Rockntractor
06-11-2011, 02:03 PM
Accused Tulsa officers, their families react to mixed verdict
At first, it was "not guilty" for various charges of conspiracy, violating civil rights and drug possession with intent to distribute.
Then came count five, in which Cpl. Harold R. Wells - a retired Tulsa police officer - was charged with knowingly carrying and possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime: Guilty.
The bad news kept coming for Wells' family and loved ones who had gathered to support him Friday evening at a federal courthouse in downtown Tulsa.
Wells was found guilty on four additional counts, including charges that he conspired to possess and distribute methamphetamine, conspired to steal money and used a telephone to commit a felony.
His fellow Tulsa police officers who were tried, Nick DeBruin and Bruce Bonham, were found not guilty on all counts.
Paul Cleary, a U.S. magistrate filling in for U.S. District Judge Bruce Black, who had left to catch a flight home to New Mexico for the weekend, had called the jury back into the courtroom late Friday afternoon only to see if they wished to recess for the weekend.
But then the verdicts came quickly and somewhat unexpectedly, and they broke the hearts of some in the courtroom.
DeBruin and Bonham appeared relieved for their own fates but visibly pained for the fate of their former colleague and his family.
Wells' wife, Ronda Wells, collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Family and friends rushed to comfort her.
"I can't even do this," she cried. "They already took him away!"
Family members were upset that they didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Wells before U.S. marshals led him out of the courtroom.
Wells' sister, Johna Rountree, erupted in the hallway outside the courtroom, outraged by her brother's conviction.
"I did not know the feds were so corrupt," she said. "(Special U.S. Attorney Jane Duke) is the worst, because she knows what's true."
The officers who testified that Wells conspired to steal drugs and money were lying, and they all got deals for immunity from prosecutors because they lied, Rountree said.
Wells "was offered a deal, too, but he said, 'I don't have anything to tell,' " Rountree said. "These guys are being punished for telling the truth."
Her husband, who declined to give his name, was also visibly angry.
"This is awful," he said. "It's beyond awful. We had no idea they could fabricate such garbage and convince a jury of something like that."
Rountree said her brother's case might have been affected by the fact that he didn't testify, whereas Bonham and DeBruin did.
But Wells was warned in advance not to testify, "because Duke was going to try to trick him" on the witness stand, Rountree said.
Wells' attorney, Warren Gotcher, declined to comment when reached by phone late Friday.
As DeBruin walked out of the courtroom immediately after the verdict, he hugged his attorney, Shannon McMurray, and told her: "I appreciate you."
She responded: "I know you do."
DeBruin answered a few questions for reporters after the verdict.
"I'm happy. I don't know what to say. What else can I say? I've gone through hell the past year with the support of only my very close friends, my attorney and my investigator. That's been it. It's been hell," he said. "This has been completely crazy. I'm finally going to get a good night's sleep."
Bonham quietly walked out of the courthouse and declined to comment.
Tulsa Police Department officials said their Internal Affairs Division will now conduct an internal investigation to determine whether the acquitted officers violated department policy and procedures.
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan called it a sad day for the police department and the city of Tulsa.
"Our credibility as a police department has been shaken due to this incident," Jordan said in a statement issued by TPD. "Four former members of our department strayed from ethical decision-making and, as a result, has eroded the public trust.
"We cannot afford to have our legitimacy as a premier police department slip away at the hands of a few."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20110611_11_A1_CUTLIN225626
I know Harold very well, In the early 90s he and another police officer with my help and the help of others started a church in Tulsa. I spent many hours with him visiting sick and working in a prison counciling program he helped me start.
He was one of the finest ministers I have ever heard as well as a kind gentile man and good father.
He talked often with me about his work as an undercover narcotics officer and was proud to be a police officer.
I lost track of him about 15 years ago when the church folded over problems with finding a new building to worship in.
This is devastating, I don't know how this can possibly be!
At first, it was "not guilty" for various charges of conspiracy, violating civil rights and drug possession with intent to distribute.
Then came count five, in which Cpl. Harold R. Wells - a retired Tulsa police officer - was charged with knowingly carrying and possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime: Guilty.
The bad news kept coming for Wells' family and loved ones who had gathered to support him Friday evening at a federal courthouse in downtown Tulsa.
Wells was found guilty on four additional counts, including charges that he conspired to possess and distribute methamphetamine, conspired to steal money and used a telephone to commit a felony.
His fellow Tulsa police officers who were tried, Nick DeBruin and Bruce Bonham, were found not guilty on all counts.
Paul Cleary, a U.S. magistrate filling in for U.S. District Judge Bruce Black, who had left to catch a flight home to New Mexico for the weekend, had called the jury back into the courtroom late Friday afternoon only to see if they wished to recess for the weekend.
But then the verdicts came quickly and somewhat unexpectedly, and they broke the hearts of some in the courtroom.
DeBruin and Bonham appeared relieved for their own fates but visibly pained for the fate of their former colleague and his family.
Wells' wife, Ronda Wells, collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Family and friends rushed to comfort her.
"I can't even do this," she cried. "They already took him away!"
Family members were upset that they didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Wells before U.S. marshals led him out of the courtroom.
Wells' sister, Johna Rountree, erupted in the hallway outside the courtroom, outraged by her brother's conviction.
"I did not know the feds were so corrupt," she said. "(Special U.S. Attorney Jane Duke) is the worst, because she knows what's true."
The officers who testified that Wells conspired to steal drugs and money were lying, and they all got deals for immunity from prosecutors because they lied, Rountree said.
Wells "was offered a deal, too, but he said, 'I don't have anything to tell,' " Rountree said. "These guys are being punished for telling the truth."
Her husband, who declined to give his name, was also visibly angry.
"This is awful," he said. "It's beyond awful. We had no idea they could fabricate such garbage and convince a jury of something like that."
Rountree said her brother's case might have been affected by the fact that he didn't testify, whereas Bonham and DeBruin did.
But Wells was warned in advance not to testify, "because Duke was going to try to trick him" on the witness stand, Rountree said.
Wells' attorney, Warren Gotcher, declined to comment when reached by phone late Friday.
As DeBruin walked out of the courtroom immediately after the verdict, he hugged his attorney, Shannon McMurray, and told her: "I appreciate you."
She responded: "I know you do."
DeBruin answered a few questions for reporters after the verdict.
"I'm happy. I don't know what to say. What else can I say? I've gone through hell the past year with the support of only my very close friends, my attorney and my investigator. That's been it. It's been hell," he said. "This has been completely crazy. I'm finally going to get a good night's sleep."
Bonham quietly walked out of the courthouse and declined to comment.
Tulsa Police Department officials said their Internal Affairs Division will now conduct an internal investigation to determine whether the acquitted officers violated department policy and procedures.
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan called it a sad day for the police department and the city of Tulsa.
"Our credibility as a police department has been shaken due to this incident," Jordan said in a statement issued by TPD. "Four former members of our department strayed from ethical decision-making and, as a result, has eroded the public trust.
"We cannot afford to have our legitimacy as a premier police department slip away at the hands of a few."
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20110611_11_A1_CUTLIN225626
I know Harold very well, In the early 90s he and another police officer with my help and the help of others started a church in Tulsa. I spent many hours with him visiting sick and working in a prison counciling program he helped me start.
He was one of the finest ministers I have ever heard as well as a kind gentile man and good father.
He talked often with me about his work as an undercover narcotics officer and was proud to be a police officer.
I lost track of him about 15 years ago when the church folded over problems with finding a new building to worship in.
This is devastating, I don't know how this can possibly be!