Following immediately upon the abatement of the public nuisance that was The Fence of LeFlore County, Oklahoma a series of events were set in motion which would ultimately lead to the LeFlore County Courthouse.  In a March 16th update to Part 1 of this series of reports we touched upon the first of many such events.   In this edition we cover in detail numerous other allegations of stalking, harassment and the LeFlore County 'justice' system.  A flawed system which appears to look favorably upon those that engage in such conduct when it is directed against those they do not like.

On March 21, 2005 LeFlore County Deputy Douglas Ridner finally got around to speaking on the phone with Barbara Ellison regarding her allegations of stalking.   Allegations which were reported to the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office on March 15th, in a statement Ellison presented to Deputy Wesley Ritter who was assigned to handle the call for assistance on the evening of the 15th.   We know this to be fact owing to Ellison's insistence that Deputy Ritter sign a copy of Ellison's statement as proof it was received.   See Reference 11 for that statement.  

Why six days elapsed between Ellison's initial complaint and the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office following up on that complaint gives one cause to question not only the efficiency but also the priorities of the Sheriff's department.  On March 22, a full week after the initial Ellison complaint and one day after speaking with Ellison via telephone, Deputy Ridner filed an official report of the incidents.  That report is being made available here as Reference 26.   An examination of that report will reveal several errors on Deputy Ridner's part including a reversal of the dates of events complained about and that Deputy Ridner can not correctly spell 'Barbara'.

Were not Ellison's allegations so serious, the handling of this complaint and the Incident Report would be comical in a Keystone Cops fashion.   However, Ellison's allegations are serious although one would never know this by the manner in which they were and are still being handled by the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office.

On Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005 Barbara Ellison once again had cause to call the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office to complain of continued stalking on both Easter Sunday and the previous day.  Ellison in her statement alleged that a family member of her 'neighbors' had driven through her front yard twice on Saturday, spinning the tires of his vehicle, tearing up the ground and screaming something unintelligible.  Ellison also alleged that on Easter Sunday the same individual continued to stalk her.   Once again, Deputy Wesley Ritter answered the assistance call and took Ellison's statement.

Rather than waiting for a call which might never come, Ellison on March 28, 2005 went to the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office to follow up on her complaint of the previous evening.  She was interviewed once again by Deputy Douglas Ridner who filled out what serves as the Official Incident Report.   This report is being made available here as Reference 27.   Barbara Ellison's statement pertaining to events of March 26 and March 27 can be viewed at the bottom of that reference.

In addition to the allegations themselves, two aspects of this Incident Report are noteworthy in and of themselves.  First, unlike the previous Incident Report this one does not contain Deputy Ridner's signature or a date.   Second, Deputy Ridner still could not spell 'Barbara', even though Barbara Ellison was there before him in person and would have been happy to help.

On Sunday, April 3, 2005 Barbara Ellison once again called the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office with a complaint.  This complaint involved allegations that a family member of the 'neighbors' had once again driven through Ellison's yard doing 'donuts' and 'fishtails' over the same area as in the previous complaint.  Additionally, it was also alleged that the individual was shouting obscenities at Ellison.  When no deputy showed up in response to Ellison's call for assistance she hand carried her statement detailing these allegations to the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office where Undersheriff Bruce Curnutt took Ellison's statement. That statement is being made available here as Reference 28.

Although Undersheriff Curnutt signed to acknowledge receipt of this statement, as of the date of publication we at Bubbaworld have been unable to find a copy of any Incident Report which by law must be created in response to a citizen complaint.  Possibly such an Incident Report exists and we simply can not find it or maybe Ellison's statement simply 'got lost' in the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office. This writer has no way of knowing which if either explanation is correct.

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 turned out to be a day pivotal to understanding just what Barbara Ellison and her mother are up against in their quest for justice in LeFlore County, Oklahoma.  Please take note of the events which are alleged to have occurred on this date.  They will be key to understanding what happened in LeFlore County District Court the following month.

The alleged events of this date are revealed in two statements, one each from Barbara Ellison and her mother Maxine Weller and a series of photographs purportedly taken as events unfolded.  Barbara Ellison's statement is being made available here as Reference 29.

