Inside Humboldt Courts: Courthouse Arsonist Deemed Incompetent, Disbarred Attorney No-Show, and a WinCo Robbery Trial Heads to June
Composite Image by Kym Kemp: on the left, Bjorkstrand’s alleged ghost gun; middle, booking photo Jacob Worrell; on the right, the charred car of Stephen Paiment.
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.
YESTERDAY’S ROUND-UP:
Stephen Paiment | CR2501768
Stephen Paiment is the Eureka man who is accused of driving his car onto the Humboldt County Courthouse lawn and setting it a’blaze last August. Now, he has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial – and a judge has now authorized staff to medicate him against his will.
Stephen Paul Paiment, 69, was charged with felony arson (PC451(d)), misdemeanor vandalism, and littering stemming from the August 23 incident. He has been held at Humboldt County Jail since February 19 on $75,000 bail.
The car allegedly set on fire by Stephen Paiment, was pulled from the courthouse lawn to the streetside following the fire response. [Photo by Ryan Hutson]
Yesterday, Judge Killoran granted a request from Humboldt County Behavioral Health to medicate Paiment involuntarily, with the court finding that he lacks capacity to make his own medication decisions, and also poses a danger to others. Criminal proceedings remain suspended.
Paiment’s placement hearing is set for May 15.
Cameron Kyle Christiansen | CR2601566
Cameron Kyle Christiansen, age 25, was taken into custody on April 16, 2026, following the filing of a Ramey warrant by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
His bail was set at a high amount of $1,050,000 which reflects the serious nature of the charges against him. Christiansen faces five counts related to alleged sexual offenses against a child under 14, with incidents reportedly occurring between June and July 2025.
The felony criminal complaint against him is signed by Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney R. Timm. Christiansen’s preliminary examination was held yesterday in Courtroom Five, and his next court appearance is scheduled for May 29, 2026.
The case involves multiple allegations of lewd acts and aggravated sexual assault against a child born in 2013. The most serious count against him is PC269 Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.
Aaron Thomas Bjorkstrand | CR2500158 / CR2502729 / CR993449S
Aaron Thomas Bjorkstrand spent Thursday in Courtroom Three.
Jurors entered their tenth day of deliberations in a robbery trial stemming from a January 13, 2025 incident at WinCo Foods in Eureka, where prosecutors allege Bjorkstrand held employee Cody Ray Kester at knifepoint. A concurrent case alleges he was found with a loaded 9mm ghost gun (a gun without a serial number) on November 6, 2025 while out on bail for the alleged WinCo robbery.
Bail in the robbery case is set at $500,000. Bjorkstrand has been in custody since November 10, 2025.
The original 1999 case stems from a September 1998 incident, when Bjorkstrand was 15; in that case, he shot a McKinleyville gas station clerk twice during a robbery and was tried as an adult for attempted murder. A separate motion to formally set aside that conviction is pending in Courtroom Seven, with the next hearing set for May 20.
He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and first-degree robbery in 2001. In 2024, Judge Lawrence Killoran was required to resentence him under a new law AB 600 due to the crime taking place while the defendant was a minor; his time served exceeded the new sentence and he was released.
His adulthood freedom didn’t last very long.
The jury returned a partial verdict Thursday on special allegations in the ghost gun case: guilty on one aggravating circumstance — commission of a crime while on OR release — but the panel was deadlocked on three others, with split votes of 7-5, 10-2, and 9-3. Judge Steward confirmed a mistrial on those three counts.
At the 1:30 p.m. hearing on the WinCo robbery case, defense attorney Wade Orbelian made an oral motion to continue, citing late-disclosed surveillance video involving a knife, 378 jail phone calls requiring review, and the defendant’s interest in seeking private counsel. DA Trenton Timm objected, arguing witnesses were ready and jurors were standing by.
Judge Steward sided with the defense, invoking the constitutional weight of a trial date: “A trial date is not simply a date on a calendar — but is a significant constitutional event.” He added that “efficiency is important but cannot come at the expense of a defendant’s due process rights”, and found good cause to grant the continuance. The defendant entered a general time waiver. Trial is now set for June 4.
In a moment of courtroom levity, DA Timm gestured toward the gallery and suggested a note-taker present might be connected to the defense – apparently unaware he was pointing at this reporter.
Sentencing on the ghost gun case special allegation — which carries a potential two-year enhancement — is also set for June 4, pending the outcome of the robbery trial.
Callie Buck | CR2601394 / CR2501701
A Fortuna attorney disbarred following a criminal conviction failed to appear in court Thursday on a petty theft charge related to a misdemeanor-level heist at Fortuna Liquor on December 18, 2025 – prompting Judge John Feeny to issue a $5,000 arrest warrant on the spot.
Callie Rose Buck has accumulated a string of criminal cases since 2023, beginning with a November 2023 HCSO arrest for brandishing a deadly weapon – including a crossbow and knife – and domestic battery, after allegedly attacking her partner and cutting the phone line.
A screenshot from the CA State Bar Association website shows that Buck’s license to practice law has been revoked.
She was arrested again in July 2025 for corporal injury to a spouse and violation of probation. Due to Buck’s status as a former local attorney, her case has been assigned to visiting judges.
Jake Henry Combs | CR2200081 / CR2501556
The retrial of Jake Henry Combs on a first-degree murder charge is currently underway in Courtroom One before Judge Kaleb Cockrum, with today marking Day 4 of jury selection. Combs, 34, was originally convicted by a jury in August 2023 of murder and a special allegation of personal discharge of a firearm causing death.
Jake Combs Booking Photo
Additionally, Combs 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 his retrial. The DA filed an amended complaint related to that matter.
