Allegations of Animal Cruelty at Alexandre Family Farms; School Threats Case Update; and Child Sex Abuse Trial Continues – Inside Humboldt Courts
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. As always, any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
THURSDAY’S ROUND-UP:
IN THE CASE OF: Legal Impact for Chickens v. Alexandre Family Farm – A Humboldt Mega-Dairy Ruling
A cow at Alexandre Family Farm is shown in a California Department of Food and Agriculture video about dairy operations and water sustainability. The farm is currently involved in ongoing civil litigation related to animal welfare allegations, which the company disputes. [Video by California Department of Food and Agriculture.]
On May 27, Judge Timothy Canning issued a ruling and order denying the Alexandre Family Farm’s motion to quash five government subpoenas – basically a request to have the judge throw out a subpoena for information – in the case of Legal Impact for Chickens v. Alexandre Family Farm LLC. The animal cruelty allegations are centered around the company’s Del Norte County operations – and do not involve the family’s Ferndale property.
The subpoenas – each issued by plaintiff Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC), a Sacramento-based nonprofit animal welfare litigation organization – had sought records from five government agencies: the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Humboldt County Code Enforcement, Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, and Del Norte County Code Enforcement. None of the agencies filed to resist the subpoenas. Only the Alexandres did – and they lost.
According to the civil lawsuit, Alexandre Family Farm allegedly engaged in a sustained pattern of underfeeding cattle, denying veterinary care, and selling abused animals at auction. Judge Canning ruled that the subpoenas were relevant to the case.
The court rejected each of the farm’s arguments for keeping their records private, and found the disclosure warranted. To the extent any documents contain confidential business information or trade secrets, the existing Protective Order in the case already covers them.
Alexandre Family Farm is no small local operation. It is one of the largest organic dairy farms in the United States – a Ferndale-based multigenerational family business that sells raw milk and dairy products at Whole Foods Market under the Alexandre EcoDairy brand, and has long cultivated an image as a model of sustainable, humane farming.
The company’s rural heartland America-style image took a public hit in April 2024, when The Atlantic published a major investigative piece drawing on a Farm Forward investigation that documented what the organization alleged as widespread animal suffering at Alexandre operations – including images and accounts of emaciated cows, untreated injuries, and dead animals. The Humboldt County lawsuit followed that fall, filed in September 2024 by LIC under California Corporations Code which authorizes civil enforcement actions against agricultural operations for animal cruelty.
The farm has challenged the lawsuit through multiple legal filings. Defendants filed a demurrer, which the court overruled. They sought a writ from the Court of Appeal to stop the case, but that was also denied. They moved to quash the government subpoenas, and that was denied this week.
A separate hearing is now set for June 5 in Judge Canning’s courtroom on defendants’ motion to designate auction yard sales records from Petaluma Livestock and Humboldt Auction Yard as “Attorneys Eyes Only,” shielding them even from LIC’s own clients.
According to court records, LIC filed its opposition on May 20, arguing the records are publicly available commercial transaction data containing no protectable trade secrets. Defense attorneys from Harland Law, led by attorney John Lopez, have asked the court to uphold the AEO designation.
IN THE CASE OF: Daryl Jones – Update on School Threats Case
[Photo from Daryl Jones’ Facebook page]
Redheaded Blackbelt has extensively covered this case since Jones’s arrest in Lawton, Oklahoma, in March 2025. Daryl Ray Jones, 32, faces 35 felony counts including multiple counts of stalking, criminal threats, and attempted criminal threats – all stemming from a wave of threatening calls in early 2025 that prompted lockdowns at multiple Humboldt County schools, a daycare, and local businesses.
The Ramey warrant affidavit filed by Arcata Police Detective Celeste Villarreal described how Jones – who grew up in the area and attended Arcata High School – allegedly began targeting former classmates and random local institutions with calls threatening to “come shoot up your school,” kill employees, and rape workers. According to preliminary hearing testimony reported by Redheaded Blackbelt, one Sunny Brae Middle School staff member was left “crying, visibly shaken” after a call in which the caller threatened to come shoot up the school – and when an officer addressed the caller – allegedly Jones – by name during a second call, the response was “How do you know my name?”
Jones was extradited to Humboldt County in April 2025 and has been held in jail without bail since. He was held to answer at the conclusion of a lengthy preliminary hearing in March 2026, and arraigned on 35 counts. Thursday’s hearing was listed as a trial setting and mental health diversion petition hearing before Judge Feeney in Courtroom Two.
NOTE: Because independent courtroom reporting is expensive and time-intensive work, portions of this update are based on official court minutes and records rather than full in-person courtroom coverage. Reader support helps fund more firsthand reporting from inside Humboldt County courtrooms.
IN THE CASE OF: Trinidad Gomez – Trial Testimony Continues
A McKinleyville man accused of repeatedly molesting a young girl over a span of nearly four years is now deep into his jury trial in Humboldt County Superior Court – and this week, the jury heard from the key people closest to the alleged events.
