KELSEY SMITH-BRIGGS - 2 yo (2005) - Meeker (E of OK City) OK

The mother of Kelsey Smith-Briggs will be back in court Sept. 1 for a fact-finding hearing on the "strong possibility" of juror misconduct during her 2007 trial.



Kay County District Judge D.W. Boyd is holding the hearing to gather evidence for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.The dead girl's mother, Raye Dawn Smith,
is serving 27 years in prison for enabling child abuse. Smith, 30, is
asking the appeals court for a new trial. A decision could come late
this year.

The appeals court July 2 ordered the evidentiary
hearing. The appeals court found witness statements filed in her appeal
"contain sufficient information to show at least a strong possibility
that a juror received information outside of the courtroom."At
issue is whether a female juror during the trial watched television
coverage of the case and checked an Internet site devoted to Kelsey. A
former co-worker claims the juror admitted to doing both.The
former co-worker also claims the juror during the trial "told me...
Smith should fry... looked like a junkie, was trash and no good."Jurors
are supposed to avoid the news during a trial, not form any opinions
until all the evidence is presented and not do any research outside the
courtroom.Kelsey, 2, is the Meeker girl whose death from abuse in 2005 became highly publicized.Many
Oklahomans were angered because she died even though DHS workers, a
private child-welfare worker and a state judge were overseeing her care
because of her repeated injuries.The
death prompted reform legislation and a lawsuit by the girl's father.
The state last year paid $525,000 to settle the lawsuit.The juror, Brandi Marie Oldham,
said in an affidavit in 2007 that the jury deliberations and verdict
"were based solely on the evidence we received in the courtroom during
the course of the trial." Oldham on Friday declined to comment about the case."Sir, you need to not contact me," she said to a reporter when reached by phone at her work in Jenks.The former co-worker, though, claims she called him several times daily during the trial with an update on what was going on.In a 2008 affidavit, Ronald Todd Bowman, of Sapulpa,
wrote the juror "admitted to me daily that she watched the television
news coverage of the trial... and made statements to me that the news
didn't know what she knew about the case."Bowman also stated the
juror "advised me... during the trial she and the other jurors looked at
the Kelsey website to see what was on it and to see what information
was being added."The website, Kelsey's Purpose, was created after the girl's death and at times had information critical of Raye Dawn Smith.Bowman
wrote he and the juror then worked in Sapulpa at a home health care
agency. He wrote he had hired her and was training her to take over his
position. In a separate affidavit, Bowman's roommate, Sean Clack, wrote in 2008 that he overhead the daily conversations."Ms.
Oldham admitted to Mr. Bowman that she went on the Internet often and
conducted research about Ms. Smith's case during the trial. She would
check and see what was being reported about the case online," Clack
stated. "Ms. Oldham also admitted to my roommate... that she had
reviewed the Kelsey Briggs' website during the trial. Ms. Oldham told Mr. Bowman numerous times she was bored with the whole thing."
Men may testifyThe mother's attorney, Stephen Jones of Enid, said the two men probably will testify at the hearing."I think she did that," Jones said of the misconduct claims. "There would be no reason these two guys would misrepresent it."The prosecutor, Lincoln County District Attorney Richard Smothermon, said Friday he expects the appeals court will uphold the conviction.Asked about Bowman's statement, he said, "I think the evidence will show that not to be true.""Based
upon the interviews that I have done since the trial with the jurors, I
don't believe there has been any misconduct," the prosecutor said.Kelsey
died on Oct. 11, 2005, at her home near Meeker. The death was ruled a
homicide but no one was convicted of murder in her case.Kelsey's stepfather, Michael Lee Porter,
30, was charged with first-degree murder and child sexual abuse but
pleaded guilty to enabling child abuse. He is serving a 30-year prison
sentence. He blamed the girl's mother for her death.The mother
was never charged with murder. Jurors on July 18, 2007, found her guilty
of enabling child abuse and compromised on her punishment. Some wanted
more time and some wanted less, a juror said afterward.Smith blames Porter for Kelsey's death.During
2005, Kelsey suffered repeated injuries, including two broken legs and a
broken collarbone, and was taken from her mother for a time. Her death
came four months after the state judge returned Kelsey to her mother,
despite accusations the mother was the abuser.The evidentiary hearing was assigned to a Kay County judge because the trial judge is retiring.

A new book follows the tragic story of a two-year-old Oklahoma girl who suffered abuse most of her life.

This week, the little girl's mother goes back to court, asking for a new trial.

Home video shows Kelsey Briggs being a typical
toddler. But the images hide the truth of her short, violent life.
Kelsey died in 2005. She was two-and-a-half-years-old.

"The cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma
to the stomach. So someone either punched or kicked her to death at not
even quite three-years-old," said Cherokee Ballard, author.

Ballard and Britten Follett were journalists in
Oklahoma City covering the tragic story. They've co-authored a book,
trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. The book is called, "Who Killed Kelsey?"

"I think that's a tough question... many people," Ballard said.

"You hear one piece of evidence and you think,
'oh, well the mother did it.' Then you hear another piece of evidence
and think, 'oh, the stepfather must have done it,'" said Britten
Follett, author.

Kelsey lived at home in Meeker with her mother,
Raye Dawn Smith, and stepfather, Michael Porter. Both are serving time
in prison for enabling child abuse, but no one has been convicted of
killing Kelsey.

"It's just wrong and shameful that she's gone," said Ballard.

This week, Kelsey's mother is asking for a new
trial. Her attorneys are accusing one juror in her child abuse trial of
reading information online during the course of the trial. Ballard and
Follett say the juror denies the charge.

The authors also say their book details 10 months
of documented child abuse against Kelsey -- a broken collarbone, bruises
and, at one point, both legs broken at the same time. They even learned
that 12 DHS caseworkers were assigned to Kelsey.

They say they wrote the book for one simple reason.

"Accountability," said Follett.

As for the question everyone wants answered, who
killed Kelsey, the authors say it goes beyond the mother and stepfather
and falls on the system.

"The child was in state custody at the time of her
death and, to a certain extent, the state of Oklahoma is responsible
for failing to protect Kelsey," said Follett.

An Oklahoma mother convicted of enabling child abuse will not get a new trial.Raye Dawn Smith was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the death of her daughter Kelsey Smith Briggs.Smith's attorneys argued a juror in the 2007 trial broke the rules by researching the case on the internet.The judge ruled Friday there was no evidence the juror received any information from outside the courtroom, or shared anything with her fellow jurors.Two-year-old Kelsey Smith Briggs died in 2005. Her stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for enabling child abuse.