Fraud Charges in Humboldt County

“D.A. Took On Loggers and Ran Into a Buzz Saw” (April 27) cites Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer’s reason for not aiding the crusading Humboldt County district attorney: a conflict of interest over his responsibilities to the state’s departments of Forestry and Fish and Game.

But the “mutual defense pact” [in the Headwaters deal] that Lockyer is hiding behind most certainly does not require him to defend a corporation accused of fraud and illegal business practices. The suit filed by the Humboldt County district attorney is not on environmental misdeeds, though Maxxam Corp.’s Pacific Lumber is guilty of many. It is a narrowly defined fraud case; it deserves the attorney general’s strong support.

Jared Rossman

Redway, Calif.