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The post Once-prominent Bakersfield attorney pleads guilty to insurance fraud – The Bakersfield Californian appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

CLEARFIELD — Public defender Chris Pentz recently asked the Clearfield County Prison Board about set hours for attorney-client visitation at the Clearfield County Jail.

Pentz told board members in past years, he had been able to visit as late as 11 p.m. when lockdown began. But Warden David Kessling, who resigned the post in July 2022, set the final hour at 9 p.m.

Pentz inquired whether there are written rules about times for attorney-client visitation. “Previously, attorneys could come and go at the jail as they wished, as long as they were out by the lockdown. I understood when it was 9 p.m., I needed to be out by then,” he explained.

Board Chairman President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman asked acting Warden Susan McQuillen whether she was aware of written rules. She said she did not believe there were any, but said, “I believe we should have them.”

Ammerman said he believes with the process to hire a new warden to oversee the Clearfield County Jail underway, now would be a good time to make sure there are written policies there.

“That would make sure everyone is following the same procedures. This would be a good time to deal with this,” he said.

Pentz said he too believes the rules need to be in writing.

“I just want to know what the rules are,” he said, adding all attorneys would be aware of the time and would be abiding by them.

Ammerman said he would speak with public defenders and their staffs about times and report at a future meeting so that the prison board is aware.

“This is not a huge problem but it is an opportunity to deal with this and put the rules in writing,” he said.

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The post Clearfield County Prison Board hears new requests for attorney-client visits | News appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

For all the progress she’s seen in a year-old campaign to counter a local surge in illegal pot shops — 24 shut down in recent months with perhaps twice that many still operating, mostly in Oildale and Rosamond — Kern County District attorney Cynthia Zimmer said it remains an uphill fight.

Sheriff’s deputies go in with search warrants one day, arresting employees and seizing cannabis, psychoactive mushrooms, cash and firearms, she said. Then the shop reopens, sometimes the same day, typically in the same storefront.

Zimmer’s trying something different lately. Her office now goes after landlords who rent to illegal cannabis dispensaries, in civil court instead of criminal, pursuing penalties of $2,500 per day the shop operates.

The strategy is new to Kern but not unique in California, where it’s seen as a way to enlist landlords who may not be aware of their tenants’ illegal operation. Prosecutors save time and money, even as landlords sometimes have trouble evicting criminal tenants and, in some cases, the shop ends up relocating a few blocks away.

So far, Zimmer’s civil division, normally focused on consumer fraud and the like, has filed seven lawsuits against commercial property owners. She said one case led to a $2 million judgment against the landlord.

“We’re very excited about this and we’re moving forward,” she said.

The lawsuits open a new front in the county’s battle against illegal marijuana sellers in unincorporated Kern. Although 24 pot shop workers have been arrested since the start of September, Zimmer said, local law enforcement has had less success bringing charges against actual operators.

Los Angeles cannabis law lawyer Seena Samimi agreed government in general is “always one step behind the operator,” who he said may just set up shop five blocks away. But that’s also why it makes sense to work with landlords, he added.

Property owners renting to an operation without a license to sell marijuana, Samimi said, are “just as guilty as the tenant is” because they are allowing a use that’s not permitted.

Some landlords in Southern California protest that the government’s actions are unconstitutional, in effect buying time to keep collecting highly profitable rents, he said. But others comply, allowing law enforcement to save substantial work.

A Beverly Hills lawyer recognized for his expertise in cannabis matters, William S. “Bill” Kroger, said he has a client with a series of shopping malls who was levied a $36 million fine by the city of Los Angeles for renting space to a series of dispensaries.

Landlords receiving twice normal rent, in some cases, often don’t understand they’re breaking the law, Kroger said. He added that enforcement against property owners in Southern California has been “kind of hit and miss.”

But even after landlords get “woken up” by prosecutors, he said, successfully kicking out tenants is another matter. Some fight back, he said, and some just don’t follow the law.

“It’s a battle to get them out,” Kroger said.

David Michaels knows the feeling.

After inheriting a shopping center in east Bakersfield, he fell ill from diabetes last summer and ended up under medical supervision for more than three weeks. When he got out of a rehabilitation hospital in early September, Michaels said, he found out someone had entered a long-vacant barbershop on his property, changed the locks and opened an unlicensed pot shop.

The operator has no lease and has paid no rent, he said. But when he called the Kern County Sheriff’s Office to remove the store, Michaels said, the responding deputy didn’t believe he owned the property. No action was taken, he added, even after his lawyer offered the deputy a copy of the deed.

Michaels called Zimmer’s office, he said, but was referred to the Better Business Bureau.

“Nobody will help me,” he said. “I’m very frustrated about this.” Michaels noted he has listed the shop for sale and plans to use the proceeds to buy a home in Los Angeles.

