DA

District Attorney David Hollister
Guest speaker David Hollister, District Attorney for Plumas County, spoke to the group about events surrounding the trial of Gregory Chad Wallin-Reed convicted of murdering Rory McGuire of Susanville.  The charges against Wallin-Reed resulted from a July 2, 2011 chase after six young men from Susanville who had stolen a solar light from his property while on their way to Antelope Lake to meet friends for a party.  This was the second time the driver of the car had taken a light after having been drawn to the property by a sign which read in part, “You are entering the Republic of Chad.”  They stole the second light when they went to show friends the sign, again while going to a party at Antelope Lake.  Wallin-Reed followed them firing at them with a .380 handgun.  He switched for an AR15 when the young men, having missed a turn-off to Antelope turned around in a meadow in an effort to their pursuer.  In addition to first-degree murder, the jurors also convicted Wallin-Reed of seven other felony counts – firing at an occupied vehicle, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of an illegal assault rifle.
D.A. Hollister described the work of members of his investigating team as well as the Plumas County Sheriff’s Deputies, the highway patrol and others, including several experts, in collecting evidence that led to the conviction.  One of the experts provided aerial photos of the scene and another provided laser measurements instrumental in the evidence processing.  Hollister said the work of all those involved made the conviction possible.
Following discussion of the murder trial, Mr. Hollister spoke to the club about what is trending on the criminal front since the passage of AB 109 in 2011 which allows “non-violent, non-serious, and non sex offenders” to serve their sentence in county jails instead of state prisons.   The result to the counties is an over-burdening of county resources.  Hollister noted they have also noticed an increase in burglaries and other crimes in Plumas County at a time when human resources are at a low.  We have only fourteen deputies when we need 18 for minimum staffing.  We are down to three probation officers when there should be eight.  The District Attorney’s office no longer has the ability to provide on-call services.   “These are challenging times,” he said.   There are lots of challenges to overcome if we “expect Plumas County to be a safe place” to live.  In a time of questions and answers, he also said the number of jurors available to hear the increasing number of cases is also a challenge.