Oklahoma::History: August 2024 Archives

Revealed after 26 years, judge was source of scoop for the ages

John Amick, the district judge who sealed the 1993 multicounty grand jury felony indictment of Gov. David Walters and later received his misdemeanor guilty plea, leaked the indictment to the press. "He had seen the governor's indictment, signed an arrest warrant and set bail at $16,500. Then, at the request of prosecutors, he sealed the indictment from the public while the investigation continued. What was bothering the amiable judge that September in 1993, he explained later, was what he witnessed by chance shortly afterward. At an event, he saw a sweet older lady make a donation to Walters' reelection effort. He thought to himself she wouldn't have done that if she knew the governor was under indictment, he explained. So, the judge told the secret to the state's largest newspaper, then known as The Daily Oklahoman."