Stillwater, Ok August, 02 (The Oklahoma Post) –
*Trigger Warning! The information in this article contains descriptions of child and legal abuse that may be upsetting to those that have been victimized or had their family traumatized by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and corrupt Oklahoma legal systems.
Recent allegations involving corruption in the Payne County Oklahoma judicial system have led to numerous Oklahoma families coming forward with their own stories of heartbreak and trauma.
The Oklahoma Post has been flooded with first-hand accounts of improprieties by local officials using coercion and violations of constitutional protections in order to secure judgments before Payne county judges. Many of these judgments involve the removal of access to their aging parents and minor children.
The District Court of Payne and Logan Counties and Judges have come under fire recently since the poor effort of DA Laura Austin Thomas to ensure murderers at least have a bail higher than Payne County misdemeanor arrestees.
Last week following whistleblower leaks, The Oklahoma Post put out a request for information from Oklahoma readers involving coercion, due process violations, and forced adoptions of Payne County Oklahoma families. This certainly isn’t corralled to the calf fry capital of the world, oh no, these violations of public trust are occurring all over the state of Oklahoma. From Wagoner, Payne, Oklahoma, Garfield, Latimore, and Muskogee Counties. One family was even settled on the other side of the continent in North Carolina before having their lives torn to shreds by the Payne County family courts. None of the families could afford attorneys then, nor now. Many of the families claimed to be fooled by the very public defender they trusted. LASO was a foreign concept to the parents. All of the families stated they were blackballed by the Payne County Bar Association.
All In The Family
Many attorneys involved in the high-profile cases now appear to be making an attempt to clear servers of the internal non-privileged communications, against the demands of letters delivered to the attorneys and prosecutors, as well as still pending discovery requests of numerous Plaintiffs. Many of the transcripts to the cases have been refused to be delivered by the court or court reporter Shelley Phillips. The data by law must be protected to ensure the information is kept available for future litigation. Injunctions are currently being prepared to ensure one of the law firms, Delacerda and Oliver (now closed) and at the center of the scandal, doesn’t delete the years of omitted and suppressed discovery from family court cases. Many families are calling for Delacerda and Oliver’s passports to be suspended immediately to prevent her departure overseas.
Of the over 50 submittals in one week’s time, nearly every family had the same handful of persons involved with the removal of not just their bonded children, but also their handicapped siblings, incapacitated mothers and grandmothers, and actions that are the exact opposite of what the public would expect a legal system to perform for people in need.
Parenting While Black
The individual cases of Alicia Vick and Marcus Hall are some of the most gut-wrenching to research. Alicia, now deceased was living a peaceful life in North Carolina, before Delacerda worked her ex-parte magic on the case. Alicia before her death spent her last days fighting the Payne County legal system for contact with her children.
Hear Alicia’s Story At : 50-minute mark.
Marcus Hall, a black man living in a white town, was falsy accused of sexually molesting his young daughter and his family is still battling to recover his good name. Since the allegations first occurred in 2015, Marcus has had limited contact with his daughter through supervised visitations, even though no charges were ever brought. As of the last accounting the racial makeup of Stillwater is as follows: White: 77.15% · Two or more races: 7.41% · Asian: 6.33% · Black or African American: 4.55% · Native American: 3.62% · Other race: 0.91% .
Most of their local church came to Marcus’s home with everything but pitchforks to remove his daughter’s items from his home. Meanwhile, Katanna stood behind, watching the crowd on the doorstep of the Hall home. That was a terrible site to see. The video is still floating around social media. Knowing then that her accusations were leading to a lifetime of harm to her then-husband, no thought was given by local officials as to his innocence. Marcus was rumored to have been speaking with a girlfriend over the phone in a friendship that began during his undergraduate college days at Langston University. The female friend of Marcus’s, who is also black, was living in another state at the time of the false accusations. Jealousy.
His ex-wife, the false accuser, on the other hand, has since been arrested twice for crimes against children. Marcus can never get that time back with his daughter and will always have to have his explanation ready for future employers.
