Preacher Derrick Scobey continues to fight charges stemming from Julius Jones protest vigil
An Oklahoma City preacher's legal battle continues regarding his arrest at a November 2021 Julius Jones' protest prayer vigil.
The Rev. Derrick Scobey was arrested by members of the Oklahoma High Patrol as he stood on NE 23, near the governor's mansion. He said he was engaged in prayer along with other Julius Jones supporters at a vigil on the death-row inmate's behalf. The district attorney's office filed two misdemeanors against Scobey related to the assertion that the minister impeded the flow of traffic.
Friday, attorneys for Scobey appeared in Oklahoma County District Court to argue that they had legal standing to ask the court to consider their motion to quash or have dismissed charges against Scobey for insufficient evidence. Attorney Joe White Jr. said the court could consider the matter even though it was a misdemeanor case.
Assistant District Attorney McKenzie McMahan argued that such consideration only applied to felony cases.
Judge Perry Hudson ruled in White's favor and decided that a hearing could be heard on the matter. He also said he didn't think a motion to quash misdemeanor charges had ever been considered in Oklahoma County District Court.
Hudson set another hearing date for Aug. 18.
White said he was pleased that the judge agreed that his argument had merit. McMahan indicated that the state would seek the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion on the question of a motion to quash being be considered for misdemeanors in Oklahoma County District Court.
Friday's proceedings represented Scobey's fifth time in court over the charges stemming from his 2021 arrest. He is pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in northeast Oklahoma City and was part of a coalition of ministers, community leaders, celebrities and others that formed to seek clemency for then-death row inmate Julius Jones. Jones was sentenced to death in 2002 for the 1999 murder of Edmond insurance agent Paul Howell during a carjacking. Jones maintained his innocence over the years.
In the days leading up to Jones' scheduled execution in November 2021, his supporters began gathering for evening prayer vigils outside the governor's mansion in the hopes that Gov. Kevin Stitt would grant Jones clemency. Stitt granted clemency for Jones just hours before he was scheduled to be executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The governor commuted Jones' death sentence to life without the possibility of parole.
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In May, numerous local ministers and other community leaders packed in and outside a district courtroom in support of Scobey's efforts to see the charges against him dismissed.
Preachers and others who have gathered to support Scobey said the minister was participating in peaceful vigils and protests that have long been part of the Christian faith tradition.
Friday, there was a smaller but no less supportive crowd, including the Rev. Clarence Hill and the Rev. Christine Byrd.
Byrd said Scobey was trying to calm the crowd at the vigil where he was arrested and he shouldn't have been charged for it.
"So for several weeks the faithful have traveled to the courthouse in hopes this madness will end," she said. "Is this a good use of taxpayers' money and time when there are so many more important things the court could use its time for?"
Hill shared similar comments.
"I'm not here to oppose the process of the law as much as I am to support a man who has a great heart for his city," Hill said. "He respects the law, and just wanted what was best that night."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Legal battle continues for OKC preacher arrested at Julius Jones vigil