A KCSO spokeswoman said the agency has authority to help landlords remove illegal pot shops, but that how the process works depends on particular circumstances. She declined to comment on Michaels’ case without knowing details such as when exactly calls for service came in.

“It’s a case-by-case basis,” Public Information Officer Lori Meza said by email, “and if KCSO were to help a landlord facilitate the removal of a tenant, that would become a civil issue that gets referred to the civil unit, and that process could take months.”

Zimmer was unfamiliar with Michaels’ case but said a situation like he described would probably lead her office to give him additional time to remove a tenant before filing suit.

“We do understand that sometimes it is hard for the landlord to evict the client,” she said.

The county is concerned about illegal dispensaries because, Zimmer said, they often attract criminal behavior to surrounding neighborhoods and they sell marijuana that may contain illegal, carcinogenic pesticides.

Working with the KCSO and state authorities, the District attorney’s Office files for search warrants that, besides turning up hundreds of pounds of cannabis since August, also yield information her staff uses to send landlords a letter warning they may face penalties if they do not cease and desist.

Some cooperate, others get additional search warrants, Zimmer said. Whether they get hit with a lawsuit depends on how cooperative they are, she added.

Her office’s specific approach, developed in cooperation with Riverside and San Diego counties, accuses property owners of unfair competition violations, basically asserting they’re stealing business from licensed dispensaries elsewhere. The lawsuits her office files also accuse property owners of allowing a public nuisance and of breaking state cannabis regulation and drug abatement laws.

It’s only been a few months, but she said combining search warrants with arrests of pot shop employees with civil suits “seems to be an effective combination.”

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The post Kern district attorney targets landlords of illegal pot shops | News appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Chloe Jones
The Sacramento Bee

The prison inmate who attacked Paul Flores, convicted killer of Kristin Smart, was serving a life term for murdering another notorious inmate in 2021, the serial killer known as the “I-5 Strangler,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

The attack left Flores with a neck injury that sent him to the hospital for two days.

On Aug. 23 at around 10 a.m. in the Pleasant Valley State Prison yard, the agency said, staff saw Flores fall to the ground between the recreational yard and the medical clinic. Staff immediately ordered everyone “to get down,” and medical staff immediately responded.

At the time, Harold Mesick, Flores’ lawyer, told The Tribune that Flores had been stabbed in the side of the neck.

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Jason Budrow, 43, was found nearby with a “manufactured weapon,” the corrections department said. He is suspected of the attempted murder of Flores.

Budrow is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole for two separate murders, the first that sent him to prison 12 years ago and the second once he was already behind bars.

The first murder conviction was in 2011, and was his second strike under California’s Three Strikes law. He was convicted of strangling and murdering his girlfriend at the time in Riverside County.

About a decade later in March 2021, CDCR said, Budrow strangled and killed Roger Reece Kibbe, a fellow inmate at Mule Creek State Prison.

Kibbe was known as the serial rapist and killer who was dubbed the “I-5 Strangler.” He was serving six consecutive life-without-parole sentences for six counts of first-degree murder, on top of an earlier life-with-parole murder sentence.

Budrow was convicted and sentenced to his second life-without-parole sentence in April 2022, CDCR said.

In a letter sent to the San Jose Mercury News, Budrow admitted to killing Kibbe as punishment for the I-5 Strangler’s murders.

CDCR did not disclose whether they believe Budrow had a motive for the alleged attack on Flores.

After the stabbing, Flores was transported to an outside hospital in serious condition. His condition improved to fair by the next day, and he returned to the Coalinga prison on Aug. 25.

Flores is expected to make a full recovery, his lawyer said.

Flores is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for the murder of Smart, the Cal Poly student who went missing over Memorial Day weekend in 1996 and has never been found.

Flores is seeking to overturn his conviction but has yet to file his appellate brief with the court.

Who was the I-5 Strangler?

In 1991, Kibbe was convicted on his first count of murder for strangling 17-year-old Darcie Frankenpohl, a runaway from Seattle living in West Sacramento, in 1987, The Sacramento Bee reported. He left her naked body at Echo Summit.

He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder. Kibbe was serving a jail term in Sacramento County for assault and attempted kidnap of a prostitute at the time of his arrest.

It wouldn’t be the first killing tied to the man who became known as the “I-5 Strangler.”

Detectives had long suspected Kibbe of murdering several other women. DNA and other crime scene evidence resubmitted in the early 2000s eventually linked Kibbe to six more murders dating back to the 1970s.

In 2008, a new San Joaquin County indictment accused him of the murders of Lou Ellen Burleigh in 1977 and the deaths of Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah, Katherine Kelly Quinones and Lora Heedrick — all in 1986.

