Prosecutors, judge defend Stipe ruling

By Tony Thornton

Published: February 16, 2008

Federal prosecutors referenced mob kingpin John Gotti in a court brief Friday regarding state Sen. Gene Stipe's mental competence.

Prosecutors asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to uphold a lower court's finding that Stipe is incompetent to aid his attorneys in a probation revocation case.

The Gotti reference is in response to recorded telephone calls between Stipe and his wife while he was undergoing competency testing at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo.

In one call admitted as evidence, Stipe repeatedly forgot what day it was and when his wife would arrive upon his release. Mary Stipe had to remind her husband 11 times in the Sept. 19 phone call that it was Wednesday, and that she would pick him up two days later.

U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White called that conversation "almost shocking” and cited it as a key reason for his Nov. 5 finding that Stipe is incompetent.

Defense attorney Clark Brewster argued that White shouldn't have considered the phone call, because it was a privileged communication between husband and wife.

In defending the admission of that conversation as evidence, U.S. Assistant Attorney Gay Guthrie noted that Gotti's recorded prison conversations during a visit from his father were deemed admissible.

The probation revocation attempt accuses Stipe of illegally financing another Democratic congressional campaign in 2004 while on house arrest and of continuing to associate with another convicted felon, Steve Covington.

A probation officer warned the two men to disassociate in October 2005.

In a separate case, a federal grand jury indicted Stipe and his brother, Francis, in October, accusing them of conspiring to use state money to benefit a McAlester dog food plant built on property Gene Stipe sold.

"He often didn't know what day it was, even after being reminded multiple times,” Guthrie wrote. "He believed that storm troopers had taken over his home, erected bars, and made it into a jail.”

"While such responses might not be surprising from a lay person, these answers were given by a man long recognized as one of the premier defense attorneys in this state,” Guthrie wrote.

Before the November hearing, Brewster said he would call 15 witnesses to support his claim that Stipe is competent. At the hearing, however, the defense called no witnesses.

Stipe remains in house arrest at his McAlester home until the appeal is settled. If the appeals court takes oral arguments, a ruling could be several months away.

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