Office ofthe District Attorney 20th District Craig Ladd DISTRICT ATTORNEY Carter County Courthouse October 22, 2018 ‘Ardmore, Oklahoma 73401 580-223-9674 Fax: 580-221-5504 ‘Agent David Gatlin Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation c/o McClain County Sheriff Office 121.N. 2 Street Purcell, OK 73080 RE: 0SB12018-1085 ‘Agent Gatlin: After carefully reviewing the results of the aforementioned investigative report, the pertinent facts of this particular case can be summarized as follows. Gary Minyen is a seventy (70) year old man who is 5'10” and weighs 180 Ibs. Corey Minor is a forty-nine (49) year old man who is 6’2” and weighs 205 Ibs. Gary has a long history of substance abuse but, according to those who know him, is not normally aggressive or violent. On the evening of September 29, 2018, Gary was visiting a friend at her home in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. She went to sleep in her bedroom at about 9:30 p.m. On September 30, 2018, at about 2:30 a.m., Gary woke his sleeping friend, and she thought he was hallucinating because he was saying something about “getting money from a man.” She found that he had “torn up” her house looking for prescription pills, She told Gary to stay off methamphetamine, and he “bowed up” to her. To get him to leave, she threatened to hit and kill him. She later learned that when he left, Gary had taken her Beagle puppy with him without her permission. Gary was later observed at the Pauls Valley Hospital with the aforementioned puppy in areas of the hospital where he should not have been. He was escorted out of the hospital by staff but returned shortly thereafter. A supervisor at the hospital called the police department at 4:03 a.m. to request their help in removing Gary from the premises. When officers arrived, Gary had already left. At about 4:20 a.m., Corey was asleep in his bed at his home located just a few blocks north of the hospital Corey's six (6) year old daughter was also asleep on a pallet on the floor of the same room, Corey's dog began to growl, which woke Corey. Corey could hear a man’s voice just outside of his window as if the man was talking to someone. He also heard a noise that he believed to be someone tampering with the screen of his bedroom window. This person would have been standing on Corey's patio in his backyard, which is fenced with a closed gate. Corey grabbed his. handgun and went outside the back door of his home to investigate. There is no light on the patio. Therefore, it was very dark on his back patio. Nevertheless, Corey was able to see aman’s silhouette on the back patio next to his bedroom window (This man was later identified as Gary Minyen). Corey asked Gary to identify himself and explain what he was doing in his (Corey's) back yard. Gary mumbled something and began walking away from the patio and deeper into Corey’s backyard with his hand in his pocket. Corey ordered Gary to remove his hand from his pocket and then fired two warning rounds into the ground. Gary responded by stepping towards Corey at which time Corey struck Gary in the head with his handgun and then the two men fought. After subduing Gary, Corey dragged Gary from his backyard towards his front yard, Corey maintains that while dragging Gary, Gary began swinging at him again which caused Corey to strike Gary more times. Corey then dragged Gary to his front driveway. Corey woke his neighbors to the east and asked them to call 911 and check on his daughter while he stood guard over Gary. Corey told Gary several times to stay still and keep down till the police arrived. However, Gary would either try to sit up or get to his feet, resulting in Corey striking him several more times. A witness later stated that, at this point, Gary did not seem to be in any kind of condition to constitute a threat to Corey but that Corey was nevertheless still being “rough with the guy.” This witness also stated that Corey did “finally just stop and hold him at gunpoint probably the last couple of minutes until the police showed up.” Another witness stated that, at this point, Corey appeared to be full of adrenaline. Police officers, who were already in the vicinity looking for Gary because of the request for their help to remove him from the hospital near Corey's house, were able to respond to Corey's residence very quickly after the call. When officers arrived they found the Beagle puppy at the scene that Gary had taken without permission earlier that morning. They also discovered that Gary was in possession of prescription medication such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, carisoprodol, and alprazolam, and a subsequent drug screen at the hospital revealed that, at the time of the incident, Gary had methamphetamine, amphetamine, opiates, benzodiazepine, and oxycodone in his system. Asa result of Corey's use of force on Gary, Gary sustained life threatening injuries including numerous broken bones (fractures to his hand, arm, spine, ribs, nose, and eye socket) as well as, two collapsed lungs. The central issue which must be addressed in this case to determine whether charges should be filed against Corey Minor for the felony offense of aggravated assault and battery (Le, an assault and battery resulting in broken bones) is whether the degree of force he used against Gary in defense of his habitation exceeded what is justifiable under Oklahoma law. The taw which pertains to this central issue is found at 21 O.S. 733 (1) and clarified by Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instruction CR 8-14. It provides that the use of deadly force is justifiable when resisting any attempt by another to commit a felony upon or in any dwelling house in which that person is lawfully present. Defense of habitation is a defense although the danger that a felony would be committed upon or in the dwelling house may not have been real, if 0 reasonable person, in the circumstances and from the viewpoint of the defendant, would reasonably have believed that there was imminent danger that such felony would occur. The felony which a person in Corey's position would have reasonably believed was about to occur is. Burglary First Degree. There really is no question that Corey's use of force on Gary in the backyard, as well as his side yard, is justifiable under the above referenced Oklahoma law. Infact, had Corey shot and killed Gary when he found Gary in his backyard standing next to his bedroom window at 4:20 in the morning, such a drastic action would also likely be justifiable under Oklahoma law. Therefore, the primary point in time which Corey's use of force must be evaluated is when Gary was in Corey's front driveway. Based upon the evidence in this case, it is virtually impossible to determine at what point of Corey's assault on Gary (whether in the backyard, side yard, or front driveway), Gary sustained injuries which would elevate the assault, on him to an “aggravated” assault and battery. Therefore, the evidence is insufficient to prove that Corey was not acting in a justifiable defense of his habitation at the time he committed an aggravated assault and battery upon Gary Minyen. One could argue that by Cory continuing to strike Gary when Gary tried to get up as Gary was in Corey's front driveway was at least a simple misdemeanor of assault and battery as it is clear that Gary posed no real danger at that point to Corey. However, 21 0.5. 643 (3) provides that the use of non-deadly force is justifiable when used to prevent, or attempting to prevent, a trespass or other unlawful interference with real or personal property, from the perspective of a reasonable person, in the circumstances and from the viewpoint of the defendant. It is important to remember that in this case “in the circumstances and from the viewpoint of the defendant” essentially means that Corey's conduct should be assessed through the lens of a person who went from a deep sleep at 4:20 ‘a.m. to a person catching a stranger in his darkened backyard, presumably attempting to break into the bedroom where he and his six (6) year old daughter were sleeping. In the midst of this stressful situation, he chose to fight the stranger rather than shoot the stranger and then continued to strike the stranger five minutes later when the stranger tried to get up off the ground despite repeated commands to remain still until the police arrived. Such an exciting and stressful chain of events, which were set in motion by Gary's unlawful actions, undoubtedly resulted in Corey being filled with adrenalin and much less able to soundly deliberate the level of force necessary to keep Gary at the scene until law enforcement officers arrived. Thus even if Corey used force to ensure that Gary would not escape and avoid arrest and prosecution, under “the circumstances and viewpoint of the defendant” standard, such an action would seem to be justifiable under Oklahoma law. Therefore, prosecution of Corey for simple misdemeanor assault and battery for striking Gary in his driveway would not be warranted under Oklahoma law. Because of the foregoing reasons, criminal charges against Corey Minor are being declined at this time. Sincerely, Craig Ladd, District Attorney 20" Judicial District cc Greg Mashburn, District Attorney Ed Blau, Counsel for Corey Minor