In 2009, Kibbe pleaded guilty to the new murder counts with special enhancements for rape and kidnapping.

In 2021, detectives told The Sacramento Bee they believe Kibbe may have killed several more victims in the gap between his first known murder in 1977 and his killing spree from 1986-1987.

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The post Inmate suspected of stabbing Paul Flores also killed ‘I-5 Strangler’ in prison, CDCR says appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Attorneys for two Winston-Salem men who served lengthy prisons sentences for the 2002 murder of NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather is asking a judge to dismiss their clients’ convictions.

The attorneys are also asking a judge to order prosecutors to dismiss charges against their clients and order the Forsyth County District attorney’s Office to respond to their motion and schedule an evidentiary hearing for Christopher Bryant and Jermal Tolliver.

Bradley Bannon and Trisha Pande, both of Chapel Hill, and S. Mark Rabil of Winston-Salem filed the motion for Bryant and Tolliver Thursday in Forsyth Superior Court.

“We got grounds for relief,” Bannon said Friday. “I don’t file claims that are frivolous. We absolutely believe that there are grounds for this constitutional error.”

Rabil, Tolliver’s attorney, agreed with Bannon, saying, “we have strong claims for relief based not only on new evidence but the basic unfairness of the 2002 police investigation and the 2005 trial.”

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District attorney Jim O’Neill disagreed with the attorneys for Bryant and Tolliver, saying that the state’s appellate courts have rejected their clients’ claims.

“At some point, our courts and our legislature must intervene and put an end to these endless motions and claims of innocence,” O’Neill said. “The victims and their family must have peace, at some point.”

The legal filing for Bryant and Tolliver happened two months after the attorneys for two other Winston-Salem men — Rayshawn Denard Banner and Nathaniel Arnold Cauthen — filed similar motions for their clients, saying that DNA evidence points to an unidentified perpetrator in the case.

Banner, 35, and Cauthen, 36, who are brothers, are serving life imprisonment in connection with Nathaniel Jones’ death.

Three other men — Dorrell Brayboy, Bryant and Tolliver — were convicted of second-degree murder and common law robbery in a separate trial and released from prison in 2017 and 2018. Brayboy was stabbed to death a year after he was released.

Bryant and Tolliver, both 36, were incarcerated in the Forsyth County Jail and state prisons for 17 years and 10 months before they were released, according to Bannon and the N.C. Division of Adult Correction.

Attorneys who represent criminal defendants who have served prison sentences for alleged wrongful convictions must challenge their clients’ convictions, Bannon said. That is the case with Bryant and Tolliver, he said.

Nathaniel Jones, 61, was attacked in November 2002 in the carport of his home at 905 Moravia St. During the incident, his hands were bound behind his back and his mouth taped over, according to court papers.

In his book, “Sixty-One: Life Lessons From Papa, On and Off the Court,” Paul wrote about his experiences working at his grandfather’s Chevron gas station when Paul was growing up. 

Jones’ Chevron gas station was located on New Walkertown Road near its intersection with Carver School Road. Paul, who was 17 when Jones died, has said that his grandfather was the first Black man to own a Chevron gas station in North Carolina.

Banner, Cauthen, Bryant and Tolliver filed claims with the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission. Banner, Cauthen, Bryant, Tolliver and Brayboy were teenagers when Jones died.

In March 2020, the commission board members held a five-day hearing and determined that there was sufficient evidence to support that the four men could be innocent.

In a hearing held two years later at the Forsyth County Hall of Justice, the four men argued that Winston-Salem police coerced them into making false confessions in a case where no definitive physical evidence, including fingerprints and DNA, tied them to the crime scene.

The men also said police threatened them with the death penalty, even though juveniles can’t get that punishment, and used other methods to persuade them to make false confessions.

In April 2022, a three-judge panel denied the innocence claims of the four men, ruling they didn’t provide their claims with clear and convincing evidence.

“During the interrogations of our 14- to 15-year old cognitively impaired clients, some officers threatened the use of the death penalty, a punishment that was unconstitutional at the time, to induce false confessions,” said Rabil, the director of the Innocence and Justice Clinic at the Wake Forest University School of Law.

In court papers, Bannon and Pande argued that the constitutional rights of Bryant and Tolliver were violated by their convictions.

Bryant and Tolliver falsely confessed to participating in the attack on Jones that led to his death, according to court papers.

DNA evidence has excluded the teenagers in the crime. The motion also points to Jessica Black, the prosecutor’s key witness, who has repeatedly recanted her testimony.

Black, who was 16 when Jones died, has provided new evidence establishing an alibi for several of the teenage boys. Black, now 37, says that the boys were not all together when Jones was robbed and killed.

