Posted 11:01 pm Saturday, June 20, 2009
Cooper Theft Hearing Delayed For Evidence
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Former Bullard City Secretary Patty McMillian Cooper, charged with stealing from the city of Bullard, then from a law firm while on probation, was in court again Friday for her probation revocation, but the hearing was postponed.
The 63-year-old Troup woman was indicted May 7 for theft of more than $1,500 but less than $20,000. She faces six months to two years in a state jail facility if convicted of stealing from her employer, attorney James Williams. She also could receive additional jail time if the judge revokes her probation for the 2007 theft charge for stealing from the city of Bullard.
On Tuesday, Ronnie Van Baugh filed a motion to continue Friday's hearing and a motion for the state to produce additional evidence in the case.
Baugh told 7th District Judge Kerry Russell that he was not provided sufficient materials by the state, such as bank statements, check stubs and specific checks that were necessary for him to represent Ms. Cooper. He said he only had the victim's affidavit, which was not enough for him to properly defend his client.
Assistant District Attorney Greg Cole said the bank records and other financial documents were included in the 250 pages of evidence provided June 4 to Baugh. He said the new theft case against Ms. Cooper is document intensive because the defendant stole from the Williams Law Firm for two and a half years.
Cole said his office has provided Baugh with everything it was given by law enforcement who investigated the case. He said he was only told Friday morning by Baugh that the checks stubs were necessary to his defense case. Bullard police possess 18 check stubs for the case but had not provided them to the DA's office because they wouldn't be admitting them into evidence, Cole said, adding that he would get them to Baugh.
Baugh told the judge there wasn't a single bank statement in the 250 pages of evidence the state gave him and he "double-dog dared" Cole to find any.
Russell sifted through the 250 pages and said 31 pages were bank account-type records and 94 pages were deposit slips and other bank records but that there were no check stubs included.
Russell said the attorneys had known about the probation revocation hearing on Friday since April 17 and that Baugh's motions should have been filed before Tuesday so they could have resolved the issue and not waste the court's time.
Russell granted Baugh's motion, ordering the state to produce the bank stubs to Baugh. He rescheduled the probation revocation hearing for 10 a.m. on Aug. 3.
Meanwhile, Ms. Cooper remains out of jail on $100,000 bond.
Bullard Police Chief Gary Lewis said Ms. Cooper was stealing from the Williams Law Firm, where she worked, during the time she was placed on 10 years deferred adjudication probation. She was sentenced March 27, 2007, after she pleaded guilty to theft and tampering with governmental records. She was ordered to pay $88,304 in restitution to Bullard, the city she stole from over a four-year period before she resigned in 2004. If she would have completed her probation, the felony charge would have been dismissed.
Lewis said Ms. Cooper was working for attorney James Williams during her prior theft case, from 2005 through 2007. A CPA audit showed Ms. Cooper had been stealing from the attorney's checking account in 2006 and 2007, Lewis said.
