March, 2021 Vol. 54, No. 3 A Publication of the OKLAHOMA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION WWW.OKCBAR.ORG A Very Special “Special Judge” By Jeffery W. Massey, Asst. Dist. Atty How does one approach the sometimes sensitive sub- ject of asking a judge about his taking leave of the bench? Such decisions are deeply personal and often sensitive. However the departure of the Hon. Geary Walke was undertaken with grace and poise; just like his tenure on the bench. The Judge departed the courthouse without great fanfare or pomp. His request. Those that knew him desired to sing his accolades and years of devoted service. I had the fortune of being practicing before His Honor for two years and observed the passion and dignity he brought to his court. Now that a few months have passed, I have successfully tracked down the elusive retired jurist for observations and missives regarding his career. Oyez, Oyez, Oyez! Draw near for the Hon. Geary Walke, late special judge of the Oklahoma County District Court: On Retirement: The Frightful Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 was a great time to retire. Forced social isolation resulted in con- stant reading, purely for enjoyment, and more relaxation/ couch potato training than anyone needs. I memorized all the dialogue for every episode of every season of The Big Bang Theory. I actually read all the articles in each National Geographic (not just perusing the photos). I am enjoying my granddaughters who are talented and probably the smartest girls in the entire world. I’m getting reacquainted with my wife, Barbara (who was my high school sweetheart and who retired from Hobby Lobby Corporate office in June), which has been a treat. I began reorganizing my garage and should complete the chore during the next pandemic. Special Judge Geary Walke poses with his Mental Health Court Staff. See JUDGE, page 8 Inside HOW IS THE IN MEMORIAM: From the President ............ 2 Bar Observer ................. 7 ECONOMY ROBERT H. “GILLY” Stump Roscoe ............... 3 DOING? GILLILAND, JR. Page 4 Page 5 OKLA CITY OK CITY OKLA PERMIT# 59 PERMIT# PAID US POSTAGE US PRSRT STD PRSRT 2 BRIEFCASE • March 2021 From the President BRIEFCASE February 2021 Briefcase is a monthly publication of the Oklahoma County Bar Association 119 North Robinson Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73102 (405) 236-8421 Briefcase Committee Ryan Dean, J. Renley Dennis, Ben Grubb, Justin Hiersche, Jeff Massey, Katherine Mazaheri, Trais Pickens, Kyle Prince, Miles Pringle, Austin Reams, Rex Travis, & Judge Allen Welch Editor Benjamin Grubb Contributing Editors Michael Brewer Richard Goralewicz Katherine Mazaheri Oklahoma County Bar Association OFFICERS: DanRoss via depositphotos.com President Judge Don Andrews President-Elect Shanda McKenney Vice President Cody J. Cooper Past President Michael W. Brewer Treasurer Robert D. Nelon THE LION AND THE LAMB Bar Counsel Coree Stevenson Hon. Don Andrews STAFF: President, OCBA Springtime here is obviously most Executive Director Debbie Gorden intriguing—does it get any better Legal Placement Director Pam Bennett What is up with the weather these past few Membership Services Connie Resar months? In October of last year, we had a bizarre than viewing tornadoes (from afar) early ice storm that left many of us without elec- Journal Record Publishing Co. Inc. tricity for more than a week, along with a week’s in Tornado Alley!? Thankfully, we Special Projects Designer worth of clean-up from damaged trees that are older than all of us. Then in February of this year, will transition from the hellish winter For advertising information, we got smacked by back-to-back weather systems that merged with call 278-2830. a Canadian jet stream to provide us with double-digit inches of snow- we’ve had to a more “typical” spring fall and record-breaking frigid temperatures for several consecutive Postmaster: Send address changes to OCBA days. If you did not experience a burst pipe, then consider yourself experience. I cannot wait. Briefcase, 119 North Robinson Ave., Oklahoma lucky. City, Oklahoma 73102. My closest friends know that I am somewhat of a weather-geek. Living in Oklahoma my entire life helped contribute to this fascina- grip, providing more brutal cold, wind and snow, especially in the Journal Record Publishing produces the Briefcase tion with weather. Springtime here is obviously most intriguing— first days of the month. But as the transitional month moves along, it for the Oklahoma County Bar Association, which is solely responsible for its content. does it get any better than viewing tornadoes (from afar) in Tornado often leads to glimpses of spring’s beauty and warmth. © 2021 Oklahoma County Bar Association Alley!? Thankfully, we will transition from the hellish winter we’ve It did not take long for the early American colonists to realize that had to a more “typical” spring