10/22/2019 - Letter To Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter Re: David Prater

October 22, 2019
Mike Hunter, Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General
209 North 7th Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
F: (405) 521-6246
Re: Misuse of Multi-County Grand Jury Subpoenas by D.A. David Prater
Dear Mr. Attorney General Hunter,
I represent a former Investigator for the Oklahoma County District

Attorney’s Office in a claim that is being filed against both the state and the
county arising from his employment. In the course of my representation, he
has informed me that he was personally directed by Oklahoma County
District Attorney David L. Prater in the Fall of 2017 to unlawfully
seek multi-county grand jury subpoenas (from Ms. Sheila Tiffin) to
seek the financial records from Paycom, only after the Paycom General
Counsel refused to provide the records without a subpoena, of
Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform. More specifically, the
Oklahoma District Attorney directed his Investigator to specifically look for
wrongdoing by one of the group’s leaders, and former Speaker of the
state House, Kris Steele. In addition, he sought a review of the donations
to the group from the national office of the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU).

What is most troubling is that there was no ongoing investigation
of the Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, or Mr. Kris Steele, or of the
ACLU. There was no open case file, no independent investigative
agency, and most importantly, there was not the required “probable
cause” before ever seeking such a subpoena. As you are aware, the
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has stated:
because without probable cause as a standard, a D.A.
could abuse the rights of any citizen by circumventing a
citizen’s constitutional rights by seeking the evidence
through a grand jury subpoena. In effect, district attorneys
would be provided with a license to obtain evidence without
being required to meet constitutional standards.
See Woolverton v. Multi-County Grand Jury Okla. Cty., 1993 OK CR 42, 859
P.2d 1112.
Despite Oklahoma having the highest incarceration rate in the world,

it has been reported in the media that the Oklahoma County D.A. David
Prater is opposed to any criminal justice reform. In this matter, Prater (an
attorney and not an investigator) did not even have “reasonable suspicion,”
much less the legally required “probable cause” to seek from your office a
multi-county grand jury to use as his own personal weapon for a personal
agenda or against “political enemies.” This action by the Oklahoma District
Attorney represents an extraordinary departure from the appropriate use
of the immense power and discretion that rests with a public prosecutor who
is supposed to be seeking justice.
In light of these clear prosecutorial abuses by an elected District

Attorney in using your office’s subpoena power to seek financial records of
Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, its leader, former Speaker of the
House Kris Steele, and the financial donations of the American Civil
Liberties Union is shocking. It is respectfully requested that your office
open an internal review and investigation into what information Oklahoma
County District Attorney David Prater provided your office for issuance for
these Grand Jury subpoenas, what information was provided in any
“return” of this investigation, the location of these records, and to also
review all multi-county grand jury subpoena requests from this Oklahoma
County District Attorney’s Office in recent years to ensure compliance and
to address the now-public’s concern over the prosecutorial abuse.
It is clear that Mr. Prater did not hesitate in using your multi-county
grand jury subpoenas in attacking criminal justice reform, Kris Steele, and
the ACLU; so, it begs the question as to how many other times has he done
the same without any of the required probable cause? As a great
philosopher once said, “you don’t need a weatherman to tell you which way
the wind is blowing.”

Gifford law, P.L.L.C.
ROBERT D. GIFFORD, II
Attorney and Founder

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October 22, 2019

Mike Hunter, Attorney General

Re: Misuse of Multi-County Grand Jury Subpoenas by D.A. David Prater

Dear Mr. Attorney General Hunter,

I represent a former Investigator for the Oklahoma County District

Despite Oklahoma having the highest incarceration rate in the world,

In light of these clear prosecutorial abuses by an elected District

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