Black testified in two trials that some of the boys had talked about robbing Jones and that she heard the attack while sitting at a picnic table in Belview Park about 100 yards from the crime scene.

Black says that police interrogation led to her providing false testimony, according to court papers.

“The five young men who were wrongly charged and convicted are victims in a long line of injustice in certain cases in Winston-Salem,” Rabil said.

Bryant and Tolliver also received ineffective assistance of counsel from their trial attorneys, according to their motion.

The trial attorneys, Nils Gerber and Clark Fischer, failed to investigate Bryant’s and Tolliver’s educational and psychological background or have them evaluated for intellectual disability and cognitive impairment, according to court papers.

“I haven’t read the pleading,” Gerber said Friday about the motion for Bryant and Tolliver. “I know I did not render ineffective assistance of counsel.”

“Mr. Bryant was charged with first-degree murder, and he wasn’t convicted of first-degree murder,” Gerber said.

The N.C. Court of Appeals and the state Innocence Inquiry Commission have reviewed the case, and “(I) would defer to those judgments,” Fischer said.

jhinton@wsjournal.com

336-727-7299

@jhintonWSJ

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The post Winston-Salem men’s attorneys want their convictions tossed appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Attorneys for a woman arrested in 2020 just prior to then-President Donald Trump’s rally in downtown Tulsa can depose Mayor G.T. Bynum as part of a civil lawsuit filed by the woman, a judge has ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Susan E. Huntsman wrote in an opinion and order filed Thursday in Tulsa federal court that attorneys for Sheila Buck could question the mayor for up to four hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process.

Attorneys for the city had sought a protective order prohibiting the deposition, citing a number of factors.

But Huntsman, in her 10-page ruling, said Buck’s attorneys have the right to question the mayor about certain matters relative to her case.

“While the Mayor has no ‘first-hand information about (Buck’s) arrest,’ quoting from the city’s own legal briefs, he appears to have first-hand knowledge of — at a minimum — the development (or not) of a City policy as alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint,” Huntsman wrote.

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Police arrested Buck on June 20, 2020, just prior to Trump’s campaign rally at the BOK Center.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally, was asked to leave after clearing a security screening and entering a secured zone outside the arena but still on a city street, according to court records.

Buck was wearing all black clothing that included a T-shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to some of George Floyd’s final words spoken before he was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

The Trump campaign’s private security service first requested that Buck leave the secured area, according to court records.

Buck refused the request and reportedly knelt to pray on Denver Avenue, according to court records.

Buck was told that “the blocks around the city-owned arena are ‘like a private home, and if you’ve been asked to leave, you have to leave,’” according to court records.

Sheila Buck, who came to notoriety when she was arrested at President Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally, is arraigned on obstruction charge. Her hearing is set for February 2021.

Two Tulsa police officers then apprehended Buck and took her to jail, telling her that she was trespassing and breaking the law, according to court records.

Buck still faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer in Tulsa County District Court, records indicate.

She initially filed her lawsuit July 20, 2021, in Tulsa County District Court. The case was removed by the city of Tulsa on July 31, 2021, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

In her lawsuit, Buck claims that the city violated her constitutional rights during her attendance prior to the rally.

Specifically, she claims that Tulsa police “approved of an unconstitutional arresting policy in accordance with the wishes of the Trump Campaign … (that is,) TPD professedly approved of and operated under an absolute policy of removing and arresting individuals, without question or regard for constitutional rights, at the simple behest of the Trump Campaign.”

Buck’s lawsuit also alleges that the event did not have the required city special event permit required to block off city streets for private purposes, nor could it, as such applications must be filed 45 days prior to any event.

But attorneys for the city claimed that because the mayor was not present when Buck was arrested, he “has no relevant information that cannot be ascertained elsewhere.”

“This argument, however, focuses on the wrong period of time,” Huntsman wrote.

Two days before the rally, Bynum issued an executive order noting an establishment of a “federal exclusion zone,” declaring a civil emergency and setting a curfew for the blocks surrounding the BOK Center, according to court records.

Bynum then rescinded the executive order the next day after talking personally to Trump, according to Huntsman’s ruling.

Buck claims in her lawsuit that Tulsa police had a policy of removing individuals from a public city street at the direction of a private organization and that such policy was implemented without regard to her right to be on the street, her First Amendment rights, or whether there was probable cause to seize, remove or arrest her, according to court records.

Her ruling quoted from a Tulsa police lieutenant who has testified that within a “sterile area” inside the secure zone, if Trump Campaign members asked to have people removed because of their attire or protesting, the Tulsa Police Department’s operating practice was to ask such persons to leave and, if they did not, arrest them.

“It is reasonable to believe the Mayor has information relevant to whether such a policy or custom existed,” Huntsman wrote in clearing the way for him to be deposed.

