Judge: No probable cause in bogus check case against resident

Reprinted with permission from the Claremore Progress. This article originally appeared on Jun 21, 2016. Support local journalism with a subscription or a day pass for $1.99 :)

CLAREMORE — District Judge Terrell Crosson on Wednesday found there was no probable cause a crime had been committed in the case of a Claremore resident charged with writing a bogus check to the City of Claremore Utility Department.

In October 2015, Claremore resident Shelly Taylor was notified of felony charges filed against her for writing a $617.42 check to pay her Claremore utility bill that was subsequently returned to the city.

Court filings alleged Taylor acted, “willfully, knowingly, wrongfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and with intent to cheat and defraud the City of Claremore.”

But in a preliminary hearing Crosson sustained the defendant’s demurrer, which contended there were insufficient facts to proceed with the case.

Crosson stated that, “This court doesn’t believe there was sufficient notice, that this defendant was on notice that this account was closed, if it was closed at the point in time this check was entered.

“Therefore, I do not find probable cause she had knowledge the check would be bad.”

Claremore Utility office manager Felicia Burnett testified that Taylor provided the check on Aug. 26; the city processed the check on Aug. 27; the check was recorded as returned on Sept. 3; and Taylor paid the $617.42 in cash on Sept. 4. Taylor’s attorney, Patrick Abitbol, said during the hearing utility department policy gives customers 24 hours to pay a bad check in cash.

The notice the city received from its bank stated “unable to locate account” as the reason the check was not honored.

After the check was returned, the matter was turned over to Claremore police, and a warrant was later issued for Taylor’s arrest. She turned herself in for booking on Oct. 28.

The date on which Taylor’s account had actually been closed was disputed during the hearing, but one computer-generated letter from her bank included the date as Nov. 12, after Taylor’s check to the city had been written. Crosson said the dispute over the dates was an important part of his determination.

The charges against Taylor carried a possible sentence of up to one year behind bars and a $5,000 fine, according to court records.

Taylor last year started the Facebook group “Claremore Electric Petition” and organized a community meeting after she received a utility bill exceeding $1,500 in August 2015.

The State of Oklahoma has five days to file an appeal of the court’s determination there was no probable cause. The next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 23.