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| Tuesday, March 02 | | · | Recall targets California prosecutor who took on lumber in Redwood Country [AP] |
| · | The Secret Policemen's Ball [Arcata Eye Editorial] |
| Sunday, February 29 | | · | Something's Cooking [Arcata Eye Editorial Cartoon] |
| · | Firm Sued by D.A. Funds Bid to Recall Him |
| · | Humboldt D.A. fights to keep job [San Francisco Chronicle] |
| Friday, February 27 | | · | Not for Sale - NO on F [North Coast Journal Editorial] |
| · | A House Divided [North Coast Journal Editorial] |
| Thursday, February 26 | | · | A legal and academic view of the DA recall [Times-Standard] |
| · | No on the recall, but DA needs to mend fences [Times-Standard Editorial] |
| Wednesday, February 25 | | · | THE DA recall's rotten roots are mired in money [Arcata Eye] |
| · | Brace Yourself [Arcata Eye Editorial] |
| · | Maxxam-Palco give another $75K to recall [Times-Standard] |
| · | Good Ol' Girls, Boys Oppose DA Change [Eureka Reporter Editorial] |
| Sunday, February 22 | | · | Palco pours another $85K into recall effort [Times-Standard] |
| Wednesday, February 18 | | · | The Pacific Lumber County [Arcata Eye Editorial] |
| · | DA’s Office Says PALCO’s Attorneys 'Are Petrified' [Eureka Reporte |
| Monday, February 16 | | · | Don't Miss BEYOND RECALL |
| · | Humboldt DA: Lumber firm's out to get me [Sacramento Bee] |
| Sunday, February 15 | | · | Pacific Lumber Co.’s Actions Are Shameful [Eureka Reporter Editorial] |
| · | PL Behind Recall, Make No Mistake [Eureka Reporter Editorial] |
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 | DA’s Office Says PALCO’s Attorneys 'Are Petrified' [Eureka Reporte |
by Christine Bensen, The Eureka Reporter
February 18, 2004
On Friday, Erin Dunn, communications manager for The Pacific Lumber Co., issued a news release stating that PALCO moved to strike a declaration from Richard A. Wilson, former director of the California Department of Forestry during the 1999 Headwaters deal, filed by the District Attorney's Office.
The release stated the declaration should be stricken from the record on the grounds that it is “improper, inadmissible and irrelevant to (the) civil lawsuit now pending before the court.â€
“PL's attorneys are petrified by the CDF chief's support of our lawsuit,†said Humboldt County Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen.
In the declaration filed on Feb. 3, Wilson stated that if he had been provided with the revised landslide data submitted by PALCO, it may have changed the outcome of the deal between PALCO and the state of California.
The agreement involved the state and federal governments' purchase of approximately 5,600 acres of PALCO's forestland for $480 million, the transfer of more than 7,500 acres of land purchased by the government from Elk River Timber Co. to PALCO and undisclosed tax benefits.
“The declaration of Richard Wilson was proper, admissible and relevant to our lawsuit,†Stoen said.
Dunn said last year Wilson told an investigator from the District Attorney's Office that he did not know if the updated information would have made a difference in his decision.
Stoen said when James Dawson, investigator for the District Attorney's Office, spoke with Wilson, Wilson did not have the corrected information in front of him at that time.
“Once he saw (the documents), he was able to say they did make a difference,†Stoen said.
“The Wilson declaration and its filings are another regrettable example of the district attorney's incompetence or shameful disregard of well-known legal requirements,†the motion from PALCO attorneys stated.
Stoen said the draft report listed the Sacramento CDF office as the only place for comments to be sent to and PALCO knew that as a “matter of law†that was the procedure.
“What PL's own documents show is that PL sent the corrected information to the Fortuna office of CDF without any cover letter indicating any of the three things: that it was inconsistent with prior information placed by PL in the EIR; that it was new information; or that the Fortuna office should send it … to (the) CDF (office in) Sacramento,†Stoen said. “If PL had made any of these three indications, it would have shown an absence of fraudulent intent and I would never have filed the lawsuit.â€
“PL's concealment-by-bureaucracy was sophisticated -- and more to the point, its concealment worked,†he said.
Stoen said Wilson's declaration proves that if he had seen the corrected information he would have had to re-circulate it to government officials and the public for input before the Headwaters deal could have gone through.
“ … Wilson's declaration proves beyond a doubt that he never saw the corrected information,†Stoen said. “The declaration could hardly have been more proper, admissible and relevant.â€
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