“Moreover, the Mayor is the only city employee known to have been on the telephone call with President Trump that purportedly led to a change in the city’s security approach,” Huntsman wrote. “The Mayor’s discussion with President Trump, the decisions he made, and his communications with TPD — all could easily have a tendency to make it more or less probable that the City had the unconstitutional policy alleged in the complaint.”

The judge brushed away claims by the city that a four-hour deposition would pose an “undue burden” and bordered on “sheer harassment.”

“While this Court is cognizant that the Mayor has a busy schedule and numerous obligations, it does not find the request for a four-hour deposition to be harassing or in excess of the needs of this case,” Huntsman wrote.

A city spokesman declined to comment on the ruling, citing the city’s longstanding practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com

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The post Attorneys for woman arrested outside Tulsa Trump rally can depose mayor, judge rules appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Attorneys for a woman arrested in 2020 just prior to then-President Donald Trump’s rally in downtown Tulsa can depose Mayor G.T. Bynum as part of a civil lawsuit filed by the woman, a judge has ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Susan E. Huntsman wrote in an opinion and order filed Thursday in Tulsa federal court that attorneys for Sheila Buck could question the mayor for up to four hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process.

Attorneys for the city had sought a protective order prohibiting the deposition, citing a number of factors.

But Huntsman, in her 10-page ruling, said Buck’s attorneys have the right to question the mayor about certain matters relative to her case.

“While the Mayor has no ‘first-hand information about (Buck’s) arrest,’ quoting from the city’s own legal briefs, he appears to have first-hand knowledge of — at a minimum — the development (or not) of a City policy as alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint,” Huntsman wrote.

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Police arrested Buck on June 20, 2020, just prior to Trump’s campaign rally at the BOK Center.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally, was asked to leave after clearing a security screening and entering a secured zone outside the arena but still on a city street, according to court records.

Buck was wearing all black clothing that included a T-shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to some of George Floyd’s final words spoken before he was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

The Trump campaign’s private security service first requested that Buck leave the secured area, according to court records.

Buck refused the request and reportedly knelt to pray on Denver Avenue, according to court records.

Buck was told that “the blocks around the city-owned arena are ‘like a private home, and if you’ve been asked to leave, you have to leave,’” according to court records.

Sheila Buck, who came to notoriety when she was arrested at President Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally, is arraigned on obstruction charge. Her hearing is set for February 2021.

Two Tulsa police officers then apprehended Buck and took her to jail, telling her that she was trespassing and breaking the law, according to court records.

Buck still faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer in Tulsa County District Court, records indicate.

She initially filed her lawsuit July 20, 2021, in Tulsa County District Court. The case was removed by the city of Tulsa on July 31, 2021, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

In her lawsuit, Buck claims that the city violated her constitutional rights during her attendance prior to the rally.

Specifically, she claims that Tulsa police “approved of an unconstitutional arresting policy in accordance with the wishes of the Trump Campaign … (that is,) TPD professedly approved of and operated under an absolute policy of removing and arresting individuals, without question or regard for constitutional rights, at the simple behest of the Trump Campaign.”

Buck’s lawsuit also alleges that the event did not have the required city special event permit required to block off city streets for private purposes, nor could it, as such applications must be filed 45 days prior to any event.

But attorneys for the city claimed that because the mayor was not present when Buck was arrested, he “has no relevant information that cannot be ascertained elsewhere.”

“This argument, however, focuses on the wrong period of time,” Huntsman wrote.

Two days before the rally, Bynum issued an executive order noting an establishment of a “federal exclusion zone,” declaring a civil emergency and setting a curfew for the blocks surrounding the BOK Center, according to court records.

Bynum then rescinded the executive order the next day after talking personally to Trump, according to Huntsman’s ruling.

Buck claims in her lawsuit that Tulsa police had a policy of removing individuals from a public city street at the direction of a private organization and that such policy was implemented without regard to her right to be on the street, her First Amendment rights, or whether there was probable cause to seize, remove or arrest her, according to court records.

Her ruling quoted from a Tulsa police lieutenant who has testified that within a “sterile area” inside the secure zone, if Trump Campaign members asked to have people removed because of their attire or protesting, the Tulsa Police Department’s operating practice was to ask such persons to leave and, if they did not, arrest them.

“It is reasonable to believe the Mayor has information relevant to whether such a policy or custom existed,” Huntsman wrote in clearing the way for him to be deposed.

“Moreover, the Mayor is the only city employee known to have been on the telephone call with President Trump that purportedly led to a change in the city’s security approach,” Huntsman wrote. “The Mayor’s discussion with President Trump, the decisions he made, and his communications with TPD — all could easily have a tendency to make it more or less probable that the City had the unconstitutional policy alleged in the complaint.”

