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Equal Justice For All? That
Depends…
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Grady County Gazette Editorial
by Camille Hunt
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| Read
letters to the Editor on this report
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| On August 8, 2007, in the
Chickasha Express Star, District Attorney, Bret Burns, was
quoted as saying “Our plans are to ask that she (Bomgardner)
go to jail. She violated the public trust and she should go to
jail.” Ms. Bomgardner is currently charged with one (1)
count of embezzlement while employed with the City of Minco in
the capacity of City Clerk. In light of the fact that she is
accused of embezzling approximately $700 from the City, Mr. Burns’ comment
seems rather extreme considering the following.
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| How does this alleged crime
even begin to compare to Brad McAdoo embezzling approximately
$30,000 during his term as Director of the YMCA (mind you, the
audit was called off by the District Attorney before it
was completed and that’s all the missing money they could
pin on McAdoo without a completed audit) and in a plea
agreement with the District Attorney’s office only received
120 hours of community service. Many in the area believe that
if you are kin or a friend of the DA, you will receive a
gentle slap on the wrist, if any criminal charges are filed at
all. And comments like this only lead us to believe that Ms.
Bomgardner is neither kin nor friend, so he will try to make
an example of her. If I were her defense attorney, I would be
asking the Court for the “Brad McAdoo Special” and for it
to be reduced by 90% as her crime doesn’t even begin to
compare to his.
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It’s been said that McAdoo is the first
cousin of Bret Burns. Is that what it takes to get a sweetheart
deal around here? Brad McAdoo was charged with embezzling with
almost $30,000. This whole case has been puzzling to many Grady
County citizens because, first of all, the District Attorney
held a position on the YMCA Board when all this came to a head.
Burns should have recused himself from prosecuting the case
immediately due to a conflict of interest. Did he? No. Instead,
McAdoo made restitution prior to his sentencing BUT (here is
where it gets tricky) he paid $10,000 back to the YMCA and
$20,000 to his cousin’s District Attorney Restitution Fund. I
am a little lost here… if you steal $30,000 from the YMCA,
shouldn’t you pay the YMCA back the money you took? Not pay
the District Attorney? He was also given a deferred sentence and
ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. What a
sweetheart of a deal.
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Tony Burns, Bret’s father, recently was
handed one deferred and one suspended sentence for two (2) DUIs
(one of which was a felony) that occurred within weeks of each
other in 2005. Local court records will show numerous citizens
sentenced to time in the Department of Corrections for only a 2nd
DUI. Tony Burns’ DUI count is up around number 7 or so! Is
this a sweetheart of a deal or what?
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If you are the brother of the District
Attorney, like Chase Burns, you can own and operate gaming
machines like what were seized from the Chickasha Elks Lodge in
Grady and Caddo counties and not worry about being charged with
any crime. The Elks Lodge machines are illegal according to
Bret, but he was unaware the machines his brother had in place
around the area are not because they pop out a four minute phone
card. It pays to have relatives working as your District
Attorney.
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If you claim to be a friend of Mr.
Burns, as Richard Cochran does, you just may have several
indiscretions overlooked. Richard was the driver involved in a
motorcycle accident where his passenger was severely injured.
Trooper Stan McConnell with the OHP investigated the accident,
wrote Cochran a citation and had the hospital draw blood for
testing his blood alcohol level. Trooper McConnell later
received the results from OSBI showing Cochran’s blood alcohol
level was more than twice the legal limit BUT charges have never
been filed against Cochran by the District Attorney’s office
for this accident or driving under the influence of alcohol.
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Or what about the file presented to the
District Attorney for prosecution by the Grady County
Sheriff’s office that shows Richard Cochran falsely reported
$15,000 worth of commercial lawn equipment as being stolen from
him when in fact he gave it away to settle debts he had to
individuals in the area? Cochran then received a settlement
check from his parent’s insurance company in the amount of
$22,000. Cochran has yet to have criminal charges filed on him
by the DA’s office for insurance fraud or filing a false
police report.
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Richard can start a fight with you and
threaten to kill members of your family in your front yard and
NOT have charges pressed against him. You however will. Just
look at what has happened to John Moddrell. He has been charged
with Intimidation of a State’s Witness and now must pay for an
attorney to protect him from the self-serving prosecution of the
Grady County District Attorney’s Office.
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Look at the difficulties our good Sheriff,
Kieran McMullen and other law enforcement officers have had with
the District Attorney since he took office. One can’t help but
assume that the Sheriff is NOT a friend of Mr. Burns and has
most likely butted heads with him on several occasions over
numerous topics. Why else would such outlandish
charges be filed against him? Could it be that he doesn’t
agree with the District Attorney’s practices? Or is it as
simple as the DA wants an honest Sheriff gone so he can put one
of his shady friends in office and control every aspect of the
law in Grady County?
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All the citizens of Grady County should be
asking WHY such an unequal application of the law exists here.
And they should be concerned about the obvious abuses of power
and office. They should be sending letters to the Attorney
General or the Oklahoma Bar Association asking that issues be
investigated by their offices concerning the Grady County
District Attorney’s Office. Failure to do anything as citizens,
allows this kind of injustice to continue and we will only have
ourselves to blame.
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Camille
Hunt invites your letters to this Editorial.
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