The Grady County Gambling Raid - Part 4
Preliminary Hearings For: Barthelme, Peek and Parks
Preliminary hearings for those accused in the Grady County Gambling Raid case were set for January 4th and 5th. At a preliminary hearing, the state must present enough evidence to show probable cause that a crime was committed and that the defendants probably committed that crime. If the judge is convinced a crime was committed and that the defendants probably committed that crime the defendants are bound over for trial, if the judge is not convinced, the judge orders the charges dropped.
Preliminary hearings for Deputy Delmer Barthelme, former Deputy Lt. Jim Peek, and former Chickasha Officer Greg Parks were set for January 4 and preliminary hearings for former Chickasha Officers Helen McMullen, Jerry Tyler, Deputy Lt. Robert Cacy and Sheriff Kieran McMullen were set for January 5th. As with many things involving this scandal, what was planned and what happened were not the same.
On January 4th, former Deputy Lt. Jim Peek was a no-show owing to a scheduling conflict for his attorney. Special District Judge Ken Harris of Comanche County who is handling the case ruled that Peek's preliminary hearing would be dealt with later.
The preliminary hearing for the defendants did provide a glimpse at one defense plan of attack, a claim that 'it really isn't gambling if you do not come out ahead'. The center piece of this claims appears to be that the players were not gambling their money, but rather donating money to the lodge and instead of winning, they were receiving parts of those donations back. It was revealed that the machines at the Chickasha Elks Lodge are configured to pay off only 14 percent of what they take in, with the remainder going to the lodge.
On the first day of the preliminary hearing District Attorney Bret Burns was only able to get one witness on the stand, DA's investigator Dusty Dowdle. Dowdle presented only a few minutes of the more than 600 minutes of video collected during his investigation. Defense argued against the admission of the video, noting they could not cross-examine the confidential informants to whom the camera was mounted but Judge Harris ruled the video spoke for itself.
Some of the video presented included a brief shot of Barthelme followed by gambling machines in the background but Barthelme was not shown playing any of the games. There was also a shot of Parks in the game room as well. Dowdle testified for three hours and the day ended with Dowdle still on the witness stand, undergoing cross-examination. The court indicated the hearing for the accused would continue the following day, January 5th. This meant preliminary hearings for the other defendants would have to be rescheduled.
On Friday, January 5th, the hearing continued with the conclusion of Investigator Dowdle's cross-examination and with defendant Deputy Lt. Jim Peek present. Most interesting was the fact that not only was Barthelme not shown playing any of the games in the video clips presented in court, his name was not found on any payout slips for winning gamblers.
On day two of the preliminary hearing the court heard from ABLE agent Greg Bynum who testified that the Elks Lodge machines in and of themselves were not illegal but that the manner in which the games were used by the lodge made them illegal.
Bynum indicated that a player puts money into the machine and when the player is done they call an attendant to cash them out based on the number of points on the machine. Bynum testified that after cashing out the player, the attendant cleared the points from the machine by resetting it.
Bynum further stated that since players played with the anticipation of a possible payout the machines are illegal. Under cross-examination Bynum admitted that an individual who played the machines without knowing that the Elks Lodge would payout, and who left without cashing out, would not have broken the law.
The court also heard the testimony of Megan Edwards, a bartender at the Elks during the period of the investigation and who testified that she, as part of her duties, cashed out defendants Jim Peek and Greg Parks for winning on the machines.
The court also heard from Hollis Myers, former bar manager for the Elks Lodge. Myers testified that up until 2003 he was responsible for payouts on the gambling machines and that the money gained from the machines was accounted for under entertainment, the same fund used for the jukebox, pool tables, and some dance events. Myers testimony while applicable to the Elks Lodge gaming operation did not touch upon any of the defendants as he left the lodge in 2003, as most of the accused were becoming members.
During the course of the preliminary hearing District Attorney Burns and defense attorney Steve Buzin had to be physically separated after Buzin claimed he did not receive a copy of the interview by Megan Edwards and DA Burns responded that the interview was on the hard drive provided by his office. Burns claimed Buzin’s office received the device but had not paid for it and Buzin claimed that Burns had attempted to make money of the hearing by overcharging defense council. The men got into a heated face to face exchange following a court recess.
Following the conclusion of the evidence portion of the preliminary hearing Judge Harris ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial for former deputy Jim Peek and former Chickasha police officer Greg Parks on the felony charges of gambling by a peace officer. Judge Harris ruled there was insufficient evidence presented against deputy Delmer Barthelme to proceed to trial and the charge was dismissed. Barthelme and the others still face a misdemeanor charge of neglect of duty.
District Attorney Bret Burns has filed an appeal of the dismissal of the felony count against Delmer Barthelme on the basis that the judge erred when he disallowed self-incriminating statements made to investigators by Barthelme . DA Burns' appeal is scheduled to be heard on January 26, by Judge C. Allen McCall, presiding judge of the Judicial Administrative District.
