Tulsa Social Activist Charged With Intimidating A Witness

A Tulsa social activist and paralegal turned himself into the jail Tuesday after being charged with intimidating a witness in a domestic violence case.

Richard Baxter said he has been on the other side of the law before and worked hard to become a paralegal - all so he can help others accused of crimes. He said everything he did was legal, but police said Baxter crossed the line.

"I was working a domestic violence case, and in the process of this case some things were said that I was not privy to,"Baxter told News on 6.

"I am active in the community. I have a nonprofit, and I work with TPD and with the sheriff's department and other entities in the city. I want to be transparent in this process."

The nine-page affidavit filed by Tulsa police said Richard Baxter was a paralegal for Shannon Scott, who was charged with domestic assault. The affiant states Scott had a history of intimidating witnesses by calling them and having other people call them.

A judge ordered Scott not to have any contact with the witnesses or victims in the domestic assault case, but police said Scott had Baxter contact the victim.

The affidavit said: "defendant Baxter repeatedly contacted (the victim) "K.C.," despite her requests for them to stop and court orders prohibiting them from doing so, in an attempt to get her to change her testimony or not testify at all."

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It also said, "Baxter has been a primary source through which defendant is able to continue ongoing contact with K.C and further threaten and harass her."

I spoke with Baxter and his attorney who said he did nothing wrong.

Attorney Ciera Freeman, who represents Baxter, said her client was wrongfully charged.

"Richard Baxter has done a lot of work in the community, and trying to get a system in equilibrium. It’s a high reward but a high risk job as well, and sometimes you end up in situations like this," Freeman explained.

"As his legal team, we look forward to bringing this case to court and believe this has a very positive outcome; we just have to go through the steps,” Freeman said.

Shannon Scott is represented by the Public Defender's Office. News On 6 called them to see if Richard Baxter was working on their behalf. We haven't heard back yet.