Jacob Worrell | CR1802977B
Jacob Charles Worrell was in court on Thursday for a violation of parole hearing related to a heroin and methamphetamine possession for sale and transportation case which he was convicted for in July of 2018.
Worrell, who has a long history with the Humboldt County jail, will serve another two years locally. He will receive 416 days of conduct credits—commonly referred to as “good time”—which are applied toward time already served. Court minutes reflecting the outcome of Worrell’s hearing indicated that no bail was allotted, and a restitution fine of $300 was due.
No further court hearings are scheduled in this matter, as Worrell’s formal probation was revoked by Judge Kaleb Cockrum, and the 2-year parole violation sentence was imposed.
Thursday’s proceedings offered a window into the full spectrum of Humboldt County’s criminal docket – from a man who set his car ablaze on the courthouse lawn now facing treatment he doesn’t want, to a disbarred attorney who didn’t show up for her own arraignment.
[Jacob Worrell booking photo, 2015]
Humboldt County Correctional Facility. [Composite image by Ryan Hutson]
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 unless 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] .
EARLIER:
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They actually tacked on a littering charge to Paiment’s case. 🙄
Tell me Stephen Paiment dose not have TDS.
I remember Paiment and his brother as kids.
He has needed help for a long time. It is good the court recognizes he is more mental than criminal.
He would not even know what TDS is supposed to mean.
He looks…angry!
Different guy.
These situations are very stressful for families. The system is gradually improving the treatment for mental issues. Proper meds are helpful as suggested in the article above.
This gang of maggots seems to have more rights than their victims. It’s a revolving cell door where they are released into society just to commit more crimes. How many 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances will they get? Forced medication sometimes is appropriate, just like forced castration for those who prey on children. When it’s said to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, that’s how it should be.
The California legal system lets this happen. Laws that some people voted in are the reason. Read what you vote for. Progressives do more harm to society by sneaking in these type of measures. They sound all social justice, but in the end they just fuck up our lives.
Lock some up and throw away the key. The others who rape children deserve the death penalty. If we actually had the death penalty that California voters overwhelmingly voted for!
We did have it. Then the progressives got control of the judges and the state houses. Look at who you vote for.
Thank you for doing this column. Reading that other website to get updates is extremely tiresome with his rants and undertones of being the savoir of Humboldt with his courthouse reporting, piss poor spelling and Grammar and just plain terrible attitude.
He does serve a purpose and a point of info that really nobody else does except occasionally. As far as attitude, well…Have you been to X, or Reddit or Truth Social or Facebook lately? People are much, much worse there, and some use their real names.
Well…John Chives uses his real name! And also if you put him and sour cream on a baked potato it’s pretty darn good…AA Steakhouse style
I’m not talking about those websites. Yes he does serve a purpose, but if this column keeps going I can avoid his website all together. I don’t like how he makes it seem like hes so amazing, I dont even like reading the LoCo but I find his constant jabs at them extremely unprofessional and tiresome. The whole “im the only one reporting this” or “i reported on this momths ago” bs is old. Hes a pretentious ass and I would much rather give Kym and her team the ad revenue.
Haha, I don’t check this site but someone mentioned your comment. 1. Your are anon so you could have an agenda & be anybody. 2. I report on all these cases regularly. 3. I have an attitude because of people like you[edit] & for 12 years for free did nothing for me and are pissed because you can’t use me. I post several cases a day and details. You are too cheap to pay for a subscription. No other local media did court coverage for years. 4. I know Ryan Hutson is trying hard so I wont point out any errors and my readers will get these updates with correct info. 5. You know what they say about opinions. 6. If you have the guts, come say what you wrote to my face. I am not that hard to find. 7. I hope this is your only source of news because you are not a reader I want. 8.I bet you are a court insider, an attorney or someone I exposed. If I am wrong, prove it. I will screenshot this in case RHBB deletes or does not allow this comment to go through. 9. Do you recycle this comment every few years? It has been used before by someone connected to the court. 10. RHBB is a blog, LOCO is a blog and a dot.com doesnt change that. You know what people were laughing about today at the Courthouse. Kym getting pissy about being called a blog. SF Chron has an audience outside & beyond Humboldt and readers arent disgruntled groupies. 11. What have you done to save Humboldt. I make a difference [edit]. 12. If you like sloppy seconds with errors, keep reading this brief column. It does not match what I did and do for 12 years.
I’d take anything that isn’t your trash, [edit]. Who cares how long you’ve been doing it. You dont do it for free, your site has ads means you get money. Just because you dont get shit for traffic and very little ad revenue doesnt mean you do it for free. You can delete and edit your posts all you want but you just called out LoCo like a week ago. You don’t know me, have never written about me and I have zero affiliation with the legal system. I just dont like the way you write and your attitude, this entire temper tantrum you just threw is case and point. Im just glad I can give my ad revenue and clicks to a local news organization I appreciate. Have a good weekend being God’s gift to us lowly lazy cheap people.
Oh, lord, I’m going to address both of you at once. First let’s tone down the rhetoric.
We don’t allow personal attacks on fellow commenters. Both of your comments have been edited to follow that rule.
John, Criticism of our reporting is fair game. Crude personal insults toward our reporters are not. You pushed that boundary.
Hahaha, John has provided a consistent stream of valuable court coverage over the years. Even if some readers don’t agree with his style, that work helped keep attention on local courts and, like any sustained coverage, contributes to others—including us—prioritizing putting out court stories when we’ve got the resources.
But, John, as for courthouse chatter, I suspect most people there have more pressing things to focus on than whether I joked about being called a blog.
Now can we all agree to stop talking about each other and get back to the actual subject—what’s happening in local court cases.
I am waiting to hear news about the arsonist who tried to catch Swains Flat on fire.