Jury trials begin today

By Tom Blakey

December 02, 2008 01:58 am

— Opening statements are expected to begin today in two jury trials in Cleveland County District Court; a rape trial in the courtroom of District Judge Lori Walkley and a lewd molestation trial in the courtroom of District Judge Bill Hetherington.
Meanwhile, a murder trial is set to begin Monday in the courtroom of District Judge Tom Lucas.
Court will begin at 9 a.m. today in Walkley's courtroom, where attorneys are expected to finish selecting a jury in the trial of Logan Adam Deaton, 24, Norman, charged with first-degree rape by force and fear.
Deaton was arrested after Oklahoma City police responded at 1:37 a.m. Dec. 15, 2007, to an apartment in the 9500 block of the South I-35 Service Road. The victim, a 23-year-old woman, reportedly was bruised and bleeding. The woman said she'd been raped after repeatedly being punched in the face and choked, according to police.
A jury was seated Monday in Judge Hetherington's courtroom, and trial will begin at 9 a.m. today for James Clayton Galey, 34, Norman, charged with lewd acts with a child.
Galey was charged Oct. 26, 2007, after the alleged victim, an 8-year-old girl, told her aunt that Galey had touched her inappropriately when she'd stayed overnight at her grandmother's Norman residence.
A first-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin next Monday, in the courtroom of District Judge Tom Lucas, involving a 26-year-old Noble man, Jonathan Trask, charged with his wife Heather Trask in the beating death of their 6-month-old daughter.
According to charges, Mackenzie Trask died April 6, 2006, from multiple injuries, including blunt force brain trauma and diffuse cerebral edema, or water swelling of the brain.
The child was being cared for by both parents in the days preceding her death at the family's Norman home. The Trasks have since moved to a Noble address. Heather Trask is scheduled on the January felony call docket.
Without knowing which parent actually induced the injuries that caused Mackenzie's death, District Attorney Greg Mashburn said both parents are responsible under Oklahoma statutes.
Other trials currently scheduled on this month's jury docket, include:
· A Moore man, Wesley Paul Trahan Jr., 38, charged with three counts of first-degree rape by force and fear, in the reported rape of a juvenile girl living in his Moore apartment. Police said the juvenile, her mother and sister were living at the defendant's apartment at the time of the alleged assaults. The victim told police she'd been raped several times while the others were sleeping or away from the apartment.
· A Norman man, Jimmie Darryl Moses, 45, charged with two counts of knowingly concealing stolen property in connection with a stolen cement mixer, and stolen firearm.
Monday, Steven Lee Jones, 33, Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve four years in prison, after pleading guilty to knowingly concealing stolen property and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Jones and another man were charged with conspiring to steal and sell an all-terrain vehicle, after Cleveland County Sheriffs Department undercover officers arranged July 3 to purchase the ATV for $2,500.
Jones pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Hetherington to serve 10 years with all but six years suspended, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Jones' co-defendant, Victor Fowler, 33, Jones, pleaded guilty Oct. 30, and received a five-year deferred sentence, after he agreed to testify against Jones.
Tom Blakey 366-3540 tblakey@normantranscript.com