On Friday, August 16, 2024, Raw Story reported that Oklahoma Judge Susan Stallings denied calls for her recusal from a high-profile embezzlement case involving Epic Charter Schools. The article provided background on the long-running legal battle surrounding allegations of financial misconduct at the Oklahoma charter school network.
The case was brought by state prosecutors against Epic founders Ben Harris and David Chaney in 2022. They are accused of orchestrating a complex scheme to misappropriate millions of public education funds. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Their former CFO Josh Brock also faces charges but cut a deal to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for no prison time.
Despite beginning over two years ago, the legal proceedings against Harris and Chaney are still in the preliminary stages due to numerous delays. A week-long hearing in March partially laid out the evidence but a week wasn’t enough to get through all the witness testimony. It was postponed again in May when Gary Wood, Chaney’s attorney, was accused of a conflict of interest in the case.
Wood’s alleged prior representation of Brock is now the subject of a disqualification hearing in front of Judge Stallings. This prompted the defense attorney for Harris, Joe White, to file a motion calling for Stallings’ recusal as well. He argued she couldn’t be impartial since she had previously worked for the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office that originally investigated Epic.
However, Stallings rejected these claims during a court hearing. She said, as a former prosecutor with that DA’s office, she had no involvement or knowledge of the Epic probe. Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s office, who now handle the case, supported her decision to remain. The defense plans to appeal the ruling to higher courts.
Source: Raw Story
