TPD Blog

Sex-offender law under scrutiny

A felon's third child-molestation charge prompts concerns.

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Published: 8/15/2009 

The case of a convicted sex offender who was charged Friday with the kidnapping and lewd molestation of a 23-month-old girl has raised concerns among law enforcement and legislators about the state's sex-offender law and sentencings.

Marcus Berry, 56, has two previous child-molestation convictions, and he was arrested twice on violations of the sex-offender law. The first time he was charged with not registering as a sex offender, a jury acquitted him based on his claim that he couldn't register because he was homeless.

The second time — after again claiming to be homeless — he pleaded guilty and received a two-year probation.

Berry was arrested Wednesday night after two patrol officers found him and the girl — both partially dressed — in a pickup that was parked in a field, police said. The girl had been snatched from her family's front yard after she wandered out of a gate on the side of the house.

At the time, the Department of Corrections listed Berry as a registered sex offender with a Sand Springs address.

District Attorney Tim Harris said that based on Berry's prior felony convictions, he faces 20 years to life in prison if he is convicted of the kidnapping charge and up to life, with or without parole, on the lewd-molestation-of-a-minor charge.

But police, prosecutors and legislators have been debating whether the state's sex-offender law failed in this case and whether more could have been done to prevent Berry's arrest on a third child-molestation offense.

The "homeless defense" is an issue police and prosecutors have struggled with previously.

In January 2008, a Tulsa World analysis showed that more than 20 sex offenders were registered as homeless in Tulsa. But police said the majority of those offenders were not homeless at all.

Reporting that they are is just one way the offenders have learned to cope with the state law that precludes them from living in most of Tulsa, police said.

A state law that went into effect in 2006 made about 90 percent of the city off limits to sex offenders by prohibiting them from living within 2,000 feet of playgrounds, parks or child-care facilities.

Previously, 550 sex offenders were registered in Tulsa, but the list is now down to about 300. Many offenders have moved to rural areas, but others are just refusing to register, police say.

"You have to wonder, where did the other 200 go?" Tulsa Police Sgt. John Adams said.

He suggested that residence restrictions be loosened, perhaps decreasing the restricted boundary around schools from 2,000 to 1,000 feet and removing the prohibition against offenders living near parks.

Such changes would make it easier for sex offenders to find a place to live legally and would therefore make them more likely to register their addresses, police say.

Adams also suggested that mandatory sentences be set for violations of the sex-offender laws.

"The point is that we know where they are," he said. "So we make it a little easier for them to find a place to live and then, if they fail to register, they are gone on a mandatory five-year sentence."

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in a previous Tulsa County failure-to-register case that homelessness was a legitimate defense.

Assistant District Attorney John Lackey, who prosecuted that case, argued that the Sex Offenders Registration Act imposes strict liability on offenders to register and that failure to do so is criminal regardless of the intent. Lackey asked the appeals court to provide jury instructions for failure-to-register cases and to make the statute's language more specific.

While preparing the case, Lackey did research on the homeless-defense issue and found that other states already have measures to deal with the problem. Some states require an offender to check in with the appropriate agency daily or every few days, he said.

Oklahoma's "sex-offender registration statute makes it almost impossible for the sex offenders to find a home, and then we don't address what happens when they don't have a home," Lackey said.

In reaction to Berry's arrest, Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, announced Friday that he plans to file legislation that would address loopholes in the state sex-offender laws and strengthen sentencing.

Duncan said the legislation would eliminate the homeless defense as an excuse for not registering and would allow those convicted of failing to register to receive 20-year prison sentences.

Under current law, a child molester can face a sentence of 25 years to life with parole possible for a first offense. Duncan's proposal would increase the maximum penalty for first offenders to life without parole. It also would allow the death penalty to be considered for those convicted of second offenses.

However, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case last summer effectively tossed out an Oklahoma law that allowed the death penalty for repeat child molesters. In the Louisiana case, the high court limited capital punishment to those who commit murder.

Berry's previous child-molestation convictions were in 1986 and 1993. In the most recent case, Berry was sentenced to 30 years in prison. But he was convicted before 2000, when a law took effect requiring those convicted of offenses such as lewd molestation to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Because of the earned credit system, he was released from prison on Oct. 3, 2006, not quite 13 years after his 30-year sentence was imposed.

