50 year old man arrested in Westport on gun charges, but this really doesn’t impact your life

Editor’s Note: Below is a press release about an arrest made by the Sheriff’s Office on November 9. As usual, it’s well put together by Capt. Quincy Cromer, who’s done his part. Now it’s in the courts.

There’s about a 1% chance this case will affect your life. What will affect your life—and this case far more—is the previous story we published on the courts. Please read that.

Because we’re locked out of reasonable online access to criminal court files, you won’t see much follow-up here unless the suspect or his attorney contacts us (very unlikely). If this goes to a jury trial, it’s likely everyone involved will have to trek to Ukiah.

We want your thoughts and letters on that issue—the court access, the Ukiah shuffle—not this arrest, unless something seems amiss. We don’t suspect anything is, and even if there were, it would require us to drop everything and navigate the extremely limited public file access the California Judicial Council—via our local court administration—has designed to keep the public and press in the dark.

They’ve done this intentionally. It’s been a long time since I set aside politeness and compromise, but this is that time.

Jones is from a large local family—many with different last names—and is known as an avid outdoorsman.

The events in the following press release unfolded after I’d already headed to work, leaving the dogs at home. I was actually out on DeHaven Creek—and its namesake road—working on another story.

The quick version.

Jeremy seems to love guns—but unfortunately, he’s an ex-felon, which means no firearms. If you’re as passionate about guns as he appears to be, don’t get convicted of a felony. According to the press release, he has several prior convictions. Now, he may be heading back to prison for possessing firearms as a felon. Meth was also found—a dangerous mix with guns.

I’m glad we have law enforcement to take on these cases. But let’s remember: everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

Without outside observers having access to court files, it’s hard to know whether cases are worse than they seem—or if the person arrested is actually innocent. It happens. What’s truly alarming is a court system that engages in needless secrecy and file hiding. That’s not just inconvenient—it’s undemocratic.