A letter to the Humboldt County DA

Tuesday, 9:45am April 3, 2012
To the Humboldt County District Attorney's office,

Peter Camacho was arrested for participating in a peaceful candlelight vigil on Friday, March 30, 2012. (His candle was electronic.) Four vigilers, two men and two women, were arrested that night, and everyone but Peter was released. The jail told Peter it was because there was not enough room on the women's side. The other man who was arrested has extreme medical needs, so I believe the jail released him so as not to deal with those needs. In any case, all four of us should have been booked and released, including Peter Camacho. Indeed, no one should have been arrested for the vigil, period.

Peter Camacho has now been in jail since Friday night, and it is Tuesday. Bring him to arraignment today or release him ASAP. The purpose of CA Penal Code section 825 (and other related sections discussing getting an arrestee in front of a magistrate or judge) is to avoid extended custody, to make sure that a person is brought to court as soon as possible while they are incarcerated. The law's purpose is punctuated in the section where it instructs that someone arrested anytime on a Wednesday must be brought to court by Friday to avoid sitting in jail over the weekend. The law also states that two days can be unlawfully too long to hold someone; the spirit and letter of the law is as soon as possible.

It is unlawful for your office to systematically and routinely wait until the latest possible time and date to file charges and bring someone to arraignment.

In addition, if your office does not file timely charges, it is the responsibility of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department to release a person as soon as they know s/he is not going to court. As Mr. Gallegos and I have discussed before, it is a misdemeanor to hold someone in jail beyond the legal time.

So, this is the second court day that Peter Camacho could be brought to court, and he should be arraigned before tomorrow (Wednesday), or released. He has already sat in jail over the weekend and it is and has been your duty to avoid his extended incarceration without charge.

In December, I was incarcerated for a week for a (bogus) charge that your office filed and almost immediately dismissed. In addition, your office opposed my release after six days, again for a merit-less charge that was apparently only used to lock me up.

Decide quickly what you are going to do so as to avoid causing Peter Camacho to sit in jail any longer. I know his situation has been brought to your attention prior to this email. You know that he was arrested and incarceratedcontrary to any notion of justice or crime deterrence. Release Peter Camacho.


Justice has no time for any lies or run-arounds you might want to respond with. Do the right thing.

UPDATE, April 3, 2012

One of the four individuals arrested during Friday's free speech vigil (3/31 Press Release) at the Humboldt Courthouse remains in jail. Candlelight vigils have been held every night at the courthouse since the Humboldt Supervisors pushed through a vague and sweeping "emergency" anti-protest ordinance on March 27th.

Indybay post: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/03/31/18710491.php

Our friend is in jail for sitting on the courthouse steps peaceably, with a candle.

Please put pressure on the County, the Jail, and the DA to release Peter Camacho immediately.
And lets call and email until this ordinance is taken off the books.

Humboldt Board of Supervisors
District 1- Jimmy Smith: jrsmith@co.humboldt.ca.us (707) 476-2391
District 2- Clif Clendenen: cclendenen@co.humboldt.ca.us (707) 476-2392
District 3- Mark Lovelace: mlovelace@co.humboldt.ca.us (707) 476-2393
District 4- Virginia Bass: vbass@co.humboldt.ca.us (707) 476-2394
District 5- Ryan Sundberg: rsundberg@co.humboldt.ca.us (707) 476-2395

Sheriff: Mike Downey Mdowney@co.humboldt.ca.us (707) 445-7251 (the Sheriff Dept. runs the jail)

Humboldt District Attorney, Paul Gallegos: PGallegos@co.humboldt.ca.us, districtattorney@co.humboldt.ca.us, Kelly Neel KNeel@co.humboldt.ca.us, Michele ShoshaniMShoshani@co.humboldt.ca.us

Paul Gallegos: (707) 267-4400
DA Office phone: (707) 445-7411
Fax: (707) 445-7416

Humboldt County Correctional Facility: 707-441-5159

County Administrative Officer, Phillip Smith-Hanes: cao@co.humboldt.ca.us