Some of the families had no issues or DHS involvement at all; the agency seemed to have skipped all the processes of family reunification in the toolkit available to DHS. In those cases, the court went right to violating civil rights by separating bonded families. Creating separation between parent and child would prove to be an easy craft considering the mostly indigent families were requesting legal assistance from Legal Aid Services Of Oklahoma; an organization with Delacerda and Oliver on the Board of Directors, and prosecutor Brenda Nipp at one time serving as the Payne County LASO representative. An easy trick to perform, while Delacerda and Oliver sit on the Disciplinary Board of the Oklahoma Bar Association.
Many families that submitted their information to the Oklahoma Post admitted that they were at their most vulnerable moments in life, living in a state that has claimed millions, if not billions in settlements and sin money in order to account for the “damage” created by those societal miscues, such as the opioid crisis. Removing a parent’s children permanently is throwing the baby out with the bathwater, which is the norm in Payne County. Take the Oklahoma Opioid lawsuit for example; a case that saw the victory money returned to the drug makers by our own Oklahoma Supreme Court. The same Oklahoma Supreme court often hears firsthand about opioid addictions, human trafficking, and the real problems these human families faced at one point. A battle only compounded by the lack of support services and denial of familial bonds. The State can not figure out who to blame I suppose; the heroin dealers’ riches are growing across our southern border, the corruption is increasing, and the laws allowing liberty to be exercised are being rounded at every corner, but the answer seems to be the bullying of the most vulnerable of families.
Public health experts, including police officers, believe the modern opioid epidemic started in the late 1990s when major drug-makers, distributors and pharmacy chains began selling pain pills aggressively. The State of Oklahoma also recognized the effects of the major pharmaceuticals terror on families, in particular their unity, and has attempted to profit from both the supplier and the victims.
Good Enough To Die For the US, Not Worthy Of His Birthright
One such story involves a separated Payne County Oklahoma family and their Oklahoma City grandmother who was served with a Victims Protective Order (VPO) from the Payne County courts in mid-July. The VPO attempts to cease visits with a disabled minor child family member, who is currently in the state foster care system. The grandmother has a religious objection to the foster parent and claims her family was railroaded by the Payne County legal system. The family also believes the child was removed under false pretenses.
During this week’s hearings involving the VPO in Stillwater, no cameras were present, but the Stillwater legal elite were all aware of the red carpet affair. No, it wasn’t the private affair awards ceremony for Melissa DeLacerda’s retirement from the profession, no it wasn’t a Stillwater Community Page Watch What Happens Live! hosted by Andy Cohen and Stillwater socialite Johnathan Udoku. This day in court was in fact, a showing of power and intimidation against a devoted family and a set of CASA whistleblowers who were secretly present in the gallery in support of the grandmother and her family. Taking center stage was the foster mother of the grandmother’s disabled grandson, but there wouldn’t be any video playbacks of the events in question for this sh%* show.
According to witnesses, the court has yet to review evidence, other than in an ex-parte hearing, following the foster mother’s allegations. The grandmother objected to the hearing, to the credibility of the evidence, and demanded a hearing in which evidence would be expected to be presented upon arrival if this was a VPO hearing. The case was continued by Associate District Judge Kulling.
The grandmother, who herself is concerned for her safety, also informed Judge Kulling that threats have been made by the foster mother, who is allegedly heavily involved in the same community church as Payne County assistant DA Brenda J. Nipp; the local church google listing states it has been temporarily closed. Maybe their finances are in trouble due to the recession?
Siblings of the minor were present at the hearing and spoke to The Oklahoma Post when coming down the long granite staircase, “As a sibling, I don’t understand why no one ever questioned why the foster parent’s violations and threats to us continue to be ignored often by the court and District Attorney’s office. We are perfectly capable of caring for our family members, but they won’t let us,” stated 21-year-old sister Scout Martinez.
