continued from last week…

Extradition to Sallisaw

Deputy Steven Jenkins of the Sequoyah County Sheriff ’s Office was the first investigator to the LaFerry’s crime scene. He secured a search warrant, which was executed by the OSBI. He testified that following Stacy Lee Drake’s capture in Morrilton, when OSBI agents attempted to speak with Drake, he invoked his right to counsel.

On June 21, 2024, Jenkins, along with Sequoyah County Sheriff ’s Office Chief Deputy Charles House and Investigator Dwayne Frizzell, transported Drake from Morrilton to Sallisaw to be booked into jail. Jenkins testified that no one attempted to ask Drake any questions during the return to Sallisaw.

During the booking process, the only questions Jenkins asked Drake “pertained to his identifiers — such as address, simple questions that are asked on a booking sheet.” Jenkins then advised Drake that he was being charged with three counts of murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon, and asked him if he understood. Jenkins confirmed that the information he provided Drake was not an attempt to get Drake to incriminate himself. Jenkins testified that everyone booked into jail is informed of the charges against them, and did not expect Drake to respond, and that the question was not an attempt to gather information about the crime.

When defense counsel objected to the question, “Do you understand?” Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp cited the routine booking question exemption to Miranda, and reiterated that the question is “the same thing every single person that’s booked in, when they’re given their instruction and they’ve gone through the booking process, they have to acknowledge that they understand the booking process.”

Orendorff agreed that Jenkins’ question was not an attempt to elicit information, that it was part of the booking process and that “I do not believe that a reasonable person, in that context in the booking situation, would feel like they’re being interrogated by being asked that question.” The judge further explained that “Do you un- derstand“ was not a question that could have elicited an incriminating response. It is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question. Had he answered ‘yes,’ it would not have been incriminating. Had he answered ‘no,’ it would not be incriminating.”

Thorp then pointed out that an utterance by Drake when advised of the charges proved particularly damning, one Jenkins did not expect.

Jenkins said Drake took exception to the three murder charges against him, arguing, “There was only two people in the place,” which elicited sporadic gasps from the courtroom gallery.

Jenkins identified Drake in the courtroom as the same person who was arrested, extradited to Sallisaw and booked into the county jail.

Foundational testimony

Other witnesses called by the state, who provided primarily foundational information, included:

• Detective David Craig, El Reno Police Department sergeant, who was among those who investigated the death of Phillip Emerson at his El Reno home at 204 N. McComb. He described bloody drag marks at the home, finding Emerson in a pool of blood covered by a blanket. He said the 1994 Chevrolet extended cab pickup driven by Emerson was missing.

• OSBI Special Agent Roy Williams, who assisted El Reno Police with the homicide investigation of Emerson, then traveled to Sallisaw when the stolen pickup was found. Williams testified that the pickup was registered to Lisa Noriega, who was identified as Emerson’s girlfriend.

• Sharon Mitchell, a 911 communications operator in El Reno, who spoke to Sam Emerson who requested a welfare check of his brother, Phillip. Sam Emerson then called 911 about 3½ hours later to report his brother had been murdered, and that his brother’s pickup was missing.

• Detective Jeremy Gore, El Reno Police Department criminal investigator, was among those who investigated Emerson’s, and then traveled to Sallisaw where Emerson’s pickup was found.

• Shane Petree, a deputy with Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, investigated Emerson’s abandoned pickup, and had it impounded.

• Kevin Borutski, IT vendor for LaFerry’s Propane, detailed during his testimony where exterior surveillance cameras were conspicuously located at LaFerry’s, and testified he provided all video evidence to the OSBI.

• OSBI Special Agent Courtney Barnett, who was assigned to the bureau’s crime scene unit, assisted with the homicide investigation at LaFerry’s Propane, and processed the pickup found abandoned about four miles from LaFerry’s. She testified that two spent shells from a .45-caliber handgun were found at the business. Barnett said she took DNA swabs at both LaFerry’s and at the pickup, and that OSBI personnel were at LaFerry’s for 19 hours.

• Tina Buckner was working at the Alma (Ark.) Travel Mart at I-40 and U.S. 71 when Alma Police initially asked to look through trash at the business, and who later alerted police when a customer discovered multiple cellphones in a public trash receptacle at the convenience store. She testified that one phone was “bent and cracked,” another “looked like it was smashed with the heel of a foot,” and another was intact and rang when called by the police.

• Katie Berger, who owns Alma Travel Mart, testified regarding video surveillance equipment at the business and about those who had access to the video recordings.

• Paresh Kumar Patel, owner of the Motel 6 in Morrilton, Ark., testified that he reported to police an unattended Acadia in the motel’s parking lot on June 18, 2024. Although he initially thought the car was abandoned, he later confirmed that the driver had booked a room at the motel. Patel said Morrilton Police subsequently presented him with a search warrant for the room where the driver stayed.

• Nick Baker, an asset protection investigator for Walmart in Morrilton, Ark., testified that surveillance video showed that at 8:54 p.m. on June 18, 2024, Drake entered the store. He subsequently made a purchase at 10:10 p.m., paying in cash for “mostly sporting goods, equipment and clothing,” as well as camping gear.

• Detective Ivette Medina, Jefferson County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Office, was the lead investigator on May 15, 2024, in Fairfield, Ala., for a homicide of Qundarius Young. Medina testified that Young, a homeless man, owned a Glock 30 .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, which was not found during the crime scene investigation. Medina confirmed that the serial number for Young’s gun was the same as the serial number of the gun and parts in Drake’s possession when he was captured on June 20, 2024, in Arkansas.