The judge brushed away claims by the city that a four-hour deposition would pose an “undue burden” and bordered on “sheer harassment.”

“While this Court is cognizant that the Mayor has a busy schedule and numerous obligations, it does not find the request for a four-hour deposition to be harassing or in excess of the needs of this case,” Huntsman wrote.

A city spokesman declined to comment on the ruling, citing the city’s longstanding practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com

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The post Attorneys for woman arrested outside Tulsa Trump rally can depose mayor, judge rules appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Attorneys for a woman arrested in 2020 just prior to then-President Donald Trump’s rally in downtown Tulsa can depose Mayor G.T. Bynum as part of a civil lawsuit filed by the woman, a judge has ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Susan E. Huntsman wrote in an opinion and order filed Thursday in Tulsa federal court that attorneys for Sheila Buck could question the mayor for up to four hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process.

Attorneys for the city had sought a protective order prohibiting the deposition, citing a number of factors.

But Huntsman, in her 10-page ruling, said Buck’s attorneys have the right to question the mayor about certain matters relative to her case.

“While the Mayor has no ‘first-hand information about (Buck’s) arrest,’ quoting from the city’s own legal briefs, he appears to have first-hand knowledge of — at a minimum — the development (or not) of a City policy as alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint,” Huntsman wrote.

People are also reading…

Police arrested Buck on June 20, 2020, just prior to Trump’s campaign rally at the BOK Center.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally, was asked to leave after clearing a security screening and entering a secured zone outside the arena but still on a city street, according to court records.

Buck was wearing all black clothing that included a T-shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to some of George Floyd’s final words spoken before he was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

The Trump campaign’s private security service first requested that Buck leave the secured area, according to court records.

Buck refused the request and reportedly knelt to pray on Denver Avenue, according to court records.

Buck was told that “the blocks around the city-owned arena are ‘like a private home, and if you’ve been asked to leave, you have to leave,’” according to court records.

Sheila Buck, who came to notoriety when she was arrested at President Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally, is arraigned on obstruction charge. Her hearing is set for February 2021.

Two Tulsa police officers then apprehended Buck and took her to jail, telling her that she was trespassing and breaking the law, according to court records.

Buck still faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer in Tulsa County District Court, records indicate.

She initially filed her lawsuit July 20, 2021, in Tulsa County District Court. The case was removed by the city of Tulsa on July 31, 2021, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

In her lawsuit, Buck claims that the city violated her constitutional rights during her attendance prior to the rally.

Specifically, she claims that Tulsa police “approved of an unconstitutional arresting policy in accordance with the wishes of the Trump Campaign … (that is,) TPD professedly approved of and operated under an absolute policy of removing and arresting individuals, without question or regard for constitutional rights, at the simple behest of the Trump Campaign.”

Buck’s lawsuit also alleges that the event did not have the required city special event permit required to block off city streets for private purposes, nor could it, as such applications must be filed 45 days prior to any event.

But attorneys for the city claimed that because the mayor was not present when Buck was arrested, he “has no relevant information that cannot be ascertained elsewhere.”

“This argument, however, focuses on the wrong period of time,” Huntsman wrote.

Two days before the rally, Bynum issued an executive order noting an establishment of a “federal exclusion zone,” declaring a civil emergency and setting a curfew for the blocks surrounding the BOK Center, according to court records.

Bynum then rescinded the executive order the next day after talking personally to Trump, according to Huntsman’s ruling.

Buck claims in her lawsuit that Tulsa police had a policy of removing individuals from a public city street at the direction of a private organization and that such policy was implemented without regard to her right to be on the street, her First Amendment rights, or whether there was probable cause to seize, remove or arrest her, according to court records.

Her ruling quoted from a Tulsa police lieutenant who has testified that within a “sterile area” inside the secure zone, if Trump Campaign members asked to have people removed because of their attire or protesting, the Tulsa Police Department’s operating practice was to ask such persons to leave and, if they did not, arrest them.

“It is reasonable to believe the Mayor has information relevant to whether such a policy or custom existed,” Huntsman wrote in clearing the way for him to be deposed.

“Moreover, the Mayor is the only city employee known to have been on the telephone call with President Trump that purportedly led to a change in the city’s security approach,” Huntsman wrote. “The Mayor’s discussion with President Trump, the decisions he made, and his communications with TPD — all could easily have a tendency to make it more or less probable that the City had the unconstitutional policy alleged in the complaint.”

The judge brushed away claims by the city that a four-hour deposition would pose an “undue burden” and bordered on “sheer harassment.”

“While this Court is cognizant that the Mayor has a busy schedule and numerous obligations, it does not find the request for a four-hour deposition to be harassing or in excess of the needs of this case,” Huntsman wrote.