The father of the foster child is a war veteran who was suffering from symptoms of PTSD at the time of the child’s adoption. It has been claimed by a whistleblower that he was coerced into giving away his rights “temporarily” in hopes of still seeing his child on visits, but the DA then immediately brought a minor criminal charge into the mix at the family court hearings in which placement and parental rights determinations were subsequently made. No services were offered to the vet in lieu of taking his children, the family states.
The Otherworldly Tulsa and Stillwater Media Silence
Much like the public, the judges were only given a slice of the evidentiary pie at that hearing. The ex-parte information secretly delivered to the judges is often laden with poisonous fruit prior to making life-altering decisions for Oklahoma families. Legally, poisonous fruit, as the metaphor suggests, means if the evidential “tree” is tainted, so is its “fruit.” The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine is important because it keeps prosecutors from using evidence illegally obtained by law enforcement, including any prosecutors’ illegal activities. This doctrine also helps deter negligent or reckless police misconduct. In these cases, the reverse of the logic was used to defraud.
Oklahoma often pays lip service to the principle of accountability for its public officials. One case that serves to prove the point is the assigned prosecutor Nipp’s own family trust case. Documents have been submitted in court that shows Mrs. Nipp argued in a written brief against the necessity of following DHS policy and procedure and the state and federal laws that the policy is based upon. In other words, she acknowledged that DHS did not follow policy and the outcome would have been different in one particular case, but the federal, state and DHS agency procedure wasn’t necessary for the family… in her opinion.
According to public documents obtained on OSCN, Mrs. Nipp is no stranger to ignoring the law and court orders. She was found in contempt of court in Tulsa County in a case involving the distribution of her deceased mother’s family trust in Case # PT-2015-3.
On August 5th, 2020 an order was entered removing her as Trustee and finding her in contempt of court for failure to provide an accounting of property of the trust. The opposing party, in an unbiased court, found that she was worthy of disbarment should one Gina Hyndrx ever feel so enlighted to do her job as an official leader with the State of Oklahoma Bar Association. The court’s ruling was in response to a motion filed by her brother. She failed to appear and “provided no response to that motion”.
In a Final Accounting and Proposed Settlement document filed with the court on October 5, 2021, the trustee makes this statement – “to distribute Richard Jenkins share to Brenda Nipp would enrich Brenda Nipp for not adhering to the terms of the Trust at subsection 9.1 when Brenda Nipp was the sole trustee.” The statement leads a reader to believe she stole from a defenseless person.
Oklahoma public agencies and the Payne County District Attorney’s Office have allegedly enriched more than one person by not adhering to the OK DHS written policy, state statute and federal law. The wonderful Mrs. Patty Cooley passed away 2019-11-10 in Stillwater, Oklahoma and was allegedly defrauded. She was the husband of Mr. Johnnie Cooley who passed away 2020-2-9 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Cooley’s family insiders have alleged persons in the DA’s office used the powerful family attorney Melissa Delacerda, who was allegedly having an affair with Mr. Cooley and stealing their family fortune.
The complaint from the whistleblower states that Delacerda interfered with and harassed the family, even filing false VPOs, in which the DA’s office signs off, to keep a daughter from caring for her dying mother in a Stillwater nursing home. The daughter claimed Delacerda saw her as a roadblock to the inheritance that would be left by the now deceased family member. A separate whistleblower to the fraud provided pictures to The Oklahoma Post indicating threats against law enforcement were made by Delacerda if they stepped in to assist the grieving daughter. The lost time with her mother can never be replaced.
Sources have reported that Mrs. Nipp acknowledged being a Jehovah’s Witness, which is allowed under all circumstances for her profession. The Oklahoma Post is not suggesting that they are a cult that infiltrates vulnerable community elders to steal wealth, but the group certainly has perfected the public notion and trademarked certain practices that are relevant to this case. The placement of the child is not ALL about Brenda Nipp, as much as her ego would like the situation to read; however, it is against policy to place children in an objectional home and it is immoral for OK DHS to place children in the homes of Jehovah’s Witness families unless the children were removed from a family who also practiced that belief. The personal account and beliefs can’t be taken away, their objection to the religious surroundings must at least be heard for the safety of the child. Sure, all “Denominations” have been known to steal, it’s just the JW’s don’t necessarily believe in reporting child abuse. There are reports the child is currently being abused. That is the crux of the family’s pleadings with the court, before being shut out of the process.
