Road-rage shooter could appeal sentence
Man says attorneys did not fully explain plea agreement in case.
Tulsa Road-rage shooter could appeal sentence

By Larry Levy

Published: July 16, 2008

TULSA — Kenneth Ray Gumm received a five-year suspended sentence Tuesday on a first-degree manslaughter charge that arose from a June 10, 2007, road-rage confrontation in a Tulsa parking lot.

Featured Gallery

It was the punishment recommended by the victim's family to District Judge William C. Kellough before sentencing for Gumm, 68, who pleaded guilty May 29 to the charge. Gumm had mounted a "stand your ground” defense, claiming the shooting was justified.

Gumm said later in a telephone interview with The Oklahoman that he was considering the possibility of appealing his earlier guilty plea and the sentence.

He has 10 days to appeal. If not approved by the trial judge, he may seek further relief from the state Court of Criminal Appeals.

Gumm said he pleaded guilty on the recommendation of his attorneys, who didn't give him a full explanation of the plea agreement.

Kellough said there was "a strong possibility” that Gumm might have been acquitted of the manslaughter charges if he had sought a trial rather than pleading guilty to the fatal shooting of Dale Allen Turney, 48, of Sand Springs at Riverside Park parking lot.

‘It could have been worse'

In the telephone interview, Gumm said he thought the sentence "was a fair shake; it could have been worse.”

The victim's older brother — Michael Turney — told the judge that jail time for Gumm "wouldn't do anyone any good.”

Don MacIntosh — a brother-in-law of Turney and a retired Tulsa police detective — said the family was happy with a felony conviction for Gumm, and did not feel the shooting was self-defense since it happened during daylight in a park where there were many people.

Some other family members supported a prison term for Gumm.

Gumm, who is retired and living on Social Security benefits, said that although he was not prepared to make a statement in court, he was "sorry it ever happened.”

"There was nothing else I could do,” Gumm told the judge before being sentenced. "My life was threatened.”

Turney had alcohol and methamphetamine in his system, according to the medical examiner's report, Gumm said.

As a security guard, Gumm was CLEET-certified and had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

In a later phone interview, Gumm said he was unhappy because his attorneys, who were paid by the National Rifle Association, did not tell him he could have made a no-contest plea, or that his guilty plea could have sent him to prison.

Franklyn Casey, one of Gumm's attorneys, said he spent 1½ hours explaining the agreement with Gumm.

What happened?

The shooting occurred after Gumm pulled into a parking lot and was followed by Turney's vehicle that then blocked Gumm's car, according to testimony at an earlier hearing. Before, there had been hand gesturing as both men drove along a Tulsa street.

Turney got out of the car first, and an argument with a lot of cursing and gesturing between the two men ensued until Gumm fired, according to preliminary hearing testimony.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Gumm's earlier efforts to be granted immunity from prosecution because he had a permit to carry the gun with training as a security guard.