The Native American pedigree of former football coach Scotty Ray Gilkey was questioned earlier this week at a district court hearing in which Gilkey seeks dismissal of embezzlement charges filed against him and his wife over fundraising efforts during his 2012 tenure as Pawhuska High School head coach.
The ex-coach testified Tuesday in connection with a defense motion that asks for the charges to be dropped due to lack of jurisdiction by Osage County courts. From the witness stand, Gilkey produced a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) which indicates that he is one-quarter Pawnee Indian.
In addition to disputing the facts of the alleged crimes, the defense contends that the State of Oklahoma court system does not have jurisdiction in the case because the charges involve incidents that occurred on Indian land. Generally, crimes committed by an Indian on restricted Indian property are subject to federal prosecution.
District Attorney Rex Duncan disputed the Indian immunity claim made by Gilkey. Duncan said such a claim is only valid for actual Indian citizens and certified tribal members. The district attorney argued that the CDIB is not sufficient to prove tribal citizenship, which he said is required to support Gilkey’s motion.
“Citizenship is a political matter within the different tribal communities,” said Duncan, adding: “Mr. Gilkey is not and was not a member of an Indian tribe.”
The district attorney said Gilkey does not have a tribal membership number. He pointed out that the number on the Gilkey CDIB actually is a (Dawes) Roll number of a deceased Pawnee citizen who was a grandfather of the former football coach.
“It is simply a tracking number that is used in probate (court) to track assets of tribal members,” said Duncan.
Testimony by Gilkey indicated that his mother is one-half Pawnee and that he receives quarterly payments from the tribe and owns tribal property as a descendant of his Pawnee grandfather. He said he recently has resumed a tribal-membership application process that he had begun several years previously.
“I didn’t just become a Pawnee,” Gilkey said following the hearing. “I’ve been Pawnee my whole life.”
Gilkey also testified that he was not personally involved with operating a fireworks stand involved in the felony embezzlement case against him. The 38-year-old PHS graduate is accused of fraudulently appropriating proceeds from the fireworks stand in the summer of 2012. Gilkey said the stand was run by his wife and other family members.
The owner of the property on which fireworks stand was located, Paul Mays, testified at the hearing that the fireworks stand was operated by Jennifer Gilkey and her daughter. When questioned by the DA, Mays said he was unaware that the fireworks were being sold to raise funds for school sports programs.
Defense attorney Aletia Timmons attempted to introduce evidence that revenue from the fireworks stand did not even belong to the Pawhuska Public Schools, as claimed in the charges.
“There is no evidence in this case that there is a victim at all, let alone a non-Indian victim on Indian land,” Timmons said.
Gilkey served as PHS head coach for less than six months before being suspended last November by Pawhuska Schools Superintendent Dr. Landon Berry. His suspension came four days before the Huskies’ lost a first-round game in the state football playoffs. Gilkey’s coaching contract expired at the end of the 2012-13 school year.
At the request of the school district’s, an investigation of school finances was conducted late last year by the Osage County Sheriff’s Office. Embezzlement charges were filed against the Gilkeys on May 29.
A felony charge alleges the coach took more than $2,500 “which were proceeds from the Pawhuska Football Firework Stand, belonging to Pawhuska Public Schools and which had been entrusted to (him) for the benefit of Pawhuska Public Schools.”
Gilkey and his wife also are charged with seven counts of embezzlement involving personal checks from Pawhuska school patrons. The payments supposedly were intended for the school district but allegedly were deposited in personal accounts of the Gilkeys.
Osage County Special District Judge Stuart Tate set a Dec. 6 deadline for Timmons to provide a legal brief to support the motion for dismissal. Tate asked Duncan to respond to the defense filing by Jan. 3, 2014. The judge scheduled resumption of the motion hearing at 9 a.m. on Jan. 17.
Since his arrests in August, Gilkey has been free on appearance bonds totalling $4,000. Jennifer Gilkey was released on a $1,500 bond for the misdemeanor charge.
- See more at: http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/osage-county-da-disputes-tribal-immunity-claim-ex-football-coach#sthash.VZADp1PB.dpuf
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