Sex offender registries
Search sex-offender registries in your area.

Tulsa: tulsaworld.com/tpdsexoffenders

Tulsa County and suburbs: tulsaworld.com/offenderwatch

Oklahoma Department of Corrections: tulsaworld.com/docsexoffenders

Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com

Tulsa Police: Divine Intervention Led To Sex Offender's Arrest

Posted: Aug 13, 2009 8:32 PM CDT
KOTV-Tulsa

By Ashli Sims, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The two Tulsa Police officers who discovered Marcus Berry, Sr. with the 2-year-old girl say it's pretty incredible they even found her. 

The officers discovered Berry and the little girl before the call even went out that she was missing.  If it weren't for a glance out of the corner of an eye, they might have driven right on by.

The officers weren't searching for an abducted child. They weren't trying to match a suspect description. They were just patrolling an unfamiliar road.

"A lot of what we do is good cop instinct. And, a lot of it is luck. Last night had nothing to do with both. It was divine intervention, completely," said Tulsa Police Officer Mark Wollmershauser, Jr.

Officer Mark Wollmershauser, Jr. says a divine hand steered him and his partner Officer Stephanie Blann to a deserted gravel road.

Officers say they barely saw Marcus Berry's truck that was parked far off the road. They say 30 minutes later, it would have been dark. With all of the tall grass in the area, they never would have seen it.

But, Officer Wollmershauser caught sight of a tail light out of the corner of his eye.  The two officers approached the truck and said they knew immediately something wasn't right.

"He was acting really weird, and at one point, put it in reverse. So, we thought he was gonna flee or run us over. We had no idea there was a kid in the car," said Tulsa Police Officer Stephanie Blann.

"I see his pants are undone. Still, don't see the little girl. Just ask him what's going on. And then, he finally tells me he's with the little girl, and it all clicked. And, got really awful at that point," said Tulsa Police Officer Mark Wollmershauser, Jr.

He says he grabbed Berry and Blann scooped up the baby girl.

"She was as sweet as anything. And, she looked up at us. And, Officer Blann got her from the passenger side and got her outta the truck and just held on to her," said Tulsa Police Officer Mark Wollmershauser, Jr.

And, that's when the call crackled across the police radio.

"They put the call out and her clothing description. And, I was looking right at her. Everything matched," said Tulsa Police Officer Stephanie Blann.

The little girl is now home with her family.  The suspect is behind bars.  And, two Tulsa Police officers are being called heroes.           

"More than likely they saved this little girl's life or who knows what they prevented. But, because they did a good job we got this child back," said Tulsa Police Sgt. John Adams.

Both officers shrug off the hero talk.  But, they are frustrated that a two-time convicted sex offender would even have the opportunity to hurt another victim.

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=10928418

Copyright KOTV 2009. Format differs from original publication.

Community Crackdown - Citizens key to program's success

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Published: 7/19/2009 

For three decades, Tulsa's Crime Stoppers program has been cracking down on crime by paying rewards to people who report criminals to police.

Tips from Tulsa-area residents have helped police solve thousands of felony crimes, recover millions of dollars worth of stolen property and narcotics, and catch dangerous fugitives.

The key is anonymity.

"This is just an avenue for people to tell us what is going on in the community," said Officer Jason Willingham, the Tulsa Police Department's Crime Stoppers coordinator.

"We only have so many officers, and we can't put them on every block. We realize that people are afraid of retaliation, and this gives people the opportunity to tell us about a crime without putting their names out there."

Crime Stoppers is a core program of the Citizens Crime Commission — a nonprofit organization that brings together Tulsa residents, businesses and law enforcement — that was founded in Tulsa in February 1979. Crime Stoppers rewards are provided through individual and corporate donations.

"What I am so proud of is that it really shows private-public partnership," said Carol Bush, the Crime Commission's executive director.

In its first year, Crime Stoppers solved 99 felony cases, 81 arrests were made, and stolen goods worth $139,549 were recovered.

In the last 30 years, more than $500,000 has been awarded for information that led detectives to solve more than 5,500 felony cases. The amount of stolen property and narcotics recovered totals more than $12 million.