Trinidad Cortez Gomez, 46, faces two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14. According to the complaint filed by the Humboldt County District Attorney’s office, the alleged abuse occurred at Gomez’s McKinleyville home and in his vehicle, spanning from June 2020 through June 2024. The alleged victim – Jane Doe, born in 2010 – was approximately thirteen when police began investigating Gomez.
Prosecutors allege that Gomez “took advantage of a position of trust or confidence” to commit the offenses. He has pleaded not guilty to both counts. Not only was Gomez “dating” the victim’s mother, but he was also employed at Dow’s Prairie School in McKinleyville as a bus driver and custodian, according to sworn testimony.
Gomez has been held in Humboldt County Jail without the possibility of bail since July 6, 2025. Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm is prosecuting; Deputy Conflict Counsel Owen Tipps represents Gomez. The case is before Judge John T. Feeney in Courtroom Two.
The Gomez Trial began in earnest on Tuesday May 26, after nearly two weeks of jury selection. That morning, Judge Feeney ruled on more than two dozen pre-trial motions from both sides, including a key ruling granting the People permission to call an expert on Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS). DA Investigator Ryan Hill was designated as the People’s investigating officer. Opening statements followed, with DA Timm addressing the jury, while Defense Attorney Tipps reserved his opening.
Wednesday, RHBB was in the courtroom for the afternoon and reported on the witness testimony provided by the mother of Jane Doe.
Thursday, the court convened to discuss an evidence code section – apart from the jury – regarding the anticipated testimony of Dr. Anthony Urquiza, the People’s CSAAS expert, who appeared via video conference. According to the court minutes describing the day’s events, both sides agreed to include Dr. Urquiza’s feedback as expert testimony. Judge Feeney ruled that Dr. Urquiza will be permitted to testify, but with some specific limitations. Notably, DA Timm will be limited in what hypothetical questions about Jane Doe she may pose to the witness.
Trial resumes this morning.
Humboldt County Correctional Facility. [Composite image for Inside Humboldt Courts by Ryan Hutson]
If you know of a case that has significant public interest that you would like followed, email us at [email protected].
EARLIER:
- Attempted Murder Trial Begins After Three Years in Jail; Hoopa Uncle Stabbing Reaches Court; New Child Sex Abuse Case; and More – Inside Humboldt Courts
- Child Sex Abuse Trial Underway, Alleged Courthouse Arsonist Committed to State Hospital and More, Inside Humboldt Courts
- Judge Rules Oklahoma Man to Stand Trial for Humboldt Threat Spree; Victim Calls for Full Justice
- Content Warning: Alleged Confession and Digital Evidence Highlighted as Jones Preliminary Hearing Continues
- Warning! Difficult Testimony in Child Molestation Trial; School Threat Defendant Seeks Diversion and More – Inside Humboldt Courts
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Chickens should be looking into the Miranda Rescue issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shannon took in chickens and a rooster or two, which mysteriously disappeared.
Progressives. If you like to eat safe and healthy food, NOT the carp in 90% of grocery stores, form BIG AG and fake food full, of Glyphosates and chemicals. Or the fake meat crap form bill gates and beyond burger. Then you should VOTE NO on these types of initiatives. They are put on the ballot because the idiots who sign the petitions dont read the fine print. These petitions come off all save the poor animals, but in reality they are going to, trying to, end small farms, and back yard farms. Their goal is to save the planet by making everyone go vegan.
When you read the text of this bill, it puts many and most scenarios on the table. Not outright restrictions, but in the text, and open to judicial interpretation. And that is the real problem here.
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Oregon’s IP28 hunting-ban ballot measure (also known as the PEACE Act) is not a typical conservation proposal or a narrow restriction on specific methods. Instead, it rewrites how Oregon law treats the intentional injury or killing of animals by stripping out long-standing exemptions for “lawful fishing, hunting and trapping” and other established practices. As of May 2026, the campaign reports enough signature needed to appear on the November ballot.
This Oregon ballot measure also proposes changes to the crime of “sexual assault of an animal.” The revised text expands the definition to include touching the sexual organs of an animal for the purpose of “impregnation.” Critics, including agricultural stakeholders, argue this language could put common breeding and reproductive practices, such as artificial insemination, at legal risk. In addition, the initiative removes “good animal husbandry” language that currently serves as a protective guardrail for standard livestock management practices.
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The threat of this Oregon ballot measure is real, and the margin for stopping it is narrowing. It is vital that Oregon’s hunting and conservation community does not dismiss this as “too extreme to happen.” We urge you to share this information with your fellow sportsmen and women. Stay informed and support the Hunter Nation Foundation as we continue this series, which will next cover the devastating economic impacts of this measure and provide concrete steps on how to fight back.
Thank you so much for writing about, and investigating this case, and the Shannon Miranda case, about the abuse of animals. You have been speaking up for the voiceless, the innocent, the powerless. You have been doing God’s work. Bless you.
Just libs doing lib things
(Speak up for the animals. For all injustice. And voiceless,innocent, powerless, future humans.)
And…If *they* can control our independent food supply, they can control us. That’s what it’s about.
I love Alexandrae Farms products and admire their mission 1000%. They’re under attack because what they have is a threat to the powers that be controlling us.
Save the small farms!
Alexandrae Farms should be indicted for consumer abuse.
