Two acquitted, one found guilty in police trial
BY Staff Reports
Jun 11, 2011
5/31/12 at 8:54 AM
Grand jury investigates police corruption: Read all of the stories, view a timeline and read key documents.
Two officers have been acquitted and one has been found guilty today in a police trial after a jury returned with a verdict in less than five hours in U.S. District Court in Tulsa.
Tulsa Police Officers Nick DeBruin and Bruce Bonham were found not guilty on all counts.
Cpl. Harold R. Wells -- a retired Tulsa Police Officer -- was found guilty on five of 10 counts against him and was immediately taken into custody. Lead prosecutor Jane Duke said Wells faces a mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison for the drug conspiracy and weapons counts.
Wells' sentencing date hasn't been set.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys made their closing arguments today and the jury began deliberating at 1:15 p.m. It returned to the courtroom shortly after 5:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Tulsa.
Bonham, 53, DeBruin, 38, and Wells, 60, were on trial since May 31. The officers were accused of counts that included conspiracy, drug possession with intent to distribute and planting drugs on people they had arrested.
"I'm happy. I don't know what to say," DeBruin said outside the courtroom after the verdicts were announced. "I've gone through hell the past year."
DeBruin was indicted July 20 on six counts. Bonham was indicted the same day on five counts.
With tears in his eyes after the verdict was read, DeBruin hugged his wife.
"This has been completely crazy," DeBruin said as he addressed members of the media outside the courthouse. "I'm finally going to get a good night's sleep."
DeBruin's attorney, Shannon McMurray, said she was elated with the outcome. "The jury spoke the truth," she said.
Bonham declined comment, but his attorney, Bill Lunn, said there was never a question that his client would take the stand and testify.
"This is a man who's given his life to Tulsa," Lunn said. "He's obviously been a dedicated police officer his entire life and his awards tell it."
Lunn said Bonham is one month away from completing 20 years of service with the department.
"I couldn't imagine why the Tulsa Police Department wouldn't want him back," Lunn said.
After the verdict, Wells' wife, Ronda, collapsed on the floor of the courtroom, sobbing. Family and friends rushed to comfort her.
"I can't even do this," she cried. "They already took him away!"
Wells' sister, Johna Rountree, said she was outraged by her brother's conviction.
"I did not know the Feds were so corrupt," she said. "Duke is the worst, because she knows what's true."
The other officers who testified that Wells conspired to steal drugs and money were lying, Rountree said, and they all got deals for immunity from prosecution because they lied.
"(Wells) was offered a deal, too, but he said 'I don't have anything to tell,'" Rountree said. "These guys are being punished for telling the truth."
Wells was the only one of the three officers who didn't testify during the nine-day trial that started May 31.
Rountree said her brother's case might have been impacted by the fact that he didn't testify, whereas Bonham and DeBruin did.
But Wells was warned in advance not to testify, "because Duke was going to try to trick him" on the witness stand, Rountree said.
Friday began with prosecutor Patrick Harris' closing arguments. He was followed by defense attorneys Warren Gotcher, who represents Wells; Shannon McMurray, who represents DeBruin; and Bill Lunn, who represents Bonham.
Each spoke 45 minutes before First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Duke of eastern Arkansas -- the lead prosecutor -- concluded with a 30-minute closing argument.
Harris began his remarks by showing the jury an FBI surveillance video tape of a drug sting at a Super 8 motel in Tulsa.
The video shows Bonham, DeBruin and former Officer John K. “J.J.” Gray, pocketing thousands of dollars with Wells in the room.
“It’s easy money,” Harris told jurors after they watched Gray and others pocket drug money.
The grainy black and white surveillance video then shows officers DeBruin and Bonham enter the room.
The FBI video shows Bonham accepting a roll of cash from DeBruin and then placing it in his left pocket. This week, both officers said they took the money to run by a drug-sniffing dog.
“There’s absolutely no reason for him to get that money except for him to steal it,” Harris said.
Harris and Duke repeated a theme to the jury: The officers had time to concoct a story that would explain what’s seen on the video.
“The defendants ... had nine months before trial to study the surveillance video, phone records and other incidents to fabricate a story to try to explain away their guilt,” Duke said in her argument to the jury.
