Oklahoma Attorneys Colleen McCarty and Leslie Briggs dig deep into Oklahoma’s criminal legal system, telling true stories you won’t believe—and exposing the legal realities of a system that sends more people to prison than almost anywhere in the world. This so called “victim centered system” often leaves victims of violence to fend for themselves, then punishes them when they do just that.
Panic Button
Claim This Podcastby Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
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31 episodes
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Podcast Overview
Oklahoma Attorneys Colleen McCarty and Leslie Briggs dig deep into Oklahoma’s criminal legal system, telling true stories you won’t believe—and exposing the legal realities of a system that sends more people to prison than almost anywhere in the world. This so called “victim centered system” often leaves victims of violence to fend for themselves, then punishes them when they do just that.
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Publishing Since
6/20/2022
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Recent Episodes
May 1, 2024
Panic Button: Bring Her to the Bone House Preview
<p>On June 25th at midnight, Panic Button--the hit true-crime-advocacy podcast--is back with a gripping tale of an unsolved double homicide that happened in Oklahoma's biggest prison town. Emily Morgan, a Choctaw citizen, and Totinika Elix, her best friend, were found dead under a carport on August 25th, 2016. The case was given directly to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation--seven years later there are no leads and we are no closer to understanding what happened to Emily and Totinika. Follow attorneys Leslie Briggs and Colleen McCarty of Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice as they investigate this cold case--and find so much more than they bargained for.</p>
August 22, 2023
S2:E11 Vigilante Sh!t
<p>The music in this episode is “Let it Burn,” by Oliver / Aberson.</p> <p> </p> <p>Find the notes and documents referenced in the episode at <a href='http://www.okappleseed.org/vigilante-shit'>okappleseed.org/vigilante-shit</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p>This is the finale of Season Two – we discuss the different measures of justice each survivor got in the courts and we ask: is it enough?</p> <p> </p> <p>_________________________</p> <p>TRANSCRIPT</p> <p>SPEAKERS</p> <p>Leslie Briggs, Colleen McCarty, Marci, Heather, Christen, Karrah</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 00:00</p> <p>This episode contains references to accounts of domestic and sexual violence, violence against women in particular and language that is not suitable for listeners under 18 years of age. We also discuss suicide, sexual assault, addiction and relapse. Please use caution while listening.</p> <p> </p> <p>Leslie Briggs 00:35</p> <p>Welcome to the last episode of season two of panic button operational wildfire. Up to now we've been complaining about a system that fails to hold abusers accountable in a meaningful way. We've spoken to survivors, recanters, law enforcement, district attorneys, restorative justice experts, community advocates, and lawyers. We've reached out to Jim and his family, his business partners and generally tried to find anyone we could, who would give us insight into how these events could have unfolded over three decades, three states and many, many victims.</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 01:12</p> <p>Today, we're going to take you through the survivors efforts to seek criminal and civil justice through our courts. Even where they were, quote, successful in having charges brought the actual consequences of those charges were relatively minor. When Justice was fleeting, or altogether absent, several of the women turned toward each other and employed tactics that may raise some eyebrows when you hear about them. You've already heard about the flyer and the defamation case that followed. But what about the others? Heather, Marcy, and Christen. What justice have they seen through the courts? What measures have they relied on the courts failed them? What should survivors do when the system that's supposed to advocate for them doesn't is raising the village and assaulting the earth? The only choice left?</p> <p> </p> <p>Leslie Briggs 02:06</p> <p>I'm Leslie Briggs.</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 02:08</p> <p>And I'm Colleen McCarty.</p> <p> </p> <p>Leslie Briggs 02:10</p> <p>This is panic button season two episode 11.</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 02:13</p> <p>Vigilante shit </p> <p> </p> <p>Leslie Briggs 02:16</p> <p>It might just be easiest to take this pre and post wildfire that is before and after the flyers. Before the flyers Christen suffered her her violent assault in 2015. And you heard those details in Episode Six. But after officer Rusty Shouse found her in the park bloody and afraid he arrested Jim.</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 02:36</p> <p>Officer Shouse filed a police report and an affidavit of probable cause. And here's what he wrote on 320 to 2015. At approximately zero to 31 hours. I was on patrol in the city of Cleveland. When I saw black Dodge Charger parked up Billy vessel's Park on West Cherokee Street. I gave the dispatcher the license plate information and advice that I would be making contact with the person in the vehicle. When I approached the vehicle, I saw a woman and I recognized her as Christen Rochelle Norris. Christen had blood on her hands and face and her nose was bleeding. I asked Christen if she was okay. And she said that she had just parked there for a minute before she headed home. I asked Christen if she needed an ambulance. And she said no. I asked her what happened and she seemed reluctant to answer. I told Christen that I could tell something had happened to her and that she was safe. Now if she wanted to tell me what had happened. Christen told me that she had stopped to see a friend...
