do still contain the error.
To clarify – The City of Arcata is actually responsible for the damages awarded by the jury – apart from the punitive damages in the amount of $50,000. Feel free to email me with further concerns.
As I said in my original comment, the City of Arcata will pay the compensatory damages and Losey’s legal fees, but that is not to say that they were ordered to do so.
Regardless of that, your photo and video captions still say the following:
-“…as she awaited the resolution of Zoellner’s civil trial against the City of Arcata and a number of its law enforcement or former law enforcement officers. …”
-“to watch the man she believes killed her son sue the City of Arcata.”
These captions are objectively false. The City of Arcata and all of its current and former officers with the exception of Eric Losey were dismissed from the case in March. They were not a party to this case. Some testified as witnesses, but they were not being sued or on trial. Eric Losey was personally being sued by Kyle Zoellner.
The errata at the bottom of the article also says:
“This article at first correctly reported that the City of Arcata was held responsible for payment of the approximate $700,000 awarded by the jury. …”
This should be reworded to reflect that
“This article at first INcorrectly reported that the City of Arcata was ORDERED to pay…”
He didn’t do it. Y’all need to talk to the people who were there, except they won’t tell you the truth.
ask his girlfriend
Pay the man and send the women packing. His girlfriend and the charlatan.
Jus look at the booking photo, then tell me Kyle wasn’t a victim of a beating. Who did that?