Playing Tug of War In Muskogee, Oklahoma
Publication Date: 9/28/06
Last Update: 9/28/06
Meet Melinda Marcella Burnett, age 18 and Harley Wayne Scott, age 16. They are from Muskogee, Oklahoma and they evidently like to play tug-of-war. Unfortunately, rather than each tugging on the end of a rope they allegedly used their infant son, Trip Alexander Scott, for their tugging exercises.
In February, 2006 both were arrested by Muskogee Police after their son was brought to a hospital emergency room for treatment by his grandmother and to the horror of hospital staff it was discovered that the infant had suffered a broken arm, a broken elbow damaged so badly it is maimed for life, two broken wrists, a broken rib, a bruised skull and severe bruising to both legs during the first four months of his life.
Burnett was 17 when she and her live-in boyfriend, Harley Scott, were charged March 1, 2006. Burnett was charged as a 'youthful offender' with felony counts of maiming, child neglect and child endangerment for permitting child abuse. Scott was charged as a 'youthful offender' with felony counts of maiming, child neglect and child endangerment for permitting child abuse and misdemeanor domestic abuse.
The original felony charges filed against Scott were dismissed in June. The case against Scott was based on statements Burnett made to police and those statements were ruled as inadmissible hearsay evidence.
Burnett's statements to Muskogee Police although ruled inadmissible are
none the less informative. Muskogee Police Sgt AJ Rudd revealed
some of the horrors of which Burnett told him and was quoted in the media as
stating:
On a daily basis, Harley picks this baby up and shakes this baby and squeezes
it till it stops breathing and she sits back and watches and then says Harley,
stop and he does for a little while, but, he does it everyday, like a game.
Rudd also stated:
She also says they used the baby in tug-of-war matches, pulling and twisting
him and says Scott also dropped the baby on the floor.
Rudd was further quoted as stating:
She takes the baby and puts it on the bed, because he's probably going to
go into convulsions. She leaves because she's scared he's gonna die. She
comes back an hour or two later. He's crying, but, he's still alive.
Owing to a plea deal between the office of lame-duck District Attorney John David Luton via Assistant District Attorney Kristin Littlefield and Burnett defense attorney Stuart Ericson, Burnett entered a guilty plea to the charges on September 25, 2006. As part of the deal she agreed to testify against Scott and was ordered by District Judge Tom Alford to serve two seven-year sentences and one four-year sentence under the supervision of the Office of Juvenile Affairs.
This means that she serves no jail time and will on her 19th birthday in May, 2007 be released from all supervision provided she successfully completes her juvenile program. If Burnett successfully completes her juvenile program her records will be sealed and all references to her crimes will become as if they never existed. Burnett has been released into the custody of her grandmother, Betty King, who lives in Wagoner, OK.
Following the plea agreement and guilty plea by Burnett, new charges were filed against Scott on September 27, 2006. The charges are the same as previously dismissed, one count each of felony maiming, child neglect and child endangerment and one misdemeanor domestic assault and battery count. After Scott was picked up by police, he made an appearance in court and was immediately released on his own recognizance.
Harley Scott already has weekly supervised visits with the son he is accused of horribly abusing. Following her plea agreement Melinda Burnett is expected to achieve the same visitation privileges. Nothing in the Burnett plea agreement precludes her from seeking to obtain full custody of her victimized son who is currently in the foster care of a family member.
Commentary and Opinion From Bubbaworld
While putting this report together a question kept running through my
mind. It was of those questions that makes you want to shout it
from the rooftop. It was one of those questions to which there is
no obvious or acceptable answer. That question is:
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?
Granted this case involves two teenagers, one 17 and one 16 at the time of the alleged offenses. And who can't feel somewhat sorry for this couple when looking at their pictures? But more importantly is feeling sorry for the innocent little baby maimed for life, the result of horrible abuse at the hands of his so called 'parents'.
If ever there was a prime example of our justice and child welfare systems run amok, this is it. This case does not involve two teens hot wiring cars and joy riding, skinny dipping in the fishing hole, shooting fireworks in the hallway at school or any of many other possible juvenile offenses. This case involves the blatant abuse and maiming of a newborn from birth until he was four months old!
The crimes to which Melinda Burnett pleaded guilty and for which Harley Scott stands accused deserve a much more severe punishment than eight months of supervision and counseling by the juvenile authorities and then a sealing of all records of these horrible crimes. Little Trip Scott is going to have to live with it for the rest of his life, why should his abusers receive a 'free walk' and a pat on the head? Why was a termination of parental rights not included as part of the plea deal?
I can not escape the thought that this 'sweetheart deal' from the office of lame-duck District Attorney John David Luton and Assistant District Attorney Kristin Littlefield just may be some sort of perverse payback for Luton's humiliating defeat in the primary election in July of this year.
What other reason might a DA have for such a lenient plea deal in a most horrible crime. I can not say what motivated DA Luton and ADA Littlefield, as I have no knowledge of their thinking. If you are interested in asking them or offering a comment upon the handling or more accurately mishandling of this travesty of justice you can obtain contact information at the District Attorney's Web Page.
While districts attorney are free to negotiate 'sweetheart plea deals' on any case they desire, judges are not required by law to accept any of them. Judges have the power and authority to refuse plea deals and order trials held. Why did District Judge Tom Alford accept such a plea deal? Does he consider the maiming of a new born less serious than, say animal cruelty? It's a well know reality in Oklahoma that one can receive a harsher sentence for animal cruelty than for child abuse. Does DA Luton, ADA Littlefield and Judge Alford subscribe to that sentencing standard? In the opinion of this writer it appears that they do.
There is little if any reason to doubt that DA Luton's office will extend to Harley Scott a deal similar to that he bestowed upon Melinda Burnett. It is likely that Scott's lawyer is already negotiating just such a sweetheart deal for Scott. And who could blame that attorney. It isn't every day that a lawyer manages to get a lame-duck district attorney in such a generous mood.
It appears very likely that those in charge of this case have an agenda on their minds and that their agenda ultimately involves the re-uniting of this so called 'family', for lack of a better term. If that comes to pass, what do you reckon the odds are of little Trip Scott surviving?
