Chickashanews.com

Alleged Illegal Gambling Scandal

February 24, 2007

Loophole tightens into a noose

Jason Clarke

CHICKASHA — The same loophole used to protect Attorney Steve Buzin’s client from self-incriminating statements, forced him to testify Friday.

Buzin attempted to use the Fifth Amendment to prevent his client, former deputy Jim Peek, from testifying in the preliminary hearing of Sheriff Kieran McMullen, former Chickasha Sgt. Helen McMullen, Deputy Robert Cacy, and former Chickasha Lt. Jerry Tyler.

During Peek’s own preliminary hearing in January, Buzin had cited O.S. 21 § 961 which prevented any of the statements made by the defendant regarding a gambling investigation from being used against him in prosecution.

According to Buzin, however, that protection of 961 stopped when Peek was charged and the Fifth Amendment took over.

Judge Ken Harris disagreed.

Harris stated the Fifth Amendment can only be invoked when a person is in jeopardy of being prosecuted for self-incriminating statements. Since O.S. 21 § 961 prevents an individual from being prosecuted for self-incriminating statements in a gambling investigation, Harris ruled the Fifth Amendment would not come into play. Furthermore, O.S. 21 § 961 compels individuals to provide testimony.

“My previous interpretation of the statute requires your client to answer the questions here today,” Harris told Buzin.

The statute book did not stop the witness from re-asserting his rights for every question, rather it required it.

With every question from the prosecution and the defense, Jim Peek would cite his rights under the Oklahoma Statutes and the United States Constitution from a folded piece of paper. Judge Harris would then advise the witness that the rights did not apply and compel him to answer the question. Multiple times, the question had been forgotten by this point and had to be asked again.

Relatively few questions were answered while Peek was on the stand for an hour.

Co-defendant Greg Parks also took the stand with similar results.

Defended by Mickey Homsey, the same attorney defending Helen McMullen, Parks also asserted the Fifth Amendment on each question and had to be compelled to answer.

Parks was not on the stand as long as Peek, however, the witness and a defendant sharing an attorney did create a problem. Harris informed Homsey that the issue needed to rectify itself before a complaint was filed.

The judge said that he found it interesting that Parks testified he did not see Helen McMullen receiving payouts, when both parties share Homsey as an attorney. Parks did testify to seeing Cacy and Tyler receiving payouts for their winnings on the Elks Lodge machines. Judge Harris clarified he was not implying that Parks had perjured himself, he just found the two points interesting.

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Alleged Illegal Gambling Scandal
  • Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose A District Judge has thrown out the cases of two suspects in the Elks Lodge alleged gambling case.

    April 14, 2007

  • Motions filed in Elks gambling case The attorney for Sheriff Kieran McMullen has filed two objections in the ongoing gambling case.

    April 11, 2007

  • Sheriff to face trial on felony charge Grady County Sheriff Kieran McMullen was bound over for trial on one felony and two misdemeanor charges Tuesday.

    March 28, 2007

  • Bound over Grady County Sheriff Kieran McMullen did not get his day in court on Friday, as his attorney, David Autry, was reportedly tied up in court in Oklahoma City. That did not prevent Special District Judge Ken Harris from listening to the rest of the evidence against former Chickasha Officer Helen McMullen and Deputy Robert Cacy, co-defendants in the case involving alleged gambling at the Elks Lodge.

    March 17, 2007

  • Another delay The preliminary hearing for Sheriff Kieran McMullen will now stretch into its third month.

    February 24, 2007

  • One suspect pleads guilty The courtroom circus is over for one of the defendants in the Elks Lodge gambling case, after pleading guilty to a felony charge.

    February 24, 2007

  • Loophole tightens into a noose The same loophole used to protect Attorney Steve Buzin’s client from self-incriminating statements, forced him to testify Friday.

    February 24, 2007

  • Testimony continues in gambling case Grady County Sheriff Kieran McMullen spent the day in District Court Wednesday, the second day of his preliminary hearing.

    February 22, 2007

  • Sheriff’s hearing resumes Wednesday Grady County Sheriff Kieran McMullen back in the courtroom Wednesday.

    February 22, 2007

  • Loophole upheld District Attorney Bret Burns will have to take his battle to a higher court in an attempt to charge a local deputy with gambling.

    February 9, 2007