Two Rogers County prosecutors suspended after allegedly watching jury deliberate

In a Tuesday letter addressed to Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, Rogers County District Attorney Matt Ballard wrote that an internal investigation into Assistant District Attorneys Isaac Shields and George Gibbs Jr. confirmed that the two — among unspecified “others” — watched a jury deliberate via a security camera feed.

Despite the feed most likely not having audio and the absence of any allegation that communication with jurors took place, Ballard wrote that the action was potentially illegal, citing state law that prohibits the observation of jury deliberations by any means and carries a maximum punishment of two years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Ballard requested that his office be disqualified from any possible criminal investigation into the pair due to the conflict of interest.

In the letter, Ballard wrote that he launched the internal investigation after the judge who oversaw the trial made him aware of the allegation July 7.

Both Shields, a supervising attorney, and Gibbs, whom Shields supervised, were suspended upon the results of the internal investigation, Ballard wrote.

Shields is the lead prosecutor for the majority of Ballard’s office’s major crimes in Craig, Mayes and Rogers counties and supervises all other assistant district attorneys, according to the office’s website. He previously served in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office as the director of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Shields told the Tulsa World he would not comment yet.

The prosecutors’ dockets will be covered in their absence, a District 12 spokeswoman said, and an announcement is expected if the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office decides to investigate the allegations.

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