A recent candidate for Humboldt County supervisor will be held for trial in a machete attack on a neighbor, a judge has decided.
Richard French, 75, was arrested on April 30 near his home in Hydesville, five miles southeast of Fortuna.
He had allegedly swung a machete in a confrontation with his neighbor, Bryan Richter, 50.
The altercation apparently began with a dispute over potted plants, police said.
Richter was using a skid-steer — a small excavator commonly known by the brand name Bobcat — to “clear some things off his property,” Yurok Tribal Police Officer Kamrin Brigance testified at a hearing Tuesday at the Humboldt County courthouse.
French had reportedly placed some potted plants on a piece of property whose ownership was under dispute.
When Richter drove the skid-steer on the disputed property, French allegedly came after him with the machete, Brigance said. Richter and witnesses say French hit the skid-steer with the machete and swung the weapon within inches of Richter’s face.
Richter got out of the skid-steer and pulled out a legally concealed firearm. French allegedly threw the machete at him. At that point, a third person stepped in and immobilized French with a Taser.
French was lying on the ground when police responded.
He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and was then booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm. His bail was set at $35,000.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Deputy Public Defender Ben McLaughlin argued that French may have been properly and legally defending his property.
“If Mr. French was in fear for his property being vandalized and had an ongoing dispute with this gentleman in the past regarding the same behavior, I wouldn’t necessarily call those actions unjustified,” McLaughlin said.
Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees countered that defense of property is not a valid reason for use of deadly force.
Based on Brigance’s testimony, Judge Timothy Canning decided there was enough evidence to hold French for trial.
The defendant will remain in jail unless he can pay his bail. His arraignment is set for May 27.
French retired as a manager with the Hydesville County Water District. He ran in March’s primary for a Humboldt County supervisorial seat. In a candidate statement, he said he was “provoked by the obvious, to me, corruption in the county government” and said the incumbent, Estelle Fennell, “is at the top of my list to be replaced.” He finished fifth of the five candidates.