Maxine Weller's statement is being made available here as Reference 30.

Since Maxine Weller's statement alluded to photographs depicting at least some of the events mentioned in her statement, we at Bubbaworld felt it only proper to ask to see examples.  We have been provided a series of photographs purportedly of events as they occurred on 4/05/05.   We can not and will not make any claim as to the authenticity of these photographs. We do not know the identity of, nor have we ever seen, the individuals depicted in these photographs.  The following photographs are presented here solely for illustrative purposes and should not be construed to be anything more.  Each photograph is presented here in a small version.  To view the larger version click on the appropriate image which will then open in a new browser window with the larger image displayed.   Close that browser window to return here.

On April 11, 2005 LeFlore County Deputy Sheriff Rich Cooper filed a report of additional allegations of stalking and harassment of Barbara Ellison and her mother.  As part of the Incident Report Deputy Cooper referenced a two page document containing statements from both Barbara Ellison and Maxine Weller.  These statements covered the time frame between April 5 and April 8, 2005 and contain a litany of allegations of harassment including driving in and out of Ellison's private drive, the theft of 'Private Driveway' signs and the burning of another sign.   We are making Deputy Cooper's Incident Report and the victim statements available here as Reference 31.

As is Ellison's custom she requested that Deputy Cooper acknowledge receipt of the statements which he did with his signature and badge number at the bottom of page two of the statements.

We have been provided another series of photographs to illustrate some of the events alleged to have occurred between 4/05/05 and 4/08/05.   We can not and will not make any claim as to the authenticity of these photographs. We do not know the identity of, nor have we ever seen, the individuals depicted in these photographs.  The following photographs are presented here solely for illustrative purposes and should not be construed to be anything more.  Each photograph is presented here in a small version.  To view the larger version click on the appropriate image which will then open in a new browser window with the larger image displayed.   Close that browser window to return here.

Over the course of many months Barbara Ellison had been told by both various members of law enforcement and courthouse personnel that she would not be able to obtain protective orders against those she alleged were stalking her as she had no present or past 'relationship' with them.   While doing some on-line research of the Oklahoma Statutes, Ellison discovered that she had been misled and lied to for months in this regard.   And she decided to do something about it.

On April 11, 2005 Ellison traveled to the LeFlore County Courthouse and with her new found knowledge insisted upon filing for protective orders against three individuals she alleged were stalking her.   She was again informed that she could not do so owing to the lack of a 'relationship' but the staffer's tune changed once Ellison stated that she knew different from accessing the Attorney General's and other state web sites.  Ellison was told to round up applicable reports from the Sheriff's Office and take them with the protective order application to 'see the judge'.

Unfortunately the Incident Reports from several occasions were 'missing' from the Sheriff's Office, leaving Ellison only a limited basis on which to file her petition for protective orders.  Even more unfortunate for Ellison was the fact former Assistant District Attorney, now Associate District Judge Jeff Mixon would hear Ellison's requests for protective orders against the three individuals.  While still an ADA Mixon in his official capacity penned a letter in September 2004, a letter which arguably encouraged the erection of The Fence of LeFlore County, Oklahoma.   For reference see Part 1 in This Series

Of the three individuals against whom Ellison sought protective orders, Judge Mixon saw fit to grant a protective order against only one. Judge Mixon made the protective order effective only until May 2, 2005 and scheduled a hearing for that date at which time he would rule whether the protective order would be made final or be dismissed.  We are making a copy of that Order of Protection available here as Reference 32.

Two days later Maxine Weller made the trek to the LeFlore County Courthouse and sought to obtain protective orders against the individuals allegedly stalking and harassing her and her daughter Barbara Ellison.   District Court Judge Danita Williams examined Weller's petition for protective orders and informed Weller that in order to obtain a protective order she must provide at least one report from law enforcement regarding the allegations involved in seeking the protective order.

Mrs. Weller went to the Sheriff's Office to pick up a copy of an Incident Report in which she was the complainant and was informed that no such report could be found.  Weller contacted a victim witness coordinator who then conducted a search for the report in the Sheriff's Office also with negative results.  A copy of the Incident Report in question was finally located in the District Attorney's office.