experience. I cannot wait. the New World’s weather pattern was much like their native lands Have you ever heard of the saying, “March comes in like a Lion, across England and surrounding countries, where extreme weather and goes out like a Lamb”? The well-known proverb means that shifts could profoundly affect their livelihoods from week-to-week. March is a month in which you can experience a lion’s fierce roar The Northern Hemisphere shares the same jet stream that provides of frigid cold, the teeth of biting winds, and then gentle warmth with swings in weather in America just like it does across Europe. sunshine like the fleece of a docile newborn lamb. Some may be familiar with a reverse version of the proverb: While the saying likely started as a reference to astronomy, refer- “March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion.” This reversal OKLAHOMA COUNTY BAR encing the position of the constellations Leo (a lion) and Aries (a ram makes sense if you consider those who traveled westward with the ASSOCIATION or lamb) in the night sky, it evolved into a summation of March’s American expansion to Western states. These western states can have MISSION STATEMENT changing weather as the seasons change from winter to spring in the incredible temperature swings in March as the polar jet stream moves Volunteer lawyers and judges dedicated Northern Hemisphere. I’m not a stargazer, but I am informed that the from its preferred position near Canada over the winter to a more to serving the judicial system, their profes- constellation Leo rises in the east to start March and ends the month southerly route during the spring. This tends to cause many states in sion, and their community in order to foster with the constellation Aries setting in the west. the Western United States to experience some of their heavier snow- the highest ideals of the legal profession, to This proverb for the month of March can be traced back to Thomas falls from the end of March and into April; thus, the lion (and the better the quality of life in Oklahoma County, Fuller’s 1732 Compendium, “Gnomologia; Adagies and Proverbs; harsh weather it represents) comes at the end of the month. and to promote justice for all. Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign If you have read to this point in the column, then you now know and British.” Fuller compiled numerous proverbs and studied weath- how much of a weather-geek I am. As such, I contemplate as the er lore across many countries through the late 1600s and early 1700s. month of March continues, will it be like the ‘Luck of the Irish’ or Weather folklore has often helped people prepare for anticipated will it be like the ‘Ides of March’ (which commemorates the assig- weather conditions, oftentimes in reference to planting and harvest- nation of Julius Caesar)? Either way, the spring cannot get hear soon ing crops. In the United States, the month of March is still in winter’s enough, so the weather-geeks can experience some normalcy. Quote of the MONTH “The Greatest Menace to Freedom is an Inert People.” - Louis D. Brandeis www.okcbar.org • March 2021 • BRIEFCASE 3 Stump Roscoe By ROSCOE X. POUND a bank robbery, but once someone starts to act in a way that they’re fleeing from the Dear Roscoe: Do canine officers have police, that starts to heighten reasonable TIMELESS respondeat superior or vicarious liability for police awareness that there’s something the actions of their police dogs? DBS, OKC. else going on than just someone who just Dear DBS: OK, there may be legal lin- doesn’t want to stop. DESIGNS AND guists out there who think the question, as You’re question reminds me of some- phrased, has to do with high-ranking police thing that occurred in Edmond, OK back in ALL-DAY dogs having supervisory duties over their the “aughts” which made its way into the less-senior colleagues, or collies as the case news even back here. It seems a couple of COMFORT FROM may be. Having better things to do, let me Edmond officers flushed out a suspect by go directly to the heart of your question as claiming they had a police dog (which the OUR ALDEN I see it. didn’t) and then barked and growled until In my opinion, the general rule has been he came out of hiding. My question at the stated in Mendoza v. Block, 27 F.3d 1357 time was: If this was done by civilians could CASUALS (9th Cir. 1994), where the Ninth Circuit they have been charged with impersonating affirmed the dismissal on qualified immuni- an officer? TEENA HICKS COMPANY ty grounds of a § 1983 claim by Mendoza, OKLAHOMA TOWER 210 PARK AVENUE, SUITE 220 who was severely bitten by a police dog Dear Roscoe: What’s the longest sentence OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73102 while trying to evade arrest for bank robbery ever contained in a legal brief or opinion? (405) 235-4800 by hiding for several hours in bushes on GGM, OKC, OK private property.