Clock continues to tick on Carroll Fisher legislative panel

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An attorney's decision to appeal the release of grand jury documents to a special panel investigating Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher could further delay the committee's

Monday, May 3rd 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An attorney's decision to appeal the release of grand jury documents to a special panel investigating Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher could further delay the committee's probe.

Lawyer Irven Box said he plans to ask the court to stay a judge's decision allowing the release of the transcripts and documents of the multicounty grand jury that led to his client's indictment for embezzlement and operating a charity illegally.

The eight-man committee, which issued a subpoena for the documents, is investigating whether Fisher committed any impeachable offenses.

Attorney Burck Bailey, lead counsel for the committee, said last week that if the documents aren't received, the committee will have to consider interviewing the witnesses who testified before the grand jury.

That process will be more time-consuming and costly for the committee, which has only four weeks before the end of the legislative session on May 28. At this point, officials are unclear of how long it will take for the committee to complete its work and whether a special session must be called for the panel to continue meeting after the Legislature adjourns.

Mike Fina, a spokesman for House Speaker Larry Adair, said legal staff is looking into how the panel might continue its work after the session ends.

"I don't think there's a clear decision on how they're going to handle that," Fina said. "They can't meet unless we're in session, so we're going to have to do something so that they can meet."

State Rep. Larry Ferguson, a member of the panel, said the issue has not been formally discussed by the committee, but he expects it will have to be addressed soon.

"I don't see any way that we're going to get finished in the next four weeks," said Ferguson, R-Cleveland. "Starting this late in (the) session really makes it difficult to accomplish everything before the session ends."

House Fiscal Director Greg Sawyer said a final determination has also not been made on how much will be needed to pay for the committee's activities.

"I know (House leaders) are looking to put $250,000 into the House budget for it, but I don't think that will be enough," Sawyer said.

The committee voted earlier this month to hire Bailey, who will earn $275 per hour for his work, as well as a court reporter to record and transcribe testimony before the panel.

Bailey has a long history of handling state legal matters. After serving as an assistant under former Attorney General Charles Nesbitt, Bailey was selected by then-Attorney General G.T. Blankenship in 1967 to prosecute eight oil companies accused in an asphalt price-fixing scheme.

In 1968, a jury ruled that five companies had conspired to rig the price of asphalt sold to the state and awarded more than $1.5 million in damages.

Last week, Bailey and the committee questioned an investigator with the attorney general's office about her probe into ethics violations by Fisher during his 2002 re-election campaign. Fisher was reprimanded by the Ethics Commission last year for using his official position to obtain confidential employment records of his opponent.

The committee has yet to begin its examination into four other allegations against Fisher outlined in the resolution creating the impeachment committee, including:

-- The four felony counts issued in Oklahoma County District Court related to operating a charity illegally and embezzling insurance education money;

-- The alleged solicitation of gifts of artwork, furniture and kitchen equipment valued at more than $30,000 from entities regulated by the Insurance Department;

-- Distribution of "Friends of Fisher" stickers to medical professionals, who were instructed to affix the stickers to insurance claim submissions; and

-- The writing of a check for more than $35,000 to a Florida attorney for attorney fees from the account of an insurance company forced into conservatorship by the insurance commissioner.

Fisher said last week he's confident he'll be exonerated of all the allegations.

"It's nothing but a witch hunt," Fisher said. "Not one person has every complained about the job I'm doing as insurance commissioner."

Fisher also said he had no plans to step down from office or withdraw from the race for U.S. Senate.

"This isn't squelching my enthusiasm at all," he said. "It's just unfortunate. The type of thing that is happening to me is what keeps people out of public service."