Judge Williams examined that report and found it met the statutory requirements and granted a temporary Order of Protection to Maxine Weller against two individuals.  Judge Williams made the order effective until May 2, 2005 and ordered a hearing before Judge Mixon on that date to determine if the protective order would be made final or dismissed.   We are making a copy of that Order of Protection available here as Reference 33.

Within hours of the issuance of the protective order to Maxine Weller she alleges that it was violated by one of those individuals ordered not to harass her.  On 4/14/05 Maxine Weller personally delivered to the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office a statement to that effect.  Weller attempted to hand deliver the statement to Deputy Ritter but was informed that he was out on a call.  Acknowledgement of receipt of Weller's statement was made by a dispatcher in the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office.   We are making that statement available here as Reference 34.

On April 15, 2005 Maxine Weller penned a letter to District Attorney Farley Ward complaining that LeFlore County Deputy Sheriff Wesley Ritter had refused to turn in to DA Ward's office her statement of the previous day.   In that statement Weller alleged a violation of the protective order she had against two individuals.  A copy of Weller's April 15th letter to District Attorney Ward and the certified mail receipt proving delivery are being made available here as Reference 35.

On April 21, 2005 Barbara Ellison and Maxine Weller filed with the LeFlore County District Court a petition to disqualify Judge Mixon and Judge Knight from hearing the protective order cases of both Ellison and Weller.   In the petition to disqualify, the petitioners questioned the impartiality of Judge Mixon and his personal involvement in the case by way of the letter he wrote the previous September regarding the dispute between Ellison and her neighbors.  The petitioners requested that Judge Knight be disqualified on the basis of allegations that he was involved in a fraudulent quiet title suit involving the estate of the late Neil White of Summerfield, OK.  A fraudulent quiet title suit that plays a role in the events which necessitated protective orders being sought.

On April 22, 2005 District Court Judge Danita Williams ruled in favor of the women's petition to disqualify both Judge Mixon and Judge Knight and accepted assignment of the two cases herself.  We are making available here the women's petition and the judge's ruling in accepting the two protective order cases.  All three documents are available as Reference 36.

On May 2, 2005 Judge Williams held hearings on both women's protective orders, with Barbara Ellison's case heard first.

Ellison's case was handicapped from day one owing to several factors; including her being totally inexperienced in such matters, receiving no assistance from courthouse staff in filing her petition and being unable to hire an attorney to represent her interests.

When Ellison filed her petition for protective orders she was simply handed a form and told to fill it out which she did. She did not know and was not told to include all allegations upon which she was basing her petition for protective orders.  As a result Ellison listed only a few alleged incidents, greatly limiting the scope upon which her case would hinge.   Ellison was also not told that she must submit her evidence along with the petition.  Her repeated questions to a member of the District Attorney's staff regarding the technicalities of submitting the petition were met with 'we can't give legal advice'.  These issues combined with Incident Reports 'missing' from the Sheriff's Office greatly hampered Ellison's case.

At the May 2nd hearing Ellison appeared pro se while the defendant was represented by local attorney Belva Barber.  As Ellison began her testimony she attempted to list various alleged acts on the part of the defendant only to have the defendant's lawyer object to testimony regarding anything not listed on the original petition for the protective order.   Judge Williams sustained the objection leaving Ellison with only a few incidents upon which to base her case.

Unfortunately for Ellison's case she did not have available copies of most of the Sheriff's Office Incident Reports of the alleged incidents listed in her petition.  She had assumed that they would be available at the hearing.  As a result of this oversight she could not testify to specific dates for the alleged incidents and could only offer broad and generalized testimony regarding the incidents listed on the petition.

During cross examination of Ellison and throughout the defense case the defendant's attorney painted the case as a property dispute rather than a protective order case and Judge Williams permitted her to do so in spite of Ellison's attempts to refocus the hearing on her allegations.

Ultimately Judge Williams ruled that there was insufficient evidence presented to show that Ellison's Petition for Protective Order should be sustained and the case was dismissed.  The judge waived all court costs for all parties.  The attorney for the defendant then made a motion for lawyer fees and Judge Williams told her to file an application for attorney fees and that a hearing date would be set on the matter.

