Court roundup
Eureka homicide trial postponed for expert testimony
The trial for a Eureka man accused of murder has been postponed pending expert testimony.
The trial for Albert Kress, who is charged in the murder of 62-year-old Raymond Prudhomme in February 2019, was set to begin next Monday, but Humboldt County Deputy Public Defender Marek Reavis requested another trial confirmation later this week because he was waiting to hear back from an expert witness.
“I think Mr. (Trent) Timm is aware of the issues we have right now,” Reavis said.
However, District Attorney Maggie Fleming, who was appearing on behalf of Deputy District Attorney Timm who is prosecuting the case, said the trial would need to be put off until later because her office would need time to look over what the expert’s report will reveal.
“There would be no way, even if we got the report in the next few days, that we could confirm for a trial next week,” Fleming said.
Judge Kaleb Cockrum said he couldn’t hear motions to continue the trial since he had previously represented Kress and was filling in for Judge Christopher Wilson, but was able to set a date so a different judge could hear the motion.
The further trial confirmation was set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Prudhomme was found dead, with his throat slashed, in his apartment by an officer from the Eureka Police Department conducting a wellness check.
During the preliminary hearing, detectives testified that a witness told them Kress and Prudhomme got into an argument that appeared to turn violent, but she turned away and hid in
the bathroom when it did. She never saw Kress with a weapon, but said he threatened her and there was a lot of blood, detectives testified.
Kress is being held at the Humboldt County jail with bail set at $1,050,000.
McKinleyville hit-and-run hearing set for December
The preliminary hearing for a McKinleyville woman accused of a fatal hit-andrun collision is set to start in December.
Attorney Manny Daskal said he was pulling the time waiver previously entered,
allowing hearings to be set outside of the legally mandated time frame, for Shala Bianco, who is accused of fatally striking Clinton Eugene Deckert II on or about May 18, 2019, while driving under the influence of alcohol. However, Daskal added that he was still having issues getting in touch with one of his experts.
“I tried to contact our expert and was unable to do so,” Daskal said. “So, at this point, we were just going
to ask the court to set dates.”
The preliminary hearing is set for 9:15 a.m. Dec. 15.
The COVID-19 pandemic previously delayed the preliminary hearing in August because one of Daskal’s experts had several comorbidities making it unsafe for him to appear in court while the other expert lives in Canada and was unable to travel. It was delayed earlier in March when experts were unavailable.
Bianco is being held at the Humboldt County jail with bail set at $180,000.