Kreis' response, filed on Feb. 23, disputed the bulk of the CJP’s complaint, the bulk of which accused him of hearing cases litigated by his friends, but also includes antisemitism – former Deputy Public Defender Rory Kalin accused Kreis of calling him a “jew boy” and pushing him off a pontoon at a Lake Shasta party in 2019, but the case against the county for wrongful termination was dismissed and the suit against Kreis settled – getting a court clerk fired for speaking about his relationship with the court’s family law facilitator, waving his penis in the face of a sleeping friend, using cocaine and giving an unwanted butt pat.
The allegations in the notice of proceedings include a retread of the fallout from a 2019 boat party on Lake Shasta – a party that resulted in a lawsuit – where Kreis allegedly called former Deputy Public Defender Rory Kalin a “Jew-boy” before pushing him in the lake, and hearing cases Kalin litigated days later. However, the notice included a far greater scope of complaints, including a sexually inappropriate incident with Kreis’ former friend, attorney Joanne Carter
20-year-old Destinee Rhamy allegedly fatally stabbed 27-year-old Holland Elbik at their shared residence in Eureka shortly after the victim had stabbed Elbik’s boyfriend in the neck with a broken ceramic mug, wounds that, while not life-threatening, required treatment at St. Joseph Hospital. Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees argued that Rhamy used greater force than necessary to defend her boyfriend, Zachary Hood, and Deputy Public Defender David Nims countered that his client acted in lawful self-defense or defense of another.
Russell Albers, who is accused of killing Daniel Garcia and Jennifer Paddock, may now receive a trial on the ten felonies he was accused of, though Judge Kelly Neel modified the stealing a vehicle charge to a misdemeanor. Jane Doe, Albers’ former romantic partner and Paddock’s sister, testified that she was staying at her sister’s home after Albers became increasingly violent and unstable – she said he stabbed her during a 2 a.m. blowout argument – when he appeared at the house on Dec. 27, 2022 with a semi-automatic handgun, demanding she leave with him.