We are making available the Court's order in this case as Reference 37.

Maxine Weller in her case appeared pro se while the defendants were represented by attorney Belva Barber.  Maxine Weller's case took a totally different tract than did the Ellison case.  Weller's was a case more fitting of a 'Twilight Zone' episode than a District Court case.

To help the reader understand this case and its implications we are making the entire court transcript available.  The transcript is nine pages in length and is provided herein as a series of references, one reference for each of the nine pages.  The transcript pages and the associated references are as follows:

Page 1 - Reference 38   Page 2 - Reference 39   Page 3 - Reference 40   Page 4 - Reference 41  
Page 5 - Reference 42   Page 6 - Reference 43   Page 7 - Reference 44   Page 8 - Reference 45  
Page 9 - Reference 46  

Immediately after Maxine Weller was sworn as a witness and before she could open her mouth to utter a word Attorney Barber made a motion to dismiss the case on the basis that the petition for protective order did not meet the statutory requirements.  Barber argued that the petition lacked a mandatory report from a law enforcement agency and filed in the name of the plaintiff.

Judge Williams informed Barber that she, Judge Williams, was aware of such a report filed in Weller's name and that she in fact had personally seen that report before signing the petition for the protective order.   For more information see Transcript pages 3 and 4, available as  Reference 40 and Reference 41

The judge called a brief recess while a search was conducted for the 'missing' report.  The search was conducted in both the Court Clerk's Office and the Sheriff's Office with negative results and the judge stated that without that report the case would be dismissed and then called upon Maxine Weller to produce a copy of the report if she had one.   Once again see Reference 41  for the judge's statements, paying particular attention to lines number 17 through 23.  The report to which the judge referred is that from the April 5, 2005 confrontation in the Ellison driveway and available here as Reference 30.   This is the statement signed for by Deputy Duggan which we pointed out above as critical to understanding what happened.

Maxine Weller produced her copy of her statement associated with the 'missing' report and the judge acknowledged that Weller's copy was from the report which she, the judge, personally saw at the time she signed the petition for the protective order.  For additional information see  Reference 42 and Reference 43.

At this point Lawyer Barber renewed her motion to dismiss owing to the lack of the Sheriff's Office report 'missing' from the court file.   Judge Williams then called another recess and asked LeFlore County Undersheriff Bruce Curnutt, who just happened to be present in the courtroom, if he had the means to check in the Sheriff's Office to see if a report filed by Maxine Weller was available.  For more information see Reference 44 and Reference 45.

The transcript indicates that the Undersheriff's efforts produced only reports filed by Maxine Weller after the initial filing of the protective order.   This led Judge Williams to state in reference to the 'missing' report:

I do not know what has happened to it but it is not filed herein,

Judge Williams then went on to state:

and the one filed herein is filed by Ms. Ellison, and does not meet the statutory requirements in Title 22, and therefore the Court must dismiss this in accordance with Oklahoma law.

Over the course of the Weller hearing, as recorded in the official transcript, Judge Williams acknowledged four times that she had personally seen the now 'missing' Sheriff's Office report.  In one instance she acknowledged she did not know what happened to it.   However, in the end the judge dismissed the case owing to the lack of the 'missing' report.  This rather than continuing the hearing and conducting another hearing into the matter of the 'missing' report, how it became missing and why.

On May 11, 2005 Attorney Belva Barber filed with the LeFlore County District Court an application for attorney fees in the amount of $350 in conjunction with Barbara Ellison's protective order case.  In Barber's affidavit she listed two hours work at $175 per hour.   Judge Williams ordered a hearing on Barber's application for fees and set that hearing for 10 June, 2005.  We are making a copy of the attorney's application and affidavit and the judge's order setting the hearing date available here as Reference 47.

On May 16, 2005 Barbara Ellison once again had cause to call the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office for assistance.  On this occasion however Ellison indicates that the Deputy with whom she spoke on the telephone refused to answer her call for assistance and refused to take statements from her and her mother.  We are making available the May 16th statements from both Barbara Ellison and her mother Maxine Weller as Reference 48.

