COURT ROUNDUP
Trial set for Eureka rape suspect
The trial for a Eureka man accused of raping a minor is set to begin in just under two weeks.
The jury trial for David Anderson II, who is accused of multiple counts of raping a 16-year-old girl between Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, 2018, is set for Oct. 26. Humboldt County Dep- uty District Attorney Stacey Eads said she expected the trial to last four to six weeks.
Anderson was facing a charge of sex trafficking that Anderson’s attorney Michael Acosta alleged the charge was racist and based on evidence related to Anderson’s consumption of black culture.
However, during the preliminary hearing, a Eureka police officer who interviewed Jane Doe also relayed she was told by Anderson that she would be used for trafficking purposes.
Judge Christopher Wilson decided to drop the charge following the preliminary hearing.
Trial assignment was scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Oct. 23.
Trial set for Eureka homicide suspect
A Eureka man accused of murder is set to go to trial at the end of this month.
The jury trial for Albert Kress, who is accused of the murder of Raymond Prud- homme, 64, at the victim’s downtown Eureka apartment in February 2019, is set for Oct. 26 with an expected four-to-six week time estimate.
“I’ve been giving four-to-six week estimates what with jury selection,” Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees, though Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm will be prosecuting the case.
Rees said attorneys have been able to do a lot of jury selection on the front end by sending questionnaires out to potential jurors, but still expect the trial to take fourto-six weeks.
A further trial confirmation was set for Oct. 19.
Prudhomme’s body was found inside his apartment by police Feb. 22, 2019, after which an investigation led to Kress’s arrest.
Mitigating evidence to be heard for convicted Carlotta man
A Carlotta man convicted of shooting at a government official is getting a hearing to present mitigating evidence that can be used at future parole hearings.
In August 2019, Shawn Hof Jr. pleaded guilty to shooting at a California Department of Fish and Wildlife officer in August 2016 when he was 23-years-old, leading to a 20-year prison sentence. A 2016 California Supreme Court ruling in People v. Tyris Lamar Franklin allows a defendant with a lengthy prison sentence and who was under the age of 26 when they committed the crime to present mitigating evidence that would be relevant during a parole hearing and wasn’t presented at trial at what’s called a Franklin hearing.
“A Franklin hearing is basically a presentation,” said Judge Christopher Wilson. “… And obviously there’s cross-examination and so forth, which is available to both sides. There’s not really a determination to be made by the court.”
Humboldt County Deputy Public Defender Wade Orbelian said he had received a final draft of a neuropsychological report on Hof from an expert, but needed some time to confirm some facts before sharing it with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office.
The court set a further setting date for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 3 when Orbelian is expected to submit the report.
“I won’t characterize that as an evidentiary hearing,” Wilson said. “So if (Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Luke) Bernthal takes a look at that and he wants to crossexamine or put on additional evidence, then we’ll set a further date beyond that.”