Parker, 46, was ordered by a Greer County judge to stand trial after a preliminary hearing in October when she was represented by Alva attorney Rick Cunningham. Her arraignment was scheduled today, but due to the change in counsel, the judge postponed it until Feb. 5.
"Bobbi and I sat down and talked about this a lot and it just came down to logistics,” said Cunningham, who has represented Parker since authorities found her and Dial living together on an east Texas chicken farm in 2005. Dial died in prison in 2007.
Isaacs has handled cases in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, probably none bigger than his defense of Gene Leroy Hart – a fugitive tried for the 1977 murder of three Girl Scouts near Locust Grove. A Mayes County jury acquitted Hart.
Parker, whose husband was the deputy warden at the time of Dial’s escape, was with Dial for a decade before their discovery on April 4, 2005. Special Judge Brad Leverett ordered Parker to stand trial after two days of testimony, declaring her claim she was a hostage is "far-fetched.”
"All the evidence obtained out of the Campti, Texas, residence tells us they were having a romantic relationship and this was not a kidnapping,” Leverett said during a lecture that lasted several minutes. "There is strong circumstantial evidence that Ms. Parker was willingly acquiescent in Randolph Dial’s escape.”
Investigators found evidence Parker helped nurse Dial back to health after a heart attack. Chouteau author Charles Sasser testified that he spoke with Parker by phone in 2001.
"I was convinced it was Bobbi Parker,” Sasser said. "Finally, I said, ‘Are you all right?’ She said, ‘I’m all right and I’m happy.’”
Parker told agents Dial threatened to harm her husband and two daughters should she ever try to escape or reveal his whereabouts. Cunningham said he thinks Parker stands a strong chance of being vindicated.
A plea deal had been discussed, according to District Attorney John Wampler. No further discussions have taken place. If convicted, Parker faces up to 10 years in prison.
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what a waste of time/taxpayer money/ they know she is guilty but she wont go to jail i am sure. she will play the victim and get off with no punishment. this is oklahoma afterall. and if she is found guilty i would be willing to bet that they will use a statue of limitations defense or something to get her off.
→2005: Oklahoma City defense attorney Garvin Isaacs defended former Nebraska football player Darren DeLone, who was acquitted by a Cleveland County jury of deliberately slamming into a University of Oklahoma spirit club member at Owen Field prior to a game with the Sooners.
→2003: A Santa Fe, N.M., jury acquitted Sapulpa’s Doug Foote of killing his mother in the mid-1970s. The case hinged heavily on DNA evidence, which Isaacs dismissed as tainted and unreliable.
→1996: Isaacs successfully defended Dr. Beryl McCann of a second-degree murder charge the death of his wife, June, whom prosecutors claim died in 1991 because her husband provided her with excessive amounts of prescription drugs. Isaacs claimed the doctor was acting in his wife’s best interests to alleviate her chronic pain.
→1991: Oklahoma County jurors found Dr. Joe Billis Reynolds guilty in the second-degree murder of his wife, who died after the doctor performed cosmetic surgery on her to remove fat. But the jury fined the millionaire doctor $1. Afterward, Isaacs said, "I’m happy. Everybody’s happy.”
→1984: An Oklahoma County jury acquitted Donald Wilson of shooting his lover’s husband to death. Wilson admitted to shooting Larry Joe Edwards in the heart with a .45-caliber pistol, but Isaacs declared the act "a classic case of self-defense ...”
→1982: In arguably the biggest case of his life, Isaacs defended fugitive Gene Leroy Hart, who was accused of raping and killing three Girl Scouts at a camp near Locust Grove on June 13, 1977. A Mayes County jury acquitted Hart after six hours of deliberation. Hart returned to prison on previous convictions, but died of an apparent heart attack three months later at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
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