At the market today, a dozen Petaluma ‘egg factory’ eggs were 2.29, six Alexandrae eggs were 7.99.
One thing that many people dont understand, is that if a cow gets sick and it is being raised under organic guidelines, you can not give it antibiotics. So the only option is to sell the cow off at auction usually.
You don’t not treat it. You simply can not use it under the organic label. So you treat it then sell it off as non-organic. Or put them down.
But it is a horrible regulation that forces that sort of choice on farmers. It’s bad enough for them to have to make a choice about the economic value of treating an animal but to make a forever rule about the organic status because some people have abused the regulations? That is so terrible. There should be a limited individual animal tolerance regulation.
https://organicfarmersassociation.org/news/ool-2/
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/05/2022-06957/national-organic-program-origin-of-livestock
Yes you can. To save the life, then it is not organic status for a time. So it could be sold when healthy again or wait out a time period.
What I read said the animal is never certified organic again. “Federal regulations require organic dairy farmers to provide medical treatment, including antibiotics, when the cow requires it. Withholding treatment is not only cruel, but also breaks the law. However, if a cow receives antibiotic treatment, it can never return to organic status. ”
Thing might have changed to allow it after a withdrawal period but I couldn’t find anything that says that
https://ubiquinol.org/blog/organic-dairy-regulations-what-makes-a-cow-organic/
I am pretty sure that the Alexandres don’t sell raw milk. They seem to promote the A2/A2 thing, but they definitely don’t distribute raw milk. Maybe they sell it in their farm shop they have in Del Norte
I have never seen raw milk at their Farm Store in Fort Dick.
Well in that case I’d say they don’t sell any raw milk.
I believe I heard an interview with one of the owners where they poo poo’d the whole hubbub around raw milk. So I’m not surprised they don’t sell it
Didn’t the Alexandres get in trouble in Del Norte County for filling in seasonal wetlands on leased state park land back in the 80s? And I’ve never felt okay about those plastic bottles.
I think Alexandre Dairy’s Del Norte operations started about 1994 when they bought an abandoned dairy. You are right about those plastic bottles, but I believe they use plastic because they distribute their milk over a wide area and the logistics of getting the bottles back to the daily, as Strauss Dairy does, would be difficult.
Allegations against the Alexanders is from a disgruntle employee. Who staged the videos to make a worst case. A real A hole. This person has had many court cases and judgements against him, all over California, Oregon, and Nevada.
I have my doubts. I’ll continue to buy their cream.
Commercial farming/ranching is a rough business. People seem to thing it’s all rainbows and unicorns. Real life is harsh.
Me too. Alexandre A2/A2 Whole Milk Yogurt is the best! (Even better than Straus, the close second.) Starving animals don’t produce milk with 6% cream! Half&Half is good too. https://alexandrefamilyfarm.com/
The Eggs come in only Jumbo and Large. Pasture raised and hand-gathered (by the kids iirc) https://www.goodeggs.com/alexandrekids
Even if they murder their chickens and baby cows?
They’re lightweight.
I don’t just murder chickens and calves, I eat ’em.
They do produce good eggs, but at $16.00 a dozen, I’ll pass.
Alexandre Dairy’s cows are outstanding in their field. Like their chickens.
Yeah, they do a good job of farming. In real life animals die. People need to get over it. If you dont like meat or dairy, fine, be a vegan. But dont force your fucked up ways on the rest of us.
Old joke- How can you tell somebody is a vegan?
Don’t worry- They’ll tell you all about it!
The Alexander’s are good people.. their ranches are some of the cleanest ranches I’ve ever seen.. and their livestock and cattle are top-notch.. stop with the witch hunt because there’s nothing there that anyone will find of them doing any wrongdoing.. Mr. Alexander has talked to Congress and other heads of state who listened to what he has to say, as far as the future of dairies and livestock..
After seeing the photo documentation of the cow who’s teat was cut off with an unsterilized pocket knife , no anesthetics, including a pool of blood under her, and cows with eye cancer who had denim patches glued over their eyes and kept on being milked with rampant cancer, and calves in crates the employees say are never cleaned, filled with urine and feces coming up over their ankles, and no bedding only muck, some calves were left in crates under those conditions for 4 months. Which is 2 months longer than what is legally allowed. There’s no excuse, organic or non organic to treat animals like that. I will never buy their products again. Good dairies who care have regular hoof care for cows, that includes routine hoof trimming. And treating infections with topical antibacterials like iodine. Dirty conditions contribute to unhealthy animals.
You can use antibiotics but you need to wait and not milk them for a time.
The USDA inspections found the allegations to be true
It is true, once an animal has been treated with antibiotics it’s organic status is gone for good. And most cows that find themselves in that situation then join a conventional dairy herd. There are many veterinary treatments besides antibiotics available to organic dairies for treating infections.
“Organic livestock producers are prohibited from withholding medical treatment from a sick animal in an effort to preserve its organic status. All appropriate medications must be used to restore an animal to health when methods acceptable to organic production fail. Livestock treated with a prohibited substance must be clearly identified and must not be sold, labeled, or represented as organically produced. “