With the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office refusing to take statements Ellison decided to write a letter to District Attorney Farley Ward detailing the days events and her allegation that the Deputy refused her call for assistance.  With her letter to DA Ward, Ellison enclosed the statements from herself and her mother.  Ellison also asked that the DA instruct the Sheriff's Office in the property procedures for handling calls for assistance from the citizens of LeFlore County.   We are making available here Ellison's letter to District Attorney Farley Ward in 'TXT' format as Ellison To Ward Letter.  The Certified Mail receipt for this letter is available as Reference 49.

On June 02, 2005 Judge Williams issued a Court Minute rescheduling the attorney fee hearing from June 10th to June 9th.  On this date Barbara Ellison was scheduled to be in Oklahoma City for a hearing before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission regarding a complaint she and her mother had jointly filed against Oklahoma Western Telephone Company and which was detailed in Part 2 of this report series.  We are making available here a copy of both the Court Minute and the Judge's order continuing the attorney fee hearing from the June 9th date to June 23, 2005 as Reference 50.

On June 23, 2005 a hearing on the application for attorney fees was held and Judge Williams ruled that although Barbara Ellison failed in the May 2nd hearing to present evidence sufficient to make the protective order permanent the Court did not find that Ellison had filed the petition frivolously and that Ellison did express genuine fear of the Defendant.   On that basis Judge Williams denied the application for attorney fees.   We are making a copy of the Judge's order regarding attorney fees available here as Reference 51.

While putting together Part 4 of The Fence of LeFlore County, Oklahoma what was most striking were patterns.  Patterns of stalking, harassment and intimidation against Barbara Ellison and her mother.   Even more disconcerting were patterns of wanton disregard for both the rule of law and the rights of Barbara Ellison and Maxine Weller on the part of law enforcement and the justice system of LeFlore County .

Those is law enforcement and our justice system take oaths to not only uphold the law but also to protect and defend the rights of the citizens under the constitutions of both the State of Oklahoma and the United States.   Clearly there is cause to doubt the sincerity of the oaths sworn by some in the LeFlore County law enforcement and justice communities.

As we set out to document the allegations reported in this article, time and again it was discovered that Incident Reports required by law to be taken and maintained by the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office either were not created in the first place or 'went missing' in the second.

In one instance in particular LeFlore County District Judge Danita Williams, the highest ranking judge in LeFlore County, held in her hand and viewed a Sheriff's Office Incident Report which subsequently 'went missing' from the Sheriff's Office.  The fact that this critical report was 'missing' led directly to the dismissal of Maxine Weller's protective order case.

Isn't it odd that the most important document of that case would suddenly 'go missing'?  And isn't it equally odd that LeFlore County Undersheriff Bruce Curnutt would just happen to be in the courtroom to serve in the 'Step and Fetch It' role, only to return to announce that the report could not be located?

Isn't it also odd that a person seeking a protective order and asking for help filling out the petition would be told by a staffer in the District Attorney's office 'we can't give legal advice', especially when that staffer's sole purpose for being on the payroll is to help people in crisis obtain justice?

To LeFlore County Sheriff Bob Campbell, the next time one of your corporate benefactors tosses a bunch of money your way you probably ought to consider investing in some locking file cabinets. It seems your office has a serious problem with documents 'going missing', especially when those documents pertain to The Fence of LeFlore County, Oklahoma.  In the meantime, if you can not currently afford even one locking file cabinet, we here at Bubbaworld would be happy to take up a collection and purchase one for you.

To District Attorney Farley Ward, when you were appointed by Governor Brad Henry there was great hope that you would make a difference for the better in LeFlore County.  It was your choice whether to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution.  Judging from the fact that you have thus far totally ignored both Barbara Ellison's allegations and The Fence of LeFlore County, Oklahoma we now pretty much know where you stand.  And it is in a pile of real stinky stuff.  I take this opportunity to urge you to scrape off the bottom of your shoes and come on into the house with law abiding people.  It is the least you should do.

To the decent, law abiding and honest people of LeFlore County what we have shown here in Part 4 is an example of what could happen to you unless you do something about it.  As each election rolls around stop and think about what kind of law enforcement, what kind of justice system and what kind of government you have tolerated.  And then decide if you want to see it continue.  The choice is entirely up to you.

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