TULSA
An out-of-county judge indicated Friday that he will rule Monday on whether Tulsa County District Judge Jesse Harris must face trial on a charge of exposing himself to two women in a Tulsa parking lot.
That timetable could be affected by the arrest of a defense witness after Harris’ preliminary hearing recessed Friday. The woman was arrested on a warrant issued when she failed to testify.
Harris, 54, was charged in April with two felony counts of indecent exposure.
He has denied allegations that he exposed his penis on March 9 to two women outside a hotel in the 8200 block of E Skelly Drive.
Osage County District Judge M. John Kane IV, who has presided over a prolonged preliminary hearing that began Oct. 2, said he would issue his ruling Monday.
Witness a no-show
The arrested woman, Rosa Luevano, was a cleaning worker who saw the people in the parking lot and is a "critical witness,” defense lawyer Allen Smallwood said.
After her arrest Friday, she was released on a personal recognizance bond and an electronic monitor, with instructions to report Monday afternoon to the offices of a law firm involved in the case.
The defense indicated near the close of Friday’s session that it had no more witnesses to call at the hearing, but that was before the woman’s arrest.
Harris has not testified.
Defense lawyers maintained that Washington County prosecutors overcharged Harris in April when they filed two counts — one count involving each woman — for a single alleged act.
Kane said that if the case moves beyond the preliminary hearing, it will proceed as only one count.
One of the accusers is Kalisha Nolen, identified as a former girlfriend of Harris’. She testified in October and was called to the witness stand again Friday.
The other accuser was sentenced to prison in July on two felony DUI charges.
During an argument Friday, Smallwood urged Kane to make a determination regarding the credibility of the two accusers and to find that the evidence is lacking to send Harris to trial.
Smallwood described the women as "two desperate individuals” — one who was desperate to stay out of prison and the other desperate for attention.
Credibility cited
Washington County District Attorney Rick Esser, who was assigned to handle the Tulsa County case, asserted that the issue of credibility is a trial issue. Esser contends that the prosecution’s evidence is enough to take the case to trial.
During questioning by defense lawyer Joel Wohlgemuth, Nolen acknowledged that she appeared in a "PeePee Pals” video produced in Nashville in 2007.
That video, which can be accessed on the Internet along with other PeePee Pals productions, features characters discussing urination.
Nolen portrays a character named Samantha, who tests a male character’s resolve "in the further exploration into the world of PeePee Pal bonding,” according to a video synopsis.
Wohlgemuth said the PeePee Pal video is "sick and perverted.”
Nolen said the video was funny and not "dirty.”
____
http://www.kjrh.com/news/local/story/Judge-to-make-ruling-in-case/5LcS23YUjUqLnoJx5aEZ_w.cspx
