Grand jury hears from two state legislators

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The multicounty grand jury looking into alleged "ghost employees" at the state Health Department heard testimony Wednesday from two state legislators.

Rep. Mike Mass, the chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, made his second appearance before the panel. He also testified Sept. 20.

Another legislator, state Rep. Randall Erwin, D-Nashoba, testified about an hour.

The grand jury's judge orders witnesses not to discuss their testimony, but Erwin said afterward he was helping "clarify some issues."

He said he was not asked questions about his daughter, Brittni Mitchamore, who works for the Health Department.

"It has nothing to do with me and my family. I came on a voluntary basis," Erwin said.

Jurors have been focusing this week on Jim E. Lane, who was at the Health Department for 10 years before quitting in May. Health officials have alleged he was one of the "ghosts"-- employees who were on the payroll but did little or no work.

Lane served in the state Senate in the 1970s. He now lives in McAlester.

His wife, Rebecca, was fired from the Health Department in June and indicted in December.

She faces 20 felony counts of obtaining money by false pretense.