the
S T U D E N T S S E R V I N G T H E H U M B O L D T S TAT E C A M P U S A N D C O M M U N I T Y S I N C E 1 9 2 9
LUMBERJACK
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2019 | VOL. 134 NO. 14
E D Q H S U L U M B E RJ A C K K T H E L U M B E R J A C K .O R G LAWSON TRIAL
Grand jury steered away from murder charges
Defendant not indicted for murder on claims of self-defense by T.Williams Wallin
of enthusiasm. On this particular Thursday evening Callahan is teaching Bio 1, a transferable biology class with a lab on the B yard, which is a level 4 restrictive level
A person with knowledge of the criminal grand jury that presided over the stabbing death of David Josiah Lawson has expressed concerns with how the proceedings took place. The Lumberjack has agreed to withhold the person’s name to protect their identity. This source said the trial was unprofessional, poorly investigated and wasn’t given the attention it deserved. The source also said Deputy District Attorney Joel Buckingham used the charge of self-defense to steer the grand jury away from a charge of manslaughter or murder. “Maggie Fleming and Buckingham’s motives were contrary to protecting the community from a killer,” the source said. “The whole thing was an amateur performance. The DA, the judge and police officers all seemed amateur. It all seemed unprofessional, especially for the level of this case.” The source said the decision to not indict Kyle Zoellner was based on self-defense, but to their understanding the grand jury’s task was to vote only on murder or manslaughter. On April 19, 2017 Zoellner pled “not guilty” to a charge of murder and was released on May 5, 2017 after Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Dale Reinholsten said evidence was insufficient to hold him. Buckingham never told the grand jury that Zoellner made a claim of self-defense in the murder of Lawson, according to the source. According to the transcripts from Zoellner’s testimony at the preliminary, he said he is a pacifist and would rather take a beating than stab someone. The mention of selfdefense was never made. David Wise, a San Francisco criminal defense attorney, said a grand jury’s objective is to decide whether or not there is probable cause and enough evidence to indict or not indict a person who may have committed a crime. Wise has 26 years of legal experience and went on to say if a defendant never claims selfdefense but claims innocence, then that is a decision for a
SEE AWAY n PAGE 3
SEE AWAY n PAGE 4
Photo by Tory Eagles Lumberjack News Editor T.William Wallin interviews College of the Redwoods Pelican Bay Scholars Program student Troy Swan May 2.
SCHOLARS WITHIN THE WALLS OF PELICAN BAY College of the Redwoods biology professor helps students at Pelican Bay earn their Associate Degree for Transfer while serving their sentences by T. Williams Wallin On a Thursday evening a California golden-hued sunset blankets the far north pacific coast region where Christopher Callahan tells his students to tend to their plants. His students are checking Ph levels, adding fertilizer and formulating a hypothesis for a controlled experiment. Like any other science classroom, the walls are covered in posters with the periodic table of the elements, the genetic codon chart and a display of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell breakdown. The only difference with Callahan’s classroom is his students are wearing light blue loose-fitting jump suits with CDCR block lettering on the back, a handful are blasted head-to-toe with tattoos and a corrections officer paces down the hall every so often. Callahan teaches inside Pelican Bay State Prison and his students are inmates enrolled in the College of the Redwoods’ Pelican Bay Scholars Program. “Teaching in this environment is going back to the basics for me,” Callahan said of what it’s like to teach inside a prison. “The [students] come with a certain engagement I don’t see in
Photo by T.Williams Wallin Biology professor Christopher Callahan brings in BBC documentaries narrated by David Attenborough on May 2 for his biology class at Pelican Bay State Prison.
regular college classes.” Callahan always refers to the individuals in his class as students, because that’s what they are. He said they may be in prison, but inside the classroom they are college students getting an education with a strong sense
CONTENTS News................3 Life & Arts......5 Science............8 Sports..............9 Opinion............11 Puzzle.............12
START YOUR PEDALS PG.4
DIVING FOR SCIENCE PG.8
NBA SEMI FINALS PG. 10