UKIAH, CA., 11/20/25 –Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster is recusing himself from considering charges against Matt LaFever, a 37-year-old Hopland resident and former Ukiah High School journalism teacher who was arrested for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a 17-year-old girl.
Eyster has assigned the case to a senior attorney for review.
LaFever, who was also the publisher of the MendoFever news website that has since been taken down, is accused by Ukiah police of asking a 17-year-old girl to send him inappropriate photos while also sending scantily clad photos of himself.
He was arrested Nov. 3 on suspicion of knowingly annoying or molesting a minor and was placed on leave at the high school after the Ukiah Unified School District first learned of the allegations in October.
In an interview, Eyster said he recused himself from the case because several stories LaFever wrote were critical of him, and he did not want people to think he was holding a grudge.
“I did that because there’s been times where Matt LaFever or Mike Geniella reporting for Matt LaFever have been critical of me, so I didn’t want people to think that I had a grudge,” Eyster said. “So I referred it [the case] to one of my senior attorneys who has no clue who Matt LaFever is, to handle and decide what should happen.”
Eyster prosecutes many cases in court himself and said he is currently working with a very large caseload, which is common for district attorneys in rural areas like Mendocino County.
“What you’ll find is I’m not your typical DA. I actually have as large of a caseload in the office as any of my attorneys, and most of the time I have a larger caseload, so I’m in court all the time,” he added.
Eyster also spoke about his general distrust of local media outlets covering cases handled by his office. He also said that his caseload keeps him too busy to read each publication covering local news in the county.
“I don’t read a lot of the media … if I had time to read [local news], I wouldn’t have time to read another police report to get my job done,” he stated. “There’s a lot of people that say they are reporters and have falsely reported things on this office … There are people out there that would rather have drama than truth.”
Let me get this straight. He did NOT recuse himself from Chamise Cubbison’s case where one might expect a recusal. Yet, he did recuse himself here, despite understanding he is a public figure that is obviously going to be in the news (granted, for Eyster, it IS always bad/disgusting/perverse news).
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe, this recusal is for other reasons… Like, maybe Mr. LaFever has dirt on him that has NOT been reported. Maybe Mr. Eyster feels that it is in HIS best interest not to provoke a man that could potentially expose DA Eyster’s dirty laundry…. I’m told there is a lot by those who know him best… Most of it also young…
Good point; that was some serious cognitive dissonance re. comparing the Cubbison/Lefever cases…
Eyster just mad cuz the comments on mendo fever were sooo bad towards Eyster lololololll!! It’s not cognitive dissonance but congrats on learning the phrase!
Absolutely, Mr. LeFever has not only taught my children but has been a neighbor since he moved to the area. I have a child who spent most of their free time in his class for years without any even remotely inappropriate behavior from him.
He had been gatherering evidence about the child porn investigation that was found on Lt. Comer’s computer back in 2019 and had requested records just 3 days before his arrest.
Cough, cough. Um…speechless. Oh the dichotomy. Wouldn’t request recuse in other seriously conflicted cases yet does so here. Lie n deny, nothing new. A tragedy for our county.
Courts are corrupt. The thing here is. Prosecution has no checks and balances. Of course they lie. Yes some folks need to face their mistakes. But they don’t need to defend themselves from fabrication and machinations of a system that eats people for sport.
Corruption again ! This case will probably disappear like all the others.
For reals tho!!??? Mendovoice is loving all us commentators that moved over from MendoFever. Don’t censor us! The voice is all we’ve got now!!!!!!
But I’m sick of Eyster making headlines he reminds me of my uncle and his creepy friends.
This podunk county thrives on trying everyone in the court of public opinion. The DA, sheriff and PDs all know it and so they put damning snippets of evidence in the news to let everybody know what they should think of the accused. “Files on the computer confirmed suspicions that no good loser so and so was doing just what we busted them for.” That kind of stuff is deliberate fodder for the people in the community to rile them up and get them to shout “guilty!” No good evidence should ever see daylight before trial. The public safety clown show just doesn’t care. They just want the perp walk- that’s the grudge come to life. Eyster knows this. Recall him.
I think that the UPD and Sheriff department absolutely need to address the fact that their departments are allowing information to be leaked to the public. These leaks are, in fact, jeopardizing fair trials. It does absolutely seem like trying people in the court of opinion is the strategy. In small communities, this is abhorrent. Not to mention, it leads to civil settlements in the tune of tax payer money.
It is not lost on me that LaFever was reporting the fact that UPD, and it’s officer’s sexual misconduct, have cost us upwards of 2 million dollars. If I had to guess, I would say this LaFever situation will also result in a civil suit (and tax payer payouts) should the evidence leaked and depicted in media not pan out to be as egregious as reported.
Leaks in law enforcement are a very serious issue, yet I have no faith that it is being dealt with appropriately. As stated previously, these leaks appear to be intentional with the purpose being a trial in the court of public opinion.
Either way, Mr. LaFever is cooked.
If he can demonstrate that he was cooked without any real evidence of sexual misconduct, then he will likely walk away with a handsome payout.