A city spokesman declined to comment on the ruling, citing the city’s longstanding practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com

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Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

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or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
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The post Attorneys for woman arrested outside Tulsa Trump rally can depose mayor, judge rules appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Attorneys for a woman arrested in 2020 just prior to then-President Donald Trump’s rally in downtown Tulsa can depose Mayor G.T. Bynum as part of a civil lawsuit filed by the woman, a judge has ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Susan E. Huntsman wrote in an opinion and order filed Thursday in Tulsa federal court that attorneys for Sheila Buck could question the mayor for up to four hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process.

Attorneys for the city had sought a protective order prohibiting the deposition, citing a number of factors.

But Huntsman, in her 10-page ruling, said Buck’s attorneys have the right to question the mayor about certain matters relative to her case.

“While the Mayor has no ‘first-hand information about (Buck’s) arrest,’ quoting from the city’s own legal briefs, he appears to have first-hand knowledge of — at a minimum — the development (or not) of a City policy as alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint,” Huntsman wrote.

People are also reading…

Police arrested Buck on June 20, 2020, just prior to Trump’s campaign rally at the BOK Center.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally, was asked to leave after clearing a security screening and entering a secured zone outside the arena but still on a city street, according to court records.

Buck was wearing all black clothing that included a T-shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to some of George Floyd’s final words spoken before he was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

The Trump campaign’s private security service first requested that Buck leave the secured area, according to court records.

Buck refused the request and reportedly knelt to pray on Denver Avenue, according to court records.

Buck was told that “the blocks around the city-owned arena are ‘like a private home, and if you’ve been asked to leave, you have to leave,’” according to court records.

Sheila Buck, who came to notoriety when she was arrested at President Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally, is arraigned on obstruction charge. Her hearing is set for February 2021.

Two Tulsa police officers then apprehended Buck and took her to jail, telling her that she was trespassing and breaking the law, according to court records.

Buck still faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer in Tulsa County District Court, records indicate.

She initially filed her lawsuit July 20, 2021, in Tulsa County District Court. The case was removed by the city of Tulsa on July 31, 2021, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

In her lawsuit, Buck claims that the city violated her constitutional rights during her attendance prior to the rally.

Specifically, she claims that Tulsa police “approved of an unconstitutional arresting policy in accordance with the wishes of the Trump Campaign … (that is,) TPD professedly approved of and operated under an absolute policy of removing and arresting individuals, without question or regard for constitutional rights, at the simple behest of the Trump Campaign.”

Buck’s lawsuit also alleges that the event did not have the required city special event permit required to block off city streets for private purposes, nor could it, as such applications must be filed 45 days prior to any event.

But attorneys for the city claimed that because the mayor was not present when Buck was arrested, he “has no relevant information that cannot be ascertained elsewhere.”

“This argument, however, focuses on the wrong period of time,” Huntsman wrote.

Two days before the rally, Bynum issued an executive order noting an establishment of a “federal exclusion zone,” declaring a civil emergency and setting a curfew for the blocks surrounding the BOK Center, according to court records.

Bynum then rescinded the executive order the next day after talking personally to Trump, according to Huntsman’s ruling.

Buck claims in her lawsuit that Tulsa police had a policy of removing individuals from a public city street at the direction of a private organization and that such policy was implemented without regard to her right to be on the street, her First Amendment rights, or whether there was probable cause to seize, remove or arrest her, according to court records.

Her ruling quoted from a Tulsa police lieutenant who has testified that within a “sterile area” inside the secure zone, if Trump Campaign members asked to have people removed because of their attire or protesting, the Tulsa Police Department’s operating practice was to ask such persons to leave and, if they did not, arrest them.

“It is reasonable to believe the Mayor has information relevant to whether such a policy or custom existed,” Huntsman wrote in clearing the way for him to be deposed.

“Moreover, the Mayor is the only city employee known to have been on the telephone call with President Trump that purportedly led to a change in the city’s security approach,” Huntsman wrote. “The Mayor’s discussion with President Trump, the decisions he made, and his communications with TPD — all could easily have a tendency to make it more or less probable that the City had the unconstitutional policy alleged in the complaint.”

The judge brushed away claims by the city that a four-hour deposition would pose an “undue burden” and bordered on “sheer harassment.”

“While this Court is cognizant that the Mayor has a busy schedule and numerous obligations, it does not find the request for a four-hour deposition to be harassing or in excess of the needs of this case,” Huntsman wrote.

A city spokesman declined to comment on the ruling, citing the city’s longstanding practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

Source link


Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

Name *

First

Last

Business Name

Email *

What type of articles are you intertested in?