'Thief Takers'
When the program started, the first Crime Stoppers coordinator for the Tulsa Police Department, now-retired Officer Ed Jackson, said in a newspaper story that the Crime Stoppers concept had begun about 400 years earlier in England with a program called "Thief Takers."

But that program had a fatal flaw, he said. Authorities failed to check the validity of most information, arresting everyone who was reported without regard to the facts.

In contrast, Sgt. Mike Huff, supervisor of the Tulsa Police Department's Homicide Unit, said that "when I review these tips every day, I am looking for something really rich in details that really only the killer would know. I can tell you there have been days where I have immediately sent the whole squad out to validate a crime tip because it was so rich in details."

When Tulsa's program began, Jackson had to convince a few people that the concept would work.

Some business owners feared the attention it would bring to crimes that had occurred at their shops, and naysayers doubted the public would cooperate and the award money would entice tips.

But even when Crime Stoppers started here three decades ago, the Crime Commission offered up to $1,000 to get the worst-of-the-worst criminals off the streets, and soon the promise of rewards started bringing in valuable tips.

Since the program began, the Tulsa Police Department has designated one of its officers as a coordinator or liaison to the program.

Willingham said the Crime Stoppers hot line, 596-COPS, averages about 315 tips a month. The program added Web-based tips and text messages last year as alternative ways of submitting tips. Willingham reads them all and forwards them to the appropriate investigator.

If a tip leads to an arrest, the Crime Commission board determines how much reward money should be paid. The tipster then arranges to pick up the reward at a local bank.

But not all tipsters are in it for the money. To date this year, only 39 percent of the tipsters who qualify for rewards have picked them up, Willingham said.

"That says right there that it is not always about the money. It is about being able to make our community a little safer and remaining anonymous."

Bush said officials started noticing a downturn in Crime Stoppers calls about two summers ago after a high-profile shooting at a Tulsa park. At the time, police said that the "no snitch" culture was impairing investigations.

"We started going out in neighborhoods, reminding people how anonymous it is. These calls are not even being answered here; they are being answered in Canada."

Call-takers at an answering service there write down the tips and provide callers with numbers they can later use to check on the status of their tips with the police Crime Stoppers coordinator, she said.

"Jason (Willingham) and I are pretty happy with the fact our arrest rates are up," Bush said. "With that 'you snitch, you die' thing that was going on, no one was calling."

Huff said he is encouraged that the number of tips has increased recently. The anonymity, he said, "is what makes the Crime Stoppers program really work."

Springboard to politics
Several people who have worked in Tulsa's Crime Stoppers program have gone on to careers in politics.

They include state Rep. Lucky Lamons, a former police officer who served as the program's coordinator from 1994 through 2002.

Without a doubt, Lamons believes that his visibility with the Crime Stoppers program helped boost his political career. He won his first election with 71 percent of the vote and his second election with 73 percent of the vote.

Former Mayor Susan Savage, now secretary of state in Gov. Brad Henry's administration, was instrumental in setting up the program when she served as director of the Citizens Crime Commission.

State Rep. Jeannie McDaniel worked with the Crime Commission from 1981 until 1991, serving as executive director for four of those years.

Former Tulsa Police Officer Scott Walton served as Crime Stoppers coordinator for the department. He was elected sheriff of Rogers County last year.

Although it has been several years since Lamons was the Crime Stoppers coordinator, he said he still remembers certain calls vividly. One such call assisted in the Oct. 24, 1996, homicide investigation of Trisha Stemple.

Stemple's husband had told police that he began searching for his wife when she failed to return from a 2:30 a.m. shopping trip to a Wal-Mart to buy medicine. He claimed that she must have been struck and killed by a car after her car broke down on U.S. 75 between 81st and 91st streets.

An anonymous source had a different story to tell.

"It was a very simple call. A man said he drove by early that morning and saw a man and a woman arguing in front of a car on Highway 75. That little piece of information helped take the case from a hit-and-run traffic accident to a homicide," Lamons said.

Timothy Shaun Stemple was convicted of carrying out the long-planned murder — motivated by a desire to collect $950,000 in insurance money — by beating his wife with a baseball bat and then driving over her with the aid of a teenage accomplice.

