The recent appointment of current District Attorney Adam Panter to serve a four-year term as DA of Lincoln and Pottawatomie Counties signals a continuation of turning that office around and getting it fixed.
He was first appointed DA back in October to fill out the term of Allan Grubb who had resigned effective Sep. 1.
Grubb’s term would have ended Jan. 1. Panter will be sworn in next week to his new four-term.
Panter is an experienced prosecutor. He previously served as an Assistant District Attorney for former DA Richard Smothermon from 2008-2016 following his graduation from law school. He was elevated to first assistant DA, serving in that capacity until the end of 2018.
For the past four years until his appointment in October, he was a team leader for major felonies in Oklahoma County under longtime DA David Prater.
Panter quickly brought on Adam Kallsnick as his First Assistant District Attorney. Kallsnick was also a team leader for major felonies there and their offices were next to each other.
His other assistants he’s hired also are experienced prosecutors from Oklahoma County who will begin work next week.
Panter said he, Kallsnick and the other assistants plan to turn things around. He believes everyone recognizes a strong district attorney’s office is a benefit to the two counties.
We absolutely agree with that. Restoring the District Attorney’s Task Force is also important he thinks. His idea is for it to be a more collaborative effort among various law enforcement agencies in the two counties.
Addressing several old cases that officers and others have brought to his attention is another task he and his assistants have before them.
We’ve even mentioned several cases in Lincoln County we questioned whether or not justice was served. That’s because those cases were not taken before a jury.
One was a first degree murder charge where the defendant not only had been bound over but the local DA’s office also had won a stand your ground defense motion. It was set to go to trial in June and then that DA dismissed the case shortly before trial.
In another case, the defendant faced multiple first degree rape counts.
During his arraignment before District Judge Cindy Ashwood, the defendant entered a plea of not guilty.
Records show that on June 3, during a jury trial call docket before Judge Ashwood, the parties announced they were ready for trial and the judge stated the cause would be first up at 9 a.m. on June 6.
Later that afternoon, again appearing before Judge Ashwood, an Assistant District Attorney moved to dismiss the case with costs, announcing he “didn’t think he could prove his case.”
Luckily, in both these cases, Judge Ashwood declined to dismiss them with costs and dismissed them without costs meaning both defendants in these cases can be tried by another prosecutor.
We have the utmost confidence and belief that Panter and his staff will bring a high level of integrity back to the District Attorney’s Office.