All documents below were obtained via publicly available court records. Because these documents were obtained through publicly available means, there may be redactions or other changes within the document.
Transcripts with annotations for key testimony are available here
All Transcripts from the 2017 preliminary hearing for murder charges against Kyle Zoellner
Documents Prepared by Arcata PD
Physical Evidence Examination Report (Knife Fibers)- Fiber analysis performed by the DOJ evaluating fibers recovered from the knife that was located at the homicide scene and fibers obtained from the clothing that Kyle Zoellner had been wearing at the time of the incident. The summary given in the report says "The examined fibers recovered from the knife (#628-4) are dissimilar to fibers comprising the clothing of Kyle Zoellner(#'s 561-1, 561-3, and 561-4).". The report goes on to describe the fibers and the findings from various techniques used to examine them. Physical Evidence Examination Report (Knife Handle DNA)- This is one of the DNA analysis reports from the DOJ. This particular report discusses the DNA mixture obtained from the handle of the knife located at the homicide scene. The DOJ lab used STRmix to calculate likelihood ratios based on different proposed contributor combinations. Some of the data is included in the report. The report concludes that "The mixture was interpreted under the assumption that it is a mixture of DNA from three contributors. The results provide very strong support that David Lawson and Kyle Zoellner are contributors to the mixture."
Collection of various communications - Includes:
- Several responses by APD to public records requests including those from various local media agencies and one from Elijah Chandler regarding the name of an individual who APD identified as having made a Craigslist post about Chandler
- Communications between APD Detective Todd Dockweiler, APD staff and DA Investigator Wayne Cox in Novemeber 2018 discussing interviews conducted by APD and discussion of one or more polygraph reports from the FBI. Gleaton is the only name specifically mentioned in relation to polygraph testing. Wayne Cox requests the report saying "...can you please reach out to the FBI Polygraph Examiner? We desperately need to know "what" Gleaton was deceptive about. The fact that she failed, but we don't know why, does us absolutely no good." It is not clear who else, if anyone, underwent polygraph testing or if Gleaton was, in fact, the only one whose report showed deception.
- APD requests for assistance from the California Department of Justice
- Communications between DA Maggie Fleming and Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer in January 2019 discussing Ms. Lawson's claims about DNA evidence. Fleming seems to disagree with Ms. Lawson's description of the DNA evidence. Diemer tells Fleming that she believes that Ms. Lawson's knowledge of the DNA comes from Tom Parker's misreading of the DNA evidence. Diemer tells Fleming "This was one of the main reasons I knew that Parker had broken his nondisclosure agreement as he was passing basically false information". She also says "But as you might recall - because Charmaine had this "knowledge" and had even made it public, during her first meeting with Interim Chief Ehle, Ehle inadvertently (and I truly believe inadvertently) agreed with her that DNA on the knife had been confirmed as Zoellner's. He was actually referring to the touch DNA analysis we had just gotten back but I don't think either of them understood they were referring to different tests. Nancy and I called you right after this meeting as Charmaine was meeting with you that afternoon."
- An email from APD Chief Brian Ahern in December 2018 notifying the DA's office that Zoellner's car had been impounded after his girlfriend Lila Ortega was arrested for DUI
Summary of Initial Investigation (2017 APD report)
Jason Martinez Interview Summary (2017 APD report) This is the report that contain former APD detective Eric Losey's inaccurate description of Martinez's testimony which was the subject of Zoellner's lawsuit.
Demitrius "Ace" Murphy Interview Summary (2017 APD report)
- This report states that Murphy told investigators that he heard someone say "He got a knife"
- It also states that Murphy "observed a group of people engaged in a physical altercation with "just one guy" and they were trying to get something out of his hand. Murphy stated that he saw someone knock something out of his hand. Murphy initially stated that the item was a knife but, after further questioning, stated could not identify the item as a knife. Notably, at the preliminary hearing, none of the individuals who testified to the events of that altercation testified to attempting to remove an object from someone's hand.