Stephen Jones (attorney)

Stephen Jones (born July 1, 1940), is an attorney best known for taking on a series of high-profile civil rights cases beginning with his defense of a Vietnam War protester, including Timothy McVeigh, and continuing with the fraternity involved in the 2015 University of Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon racism incident.

Biography

Stephen Jones was born on July 1, 1940 in Lafayette, Louisiana. His father was an oil field supplies sales manager and his mother was the bookkeeper for a wealthy financier. Jones grew up in suburban Houston, received a law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1966 and settled in Enid, Oklahoma where he still lives. Jones was a member of Phi Alpha Delta and served as Associate Editor of the Oklahoma Bar Journal from 1979 to 1986. He has been married to his wife Sherrel for the last 40 years and they have raised four children.

Legal career

On May 5, 1970, the day after National Guardsmen had shot and killed four students at Kent State University, Keith Green was arrested at the University of Oklahoma for carrying a Viet Cong flag in violation of a state law prohibiting the display of a "red flag or emblem of anarchy or rebellion". After 12 lawyers had refused to defend the student, Jones took the case and was promptly dismissed from the Enid, Oklahoma law firm where he was employed. Jones argued in court that the disloyalty statute was unconstitutional and the judge dismissed the case, overturning the statute. Later Jones would go on to represent Abbie Hoffman, the radical Yippie, when Oklahoma State University refused to let him speak on campus.

In 1975, Jones defended Bobby Wayne Collins, who was accused of the worst mass killing in Oklahoma history at the time. Mervin Thrasher (28), his wife Sandra (27) and their two young children, Penny (5) and Robert (18 months) were murdered in their four-room farm home one mile north of Woodward, Oklahoma. Collins was found guilty and sentenced to death for the brutal crime. On appeal in 1977, Jones successfully had Collins' death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Bobby Wayne Collins was denied parole in both 2009 and again in 2015. He currently remains in custody at the Lexington Correctional Center.

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Defense attorney for Oklahoma City bomber dead at 57

Source: AP

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Rob Nigh, a defense attorney who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and witnessed his 2001 execution, died Sunday after a battle with cancer, former colleagues said. He was 57.

Known for his encyclopedic legal knowledge, work ethic and intense preparation on every case he handled, Nigh also defended those accused of committing some of the state's most egregious crimes. Nigh died about three months after stepping down as Tulsa County's chief public defender for serious health issues.

Stephen Jones, McVeigh's lead defense attorney, told The Associated Press Sunday that he asked Nigh to be his assistant on the McVeigh case and recommended him to serve as the former soldier's appellate attorney because he thought of his colleague as "a zealous advocate" for clients.

Jones said his instinct to take Nigh on didn't disappoint.

Read more: http://hosted2.ap.org/TXAMA/9fe6901e65e14c17b96e6d68f3208992/Article_2017-09-24-US--Obit-Rob%20Nigh/id-bac156d67cba4f5ca604e0cfa5a70f06

Oklahoma man accused of molesting Kenyan orphans to testify

Source: Associated Press

Oklahoma man accused of molesting Kenyan orphans to testify
| June 17, 2015 | Updated: June 17, 2015 1:54am


[font size=1]
Photo By Sue Ogrocki/AP

Kyle Durham, left, and Melissa Durham, second from left, hold hands as they leave the Federal Courthouse in
Oklahoma City, following another day of testimony in the federal trial of their son, Matthew Lane Durham,
Monday, June 15, 2015. At right are their other two sons, Josh Durham, right, and Zac Durham. Matthew Lane
Durham is accused of 17 counts of sexual misconduct with children in Nairobi, Kenya.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A 20-year-old Oklahoma man accused of sexually abusing children at a Kenyan orphanage is set to testify in his own defense.

Matthew Lane Durham is scheduled to take the stand Wednesday before a 12-member jury. Defense attorney Stephen Jones says Durham and his father, Oklahoma City Fire Department Maj. Kyle Durham, will both testify as the defense prepares to wrap up its case.

Matthew Durham faces 17 counts of sexual misconduct, including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. He's pleaded not guilty and faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors allege that Durham molested the children between April and June 2014 while working as a volunteer at the Upendo Children's Home, which cares for neglected children in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

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Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Oklahoma-man-accused-of-molesting-Kenyan-orphans-6331849.php

OU SAE to sue University of Oklahoma and the University President

Yep. They're being slammed and punished for using their freedom of speech. Law professors are gearing up to help the students out.

NORMAN, Okla. — The local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon is planning to pursue legal action against the University of Oklahoma, and possibly OU President David Boren.

The group has hired high-profile attorney, Stephen Jones to represent them.

Jones told NewsChannel 4 the group is outraged over President Boren shutting down the fraternity house and branding all SAE members as racists and bigots.

Jones says the two students who were expelled because of the incident have apologized sincerely for their remarks, and now the incident is being exploited.

He said they lacked judgment in a social setting, but they should not be tarred and feathered as racists.

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