Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules City Violated Law in Cutting Police Budget
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on April 13 that the Norman City Council violated the state’s Open Meeting Act, or Sunshine Act, when it approved a budget that slashed $865,000 from police department funding in June last year, amid calls to “defund the police” spurred by social justice advocates in response to the May death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The state’s top court unanimously upheld a December ruling from the Cleveland County District Court that found cutting the sum from the police department’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget violated the law, after the Norman Fraternal Order of Police filed a lawsuit against the city council.
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Cleveland County District Court will begin a new set of jury trials April 12, including a death penalty case involving a Texas man.
Joseph Fidel Alliniece, 32, of Missouri City, Texas, will stand before a jury in District Judge Lori Walkleyâs courtroom following the 2018 death of Norman resident Brittani Young, 27.
According to a Norman police affidavit, officers found Young on April 24, 2018, dead inside her Emerald Greens Apartments residence. Police believe Alliniece stomped her to death.
Alliniece also faces two counts of kidnapping and one count of robbery by force or fear â all felonies â because one of Youngâs friends and the friendâs 2-year-old daughter were inside the apartment and witnessed the alleged murder.
By News Director Jared Atha
An Elk City man was charged March 26 after allegedly helping a prisoner escape from the Lexington Correctional Center in early March.
29-year-old Dillon Hill was charged in Cleveland County District Court after he allegedly drove Lexington inmate Matthew Perry from the facility.
Perry was taken into custody without incident on the evening of March 12 in Sayre by the Beckham County Sheriff’s Office, Sayre Police Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and agents of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General.
According to a court affidavit, an Oklahoma Department of Corrections agent reported that Perry, who was an active member of the Irish Mob Gang, was indicted March 2 along with other gang members, and Hill assisted in his escape March 7. A Cleveland County District Judge issued a bench warrant with a $50,000 bond March 12 to the DOC after reviewing probable cause.
MorgueFile
A Norman woman pled guilty Tuesday in Cleveland County District Court to first-degree murder following a fatal 2019 stabbing.
Allison Annette Cometsevah, 32, confessed to Norman police and turned herself in after fatally stabbing Billy Phillip Skinner, 57, on July 2, 2019.
Police said that in 2019, early indications suggested the suspect and victim had only recently met.
District Judge Thad Balkman accepted her guilty plea and will hold formal sentencing at 3 p.m. May 19.
Cometsevah was previously arrested for multiple charges of possession of a dangerous substance along with numerous moving violations like driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license.
Norman woman convicted of embezzlement
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