The Family’s First Act also prohibits the unchecked removal of children from family members, especially those who are military veterans or those with mental health issues. Many of the “issues” were actually created by the family court system recklessness and those few corrupt officers of the court.
Mrs. Nipp, however, is no stranger to ignoring the law and manipulating the system for her own gain and neither are the other Payne County attorneys who have assisted in the defrauding of families. It is not a stretch to concur that she would be willing and able to do the same for her friends in faith. According to a second whistleblower complaint, the county has had multiple reports of children being placed with Jehovah’s Witness families without the parents being notified. This is a clear violation of DHS policy and should also be acknowledged as a civil rights violation; if an Oklahoma agency were to care. House District 33 representative John Talley was made aware of the situation through numerous attempts to gain their attention by the victim’s family.
Shh It’s A Secret
The first week of July, 2022 a semi-formal sit-down meeting was held for a couple of families to address their concerns at Aspen Coffee in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Mr. Talley prayed with the family members following the meeting and also offered his thoughts. A full list of the families for a class action complaint and grand jury petition was promised to be compiled and delivered for submission to the one-time Oklahoma State wrestler and Fellowship of Christian Athlete minister.
At the meeting, Mr. Talley stated that there was hope around the corner as a new state Attorney General was now sure to be introduced to the state this November. The air grew heavy during the moment and silence could be detected within the echoing racket of the cool slate floors, as most of the members present realize that candidate Gentner Drummond is blood relative to presiding judge Phillip C. Corley, who has allowed this nonsense to occur in his courtrooms for a decade with no retribution for families. Corley is also an ex-collegiate wrestler along with representative Talley. Corley, a Knights of Columbus member is known to be fraternizing with AG Oconner and several of the persons who were alleged to have committed crimes against minors. Those cases against his fellow Knights were never investigated without report fraud and witness intimidation involved. On the open prairies of central Oklahoma there is always a religious test for an elected position. The public shouldn’t be surprised when the quizzes pop into our courtrooms.
Unsurprisingly, the religious affiliation test never seems to work in the favor of the indigent parent. Their takes on the matter seem to be lost amongst the stacks of adoption industry paperwork and their senses overloaded by the smell of musty dollar bills. The foster child’s Bill of Rights, which Oklahoma DHS incorporates by reference, clearly states that children will not be required to participate in religious activities that they are not ok with. Of course, one way to get around this is to place children in questionable homes who are too young to voice an objection.
According to Oklahoma law and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation website, the OSBI is an assisting agency and can only respond to requests for investigations from officers of the court and law from within the county the crimes are occurring and the Governor I believe. Local law enforcement may have been kept in the dark about the improprieties. According to their website and MOU’s with each police department the ability of the OSBI to protect Oklahomans is very limited in comparison to other states, “OSBI has original jurisdiction on investigations involving auto theft, oil field theft, computer crimes, threats to public officials, violent crimes that occur on the turnpike, organized crime, criminal conspiracies, and threats of violent crime.”
Some of the other policies that Nipp has flouted are the requirements to notify all family members of children in custody, failure to perform a diligent search for kin, and the use of misdemeanor charges to deny approval of family placement. In those actions, freedom of speech violations occurred, due process violations, including potential acts under the color of law. As the investigation continues, more and more disheartening information surfaces.
The Oklahoma Post has reviewed information related to the case and believes the community of Stillwater would be appalled at the continued pattern of civil rights violations had they been given information from local media. Stillwater NewsPress, once a pillar of the community has been suffering under the ownership of Alabama media empire CNHI.
We will keep updating this story as information comes to light regarding the case.
(Writing by Gregory Moyer; Editing by Robbie Robertson)
Copyright 2022 The Oklahoma Post
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