Mon, Oct 13 2008
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Published June 28, 2008 02:03 pm - Innocent until proven guilty
News that Rogers County Commissioner Mike Helm is under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and a special prosecutor does not mean people should jump to conclusions. First of all, no charges have been filed against Helm and even if they were, he is entitled to the same presumption of innocence as is Gene Stipe, who’s under an indictment. While there is cause for concern about how things continue to operate within the County Commission, it’s not appropriate for the criticism of policy decisions by commissioners to overlap into a jump-to-conclusion about Helm’s guilt or innocence. Rogers County has been down this road before. Less than two years ago, another election year saw the investigation into another county commissioner. That scenario threatened to derail the democratic process in District 3, and if the truth were known, it probably did. Some party politicos say it is payback time. We say, that’s the basest politics of all and has no place in Rogers County. So, until such time as there are formal charges filed, there shouldn’t be speculation. If charges are filed, Commissioner Helm is entitled to his constitutional rights to be determined innocent until such time as proven guilty by a jury of his peers. 
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