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The post Attorneys for woman arrested outside Tulsa Trump rally can depose mayor, judge rules appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Attorneys for a woman arrested in 2020 just prior to then-President Donald Trump’s rally in downtown Tulsa can depose Mayor G.T. Bynum as part of a civil lawsuit filed by the woman, a judge has ruled.

U.S. Magistrate Susan E. Huntsman wrote in an opinion and order filed Thursday in Tulsa federal court that attorneys for Sheila Buck could question the mayor for up to four hours as part of the lawsuit discovery process.

Attorneys for the city had sought a protective order prohibiting the deposition, citing a number of factors.

But Huntsman, in her 10-page ruling, said Buck’s attorneys have the right to question the mayor about certain matters relative to her case.

“While the Mayor has no ‘first-hand information about (Buck’s) arrest,’ quoting from the city’s own legal briefs, he appears to have first-hand knowledge of — at a minimum — the development (or not) of a City policy as alleged in Plaintiff’s complaint,” Huntsman wrote.

People are also reading…

Police arrested Buck on June 20, 2020, just prior to Trump’s campaign rally at the BOK Center.

Buck, who had a ticket to the rally, was asked to leave after clearing a security screening and entering a secured zone outside the arena but still on a city street, according to court records.

Buck was wearing all black clothing that included a T-shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to some of George Floyd’s final words spoken before he was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020.

The Trump campaign’s private security service first requested that Buck leave the secured area, according to court records.

Buck refused the request and reportedly knelt to pray on Denver Avenue, according to court records.

Buck was told that “the blocks around the city-owned arena are ‘like a private home, and if you’ve been asked to leave, you have to leave,’” according to court records.

Sheila Buck, who came to notoriety when she was arrested at President Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally, is arraigned on obstruction charge. Her hearing is set for February 2021.

Two Tulsa police officers then apprehended Buck and took her to jail, telling her that she was trespassing and breaking the law, according to court records.

Buck still faces a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer in Tulsa County District Court, records indicate.

She initially filed her lawsuit July 20, 2021, in Tulsa County District Court. The case was removed by the city of Tulsa on July 31, 2021, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

In her lawsuit, Buck claims that the city violated her constitutional rights during her attendance prior to the rally.

Specifically, she claims that Tulsa police “approved of an unconstitutional arresting policy in accordance with the wishes of the Trump Campaign … (that is,) TPD professedly approved of and operated under an absolute policy of removing and arresting individuals, without question or regard for constitutional rights, at the simple behest of the Trump Campaign.”

Buck’s lawsuit also alleges that the event did not have the required city special event permit required to block off city streets for private purposes, nor could it, as such applications must be filed 45 days prior to any event.

But attorneys for the city claimed that because the mayor was not present when Buck was arrested, he “has no relevant information that cannot be ascertained elsewhere.”

“This argument, however, focuses on the wrong period of time,” Huntsman wrote.

Two days before the rally, Bynum issued an executive order noting an establishment of a “federal exclusion zone,” declaring a civil emergency and setting a curfew for the blocks surrounding the BOK Center, according to court records.

Bynum then rescinded the executive order the next day after talking personally to Trump, according to Huntsman’s ruling.

Buck claims in her lawsuit that Tulsa police had a policy of removing individuals from a public city street at the direction of a private organization and that such policy was implemented without regard to her right to be on the street, her First Amendment rights, or whether there was probable cause to seize, remove or arrest her, according to court records.

Her ruling quoted from a Tulsa police lieutenant who has testified that within a “sterile area” inside the secure zone, if Trump Campaign members asked to have people removed because of their attire or protesting, the Tulsa Police Department’s operating practice was to ask such persons to leave and, if they did not, arrest them.

“It is reasonable to believe the Mayor has information relevant to whether such a policy or custom existed,” Huntsman wrote in clearing the way for him to be deposed.

“Moreover, the Mayor is the only city employee known to have been on the telephone call with President Trump that purportedly led to a change in the city’s security approach,” Huntsman wrote. “The Mayor’s discussion with President Trump, the decisions he made, and his communications with TPD — all could easily have a tendency to make it more or less probable that the City had the unconstitutional policy alleged in the complaint.”

The judge brushed away claims by the city that a four-hour deposition would pose an “undue burden” and bordered on “sheer harassment.”

“While this Court is cognizant that the Mayor has a busy schedule and numerous obligations, it does not find the request for a four-hour deposition to be harassing or in excess of the needs of this case,” Huntsman wrote.

A city spokesman declined to comment on the ruling, citing the city’s longstanding practice of not commenting on pending litigation.

curtis.killman@tulsaworld.com

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

Source link


Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

Name *

First

Last

Business Name

Email *

What type of articles are you intertested in?

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The post Attorneys for woman arrested outside Tulsa Trump rally can depose mayor, judge rules appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.