August 15, 2023
S2:E10 Eureka!
<p>In this episode, Colleen and Leslie interview one of Jim’s survivors who has never spoken to anyone about the incident (aside from the police and her mother) in thirty years.</p> <p>The music in this episode is “I Can’t Make you Love me,” by Combsy.</p> <p>You can find the documents and pictures that support this episode at okappleseed.org/eureka.</p> <p>______________</p> <p>Episode Transcript</p> <p> </p> <p>SPEAKERS</p> <p>Carisa, Colleen McCarty, Leslie Briggs</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 00:00</p> <p>This episode contains references to accounts of domestic and sexual violence, violence against women in particular in language that is not suitable for listeners under 18 years of age. We also discuss coercive control. Please use caution when listening.</p> <p> </p> <p>Leslie Briggs 00:23</p> <p>Last week we finally gotten to the subject for which this podcast is named Operation Wildfire. Operation Wildfire was the act of a desperate woman, the act of someone who no longer has faith in her justice system to protect victims from her abuser, the act of someone who was powerless to stop someone else from getting hurt. Some would argue that she acted recklessly. Others would argue that she was bold and brave. One reason the courts didn't believe care about Jim's violence is because she made herself less credible by associating with his other victims. For becoming friends with Kristen, going on a cruise with Kristin and Amber, and continuing to go out of her way to warn his girlfriends about his behavior. All gave rise to questions about her truthfulness.</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 01:11</p> <p>Welcome to panic button. Operation Wildfire. This is episode 10. Eureka. If you're just joining us, we recommend you go back and start listening from episode one. The idea that by associating with each other they've heard their cases is a harsh reality. It not only calls Kara's case against Jim into question, but all of these women's cases, it allows Jen to continue to say these women are just crazy bitches who are all obsessed with him. Because we already don't believe women, more women compounded together unfortunately doesn't mean more credibility, it means more suspicion. Imagine if a group of men all alleged someone was violent, instant credibility. But multiple women claiming a man as violent. Instantly everyone starts saying witch hunt.</p> <p> </p> <p>Leslie Briggs 02:07</p> <p>When you're dealing with an unreliable witness, or one whose credibility has been attacked, or what we would call, quote, impeached in a court of law, you've got to try to rehabilitate them. You can do that through introducing corroborating statements, maybe you have the ability to put on character evidence for truthfulness. That's one of the exceptions to the no character evidence rule, which we talked about extensively in season one. Or, as we have here, you can put on a witness to testify to their independent experiences, untainted by the corruption of having worked as a group, which is the primary source for having attacked the other witnesses credibility in this case. So Arkansas.</p> <p> </p> <p>Colleen McCarty 02:49</p> <p>The crazy thing about the Arkansas case is that Kristen, and Cara have known about it for a really long time. It's not really clear to us how they came to know about it. But they put it on the flyer. Right. And it's only a police report. Right? Kristen spent years looking for this person. And they she was told when she called the Eureka Springs police department that you have to be a lawyer to get the full report because they had a partial report that did not include the name of the of the survey. It was like anonymized right. So they had that one, right. But they'd never had the name. They never had the contact information for this person. They could never find who it was. And it would have been incredibly helpful for Kara, in defending against Jim's defamation suit, possibly to have this person if it did go to...
31 total episodes available
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