By John Dobberstein, Editor
Wagoner County District Attorney Jack Thorp has asked a Wagoner County judge to quash a grand jury petition seeking to have him removed from office for his decision to not press criminal charges in several legal cases and incidents.
The nonprofit citizens group Wagoner County Citizens Against Corruption filed a14-page petition requesting a grand jury be empaneled to investigate allegedly “criminal” acts by the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff Chris Elliott, and the decision by Thorp to not prosecute deputies or Elliott in the matters.
Wagoner County District Judge Michael Hogan approved the grand jury petition. The group now has about 5 weeks to collect at least 4,300 valid signatures, and WCCAC is targeting at least 6,000.
The petition’s allegations related to Thorp are:
- Failing file criminal actions against individuals responsible for the death of Wagoner County Detention Center inmate Angela Liggans;
- Failure to file charges against deputies responsible for the death of motorist Jeffrey Krueger;
- Failure to charge Sheriff Elliott’s wife, Judy Elliott, for unlawful entry into the Detention Center, and;
- Failure to bring assault-and-battery charges against Sheriff Elliot during an incident at the Detention Center with inmate Elizabeth Rodriguez.
WCCAC accuses Thorp in its petition of “willful neglect of duty, willful maladministration and gross partiality in office.” But through Tulsa attorney Joel Wohlgemuth, Thorp moved to discredit the petition and WCCAC, noting the accusations are based on four “wholly unrelated events” dating back to 2019.
Wohlgemuth says a grand jury lacks jurisdiction to investigate Thorp or seek his removal based on allegations related to his exercise of prosecutorial discretion. “And there is no way an amended petition could confer jurisdiction where none exists,” the attorney argues.
Additionally, Wohlgemuth argues that state law requires removal action to provide “specific instances of facts from which the conclusions pleaded may be drawn, rather than conclusory assertions of wrongdoing.
“The petition at issue here offers scant information regarding generally alleged malfeasance. It does not, however, plead sufficient facts regarding any specific impropriety (Thorp) allegedly committed.”
Thorp’s attorney further argues the petitions’ allegations represent “vague complaints of dereliction of duty” that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected as insufficient to override prosecutorial discretion.
The motion also seeks to discredit WCCAC as not having jurisdiction to request the actions requested, noting the group was formed 15 days before the petition was filed, and its standing as an LLC does not make it an organization that has standing to file the petition.
The Oklahoma Constitution requires a grand jury petition be submitted by “qualified electors,” Thorp’s attorney argues.
“Under these circumstances, there is no question that the belated, impermissible and unprecedented actions of this embryonic limited liability company were motivated by the transparent desire to avoid the imposition of civil damages,” Wohlgemuth writes.
“There could be no set of circumstances more appropriate than those in this case for the imposition of sanctions.”
The Sentinel has reached out to WCCAC for comment.
The Liggans case went to U.S. federal court, and the resulting judgment against Wagoner County for $13.5 million required a voter-approved sales tax increase to pay it off, which outraged many residents.
The petition says Elliott failed to properly staff the Wagoner County Detention Facility or adequately supervise detention officers to ensure inmates were properly provided monitoring, prescription drugs and emergency medical care.
Liggans passed away from diabetic ketoacidosis, the medical examiner says, in her isolation cell after not receiving insulin from May 29 to June 2, 2021. The following day, Elliott said he would ask the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to look into the death.
In public statements, Sheriff Elliott has said he takes some responsibility for Liggans’ death. “I own it. I want everyone to hear this: I own this. I’m not pointing fingers. It’s my responsibility,” Elliott told the Broken Arrow City Council earlier this year.
He added that operational changes had been made at the Detention Facility to improve inmate medical care. The Tulsa World reported that an unannounced inspection at the Detention Center in March by the Oklahoma State Department of Health found no deficiencies.
Kreuger was arrested and detained on July 1, 2019 by four Wagoner County deputies and the force used “was so excessive” that it caused his death, the petition alleges. Krueger was forcibly removed from his vehicle, tasered, restrained face down and two deputies sat on his back and legs, the group alleges. They also said Kreuger’s head was slammed against the pavement, causing a deep gash.
A medical examiner’s report says Krueger died from positional asphyxia due to his restraint. None of the officers were ever charged by Thorp.
Another incident named in the petition involved Elliott, his wife Judy Elliott and an inmate, Elizabeth Rodriquez. The petition alleges that Judy Elliott was repeatedly allowed to work in the Detention Facility and interact with inmates house there.
In 2019, the group says, Judy Elliott was visiting Rodriguez – who was detailed on a first-degree murder charge – and it turned into a heated argument. Chris Elliott approach them and intervened and he “violently grabbed” Rodriguez by the hair and dragged her from the common area to a jail cell. WCCAC’s petition faults Thorp for not prosecuting the actions.
Judy Elliott was also coordinator of the Wagoner County Emergency 911 Office and the group’s petition says the Wagoner County Commission began an investigation of the office in 2024.
The Board of Commissioners placed Judy Elliott on paid administrative leave on March 12. The same day, Sheriff Elliott and his wife and two other deputies entered the office and all files on Judy Elliott’s computer were deleted, the petition says, without the knowledge or consent of the Wagoner County Commission. Organizers of the petition say the allegations are serious enough to warrant the removal of Thorp and Sheriff Elliott from office.
Thorp noted the Liggans and Kreuger cases were investigated by OSBI and criminal charges were declined years ago. He also responded that no criminal investigation was ever presented to his office over the Rodriguez case and that she never filed a police report. A lawsuit she filed was dismissed, he says.
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