Clint Baker pleads no contest and
receives Life Sentence:
On September 18, 2008 Clint Baker entered a plea of no contest and
received a Life Sentence in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Clint
Baker was charged with violently murdering Todd Rich on March 17, 2007.
Baker left Rich’s body on the side of the road to die and fled the state. The
Defendant was later arrested out of state and brought back to Oklahoma to
be tried for murder. After a lengthy investigation, which included scientific
and forensic evidence linking Baker to the murder, the defendant admitted
his involvement and avoided the possibility of a death sentence.
Pittsburg & Haskell County
It is the
mission of the
District
Attorney’s
Office to repre-sent
the people of
District 18, to
help provide a
safer community
for all, to hold
offenders
accountable for
their crimes and
to insure that no
victim is left be-hind.
We will up-hold
the law and
Constitutions of
the State of
Oklahoma
and the
United States.
Assistant
District
Attorney’s
Pittsburg
Richard L. Hull
Mike Miller
Wade Dodson
Lisa Birdwell
Haskell
Russell Tacheira
2008 Vol. 3
Inmate Michael Rose is charged with Murder in the First Degree for
allegedly killing another inmate on July 10 2007. This case is set for
Jury Trial on the December 2008 Jury Trial Docket.
I am often asked how the District Attorney’s office makes the decision of when to file a charge against
someone. The answer is simple: when there is sufficient evidence that supports probable cause that a crime has
been committed. The answer is simple, but the process may not always be.
For instance, we recently charged and tried a case involving embezzlement of property by an employee
from his employer. The evidence was fairly clear: the employee knowingly removed property from his employer’s
business and also knew there were rules against removing property. The employee then collected the property and
sold it for a sum of money that he put in his own pocket instead of allowing his employer to make the money from
the sale of the property. The Defendant admitted he knew it was wrong and tried to hide his actions.
Embezzlement is defined as the fraudulent appropriation of property from its rightful owner and used for
a purpose not intended by the owner. 21 O.S. § 1451. This was a fairly clear case according to the law and the
evidence. A jury, however, decided differently.
While I never challenge the decisions of juries, I also must state that the District Attorney’s office cannot
and will not base charges on what we think juries might do. In our office we follow the law. We apply the facts of
cases to the law and decide what is the right thing to do. A jury decided that taking property from the rightful
owner was not sufficient to find the defendant guilty. The District Attorney’s office disagreed with their decision,
but a trial by jury is your right as an American and the outcome must be respected.
The case: city employee embezzling metal from the City Landfill. The City operates a landfill at a tre-mendous
cost to the citizens of McAlester. To reduce the costs of operation and generate additional revenue, (as
well as reduce the need to raise your water bill) the City recycles materials from the landfill such as metal. The
employees were aware of the program and were paid a salary to fulfill the policies set by the City. Instead, how-ever,
the employees seized the recyclable metal for their own personal profit. This case was clearly a modern
dramatization of “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” The ironic thing is that the Defendant claimed the
valuable metal he was seizing and selling for his own profit, was just junk. The City claimed the valuable metal
was a valuable asset to the City. The jury, apparently, decided junk is junk no matter who makes a profit from it.
Charging decisions are made everyday in our office based on the law and the evidence. We do not ran-domly
select cases or defendants. We prosecute hundreds of cases each year and the vast majority plead guilty or
are found guilty by a judge or jury. I cannot imagine the multitude of issues that juries discuss and debate when
deliberating the outcome of a trial. But we, as prosecutors, do not have that luxury. We simply follow the law
when we decide to file a charge.
J.B. Miller
District Attorney
P.S. The defendant was offered a deal to simply reimburse the City the money he made selling the metal. He de-clined
the offer. All three employees were charged, all admitted they knew it was wrong to take the property. One
plead guilty, and one case is still pending, the above defendant was found not guilty by the jury.
Former McAlester Firefighter, Roger Duvall entered a plea of guilty on September 29, 2008 to the following:
CF-2007-673 Possession of Controlled Substance sentenced to 10 years
CF-2008-322 Possession of Controlled Substance sentenced to 10 years
CF-2008-382 Possession of Controlled Drug with Intent to Distribute sentenced to 25 years with last 10 years suspended
CF-2008-433 Escape from Detention sentenced to 2 years and Larceny of Automobile sentenced to 15 years
CF-2008-309 Possession of Controlled Substance sentenced to 10 years
“Seven people were recently charged in Haskell County District Court
with drug offenses due to the efforts of the task force, in conjunction
with other law enforcement agencies.”
Task Force results: drug charges filed on five! “More charges, more arrests. And more drugs off
the streets.” That¹s the most important thing of all, according to District 18 Drug Task Force
agents. Due largely to their efforts, five more people had been charged with drug crimes in dis-trict
court between Oct. 29 and Friday and another charge had been added to a man already
jailed for previous drug complaints.
