RNA - The man charged with murder and a hate crime in the August slaying of his south Tulsa neighbor will have a preliminary hearing next month, a judge decided Wednesday.
Special Judge James Keeley scheduled the hearing for Stanley Vernon Majors to begin at 9 a.m. Feb. 15. In selecting the date, Keeley said he will not place other cases on the docket that day so Majors’ defense will have as much time as possible to address his case.
Chief Public Defender Rob Nigh and Assistant Public Defender Paula Alfred appeared Wednesday on behalf of Majors, who did not attend the court appearance.
The conference was the first held since Keeley filed a Dec. 22 order indicating Majors, 62, is competent to stand trial in the shooting of Khalid Jabara, who died in front of his family’s home Aug. 12.
Alfred filed a request in November to have Majors’ competency evaluated, arguing that he has dementia and has had difficulty assisting with his defense.
Majors is charged with first-degree murder and malicious intimidation and harassment, a misdemeanor that is also known as Oklahoma’s hate crime statute, in Jabara’s death.
Oklahoma Forensic Center psychologist Scott Orth conducted Majors’ evaluation at the Tulsa Jail, and Keeley received Orth’s report around Dec. 19. Nigh submitted a motion Dec. 21 to seal the contents of the competency evaluation because of pretrial publicity, saying “to expose Mr. Majors’ extensive mental health history would cause another explosion of highly inflammatory articles prejudicing Mr. Majors’ right to due process and a fair trial.”
Keeley granted the defense motion but said in a written order that the evidence indicates Majors understands the charges against him, is able to “rationally assist” with his defense and does not meet criteria that would necessitate him being sent to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita for in-patient treatment.
The judge last month also determined that Majors is legally indigent following a motion from Assistant District Attorney Erik Grayless to have his financial status re-evaluated. The motion was filed after a Tulsa World story questioned why Majors — who has in the past had private attorneys for criminal matters — receives services from the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office.
Keeley said Majors has only one identifiable source of income, which is from a property he and his husband have in California.
Nigh previously told the World that Majors’ husband has paid for legal services before but does not currently have the “ability or the willingness” to continue to spend money on Majors.
“Justice requires a speedy trial for all parties concerned,” Keeley said. “Substantial delays and detriment will occur if this court would delay proceedings by discharging the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office from representing Mr. Majors.”
Majors has a pending felony case related to severe injuries sustained by Jabara’s mother, Haifa Jabara, on claims that he hit her with his vehicle in 2015 while he was intoxicated.
In that case, Majors was in custody for about eight months before being granted the right to post $60,000 bond in May. Prosecutors had opposed the bond, saying Majors continued to harass the Jabaras despite the family having an active protective order against him.
The Jabaras, a Lebanese, Orthodox Christian family, said Majors had called them “dirty Arabs,” “filthy Lebanese,” “Aye-rabs” and “Mooslems” for years.
Nigh has denied his client was racist against Khalid Jabara or his family, attributing the claims, if accurate, to “grade-school name calling.” He said Majors’ mental health status diminishes his understanding that such name-calling is hurtful.
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