Miami News-Digest

___________________________________________ Dustin Allen aporta experiencia como fiscal y defensor público a la contienda por una judicatura del condado de Tulsa CONDADO DE TULSA, Oklahoma — Los votantes del Distrito Judicial 14, Oficina 4, del condado de Tulsa elegirán el próximo 3 de noviembre entre el abogado Dustin Allen y la jueza especial Loretta Radford, después de una elección de junio en la que también participó el fiscal Phillip Peak. La boleta electoral de noviembre de la Junta Electoral del Estado de Oklahoma confirma que Allen y Radford son los dos candidatos que permanecen en la contienda por este cargo judicial no partidista. En el caso de Allen, su campaña presenta a los votantes una combinación poco común de experiencia desde ambos lados del sistema de justicia penal de Oklahoma. Ha trabajado como fiscal, se desempeñó como defensor público adjunto, desarrolló una práctica privada enfocada en litigios y ha dirigido su propio despacho jurídico durante más de ...

Dustin Allen Brings Prosecutor, Public Defender Experience to Tulsa County Judge Race TULSA COUNTY, Okla. — Voters in Tulsa County’s Judicial District 14, Office 4, will choose between attorney Dustin Allen and Special Judge Loretta Radford on Nov. 3, following a three-candidate June election that also included prosecutor Phillip Peak.  The Oklahoma State Election Board’s November ballot confirms Allen and Radford as the remaining candidates for the nonpartisan judicial seat. For Allen, the campaign presents voters with a somewhat unusual combination of experience from both sides of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system. He has worked as a prosecutor, served as an assistant public defender, built a private trial practice, and operated his own law firm for more than a decade.  His campaign says that experience informs a judicial philosophy centered on applying statutes and the Constitution as written, maintaining public safety, moving cases efficiently, and...

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT BECOMES PART OF THE DRUG TRADE  Controlled buys, informants and controlled deliveries can expose criminal networks. Documented cases also show what happens when the line between investigation and participation breaks down. There is an uncomfortable paradox at the center of modern narcotics enforcement.   Government exists, in part, to prevent dangerous drugs from reaching the public, yet some of the investigative techniques used to accomplish that purpose necessarily place police officers, confidential informants, money, firearms, and sometimes controlled substances inside the very commerce government is attempting to suppress.  A confidential informant may be instructed to purchase fentanyl. An undercover operative may negotiate a drug transaction. Investigators may permit a package of apparent narcotics to continue toward its destination so that they can identify the recipient. Police may conduct a controlled sale or delivery rather than ...

CASH, CARS, GUNS AND LAND: WHEN SEIZED PROPERTY BECOMES GOVERNMENT REVENUE In Ottawa and Delaware counties, state reviewers found incomplete forfeiture records. Elsewhere in Oklahoma, official examinations documented missing cash, broken vehicle custody trails, and nearly $1.91 million in questioned federal forfeiture expenditures. MIAMI, Okla. — The central question surrounding civil asset forfeiture in Oklahoma is considerably larger than what happens to cash found during a traffic stop. It can involve the family car. It can involve a pickup truck, aircraft, boat, or even farm equipment. It can involve firearms. It can involve land and the improvements standing upon it. Under Oklahoma's controlled-substances forfeiture law, qualifying vehicles and other conveyances, real property, money, and weapons may all be subject to forfeiture. In a contested proceeding involving those categories, the state generally bears a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard. Oklahoma law al...

Public records trace intersecting Ottawa County ties among judge, banker, cannabis businesses and disciplined attorney Youth-foundation records identify Matt Whalen and Joe Morgan in leadership roles; historical marijuana records contain matching names, while Oklahoma Supreme Court records document Whalen’s former professional relationship with P.J. Shyers Updated September 26th in light of newly identified information and clarification, thanks to professional and long-standing community news reporter, Shiela Stogsdill.  MIAMI, Okla. — A collection of public records reviewed by Miami News-Digest documents a series of intersecting civic, business and professional relationships involving Ottawa County Associate District Judge R. Matt Whalen, First National Bank & Trust Company Vice President Joe Morgan, historical Oklahoma medical-marijuana businesses and attorney Phillip John “P.J.” Shyers. The records do not establish corruption, conspiracy or an ethics violation. T...