Most of the felony drug complaints filed in recent weeks in Haskell County District Court
were for having or distributing drugs that are legal, when they¹re used by the person to
whom they¹re prescribed. But task force agents have been seeing an increased amount of
prescription drugs being used illegally, a trend that has been reaching across the coun-try
as such drugs as methamphetamine become harder to obtain. “It really seems to be a
trend since the prescription drugs are easier to get a hold of.” said Agents “For some
reason people seem to think they¹re safe, since they¹re approved by the FDA, so we¹re
also seeing a lot more overdoses.” Prescription drugs can only be considered safe when
use as prescribed and by the person for whom they are prescribed, according to the Ameri-can
Medical Association. Clayton Dee Foster was charged with distributing hydromorphone,
a powerful painkiller. Agents allegedly purchased the drug from him on Oct. 22, according
to an affidavit filed in the case. If convicted, Foster could be imprisoned two years to
life, fined up to $20,000 or both. The affidavit indicates an undercover agent accompa-nied
Roy Neal Campbell II to Foster¹s home to buy the drugs. Campbell himself was charged
with unlawful delivery of a narcotic, hydromorphone, for allegedly selling the prescrip-tion
drugs to an undercover operative on Oct. 22.
Judy Ann Lubak was charged with conspiracy to deliver, manufacture or posses a controlled
dangerous substance, a felony. She is alleged to have provided the methadone and hydro-codone
Campbell is accused of selling to an undercover agent on Oct. 9.
Kyle Ray Jordan was charged with felony possession of marijuana. He was arrested after a
task force agent making a traffic stop on state Highway 9 smelled marijuana coming from
the vehicle he was in. Christie Monks was charged Oct. 29 with possession of methampheta-mine
after a former felony conviction, a felony, as well as misdemeanor counts of posses-sion
of marijuana possession of drug paraphernalia. She faces up to 20 years in prison
and fines of up to $10,000. Ali Jamal Nourosy was charged with felony counts of posses-sion
of methamphetamine, possession of Oxycodone (a pain reliever) without a prescription
and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. Article provided by Stigler News
Sentinel Reporter Doug Russell.
“They¹re bringing in a lot of cases right now,” Assistant District Attorney Rus-sell
Tacheira said. “We¹ve filed charges on some and we¹ve still got more to file.” Some
of the latest batch of felony drug charges to be filed in Haskell County involve four
men, all charged separately and any one of whom could be sentenced to prison for life if
convicted.
David Lester Stidham Jr., was charged with conspiracy to deliver, manufacture or
possess methamphetamine. He is alleged to have been driving a gray Nissan Pathfinder on
June 10 when an individual working with task force agents made a controlled purchase of
$100 worth of methamphetamine from a Stigler resident named Joey Blancas, who was in the
passenger seat of the Pathfinder. If convicted, Stidham could be imprisoned for life and
fined up to $100,000. Blancas, also known as Joseph Domingo Martinez, is charged with
unlawful delivery of a narcotic for his role in the June 10 incident, as well as a sec-ond
unlawful delivery charge for another incident later in the month. Each charge car-ries
a penalty of five years to life, a fine of up to $100,000, or both.
Prosecutors may have additional charges to file against Blancas as well. When of-ficers
searched his home on Oct. 22, they seized drug paraphernalia, a police scanner,
digital scales and other items associated with selling drugs. In addition, officers
seized five .22-caliber rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun and four pistols. Roy Neal Campbell
was charged with possession of a controlled substance, hydromorphone, as well as unlaw-ful
delivery of a narcotic, hydromorphone, possession of a controlled substance within
2,000 feet of a school or park and two counts of distribution of an imitation controlled
substance. The hydromorphone possession charge is punishable upon conviction by impris-onment
for two to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000. The unlawful delivery charge is
punishable by imprisonment for five years to life and a fine of up to $100,000. Distri-bution
of an imitation controlled substance is punishable by imprisonment for five years
to life and a fine of up to $100,000, while possession of a controlled substance within
2,000 feet of a school or park is punishable by imprisonment for ³five years to two
times life and a fine of up to $200,000,² according to court documents.
On Oct. 22, task force agents joined forces with members of the Haskell County
Sheriff¹s Department and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs Control to make
a controlled purchase of drugs from Campbell, according to court documents. When the of-ficers
arrested Campbell, they found hydromorphone pills. Hydromorphone is a powerful
pain pill similar to morphine.
But that wasn¹t Campbell¹s first round with task force agents, the sheriff¹s de-partment
or the OBN. Earlier in the month, Campbell allegedly sold an undercover agent
hydrocodone and methadone, as well as pills alleged to have been Xanax but which con-tained
no controlled substance, at a Stigler home.
