GUILTY CA - Father Eric Freed, murdered in church rectory, Eureka, 1 Jan 2014

[Lilibet]

From the Mad River Union:

One of the mental health examiners had just withdrawn from the case and Feeney indicated he would not name a replacement.
Trial confirmation was slated for January 13, 2016, with an interim hearing set for October 14, 2015 to receive the second doctor’s report, assuming it is ready.

http://madriverunion.com/bullock-trial-delayed/

 

[Lilibet]

I'm surprised that it is legal for these psychological evaluations to take so long to be administered by employees or contractors of the county and or state.

Good grief.

Thanks for coming by, Dex. I don't understand it either. It seems very disrespectful toward the justice system for these doctors to be so lax in fulfilling their commitment. I will be very surprised if this trial begins in February.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Suspect is in custody.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/02/us/california-priest-killed/

He was released from a local jail early New Year's Day and showed up at the church a short time later, acting suspicious. Police sent him on his way. Some time after that he was seen by a security guard at the church and told to leave. At 9 AM police were called again. The priest had been killed after "a violent struggle". He died of blunt force injuries, according to the police chief.

Three times (!) he was detained or seen by law enforcement, and three times let go. Unbelievable.

Agreed. The police are to blame for his death. He was fresh out of jail and acting suspicious immediately. But the police thought nothing of it. And now they want to evaluate him. Shouldn't they have evaluated him before releasing him into society.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Thanks for coming by, Dex. I don't understand it either. It seems very disrespectful toward the justice system for these doctors to be so lax in fulfilling their commitment. I will be very surprised if this trial begins in February.

Agree. I am surprised the judge hasn't held anyone in contempt for blatantly not doing what they are being paid by the courts to do.

 

[Lilibet]

Catching up on John Chiv's reports of 10/14 and 10/30 court dates. Without blogger John we would know next to nothing!

On 10/14 the judge said that he had received the report from psychiatrist Dr. Chamberlain on October 9. Bullock's attorney was not aware that the doctor had met with Bullock. The judge scheduled another hearing for 10/30 so the attorney could review the report and meet with Bullock (who was not present for this hearing). The judge said that he will not appoint a third expert psychiatrist as he was expected to do when one dropped out, since only two are required.

This is good news, meaning one less delay. JMO

On 10/30 Bullock was in court. His mother and step-father were there, which was unusual, and had a private conference after the hearing with Bullock's attorney. The judge confirmed February 2016 as the start of the trial.

I'm not holding my breath! JMO

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/10/bullock-jury-trial-dates-confirmed-for.html

 

[Lilibet]

Here are a couple of links about the 10/14 hearing from MSM.

http://madriverunion.com/bullock-pre-trial-set-for-oct-30/

http://www.times-standard.com/gener...-third-psychiatric-evaluation-in-bullock-case

 

[Lilibet]

The trial is scheduled to start on February 8. As usual, local court blogger John Chiv is the best news source. If I find a MSM article I will post it.

Trial confirmation for the Gary Lee Bullock trial was continued to 4 p.m. today. The jury trial is currently scheduled for February 8, 2016.

The trial was confirmed for February 8, jury selection to last two weeks, since February 12 and 15 are court, People's witnesses will be subpoenaed for February 16. Trial Readiness is on February 1, 2016 at 4 p.m. in Courtroom 1.

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/01/gary-lee-bullock-trial-confirmed-for.html

 

[Lilibet]

More about the trial from the Times Standard.

Bullock’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity requires his trial to be divided. First jurors must determine whether Bullock is guilty of the charged offenses. If guilty verdicts are returned, the jury must then follow the M’Naghten Rule, a section of the state penal code, in order to determine whether the defendant was legally insane at the time of the acts for which he is accused

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20160114/bullock-remains-set-for-trial-next-month

 

[Lilibet]

Apparently the DA's office has filed a motion to amend information. I'm not sure what that means, but it should become clear tomorrow at the Trial Readiness Hearing. I hope it will not delay the start of the trial Feb. 8.

A trial readiness conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. for the jury trial for Gary Lee Bullock. The District Attorney's office filed a motion to amend information on January 28, 2016. That motion will also be heard on February 1.

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/01/da-files-another-motion-to-amend.html

I did not find anything about this in MSM, so as usual I am relying on John Chiv's blog.

ETA: Here is a link discussing the reasons amended information may be filed. Generally it adds to the charges, as the title of Chiv's blog indicates. This may be to add leverage in case a plea deal is offered or to make the charges more precise for jurors.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/what-does-it-mean-when-an--amended-information-pet-360663.html

 

[Lilibet]

I just have to say that I hope this case does not go to trial. I hate for the victim's family to have to sit in court and listen to the horrendous details of their loved one's murder. Since this trial would have two parts because of the insanity plea as described in a post above, what a grueling experience this would be...for the jurors also.

I can't imagine that Bullock could be found not guilty, as the evidence is quite damning. So I'm not sure how he would benefit from an insanity decision. As far as I can determine, he would spend the same amount of time in a mental institution as he would in prison. The discussion in the link below sheds light on the insanity plea.

