A McIntosh County judge gave juvenile detention authorities one week to weigh in on whether courts retain post-conviction jurisdiction of prisoner placement.

The issue arose in July after District Judge Thomas Bartheld learned the Office of Juvenile Affairs moved convicted murderer Berry Joe Williamson, 17, from a secure juvenile facility to a nonsecure facility without notice or hearing.

Williamson was convicted in 2005 of murdering Checotah rancher Rodger Stockton. Williamson was scheduled to be in court Thursday for a sentence review hearing, which was postponed.

McIntosh County Assistant District Attorney Greg Stidham said he asked for a hearing when he learned about OJA’s plans to transfer Williamson to the Cedar Canyon Adventure Camp, a facility Stidham describes as a “summer camp.” OJA Director Gene Christian, however, approved Williamson’s transfer prior to the hearing.

Williamson was convicted as youthful offender of first-degree murder for the shooting death of Stockton, 65, on May 24, 2004. Williamson shot Stockton multiple times at his rural Checotah home after attending a roping competition together earlier that night.

The Checotah teen has served two years of a 10-year sentence, a point of contention for those who oppose Williamson’s transfer to the nonsecure juvenile facility.

“It is clear there was a concerted effort by OJA in Oklahoma City to conceal this move from the court,” Stidham said. “We got wind that move was afoot, so we filed for a hearing on this issue.”

Stidham said his reading of statutes and case law that address the issue leads him to believe the court does retain jurisdiction. Under the state’s youthful offender laws, mandatory review hearings are held periodically. Those review hearings, Stidham said, give the court the authority to grant or deny treatment plans proposed by OJA for convicted offenders.

Stidham said Williamson’s defense lawyers contend OJA has sole authority to unilaterally decide a prisoner’s treatment plan and placement. Stidham said that is the question Bartheld will have to decide Thursday, when Williamson’s hearing reconvenes.

Besides posing a unique issue ripe for legal sparring, Williamson’s unannounced transfer to the nonsecure facility near Weatherford has raised the ire of Stockton’s surviving relatives.

“I don’t understand how anyone who can commit first-degree murder — shoot a man multiple times — how they can send them out to some church camp after only two years,” said Linda Stockton, a sister of Williamson’s victim. “I heard he wrote a letter to the judge and said he had been going to see movies there in Weatherford.”



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