In September, court documents indicate Campbell is alleged to have sold an under-cover
agent some pills at the Panther Apartments, which are within 2,000 feet of Stigler
schools. One set of pills tested positive as Oxycontin, another powerful pain reliever,
while the other ‹ which had been represented as Xanax, a medication used to ease anxi-ety,
did not contain any controlled substances.
Sixty-one-year-old Keota resident William Harold McClary was charged Monday with
possession of oxycodone with the intent to distribute, possession of dihydrocodeine and
clonazapam with the intent to distribute, possession of methamphetamine after a former
felony conviction, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting an officer. He, too,
faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Thank you to Doug Russell of the Stigler News Sentinel
for providing the articles in this newsletter and
for your constant support of the District Attorney’s Office.
What Does the District Attorney Do?
As District Attorney for Pittsburg and Haskell Counties, DA Jim Miller and his staff of prosecutors serve as
the attorneys for victims of crime. These Attorneys are responsible for reviewing police reports to determine
whether the facts and the law warrant filing a charge to initiate a criminal prosecution against a person. There
are 6 attorneys and approximately 15 support staff working under the District Attorney’s direction. They prose-cute
criminals, work on behalf of victims, collect restitution for small businesses and crime victims, advocate
for deprived and neglected children, and promote crime prevention and intervention. The District Attorney also
represents Pittsburg and Haskell County and its Officials and Boards in all civil legal matters.
District Attorney attends College and Career Day as Exhibitor:
The Pittsburg County District Attorney’s Office had a booth set up at the 2nd An-nual
College and Career Day hosted for area 8th grade students. The program is
set up to take a hands-on approach to exposing these eighth graders, to the oppor-tunities
that can await them if they stay in school, make good grades, say no to
drugs and alcohol, and stay out of trouble. You never know when you can make a
difference in someone's life.
Bogus Check Department
The Bogus Check Department has collected $180,386.69 worth of restitution for business owners
throughout Pittsburg and Haskell Counties from January 1, 2008 to October 15, 2008.
DA SUPERVISION
869 Probationers are currently under supervision by the District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s Office has assigned DA Supervision Officer, Brenda Kelley, to help the McAlester commu-nity
to set up a Crimestoppers hotline. Crimestoppers will have a hotline phone number that anyone
can call and give information regarding crimes that are being committed. The hotline will offer mone-tary
rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the offenders.
The DA’s Office is also working on a program to present to area 3rd & 4th graders too! Our plan is the
Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Task Force (MMTF) and will be rewarding kids who pass the
program with honorary Task Force Badges and certificates.
The State of Oklahoma has a Teen hotline. Teenline is staffed by volunteers and there is al-ways
a representative available between the hours of noon and midnight. The TEENLINE
number is 1-800-522-TEEN. For immediate assistance, 24 hours a day, there is a Reach out
Hotline from anywhere in the state toll free 800-522-9054.
For additional information, or to learn about being a Teenline volunteer, you can contact
them at 405-522-3835 or Teenline@odmhsas.org
Pittsburg County
122 E. Carl Albert Pkwy Ste “I”
McAlester, OK 74501
Phone: 918-423-1324
Fax: 918-423-8575
Haskell County
202 East Main
Stigler, OK 74462
Phone: 918-697-4648
Fax: 918-967-2443
The Pittsburg County District Attorney’s Office is located
in the basement of the temporary courthouse at
122 East Carl Albert Parkway, McAlester, Oklahoma.
The entrance to the District Attorney’s Office is
located in the alley on the south side of the building.
The Stigler District Attorney’s Office is located
in the Haskell County Courthouse.
Wikipedia, the free Internet Encyclopedia, defines Justice as: the
concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural
law, fairness and equity. John Locke of the natural law believes that
justice would become a natural law, it involves the system of pun-ishments
which are prone from choices. In this, it is similar to the
laws of physics: in the same way as the Third of Newton's laws of
Motion requires that for every action there must be an equal and
opposite reaction, justice requires according individuals or groups
what they actually deserve, merit, or are entitled to. Webster’s Dic-tionary
defines Justice as: the maintenance or administration of
what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting
claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments.
Justice requires that to lawfully constituted Authority there
be given that respect and obedience which is its due; that the
laws which are made shall be in wise conformity with the
common good; and that, as a matter of conscience all men
shall render obedience to these laws.
Pope Pius XI (1857 - 1939)
Justice consists not in being neutral be-tween
right and wrong, but in finding out
the right and upholding it, wherever
found, against the wrong.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)
Justice is the constant and perpet-ual
will to allot to every man his
due.
Domitus Ulpian (100 AD - 228 AD)