My hope is that Gary Lee Bullock is persuaded to do the right thing and accept whatever deal he may be offered. He is no longer the little boy who was my daughter's classmate and my husband's student. Sadly, he allowed himself to be pulled into the Humboldt County drug culture. Eventually his drug use landed him near the rectory, and he killed the beloved priest for an unknown reason, but drug use cannot be used in an insanity plea.

I believe in redemption as I know his victim Fr Eric Freed did, so I hope that Gary has come to a point of feeling remorse for his horrible acts. Accepting a plea to spare everyone from the pain of a trial would help show that he has come to that point.
JMO

http://www.shouselaw.com/insanity.html

 

[Lilibet]

I ran across this article from Feb. 2015 about what Bullock's insanity plea means. I don't see that it's been posted before, so it's worth reading as the trial approaches, even if it doesn't happen.

Insanity pleas are incredibly rare, occurring in less than 1 percent of criminal cases, according to a report by CNN. Even in cases where a defendant does enter a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea, 70 percent withdraw the plea before trial after seeing the results of the court-ordered evaluation. Of insanity cases that do make it to a jury, only about 26 percent result in a finding that the defendant was legally insane at the time of the crime.

I would say that the odds are against him.

In California, to find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, a jury must decide the evidence shows the defendant both didn’t understand the “nature and quality of his act” and wasn’t able to distinguish between right and wrong. It’s worth noting, though, that while criminal trials carry the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt threshold, the sanity phase is decided based upon a preponderance of evidence, meaning that to find a defendant insane, a jury would just have to decide that more evidence in the case points to insanity than sanity.

California also amended its law in 1994 to specify that a defendant can’t be found insane based solely on the basis of a personality disorder, addiction or abuse of intoxicating substances.

A psychiatrist quoted in the article looks for evidence that the defendant tried to cover up the crime, which would show a conscious awareness of guilt. Attempting to blow up the rectory shows that IMO.

More at the link:

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Ne...hat-does-gary-lee-bullocks-insanity-plea-mean

 

[Lilibet]

The trial is edging closer. The amended charge was added. The jury questionaires are almost ready. More information below and at links.

"Judge John Feeney met privately with attorneys and DA Investigator John Burke. When court opened, jury selection for February 8 and trial date was confirmed. An additional trial readiness is scheduled for February 4 at 4 p.m."

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/02/judge-feeney-grants-das-motion-to-file.html

"Judge Feeney read out the revised charge sheet. Count one, murder, carries three special allegations: infliction of torture; a murder committed during a first degree residential burglary; and a murder committed during commission of a carjacking.
Count two accuses Bullock of first degree residential burglary (of the rectory) and count three sets forth the additional first degree residential burglary charge for invading the interior."

http://madriverunion.com/bullock-re-enters-insanity-plea/

 

[Lilibet]

The trial has been postponed until February 29.

Superior Court Judge John T. Feeney vacated the previous Feb. 8 trial start, saying “scheduling concerns and complications” had forced the change.

http://madriverunion.com/bullock-murder-trial-rescheduled-again/

Court blogger John Chiv, who has been at every court hearing, explains some of the legalities of the trial. The death penalty will not be sought. The filing of the third amended information adds charges #6 and 7 that should ensure that Bullock gets LWOP.

The jury has to unanimously find at least one special circumstance true for a Life Without Parole sentence. By filing the third amended information, there will be a three phase of the jury trial. Guilty, then guilty by sanity or insanity and finding at least one special allegation true.

If those special allegations were not charged in the information, then Bullock could get life with the possibility of parole.

Chiv also mentions his experience of arriving at church in the morning before Freed was found murdered. Clearly, this case is personal for him. He has twice been the only one from the public at the hearings and has locked eyes with Bullock more than once.

More at link:

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-das-filing-of-third-amended.html

 

[Lilibet]

As the trial looms, I've been thinking about Gary Bullock a lot...and the beloved priest Eric Freed whom he murdered. I ran across this article in the Osprey, a magazine published by students of Humboldt State University where Freed had taught. The formatting is wonky, so please forgive the endless hyphens. I can't remember if it's on this thread somewhere, so I am linking it again. The article captures the reasons Fr Freed was so loved, as well as Gary's issues and why he was released that night. These words of Court blogger (often quoted here on the thread) and parishioner at St. Bernard's, John Chiv, touch me. It's all so very sad. Two lives destroyed and countless others impacted.

