Defendants win criminal and civil trials

 

The current Custer County jury docket limped to a close this week with jurors hearing one criminal case and one civil case, and finding for the defendant in both.
In the criminal case Carl Dickson, 60, was found not guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon against Bernard Barron, 58. Both men were living in Clinton when the incident on which the charge was based occurred June 7, 2018.
In the civil case Jacob Wenrich was found not liable monetarily for injuries sustained by Rondena Williams in an automobile accident that occurred June 14, 2014, in or near Butler. Jurors awarded Ms. Williams, the plaintiff, nothing for her medical bills or suffering. She had sued for more than $100,000.
Papers filed in the case did not say where the parties were living either at the time of the accident or now. All attorneys had Oklahoma City addresses.
Two other criminal cases were continued to later dates. They were those of 70-year-old Jackie Robinson of Mus-kogee and 24-year-old Robert Meeks of Clinton.
Robinson is charged with possession of a firearm after former conviction of a felony. The firearm was a loaded 9-millimeter Ruger pistol allegedly found in the glovebox of an automobile he was driving June 9, 2018, after being convicted of possessing a firearm after former conviction of a felony in 2017 in Mayes County. He also is charged with three misdemeanors. 
The case was continued at the defendant’s request because his attorney was asking to withdraw as counsel. Associate District Judge Donna Dirickson ordered Robinson to have new counsel hired by April 15 but continued the case to the next pre-trial docket on Aug. 16.
Meeks is charged with first-degree burglary for allegedly entering a Clinton woman’s house through a back bedroom window around 3 a.m. on July 17, 2018, while she was sleeping. She told police she was awakened by someone pulling on her shorts, but she apparently suffered no physical injuries.
Dickson was charged with assault, battery, or assault and battery. Jurors apparently had their choice of any of those three crimes but found him guilty of none.
He had been accused of stabbing Barron in the back or shoulder with a paring knife. The victim was not seriously hurt.
Papers filed by defense lawyers in the civil case indicate the plaintiff, Ms. Williams, claimed she had been “billed” for medical expenses far exceeding the $100,000 asked for in her suit. In addition, her lawyer sought interest and attorney fees.
In their papers defense lawyers claimed Williams’ health insurer had paid nearly $29,000 of her billed medical expenses and the rest had been written off by medical providers.
In a “Summary of Argument” the defense attorneys wrote: “Under Oklahoma Law, Plaintiff is only permitted to claim as damages or submit evidence of bills which represent the actual amount she is obligated to pay, or amounts actually paid, for her treatment.”
It said she had been legally obligated to pay only $28,986.71 of the billed amount of $105,404.29.
Defense attorneys also insisted the injuries she was seeking payment for were neither caused nor aggravated by the accident involving their client. It said they were preexisting injuries and were not a result of health care problems that showed up after the accident.
 
 

Clinton Daily News

522 Avant Avenue
Clinton, OK 73601
Phone: 580-323-5151
Fax: 580-323-5154