Judge Dismisses Himself from PL Fraud Suit

Eureka, CA - The highly contentious – and extremely slow-going – lawsuit against Pacific Lumber brought by the Humboldt County District Attorney will have a new judge following a hearing held yesterday. Judge Christopher Wilson, who has presided over the case since it was filed in February 2003, announced his decision at a hearing that was intended to decide whether the case should go forward. Citing “residual distrust that remains” over his ability to be fair, Judge Wilson said he will recuse himself immediately, and that retired Lake County Judge Richard Freeborn will be handed the case.

Questions surrounding Judge Wilson’s ability to be unbiased were first raised by District Attorney Paul Gallegos in a July 26, 2004 motion that sought to “disqualify the Honorable Christopher G. Wilson on the grounds that a person aware of the facts would reasonably entertain a doubt that the judge would be able to be impartial." The motion mentioned a “personal relationship” the judge has with a niece of former DA Terry Farmer, who lost his twenty-year position to Gallegos in 2002, as well as Wilson’s comments to Assistant DA Tim Stoen that Stoen was "trying to get me to lose my job." Stoen is handling the case for the DA’s office.

The Fraud suit led to an expensive, and often dirty, recall campaign against Gallegos soon after he took office. Pacific Lumber’s parent company, the Houston-based Maxxam Corporation, poured $313,425.04 into the recall effort, according to the California Secretary of State’s website. The recall was easily defeated by Humboldt County voters in March of 2004.

A “Meet and Confer” hearing will be held with Judge Freeborn on January 19.