“I know a lot has happened to this com¬munity,” Villaescusa said, his voice booming as he stepped closer to the congregation. “But, do you seek revenge? Do you seek justice? Or do you seek perfect peace?”
John Chiv, a parishioner, strug¬gled with anger and shock in the af¬termath of Freed’s death. But he learned to forgive Bullock quickly.
He prayed for forgiveness and went to confession so he could see Bullock as a human being and not feel hatred towards him. Chiv does not want Bull¬ock to receive the death penalty but does not want him out of prison either.
“Somewhere this man lost his way, but I feel that if Bullock could come to terms with what he did and take responsibility, then regardless of what the sentence is, I feel there could be true conversion in his heart,” Chiv said. “I wish one day he comes and takes communion in this church. It’s coming around full circle.”
During the court testimo¬nies, Chiv noticed Bullock was dis¬turbed and uncomfortable as the kill¬ing was described. He would grunt and look around the courtroom.
“A person without a conscience wouldn’t be bothered,” Chiv said. “If he was a cold-blooded killer, he would’ve just sat there in the courtroom and wouldn’t have been shaken by the brutality.”

https://jrenaebux.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/crossing-over-father-freeds-legacy-to-humboldt-county/

 

[Lilibet]

As I said several posts ago, I hoped that Gary Bullock would accept a deal (if offered) to spare his victim's family and friends from hearing the horrible details during the trial. However, jury selection for Gary Bullock's murder trial begins Monday. Court blogger John Chiv, a parishioner and close friend of Fr Eric Freed's will be in court every day. His latest post explains the unique perspective from which he will be reporting. If this trial has to go forward, I will be glad to read Chiv's posts as a counterpoint to the unspeakable horror Bullock inflicted on Fr Freed.

"This was the trial that started my daily court coverage. This was the experience that has allowed me to understand jury trials and the effect on all involved: attorneys, law enforcement, defendants and loved ones.

I always do detailed coverage of court proceedings. The legal proceedings are not the whole story.

While other media may attend court proceedings, chances are no one will be there every day. While other media can report what happened at trial, they cannot give you a personal insight into Fr. Eric, how this has affected his family, his friends and all of us who knew him. I can say with confidence, that I saw Fr. Eric every single day and was one of the fortunate ones to spend time with him one on one outside the church.

I am the one who has kept in touch with his family for the past two years on a regular basis.

This is not about Gary Lee Bullock, it is about the man whose life was taken suddenly, who touched so many in the community, especially the Catholic community, HSU and the Japanese community. I will be honoring Fr. Eric by personal posts. Some of you cannot understand the loss we feel but it will give you some idea of our loss."
BBM

I will try to post parts of John Chiv's essays each day, but if I miss any, they can be found at the link below.

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com

 

[Lilibet]

On WS we are, more often than not, filled with anger toward those arrested for brutal murders. Some feel hatred. Some wish them to experience pain and brutality equal to that they have inflicted. Such normal, human emotions these are. And yet, for those who seek it, there is another way...

On the eve of the trial of my husband's former fifth grade student and our daughter's classmate Gary Lee Bullock for the brutal murder of beloved priest Fr Eric Freed, friend of Freed and St Bernard's parishioner, blogger John Chiv, has a few thoughts on forgiveness titled:

May God's forgiveness and strength be with us but also Gary Lee Bullock and his family

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/02/may-gods-forgiveness-and-strength-be.html

 

[Lilibet]

John Chiv's post for Day 1:
Prospective jurors filled out hardship forms this morning. Those who are asked to stay will fill out longer forms this afternoon. This process will be repeated tomorrow. Evidentiary hearings will be held this afternoon.

Trial is expected to conclude by or before April 18, 2016....

The jury trial will be in session five days a week; Monday to Thursday full days from 8:30 to 4 and Friday mornings from 8:30 until noon. There are a few days in March and early April that the trial will not be in session.

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/02/jury-selection-and-evidentiary-hearings.html

 

[Lilibet]

Lost Coast Outpost article for Day 1:

The morning court session was occupied by Feeney working through a stack of jury questionnaires, dismissing people with obvious hardships and ultimately selecting 31 potential jurors to fill out long-form questionnaires...

Today, many potential jurors were dismissed due to hardships. This included people whose employers wouldn’t cover their wages during jury duty and those who had prepaid travel plans during the expected trial dates. Many of the potential jurors kept in the pool were retirees and public employees.

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2016/feb/29/jury-selection-begins-trial-gary-lee-bullock-accus/

 

[Lilibet]

More from John Chiv the afternoon of Day 1:

Various pieces of evidence were discussed. Snippets of phone calls were played including one from Bullock to his grandmother on Jan. 7 asking her to put her house up so he can get the $120K to bail out.

That is when she says, ""I will not lose my house over your drug use." She says no to him several times in the selection we heard. "If I let you out, you will go back to drugs." Bullock says he won't. She says she has heard that before. Then she says "You killed somebody." He responds, "No, I didn't. I 'll explain it to you."

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/02/i-will-not-lose-my-house-over-your-drug.html

 

[DexterMorgan]

More from John Chiv the afternoon of Day 1:

Various pieces of evidence were discussed. Snippets of phone calls were played including one from Bullock to his grandmother on Jan. 7 asking her to put her house up so he can get the $120K to bail out.

That is when she says, ""I will not lose my house over your drug use." She says no to him several times in the selection we heard. "If I let you out, you will go back to drugs." Bullock says he won't. She says she has heard that before. Then she says "You killed somebody." He responds, "No, I didn't. I 'll explain it to you."

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2016/02/i-will-not-lose-my-house-over-your-drug.html

It seems like grandma is not having it at all. Lol. Put up my house? Boy have you lost your dang mind? Lol.