Inside Humboldt Courts: Trials Move Forward in Several High-Profile Cases

Humboldt County Correctional Facility. [Composite image by Ryan Hutson]

Humboldt County Superior Court handles a steady flow of criminal cases each day, but most proceedings pass without much public notice unless they result in major developments.

In this column, Redheaded Blackbelt provides a regular look at what’s moving through the local courts – tracking hearings, trials, and filings in cases that are either well known or warrant closer public attention.

This column is mostly based on court records and daily calendars but may include a reporter in the courtroom. This reporting is intended to give readers a clearer sense of how criminal or civil cases progress over time. When court hearings produce significant new information those developments may be covered separately in a more thorough news article. As with all criminal matters, individuals named here are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If you know of a case that has significant public interest that you would like followed, email us at [email protected]

YESTERDAY’S ROUND-UP:

Aaron Thomas Bjorkstrand  |  CR2500158 / CR2502729 / CR993449S

Aaron Thomas Bjorkstrand was in two Humboldt County courtrooms on Wednesday. In Courtroom Three, a jury was hearing Day 9 of a robbery trial in which prosecutors allege Bjorkstrand held a WinCo Foods employee at knifepoint on January 13, 2025. The felony complaint names Cody Ray Kester as the victim. Bail is set at $500,000, and Bjorkstrand has been in custody since November.

At the same time, in Courtroom Seven, a judge was weighing a motion to formally set aside the 1999 felony conviction that put Bjorkstrand in prison for more than two decades – that’s the same conviction being cited as a prior strike in the trial happening down the hall, in Department Three.

That original case dates to September of 1998, when Bjorkstrand was 15 years old. He shot a McKinleyville gas station clerk twice during a robbery and was tried as an adult. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and first-degree robbery in 2001, two months after his 18th birthday. 

In 2024, Judge Lawrence Killoran resentenced him under AB 600, a California law that eliminated mandatory firearms enhancements and ended the practice of sending 15-year-olds to adult court. Bjorkstrand’s time already served exceeded his new sentence, and he was therefore released.

He didn’t stay out long.Six months post release, prosecutors allege he robbed WinCo at knifepoint. Then, on November 6, 2025 – while out on bail for that attempted robbery – he was allegedly found with a loaded 9mm ghost gun. That second case is being tried concurrently in Courtroom Three.

Wednesday, the court was untangling a 27-year-old conviction at the same time it was building a new one.

Sebastion John Hockett  |  CR2300947

Hockett, 32, appeared Wednesday morning in Courtroom Three for a readiness conference in a felony sex offense case that is now headed to trial on May 18. Hockett has been held without bail since April 2023. The third amended felony complaint, filed June 2025, charges him with nine counts including oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years old or younger, lewd acts upon a child, and possession of child pornography. 

Sebastion Hockett, booking photo. 

The charges involve two child victims and alleged offenses spanning from 2019 to 2022 across Humboldt and Stanislaus counties. 

In a press release, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office wrote, “Hockett was arrested at his Briceland residence on March 30 and a search warrant was served… Individuals with any information regarding potential additional victims or related criminal activity should contact HCSO Detective Danielle Vickman at [email protected] or call (707) 445-7251, reference case number 202201804.” 

Wednesday’s readiness conference was continued by stipulation; a final readiness conference is set for May 7.

Jake Henry Combs  |  CR2200081 / CR2501556

The retrial of Jake Henry Combs on a first-degree murder charge is underway in Courtroom One before Judge Kaleb Cockrum, with Wednesday marking Day 3. Combs, 34, was originally convicted by jury in August 2023 of the murder or Trevor Earley  and a special allegation of personal discharge of a firearm causing death. 

Law enforcement and community members gathered near the scene of the crime. [Photo from Lauren Schmitt of KMUD] 

Jake Combs Booking Photo

Combs also appeared Wednesday in connection with a separate case alleging he possessed methamphetamine while housed at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility in August 2025, while awaiting retrial. The District Attorney’s office was before Judge Cockrum on a motion to file an amended complaint in that matter.

Clayton Lloyd Miller  |  CR2600087 / CR2600185 / CR2600204 / CR2502970

Clayton Lloyd Miller appeared Wednesday in Courtroom Five for pretrial conferences on four open cases before Judge Lawrence Killoran. Miller, who also goes by the names Clayton Loyd Miller, Ryan A, and Ryan N, has been held at the Humboldt County Jail since December 11, 2025. His most recent cases include two separate charges filed in January 2026 of violating a domestic relations court order – one on January 14, one on January 22 – both filed while he was already in custody. 

A deputy jumps out of an armored vehicle in Fortuna in 2023 as officers attempt to apprehend Miller in Fortuna, and a 2023 HCSO booking photo of Clayton Miller. [Image on left provided by reader, on the right a booking photo with Clayton Miller.] 

These cases will continue moving through Humboldt County Superior Court in the days and weeks ahead. Some will resolve without going in front of a judge. Others – a murder retrial now underway, a child sex abuse case approaching trial, and a robbery case still before a jury – are headed toward conclusions that will matter to this community. We’ll be watching.