STATE BRIEFS
Court and Crime Briefs: Friday, July 25, 2008

Published: July 25, 2008

NORMAN — Greg Mashburn was named Oklahoma's outstanding district attorney for 2008 on Thursday. Mashburn is serving his first term as district attorney for Cleveland, Garvin and McClain counties.

The Oklahoma District Attorneys Association, which sponsors the annual award, cited Mashburn for his integrity in office, and his state leadership role in lobbying for legislation and money for prosecutors, as well as his successes in the courtroom.

Mashburn successfully prosecuted the high-profile case of Kevin Ray Underwood in March. Underwood was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the April 2006 killing of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin.

Mike Gahan, an assistant prosecutor in Canadian County, was named outstanding assistant district attorney for 2008. Lorie Bell of Pottawatomie County was honored as the state's outstanding victim-witness coordinator.

Other award recipients are Sam Hernandez of Bryan County, outstanding investigator; Keri Avant of Garfield County, outstanding bogus check clerk, and Carrie Good of Pottawatomie County, outstanding secretary.

Staff Writer Jane Glenn Cannon

WAGONER — A Wagoner County judge has reinstated the operating license of a Broken Arrow home day-care provider that faced being shut down for housing children during an ice storm-related power outage.

District Judge Darrell Shepherd on Tuesday issued an order overturning the state Department of Human Services' revocation of Krina Hendricks' day-care license, reinstating it.

DHS revoked Hendricks' license in April for alleged violations related to her keeping children during the widespread power outages after December's ice storm.

Hendricks kept children for several of her customers, who also did not have power and had no other alternative, for periods over more than a week during the outage.

Shepherd wrote that the decision to revoke her license did not give due consideration to the extreme hardships the power outage caused for everyone or the fact that Hendricks' record as a child care provider was unblemished.

The Associated Press

El Reno attorney Bobby Wayne Hughey was appointed Thursday to a Canadian County associate district judge post by Gov. Brad Henry.

Hughey, 48, graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1985. He has been employed in private practice since 1991.

Before that he served as Yukon's city attorney.

Hughey has served as a guardian in child custody and visitation disputes in Canadian County, and has been actively involved in the Canadian County drug court program.

CATOOSA — Police in Catoosa have arrested three teenagers accused of burglarizing at least 10 cars.

The rash of burglaries occurred Tuesday night in a Catoosa neighborhood.

Officers say 18-year-olds Renaldo Love and Lloyd Guerrero and a 16-year-old juvenile were arrested Tuesday night on complaints of second-degree burglary and possession of stolen property.

Police say they recovered about $3,500 in stolen property.

The Associated Press

BARTLESVILLE — Bartlesville police say a man wanted in Waco, Texas, on a federal bomb charge has been arrested in Bartlesville.

Police Chief Tom Holland said local, state and federal authorities arrested Gordon Whitehead, 41, at a home in west Bartlesville on Thursday morning.

Authorities said Whitehead was charged with possessing a destructive device and for possessing a pipe bomb in Waco.

The Associated Press

TULSA — An argument between brothers late Wednesday left one of them dead and the other in police custody, Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said.

Michael Harley, 41, was arrested on a first-degree murder complaint. He is accused of fatally stabbing his brother, Clifford Harley, 47.

Officers responding to a 911 call just before midnight found the elder Harley dead of an apparent stab wound in the chest area, Willingham said.

He said Michael Harley fled the scene but was captured without incident a short distance from the crime scene.

Willingham said authorities are unsure as to why the men had been fighting.

State Correspondent Sheila Stogsdill

MANNFORD — An oil well that was being cleaned blew out and caught on fire, injuring two workers.

The accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. about four miles east of Mannford. Davenport says two trucks involved in the fire were destroyed.

George Davenport, managing partner of High Plains Well Service, said the workers were burned Wednesday after oil spewed out of the well and ignited on the exhaust pipe of a truck parked nearby.

Davenport did not identify the workers. He said one suffered a second-degree burn on an elbow, while the other had first-degree burns on the back of his neck.

Both men were taken to a Tulsa hospital.