Many child advocates are saying Monday’s opening of the Raye Dawn Smith child abuse trial appears to be more of a show trial than a hunt for justice.
Sources tell the Oklahoma Political News Service that District Attorney Richard Smothermon, who waffled and bungled his way through the initial stages of the case, has allowed the now discredited Briggs family to determine the course of the legal proceedings. Kathy Briggs, Kelsey’s grandmother and Lance Briggs, Kelsey’s father, have been successful in manipulating Oklahoma City media and public opinion against Smith. Beginning in 2006, bloggers unmasked the pair and their followers as frauds, something gullible television reporters (they cite KTVY’s Cherokee Ballard as the worst offender) refused to acknowledge as they pumped out slanted stories fueled by the Briggs.
The Briggs, who used Kelsey Smith Briggs’ death as a pretense to launch big-money law suits, most which have been dismissed, attended the opening day of the trial to preen and strut before the cameras.
Bloggers revealed Kathy Briggs’ appalling record as a parent, and Lance Briggs has made headlines for his scrapes with the law, most notably for beating women, including Raye Dawn Smith in 2001 and another horrifying instance last year. “These people are white trash straight out of the trailer park, and they have bullied the DA into harsher treatment of Raye Dawn than the man who Smothermon actually believes killed Kelsey,” says one child advocate familiar with the case. “The DA and the media have behaved dishonorably, and the cause of protecting our children has been setback by this sad, sad case,” the source says.
In perhaps the most outrageous aspect of the case, the chief witness for the timid prosecutor is Kelsey’s stepfather, Michael Porter. Porter pleaded guilty to enabling child abuse and is serving 30 years in prison, although he originally was charged with murder and child sexual abuse. Sources say Smothermon bungled the strategy involving multiple autopsies, and now is focusing on Smith, who is hated by the Briggs family because she filed domestic abuse charges against Lance Briggs years ago. Smith has refused to agree to any deal, saying she is absolutely innocent of the charges. “The evidence points to the fact that it’s been a railroad job since the beginning. It’s shameful how this mother has been treated. Hopefully, the truth will win out in this case,” another source tells OKPNS.
In the past two weeks, the Briggs’ reputation hit rock bottom with the revelations about their loathsome behavior in a book authored by former judge Craig Key, the judge who returned Kelsey to her mother four months before the 2-year-old died. Key detailed how Kelsey’s health had markedly deteriorated during the time she was in Kathy Briggs’ care.