The defense had other explanations for the officers’ behavior.
Gotcher was the first of three defense attorneys to offer closing remarks. With passionate and sometimes animated speech, Gotcher attacked each point the prosecution’s case against his client.
In her defense of DeBruin, McMurray argued that the prosecution had built a case on the word of thieves and liars. Gray, Callison Kaiser and Eric Hill all testified against Wells, DeBruin and Bonham.
Gray pleaded guilty to charges related to the FBI's drug sting. Hill was fired from the Tulsa Police Department and admitted stealing drug money during a bust, according to court documents. Kaiser resigned from the Tulsa Police Department and admitted to stealing drug money during a bust, according to court documents.
McMurray argued that those men had a motive -- staying out of prison -- for testifying against DeBruin, Bonham and Wells.
“To convict Nick DeBruin of these acts, ladies and gentlemen, you have to believe Cal Kaiser, Eric Hill and J.J. Gray - liars, thieves, drug dealers and perjurers,” McMurray said. “Would you invite those follows into your homes? Would you like them to manage your finances?”
Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan called it a sad day for the police department and the city of Tulsa.
"Our credibility as a police department has been shaken due to this incident," Jordan said in a statement issued by TPD. "Four former members of our department strayed from ethical decision-making and, as a result, has eroded the public trust."
This is the first of two trials of Tulsa Police Officers. Suspended officers Jeff Henderson and Bill Yelton will go to trial in U.S. District Court in Tulsa on July 25.
Henderson was indicted July 20 on 58 counts: 22 related to perjury, 20 related to civil rights violations, 12 related to drugs, two witness tampering counts, one firearms count and one attempted bribery count.
Yelton faces eight counts: four related to civil rights violations, two related to witness tampering, one related to suborning perjury and one on the alleged attempted retaliation against a witness.
OFFICERS ON TRIAL
Harold Wells, retired Tulsa Police Officer
Hired: Oct. 1, 1975. Retired in May.
Assignment before retiring: Gilcrease Division.
Indicted July 20 on 10 counts
Not guilty: Conspiracy to violate civil rights (Hugo Gutierrez)
Not guilty: Violation of civil rights (Gutierrez)
Not guilty: Distribution of a controlled substance (meth)
Not guilty: Possession with intent to distribute controlled substance (marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine and methamphetamine)
Guilty: Knowingly carrying and possessing a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking crime
Not guilty: Conspiracy to violate civil rights – due process (planting small amounts of meth, cocaine, crack cocaine on people)
Guilty: Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substance (meth)
Guilty: Conspiracy to steal U.S. funds (Super 8 motel)
Guilty: Stealing U.S. funds (Super 8 motel)
Guilty: Use of a telephone to commit a felony (conspiracy to distribute meth)
Bruce Bonham, Tulsa Police Officer
Hired: Aug. 13, 1990. Assigned to Uniform Division. Placed on paid leave July 21; suspended without pay July 23.
Indicted July 20 on five counts
Not guilty: Possession with intent to distribute controlled substance (marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine and methamphetamine)
Not guilty: Conspiracy to violate civil rights — due process (planting small amounts of meth, cocaine, crack cocaine on people)
Not guilty: Conspiracy to steal U.S. funds (Super 8 motel)
Not guilty: Stealing U.S, funds (Super 8 motel)
Not guilty: Carrying and possessing a firearm during a crime (distribution of controlled substances)
Nick DeBruin, Tulsa Police Officer
Hired: July 6, 1999. Assigned to Special Investigations Division, 2002-05, later assigned to patrol. Placed on paid leave July 21; suspended without pay July 23.
Indicted July 20 on six counts
Not guilty: Possession with intent to distribute controlled substance (marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine and methamphetamine)
Not guilty: Conspiracy to violate civil rights – due process (planting small amounts of meth, cocaine, crack cocaine on people)
Not guilty: Conspiracy to steal U.S. funds (Super 8 motel)
Not guilty: Stealing U.S. funds (Super 8 motel)
Not guilty: Violation of civil rights – unreasonable search and seizure (Cody Weavel)
Not guilty: Carrying and possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Associated Images:
Nick DeBruin (left) Bruce Bonham (center) and Harold R. Wells (right). Tulsa World File
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