A judge in a police corruption trial threw out one count of bribery against a veteran police officer Monday.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Black granted a defense motion asking that a single count of bribery of a witness against Officer Jeff Henderson be dismissed.
Henderson still faces 53 counts involving civil rights violations, drugs and other charges, and Officer Bill Yelton faces eight counts alleging civil rights violations, suborning perjury and retaliation against a witness.
Attorneys for Yelton rested their case Monday afternoon after calling a total of seven witnesses over two days. Henderson’s attorneys then began his defense.
The count dropped by the judge Monday involved an allegation that Henderson attempted to use Amie Slemaker and Eric Cullen, a private investigator hired by Henderson, to bribe a government witness to help Henderson’s case.
Meanwhile, Black denied a defense motion to dismiss charges of perjury and violation of civil rights involving both Henderson and Yelton.
The two officers are accused of attempting to suborn perjury of Rochelle Martin, a confidential informant, in the Bobby Haley Sr. drug case.
Additionally, Black denied a defense motion to dismiss a charge of conspiracy to commit witness tampering against Henderson and Yelton. That allegation of witness tampering also involves Martin.
In Monday’s testimony, several Tulsa police officers took the stand for various testimonies, as well as to be character witnesses to the two indicted officers.
Officer Frank Khalil, who has not been charged but is alleged in court documents to be a co-conspirator, was Henderson’s partner between 2005 and 2008. He said he never witnessed Henderson or Yelton commit any illegal acts.
“If I would have seen anything like that, I would have turned them in,” Khalil said.
The first witness called by Henderson’s attorneys, he testified about several of the drug investigations that are focal points of the prosecution’s case against the officers.
Former ATF Agent Brandon McFadden has testified that Khalil stole money during one search and was present during another search when drug evidence was stolen.
Khalil denied that money was stolen during a search involving Jerry Robert Hill III. He also refuted McFadden’s claim that methamphetamine and money were taken during a search of Ryan Logsdon’s home in January 2007.
Logsdon was one of Henderson’s main informants and alleged that officers stole drugs from his house during a raid.
Khalil said he watched Henderson pull cash from the attic and was there when Henderson pulled drugs from a closet stash.
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Khalil also denied that any money or drugs were stolen in several other cases. That is contrary to several other witnesses’ testimony since the case started Aug. 1.
Defense attorneys also called former Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Tony Evans to testify about his experience with Rochelle Martin.
Evans became familiar with Martin during the Demarrio Oates drug-trafficking trial.
Martin was Oates’ girlfriend at the time and was arrested with him, Evans said. However, she was not charged because Evans was asked on behalf of Henderson not to file charges against her, he said.
Evans also testified about Durrell Collins, a witness and former informant who testified last week that Yelton asked him to beat up or “take out” another inmate while in jail.
Defense attorneys attempted to discredit Collins through Evans’ testimony, which indicated that Collins lied to law enforcement officials in a case in which he was the victim.
On cross-examination, prosecution attorneys showed that Collins was used as an informant several more times despite having lied to officials. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Harris stated that Collins is a key witness in an alleged murder plot against Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris.
“Isn’t it true that Durrell Collins has offered truthful or reliable information in every case except the one you have mentioned and he is still being helpful with his information?” Pat Harris asked Evans.
“That would be correct,” Evans said.
Sgt. Dave Walker briefly testified Monday afternoon, also indicating that Collins lied to police. Collins gave a fake name to Walker and other officers during an investigation, he said.
Earlier in the morning, a former supervisor of the defendants testified about their character and work ethic.
Sgt. Luke Sherman told the court that Henderson, 38, and Yelton, 50, were “very professional, very ethical,” during his time as their supervisor.
Under cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Harris was quick to focus on Sherman’s time supervising the two indicted officers, which would have been before the years that are focused on in the trial. Most of the counts in the indictment are for alleged acts from 2007 through 2009, but at least one was as early as 2004.
Sherman worked with Yelton and later with Henderson from 1995 to 2005, he said.
He testified about the use of informants in the Police Department’s street crime initiative, which he supervised and served on with both indicted officers.
It was important on that “fast-paced initiative” to act on informant tips before a drug dealer could move drugs, he said.
Yelton and Henderson were two of the best officers in Tulsa and were particularly adept at developing and talking with informants, he said.
On cross-examination, Sherman said it would not be proper to have a personal financial relationship with an informant.
Sherman also testified that it would be improper to give gifts to an informant or warn an informant about a search warrant.
Martin testified last week that Henderson had given her gifts such as cologne and marijuana. She also testified that she sold drugs for Henderson.
When asked about Yelton, Sherman said: “Yelton is the best officer in the Police Department. … He got along with everyone – even bad guys.”
Regarding Henderson, Sherman said: “Right off the bat, I heard good things about him.”
Sgt. James Clark testified about Yelton’s character, saying no one could tell him anything bad about him that he would believe without proof.
“That would be the antithesis to everything I’ve seen,” he said.
On cross-examination, prosecution attorneys pointed out – as they had with other witnesses – that Clark didn’t work directly with Yelton during the years in question.
Monday developments
Attorneys for Officer Bill Yelton rested their case Monday, and Officer Jeff Henderson’s defense began.
Officer Frank Khalil testified. He was Henderson’s partner from 2005-08 and worked often with Henderson since then and has been a recurring character in witness testimony.
Khalil denied several accusations made in witness testimony that directly affect several charges in the case, including allegations of stolen money and drugs.
Key moment
Tony Evans, a former Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney, testified that he doesn’t believe that Durrell Collins is reliable because he lied to law enforcement officials after an incident where he was shot.
Evans explained that Collins had told officers who had shot him but later recanted.
“He either lied to police or to prosecutors,” Evans said.
Either way, Evans said Collins had lied to officials and was unreliable as an informant.
Collins’s credibility is important to the case because he testified that Yelton asked him to beat up another inmate in jail.
On cross examination, Evans told the court that Collins was used as an informant on several more cases even after Evans deemed him unreliable.
Key testimony
Khalil took the stand as Henderson’s first witness Monday afternoon and denied or refuted the following claims in the prosecution’s case:
That he took a bale of marijuana from Juan Mata’s residence.
That Henderson took methamphetamine or money from the residence of Ryan Logsdon.
That he and Henderson stole money from Jerry Robert Hill III’s residence.
That officers entered a home improperly and hid evidence at Jose Angel Gonzalez’s residence
