Judge, Former Reserve Deputy, Assigned To Cases Involving TCSO

One judge has been assigned to more than half of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office's recent unclaimed property cases, and it's no coincidence.

The judge admits the cases were funneled to him, but a review of this practice by News On 6 and our partner, The Frontier, found that courthouse policy says the cases must be assigned at random.

District Judge James Caputo handles criminal cases, but he's heard - or intended to hear - six of the 11 unclaimed property civil cases since July 2013.

"All I did was what I was asked to do," he said.

In 2013, Caputo said someone from the sheriff's office came to him and asked if he could help clear out overflow in the property room - cases in which the property owners couldn't be found.

Caputo said then-presiding District Judge Carlos Chappelle gave him permission to handle the sheriff's unclaimed property cases, so he did.

"All I did was try to help out. I was asked to do this docket," said Caputo.

Chappelle passed away this summer; Caputo, a former Tulsa County reserve deputy, said there is no documentation of their agreement.

Also, Caputo recently recused himself from former reserve deputy Bob Bates' trial after The Frontier found he had several conflicts of interest in the case, including receiving campaign donations from Bates' attorney.

Now-presiding District Judge Rebecca Nightingale said she had no idea Caputo had been, as he said, given permission to handle the unclaimed property cases.

Nightingale said courthouse policy requires judges be assigned randomly, saying, "That's not the way it's supposed to work," and she put an end to the practice.

Caputo said, "I have no idea, procedurally, how anything happened. I just know that I said I'd be happy to do it, and then I did it."

This week, people showed up in court to get their property back from the sheriff's office.

12/16/2015 Related Story: Sheriff's Office Seizes Citizens' Cash, Guns Through Unclaimed Property Law

The attorney representing some of them believes the sheriff's office has used the wrong law for almost a decade to seize cash, guns and other property.

The attorney said they should be filed as forfeiture cases, which requires the seized property be connected to criminal activity.

Caputo said if there was something going on, he didn't know about it.

The interview ended when we asked if the cases should have been filed as forfeitures.

"You know, we're done. Shut it off,” Caputo said.

A couple of the candidates for sheriff are weighing in on this situation.

Sheriff candidate Vic Regalado said, “If it’s determined that these were items that weren’t bought with drug money, then the people that the property was seized from can provide proof of purchase, and in those circumstances…there should be efforts to return that property.”

Sheriff candidate Tom Helm said:

“It does look a little bit unusual. The law for civil forfeiture says it should be done in one year. I pledge if I’m elected sheriff, I’d fully review and reform the property seizure policies and practices at the sheriff’s office. The citizens are what is most important to me, and I’d ensure that due process rights are fully protected.

“I can’t speak to whether or not that’s happened. I can tell you that judge shopping…I am fully against it. You want an impartial judge to rule on the merit of the case.

“The judges should be administratively assigned…and not assigned by the needs of a filing.”

The sheriff's office declined to comment.

News On 6 partner, The Frontier, has a more in depth story on their website. You can read their version here.