"It is still a valuable tool for law enforcement and a great thing for the Police Department," Lamons said of the program. "The Crime Commission plays an important role by raising the funds."

To continue supporting the program, interested parties can call the Crime Commission's office at 585-5209.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the numbers

Since its inception in 19 9, Crime Stoppers has awarded more than $500,000 for information that resulted in more than 5,500 felony cases being solved.

The amount of stolen property and narcotics recovered totals more than $12 million.

In 200 , 2,689 tips were received and 9 arrests were made.

In 2008, 2,065 tips were received and 5 arrests were made — six of them in high-profile homicide cases.

Crime Stoppers boasts an 80 percent arrest rate for fugitives featured in its Most Wanted program.

Recognizing the history

Three decades of Crime Stoppers in Tulsa will be recognized at the annual fundraiser Badges and Bars on Oct. 29. Carol Bush, the Crime Commission’s executive director, said organizers are planning to gather past police chiefs as well as Crime Stoppers coordinators and Crime Commission directors to recognize the program.

Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com
By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer

Copyright Tulsa World 2009. Format differs from original publication.

Fair Board chair requests necessary law enforcement

By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer
Published: 8/6/2009 

Fair Board Chairman and County Commissioner Fred Perry sent a letter to Mayor Kathy Taylor asking the city of Tulsa to provide the law enforcement services necessary for this year’s Tulsa State Fair.

“This can be done with actual on-site Tulsa Police officers or by the city contracting with the Sheriff’s Office,” Perry wrote in a letter hand-delivered to the mayor Wednesday.

For years, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office provided law enforcement services at the fair that were supplemented by private security hired by the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, which oversees operation of the fairgrounds.

But that was before the city annexed the fairgrounds Jan. 1.

After discussions with the Tulsa Police Department, Expo Square President and CEO Mark Andrus was informed last week that the police would not provide security at this year’s fair without charging a special event fee.

The Police Department will respond to 911 calls.

“We don’t provide internal security for any major function without billing the sponsor for the cost of that security,” Deputy Police Chief Dennis Larsen said last week. “We’re being consistent with what we’ve done for the last 20 years.”

But in his letter, Perry says that in discussions preceding the city’s decision to annex the fairgrounds city officials were made aware that the fair “required a high degree of law enforcement.”

“With this annexation comes the responsibility to provide adequate service to the newly annexed property,” Perry wrote.

Larsen said the city provides security without a charge for only two special events: the Veterans Day parade and the Martin Luther King Day parade.

When it comes to the hundreds of other special events, from the Tulsa Run to Dfest, the sponsor pays for police to provide internal security, he said.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz has estimated that it would cost his office about $300,000 to provide law enforcement at this year’s fair.

By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer

Copyright Tulsa World 2009. Format differs from original publication.

Back To School Traffic

Students are at a much greater risk while traveling to and from school than any other time in the school day.  In adddition, a nationwide study showed that nearly two-thirds of all drivers drive over the posted speed limit.

The Tulsa Police Department will focus on the opening of Union Schools on Wednesday August 12th and Jenks Schools on Thursday August 13th.  This will be in preparation of the opening of Tulsa Public Schools on Thursday August 20th.  Special enforcement units will target marked School Zones and streets that surround the schools as well as school bus stops.  Motorcycle officers and Traffic Enforcement Units will give special attention to all moving violations near schools and around school buses that will be picking up and dropping off children.  A citation issued in a school zone or for passing a school bus that has activated it’s flashing  lights will be a “book to court” with NO WARNINGS.

Starting this week, all drivers are encouraged to actively look out for children walking or riding bicycles to and from school, and to be extra cautious around school buses.  Parents are also advised to be very careful when dropping off and picking up their children near a school.

Tulsa Police announce "Back 2 School Bash"

By Staff Reports
Published: 8/5/2009  

The Tulsa Police Department, Mingo Valley Division, Tulsa Public Schools and Bilingual Solutions of Oklahoma will host "Back 2 School Bash" from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at 11012 E. 11th St.

According to a release, the event will help local families by providing kids from kindergarten through 12th grade with free school supplies and a free back pack.

There will be free food and drinks along with games at the event.

Copyright Tulsa World 2009.

