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June 13, 2008

Prosecutors appeal Gray case

By BOB GIBBINS

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — OKLAHOMA CITY – Prosecutors are appealing a judge’s decision last week to dismiss embezzlement charges against former District Attorney Richard Gray.

Assistant Attorneys General Joel-lyn McCormick and Charles Rogers filed a notice of intent to appeal the decision to the Court of Criminal Appeals.

District Judge H. Michael Claver dismissed a single embezzlement count with prejudice, meaning the charge can’t be refiled. The judge’s decision, which came in the middle of Gray’s trial last week in Okmulgee, cited serious problems with chain of custody and stated prosecutors had failed to meet their burden of proof.

Claver’s decision prevented a jury from deliberating the case. He told the panel it was the first time in his 13 years as a judge he has taken a case from a jury. He said he saw no need to allow the case to continue, only to have the jury reach the same conclusion.

The attorney general’s office filed paperwork Thursday designating several items as part of the appeal record, including the transcript of the preliminary hearing before Associate District Judge David Martin; Gray’s motion to dismiss the charge for insufficient evidence; and the order denying the motion to dismiss.

The designation lists copies of motions filed by the AG’s office seeking to limit certain testimony; transcripts of motion hearings; and a copy of Gray’s request to dismiss the charges presented at the trial and the hearing held in connection with that request. It also includes a copy of the transcript of the three days of trial.

The documents filed Thursday start the process in the Court of Criminal Appeals.

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