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Ottawa County judge unhappy with PSI report, delays sentencing, orders new report
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Ottawa County judge unhappy with PSI report, delays sentencing, orders new report

MIAMI, Oklahoma – A problematic pre-sentencing investigation report regarding a Fairland woman convicted of involuntary manslaughter prompted Associate Judge Matt Whalen to order a new report pushing back the sentencing hearing for three months.

Mindy McBrien, 50, pleaded no contest in Ottawa County District Court and was convicted in May of first-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene in a misdemeanor crash. leak that killed Guang Xin Ye, 58, on February 5, 2022. .

“Mr. Ye’s life matters,” said prosecutor Kathy Lahmeyer, who argued for incarceration. “He deserves some justice.”

Winston Connor II, McBrien’s attorney, argued for probation, saying his client’s plea was that she take responsibility “for driving, killing Ye and fleeing.”

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McBrien appeared before Whalen on Tuesday for his sentencing hearing, but after hearing Connor refer to the report disparagingly and Lahmeyer calling it “not the best,” Whalen ordered a new pre-trial investigation report. sentencing.

His new sentencing date is set for January 28, 2025.

Connor attacked the report, saying the probation investigator did not interview McBrien or her husband, Phillip.

Testimony showed that only one person was interviewed, McBrien’s father, with whom she rarely had contact.

“This is the poorest PSI I’ve seen in 34 years,” Connor said, holding up the report and berating the probation investigator.

“She had some audacity (to write this report) without meeting my client,” Connor said.

Connor pointed out the many inconsistencies in the report, from McBrien’s birthplace to where she graduated to statements about McBrien’s alcohol and drug abuse.

“There is no evidence to support alcohol or any other type of addiction – drugs, alcohol or gambling,” Connor said.

“PSI is trash,” Connor said.

Whalen called the report “lackluster.”

“I’ve never seen a PSI this short before” and “I hate doing this,” Whalen told the packed courtroom, filled mostly with McBrien’s family and supporters, and ordered a new report.

Was McBrien’s drink “covered”?

Connor asked if McBrien’s drink was “on the roof” or if she accidentally drank a drink “on the roof” meant for someone else at Elk’s Lodge.

“We don’t know if she was intentionally or unintentionally intoxicated because law enforcement did not draw blood from her as they are legally required to do,” Connor said.

McBrien doesn’t remember anything, so “she has no way of knowing if she was drugged or not,” Connor said.

“We don’t know if there was anything else in his system,” Connor said.

Testimony showed McBrien drank two beers and a cocktail, but she did not order the cocktail.

Character witnesses

Four character witnesses, including her former husband, described McBrien as “hardworking,” “honest,” “devoted mother” and “always willing to help someone in need.” “They also said she wasn’t a big drinker.

Testimonies show 40 to 50 letters from people she helped medically.

Testimony shows that since the accident, McBrien had been “suicidal” for a period of time and had lost his “happy, carefree” personality.

Her training as a nurse was also the focus of the testimony.

“I’ve seen her save more lives than I can count,” said friend and former colleague Carrie Turner.

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McBrien was also praised for her work during the 2011 Joplin tornado.

Dr. Mark Osborn said McBrien “was better than some doctors I’ve worked with.”

None of the witnesses described McBrien as having a problem with alcohol, prescription drugs or illegal drugs.

Lahmeyer disagreed with each witness’s description of the former nurse, saying she left Ye and “did not stop to offer assistance.”

Ye died from multiple blunt force injuries to the head and chest and had 12 broken ribs and three spinal cord fractures, according to an autopsy report. The circumstances of death are considered an accident, according to the autopsy report.

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Miami Police Department detective Kelly Johnson said Ye had “severe head trauma” and “his head was blown off.”

He said the pattern of Ye’s sweater was printed on McBrien’s vehicle.

“His head was badly damaged,” Johnson said.

During the hearing, two videos were shown to the judge.

In Elks Lodge surveillance video, an intoxicated McBrien is seen entering the Elks Lodge parking lot, “swinging” and “stumbling” as she got into her Jeep Cherokee. In another video, the headlight of Ye’s scooter disappears under McBrien’s vehicle and showers of sparks are visible coming from the bottom of McBrien’s Jeep.

“We found tissue, skin and hair under his (McBrien’s) vehicle,” Johnson said.

“She didn’t stop to help,” Johnson testified.

A witness told Ottawa County deputies he found McBrien’s vehicle in a ditch later that evening and told law enforcement officers McBrien “wasn’t that drunk that she did not know where she was going, but was rather drunk,” according to an arrest affidavit. .

McBrien is free on $150,000 bail.

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