Mistrials granted in Dyer, Balthrop trials

Tuesday, January 24, 2012, probably made the record books for the Stephens County court but not in a good way.
Two trials actively going on both ended abruptly Tuesday afternoon when it was discovered the district attorney’s office had inadvertently sent questionnaires to 39 jurors. The discovery led defense teams to request mistrials.
Prosecutors had no objections and Stephens County District Court Judge Joe Enos granted the defense’s motion in the trial of Charles Alan Dyer and Special District Judge Brent Russell granted a similar motion for defendant Brandon Wiley Balthrop.
The jurors who had received the questionnaires had been seated in trials from the previous week and six had been selected again to serve on the jury, or as an alternate for either the Brandon Balthrop trial or the Charles Dyer trial.
According to Judge Joe Enos, two sitting jurors and one alternate in Dyer’s trial stated they had received the documents from Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks’ office as early as Saturday. The questionnaire was completely voluntary and responding jurors could choose to not include their name. The fact the attorney’s were not aware some members of the jury pool had received the questionnaire prior to being selected for duty in the second week of trials presented a problem.
Judge Enos summarized his decision by saying knowing a juror may have been predisposed to the questions asked in the questionnaire, presents a question of how the questionnaire may affect a juror’s decision.
A court minute filed, by Judge Brent Russell in the Balthrop trial, states: “during the course of the noon recess, the Court was advised that three members of the jury had received jury surveys from the office of the District Attorney concerning their service as jurors on trials conducted the prior week. Counsel for both sides were notified, and the Court conducted an examination of said jurors outside the presence of the other jurors.
After such examination, Defendant moved for a mistrial, which was unopposed by the State. The Court granted Defendant’s request.”
From a press release distributed by the district attorney’s office it is explained, “The form letters and questionnaires were sent by staff members of the office and were not sent from the desk of any attorney in the office. Outside of the mailings, there was absolutely no contact by me or any member of my staff with any potential jurors. This process is clearly permitted by Oklahoma law, as well as the Rules of Professional Conduct promulgated by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.”
Hicks conclude the release by saying, “Certainly it is regrettable that this situation occurred, however, the information gathered from the questionnaires is invaluable to me.”
Both trials will be moved to the next jury trial docket scheduled for April 16. Dyer will return to the jail and Balthrop is out on $75,000 bond.
Dyer faces charges of child sexual abuse alleged to have taken place on Jan 2, 2010. Dyer’s first trial in April 2011 ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked.
Dyer’s second trial was to begin in Aug. 2011 when he failed to appear to face the charges and fled. A nationwide manhunt began during which Dyer was listed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted list. He was found in the Houston area.
Balthrop is facing three counts of sexual abuse, two counts of rape by instrumentation and one count of kidnapping from incidents occurring while he was a sheriff’s deputy.