The Smith family has been deeply saddened by the way former Judge Craig Key was attacked and blamed for Kelsey's death. Kathie Briggs called voters and left messages on their machines stating the judge gave Kelsey her death sentence. Why has Kathie never attacked Mike Porter the way she's attacked everyone else??
Kathie Briggs led an assault against Judge Key and still claims he "knew what was happening to Kelsey and saw the pictures." This is a lie. The Confidential OCCY report validates what Brandon Watkins said and that the court did not receive information about any concerns in the home before the September 8, 2005 hearing and with the absence of the paternal family, the court was told that Kelsey was doing so well that all charges should be dropped and all services should be removed.
10. The DHS did not submit a court report addressing the child's current injuries and placement issues for September 8, 2005. Hearing. Information documented in the CHBS critical incident reports were not provided to the court. DSH Police 340:75-6-40.5 (d) states: Form CWS-KIDS-11, CWS-KIDS-25, CWS-KIDS-25A, CWS-KIDS-25B is prepared and submitted according to judicial procedure in the county of jurisdiction no later than three judicial days prior to each hearing and a copy is provided to and discussed with the child’s parent(s). Reports, correspondence, and information provided by other professionals working within the families, including the foster-parents are attached or incorporated into the applicable report to the court.
Sounds like the CASA worker lied to the Briggs.
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kjbriggs Kelsey's Grandma  Posts: 1,130 Group: Super Moderators Joined: Nov 2005 Status: Away Reputation: 
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| 09-18-2007 09:27 AM |
Kathie was so determined in her assault that she quoted directly from closed documents on her forum:
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kjbriggs Kelsey's Grandma Posts: 1,107 Group: Super Moderators Joined: Nov 2005 Status: Away Reputation:
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| 06-18-2006 11:47 PM |
Current time: 08-20-2007, 01:15 PM Hello There, Guest!
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kjbriggs
Kelsey's Grandma Posts: 1,006 Group: Super Moderators Joined: Nov 2005 Status: Offline Reputation: |
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Yesterday 11:08 AM
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This is an excerpt from former Judge Craig Key's book, "A Deadly Game of Tug of War: The Kelsey Smith-Briggs Story." It's on page 112 and gives insight as to what really happened from the legal standpoint of Kelsey's return to her mom, Raye Dawn.
During this
time, newspaper ads, ran by Sheila Kirk, were distorting the facts of
Kelsey’s case. The attorney for Kelsey decided to set the record straight,
and sent the following letter on September 21, 2006, to the editors of
both the
“To the Editor,
As the attorney for Kelsey Smith-Briggs, I am writing this letter to set the record straight regarding several issues pertaining to Kelsey’s case. Unfortunately, her death has become a political football and it concerns me that some are pointing fingers without having full knowledge of the facts.
Whether you
support Judge Craig Key or his opponent, Sheila Kirk, I would encourage
everyone to base their decision on the truth rather than emotion. To do
otherwise would not serve the voters and citizens of this county. The
truth is Judge Key had the legal obligation to return Kelsey to her
mother. The Court, as well as myself, were advised that the mother had
completed the Individualized Service Plan created for her by the
Department of Human Services (DHS), and there were no additional
requirements of her. The
The truth is that Kelsey’s placement with her mother in June of last year was conditioned upon the stipulation and Court order that there would be significant monitoring by various child welfare agencies. That is exactly what happened. The truth is that during the four months that Kelsey was in the care of her mother, none of those responsible for overseeing Kelsey’s well-being ever reported to me or the Court that there were any problems with the care she was receiving. The truth is no one ever objected to or appealed Judge Key’s ruling to return Kelsey to her mother.
Based upon the evidence presented to the Court, and the monitoring and oversight requirement that was put in place on behalf of Kelsey, I do not believe that at that point in time any of the parties involved in the case feared for her safety, much less, her life.
No one has
a crystal ball or can foretell the future. Judges and lawyers rely on the
law and evidence. Everyone knows this. The more Kelsey’s tragic situation
is exploited and politicized, we will only move farther from the truth of
what really happened to Kelsey. The people of
Another excerpt:
From the beginning of the campaign, to its end, the woman Sheila Kirk called “white trash” that day in my office joined forces with her as political allies. The pair would go door-to-door across the county, as well as to senior citizen centers and other events, telling people that I was the one responsible for the death of Kelsey Smith-Briggs...
To add to the turmoil that was erupting, Kathie Briggs’ website and forum asked for help to ensure that I was not re-elected. On her forum, in the comments section, her supporters wrote things like, “A lot of us do not live in Lincoln County but we can still help campaign. I don’t care what she (Sheila Kirk) stands for. I would be campaigning against Judge Key. We know what he stands for and you couldn’t vote in a worse judge than that. I can’t believe he has the guts to get out there and campaign. He has been in hiding since October 11, 2005.” and “So Kathie, I have never had anything to do with a political campaign before so I know nothing about them. Please tell me what I need to do, when and where.”
I went to Richard Smothermon, the District Attorney, and asked him to explain my vision for the children of Lincoln County to Kathie Briggs. My goal was to create a courtroom in Kelsey’s honor, and to be progressive in our approach to juveniles. Smothermon informed me that Kathie Briggs did not wish to discuss any improvements to our facilities in Lincoln County if it meant dealing with me.
I have read where Kathie stated that I never contacted her. However, every time I attempted to reach out to her, it was met with a negative response...
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aunt bean Super Moderator Posts: 108 Group: Super Moderators Joined: Nov 2005 Status: Offline Reputation:
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| 05-20-2006 07:05 PM |
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Another excerpt from Judge Key's book:
In late October, Sheila did a direct mailing, showing Lance Briggs in his military uniform, looking down on Kelsey. It proclaimed that Kelsey was killed while Lance fought for our freedom. The mail-out also described how Lance walked off the military transport plane to learn that Kelsey had died that day, and proclaiming that I should not be re-elected because of my failure to protect Kelsey.
Finally, when Sheila Kirk had Kathie Briggs call every voter in the county several times with the following pre-recorded message, it was a new low. The message left by Kathie Briggs was as follows:
“My name is Kathie Briggs, and I am the paternal grandmother of Kelsey Briggs, who died after months of documented abuse. Judge Craig Key returned her (Kelsey) to an abusive home against the recommendation of DHS and the DA's office. Judge Key also broke Oklahoma law, which requires DHS, not him, to make those decisions. I promised Kelsey I would seek to hold those who failed her accountable. I ask you to help me, to keep that promise. Please vote for Sheila Kirk, Associate District Judge on November 7th. If you have any questions, please contact Sheila Kirk at 405-258-2300. Thank you and God bless.”
These phone messages attempted to emotionally inflame the voters, without providing a positive reason to elect Sheila Kirk.
Voters in Lincoln County received a mailer with the following contents:
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kjbriggs Kelsey's Grandma Posts: 1,107 Group: Super Moderators Joined: Nov 2005 Status: Away Reputation:
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kjbriggs Kelsey's Grandma Posts: 1,107 Group: Super Moderators Joined: Nov 2005 Status: Away Reputation:
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