Woman wins right to jury trial on accessory charge

Friday, January 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A woman charged as an accessory in the 1996 murder of a Tulsa mother outside a health clinic has the right to a jury trial, a judge has ruled. District Judge Jefferson Sellers placed the case on his April 3 docket and ruled Thursday that Jamie Nicole Chambers, 21, could be released from custody upon posting $25,000 bail.

Sellers, the fifth Tulsa County judge assigned to the case, said Ms. Chambers can withdraw an Alford plea made nine months ago. An Alford plea allows a defendant to continue to maintain that she is innocent while conceding that there is a factual basis upon which a judge could make a finding of guilt.

Ms. Chambers sought to withdraw the plea after Judge Jesse Harris sentenced her to 15 years on the accessory charge. Harris later struck the sentence upon finding Ms. Chambers was entitled to take part in a delayed sentencing program. But the defense claimed the judge had a "personal bias" against Ms.Chambers and would not give her probation because of concern about "political backlash." Ms. Chambers has admitted that she drove Steven White and Marcus Currie to and from the scene of the fatal shooting. MicheleHendrix, 30, was shot while leaving a health clinic with her two children.

White received a no-parole life term for murder and two more life terms on shooting counts. Currie pleaded guilty in 1999 to armed robbery and received a 15 year prison term. Prosecutors dispute Ms. Chambers' contention that she had no idea that any crime would be committed until right before Currie grabbed Hendrix's purse and White shot her. When Ms. Chambers entered her plea on April 5 before Harris she was unaware that a psychologist who had testified on her behalf also had been hired by the judge's wife as part of a divorce proceeding, the defense said.

In his ruling Thursday, Sellers said Ms. Chambers was entitled to know of the judge's tie to the psychologist before she entered the plea. "I think justice is best served by affording her the opportunity to withdraw her plea and go forward with jury trial," Sellers said. The second judge assigned to the case withdrew when it became clear that Ms. Chambers' defense sought a hearing on allegations of bias against Harris, a judicial colleague.

The case was then transferred to Associate District Judge Bill Beasley, who disqualified himself on Monday. It was then reassigned to District Judge Tom Gillert, who excused himself from the matter, before being transferred Wednesday to Sellers.

Prosecutors did not charge Ms. Chambers until 18 months after the slaying. They came under fire for allowing the white woman to remain free while the other two suspects -- both young black males --went to jail.