Blast From The Past
DA, officials at odds over use of funds
District Attorney Wes Lane wrote to the Oklahoma County Budget Board this week, seeking money for computers and staff salaries and suggesting it come from funds now spent for community support and economic development.
The letter surprised some board members, who said they spend that money for a bus route in the poorest part of the county and on hot meals and other programs for the elderly.
*NOTE HERE A DIFFERENT STAND IN THING ABOUT BEING WORRIED ABOUT PEOPLE STEALING FROM THE ELDERLY
MAY BE THE UP COMING RE -ELECTION OR JUST AWAY TO DISTRACT FROM OTHER ISSUES HE DOES NOT WANT TO ADDRESS.
LETS SEE WHAT WAS THAT OH YES SEX OFFENDERS IN NURSING HOMES FOR WHICH THEY JUST PASSED A BILL FOR PROTECTING THE NURSING HOMES IF THEY DO NOT WISH TO INFORM THE FAMILIES IN CASE THEY WOULD NOT WANT THEIR LOVE ONES LIVING THERE
I MY UNDERSTANDING IS RIGHT THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF A NURSING HOME IS TO PROVIDE CARE FOR THE ONES STAYING THERE THAT THE FAMILIES MY NOT BE ABLY TO PROVIDE AND OH YES PROVIDE A SAFE AND SECURE PLACE FOR THEM TO LIVE
"I'm going to give him (Lane) the benefit of the doubt that he is not cognizant of what those funds are used for," District 3 Commissioner Stan Inman said. "I think that once he finds out that those funds are used to support the elderly of the county and the indigent people of the county, I think he will reconsider his request that we not fund those people in
order to free up the funds to give him for pay increases."
I WONDER WHO HE MEANT ????
Lane said Friday he suggested those funds because they are not statutorily required. The money he is asking for is a legal obligation of the county, he said.
"You are comparing people to people," Lane said. "You are talking about victims of crimes. We are talking about old people here, too. We are talking about children here, too. I don't tell the Legislature what to do. I don't tell the Oklahoma County Budget Board what to do. I do have an obligation under the law to tell them what their responsibilities are."
HE SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT CHILDREN IN THIS STATEMENT
OKC man admits to killing his 12-year-old stepdaughter. In exchange for his plea, killer is sentenced to only 10-years in jail and does not have to disclose the location of the victims body. Family members speak out, claiming that DA Lane was more interested in insuring a conviction than justice for the victim and family.
Budget board members voted Tuesday to cut $112,940 they had been giving the district attorney to supplement his salary and the salaries of his chief deputies.
2 days later, Lane sent a letter to the eight elected officials who serve on the board, notifying them they have not been providing his office with legally required funding for other purposes.
Lane is asking county officials to come up with at least $130,000 to pay for the "true cost" of advising county officials and representing them in legal disputes. He said he will use some of the money to pay for his support staff.
I GUESS MONEY WAS NOT THE ISSUE AS TO WHY THEIR LEAVING
He also wants the county to replace computers in his office and provide additional resources for the county law library. Lane said the county is legally required to pay for those needs.
"Please understand this is purely a business decision, albeit one that I believe is logically demanded. I must find money to be able to keep top- notch prosecutors on my staff," Lane's letter said.
Inman, chairman of the budget board, said the county already provides the district attorney with computers, a law library and some of the other items mentioned in Lane's letter.
Lane did not notify the board of its legal responsibilities identified in the letter during the budget process. He said he discovered the board had not been paying for all of its legal requirements after the board ended the salary supplement and he began looking for alternative funding sources.
"I really think that we have over the years gone into a routine that has been going on for several years in which we just routinely asked for the supplemental funding," Lane said.
County Assessor Mike Means said Lane could save plenty of money by ending the prosecution of Oklahoma City bombing defendant Terry Nichols.
Prosecutor Wes Lane, who pursued the murder charges filed by his predecessor, Robert Macy, said the prosecution was about seeking justice for the other victims, not securing the death penalty. "Justice was getting their day in court," he said.
Victims' family members crusade against death penalty Vengeance not the answer say relatives of those killed
Means said a bus route that serves the poorest in the county and hot meals for senior citizens should take precedence over the Nichols trial.
"Wes and I have never talked about this because he was elected district attorney, not me," Means said. "But Mike Means' personal opinion is I think I would have reached an agreement -- no death penalty, he pleads guilty and we move on."
Means said the Nichols trial is costing the county millions of dollars and not all of it is from Lane's office. Sheriff John Whetsel has also taken on a financial burden because of Nichols' trial.
THE TRAIL ENDED BACK UP IN A PLEA BARGAIN
"We take extraordinary measures on certain individuals that we shouldn't
have to," Means said.
IT NOW SEEMS HISTORY REPEATING ITS SELF
Lane said prosecuting death penalty cases is a matter of protecting the
public.
LIKE MAY BE PROTECTING THE ELDERLY FROM SEX OFFENDERS THEY ARE THE PUBLIC TOO
"Whether or not it costs money to pursue justice, what value is the message that is sent out to the criminal element that we will hunt you down and string you up if you kill one of the people in my community," Lane said. "People will have to decide on their own whether that was worth it."
WES Lane DA OF OKLAHOMA figures his $8 million annual budget would have to be about $80 million without plea deals.
Plea bargains help save taxpayer dollars, moving people through the justice system, the attorneys claim.
THIS STATEMENT MAKES IT SOUND MORE LIKE THEIR HERDING CATTLE IN THE OLD WEST RATHER THAN A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
``Every case that you dispose of means that you're not having to subpoena in police officers, which means that a police department is not having to pay overtime,''
SO IN OTHER WORDS THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY STAY UNDER BUDGET AND DON'T HAVE TO PROVIDE OVER TIME. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SEEING IF THE ONES THEY ARREST ARE REALLY GUILTY.
Means and Inman also took issue with some of the legal assertions Lane makes in his letter.
"Normally, I would ask our attorneys that are provided to us from the district attorney's office for an opinion on that, but I don't know who to turn to now," Inman said. "This is kind of an awkward position since he is required by law to be the attorney for the county officers and we aren't obviously going to be able to ask him for an independent ruling on those
areas."
Means and Inman said they may be willing to address additional funding for the district attorney when the county discusses its supplemental budget in September.
Lane said he wants to work with the budget board to get the matter
resolved.
"We're not asking for the moon when people don't have the moon to give," Lane said. "We just want what we need to keep the best prosecutors we can get to deal with these tough cases."
NO NOT GIVE THE MOON JUST BELIEVE YOU BULL THAT'S BEEN PUT OUT. AS TO THE TOUGH CASES THE WAY YOU HANDLE THEM MAKES THEM UN FAIR MAY BE BUT TOUGH I DON'T THINK SO
THIS IS WHAT THEY WOULD LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE
BRING JUSTICE BACK TO OKLAHOMA
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