Tulsan teaches DNA tests to Iraqis

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Published: 8/3/2009 

A Tulsa woman has returned home after spending nine months in Iraq teaching the first members of the country's national police force to conduct DNA testing.

After working at the Tulsa Police Department's lab for more than 11 years, Dr. Valerie Fuller resigned in October and left for Iraq just weeks later. She faced a lot of uncertainties, but Fuller said she was excited to be a positive part of Iraq's history.

"Saddam (Hussein) tore everything down, and then ...we had to tear a lot of things down just to get him out of there," she said.

"This is one thing where we are building something, and it was a positive thing, and I just think it will have far-reaching ramifications for a very good, positive future for their country. I feel honored to be a part of it."

At the Tulsa lab, Fuller worked by herself for several years as DNA caseloads mounted.

"I was a one-person lab for five years. That almost killed me," Fuller said. "It finally reached crisis proportions, and they hired two more people, and now they have three."

Fuller's husband, Tulsa Police Cpl. Dan Fuller, is a lieutenant colonel in the Oklahoma Army National Guard and was assigned to Iraq from January to October. It was through him that she made the contact for her new job.

Maj. Gen. Jassim Tahir Chilab, dean of Iraq's High Institute for Training, selected the students who attended the Baghdad Police College Criminal Evidence Lab program. They were unemployed chemists and biochemists before they became police officers.

The 18 officers made up the first training class for disciplines such as toxicology and DNA testing, but the Iraqi police had already been doing fingerprint and firearms examinations, Fuller said.

She didn't know what to expect as a woman teaching a group of Iraqi men, but she encountered no cultural problems, she said.

"These guys were so polite, and immediately they told me they would treat me like a sister — protect me with their lives — and they meant it," Fuller said.

"Now a lot of things...like the camaraderie we had inside the lab probably would not have been acceptable on the streets, but I could be myself inside the lab."

Her students called her "Doctora Fuller," and she got to know them as friends and colleagues.

The Baghdad Police College is in what is classified as the "red zone" because it is guarded entirely by Iraqis. Nonetheless, Fuller said she felt completely safe.

During her time there, she heard a couple of car bombs and then saw smoke and coalition helicopters overhead, but she never saw any violence firsthand, she said.

"I had to wear armor to walk into the red zone, but when we would get there, I would change into my business suit," Fuller said. "I trusted their security, and I am a scientist."

The students took risks to have the opportunity to be police officers, Fuller said. One of the chemists who lived in Sadr City would wear a mask and have his family smuggle him daily into his job as an officer.

"He was not sure that if his neighbors knew he was working with Americans what they would do to him, so these guys took great personal risks to come to this class every day," Fuller said. "All of these guys were more than happy to work for the police, because the police were part of the coalition. It is a very patriotic job to have," she said.

Fuller estimated that 70 percent of the students' fathers had been killed in the Iran-Iraq War or "because of political reasons, they just disappeared one day."

She taught the students how DNA testing could be used to solve decades-old cases, including the hundreds of missing-persons cases in the country.

Previously, "they were aware of DNA, but they thought it was something only in the movies ... that they would never have access to it," Fuller said.

Fuller said her job allowed her to see history being made. In February, the first class of about 1,000 female Iraqi police officers graduated.

"It was great," Fuller said. "They knew that they were doing something really historic, and we were there supporting them."

In addition to the 18 DNA students, six students studied blood-spatter evidence at the college, and 11 studied chemistry.

The Ministry of Interior celebrated the graduation of all 35 Iraqi police officers from the Criminal Evidence Lab course on July 2. Now they are working to set up their work sites at the three main national labs.

"Any of them would be qualified to do DNA in the states. I would hire any of them," Fuller said.

Two days before Fuller left Iraq, the school's dean asked her for a favor.

"He was so concerned and said he hopes that it was a positive experience for me," she said. "He asked me, 'Could you just go back and tell the Americans how grateful we are for all their help? We are so thankful, and you have to get this positive story out there.' "

Fuller is now working to set up a lab in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com

Copyright Tulsa World 2009. Format differs from original publication.

Tulsa Police Night with the Drillers, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Officer Terbrock Promoted to Corporal

 

Congratulations to Corporal August Terbrock!