Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2001
Source: Stillwater News Press (OK)
Copyright: 2001 Stillwater News Press
Contact:  http://www.stwnewspress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/789
Author: Tara Roberson

STILLWATER WOMAN TO STAND TRIAL ON DRUG CHARGES

Shirley Elaine Cloyd, 39, Stillwater, has been bound over for trial on 
seven of nine counts, including shooting with intent to kill, filed by the 
Payne County District Attorney's Office after a shootout with the District 
Nine Drug Task Force in March.

According to testimony, agents arrived at Cloyd's home around 7 a.m. March 
23 to execute a search warrant for methamphetamine, items used in the 
manufacture of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and items depicting 
residency. Agents, operating on a no-knock warrant, entered Cloyd's 
residence east of Stillwater and were allegedly fired upon by Cloyd. Under 
direct examination by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Jack Bowyer, 
Guthrie Police Officer and Task Force Agent Mark Bruning told Special 
District Judge Phillip Corley he was the leader of the entry team and the 
first officer through the door of the residence. He said the officers began 
yelling "police, search warrant" as they entered the residence and 
continued to make the announcement as they began securing the mobile home. 
"I started into the north bedroom and saw feet on the bed," he said. "I 
yelled 'police, search warrant' again as I entered the room and saw a 
female pointing a pistol at me." Bruning said he backed part of the way out 
of the room and yelled "gun" as Cloyd began firing. He returned fire as he 
backed completely out of the room and began gathering other officers and 
ordering them to leave the residence. Defense Attorney Royce Hobbs asked 
Brun-ing several questions about police procedure, firearms training and 
the specifics of the incident. Hobbs asked how the officers were dressed 
when they entered the residence and why they did not have credentials on 
chains around their necks. Bruning told him and the court that the items 
around his neck would be a danger and that he was wearing a Drug 
Enforcement Administration-issued vest with the word "POLICE" in 4-inch 
white letters across the chest and back and a raid helmet. Hobbs suggested 
that maybe the letters were obscured by the officer's shooting posture. 
Guthrie Police Crime Investigations Division Lieutenant Rex Brown told the 
court he accompanied the Drug Task Force on the raid and was the fifth 
officer on the entry team. He said his job was to secure the opposite end 
of the trailer from Bruning and turned around when he heard the first shot. 
"The first shot didn't sound like a Glock," he said. "I saw Mark backing 
the other members of the team out of the residence and decided I was 
already committed to the area I was in and took cover." He said after the 
other officers left the trailer he told the person in the bedroom "we are 
police officers, throw the weapon out and come out." He said after yelling 
the instructions three times, a female yelled "I'm finished shooting" and 
came out of the room. "I told her to lay on the floor," he said. "When she 
started to lay on the floor near the gun she had thrown out, I told her to 
lay down in the kitchen or I would be forced to shoot.

She said 'you already shot me you son of a bitch'." Brown said this was the 
first raid in his 19-year career where shots were actually fired. Robert 
Horn, an investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, 
testified about the OSBI investigation of the officer-related shooting. 
Horn said OSBI agents found three weapons in the bedroom of the trailer.

They found a .357 magnum revolver with five spent shell casings, an empty 
gun on the bed and an unloaded .38 Colt police-positive revolver under a 
pillow. On cross-examination, Hobbs picked apart the investigation by the 
OSBI. Horn told him they were able to determine information about the event 
from the trajectory of the bullets and the sizes of the bullet holes in the 
walls.

Horn said they could not determine from physical evidence who shot first, 
but that interviews showed it was Cloyd. Hobbs asked if the members of the 
raid team and Cloyd had undergone parafin tests to see who had fired a weapon.

Hobbs also asked if all the officers' weapons had been checked and 
ammunition counted. Horn said Bruning's weapon was taken into custody and 
they determined nine rounds had been fired, but none of the other weapons 
were checked. He said the parafin tests hadn't been done because he thought 
they were unreliable. Hobbs questioned whether the investigation by the 
OSBI was really unbiased. "So you got there and the officers told you what 
happened and you believed them?" Hobbs said. Horn said yes.

District Nine DTF Agent Dale Higgins testified that he was the officer 
responsible for logging all the drug-related evidence taken at the scene. 
Agents confiscated methamphetamine, several precursor substances used to 
manufacture methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Higgins said when 
agents entered the trailer to execute the search warrant after the shooting 
he saw two hand grenades on the night table in the bedroom where Cloyd had 
been. He said he exited the trailer, cleared out the other agents and 
contacted the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Bomb Squad. OHP Trooper James Wilson, 
a member of the Bomb Squad, said the two devices were called hoax devices - 
devices that contained all the components and had the appearances of real 
explosives minus the actual explosive material. Hobbs asked if the grenades 
could be considered decorative items. Corley bound Cloyd over for trial on 
shooting with intent to kill, possession of a substance with the intent to 
manufacture a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a firearm while 
committing a felony, unlawful possession of a controlled drug with the 
intent to distribute, possession of a controlled dangerous substance 
without a tax stamp affixed, possession of simulated explosive devices and 
possession of drug paraphernalia. Corley threw out the charge of 
maintaining a place resorted to by users of controlled drugs and the 
possession of a precursor substance without a license. Cloyd returns to 
court Friday for a preliminary hearing on a August 2000 charge of 
distribution of a controlled substance and to set a date for the trial 
court docket. Cloyd is being held in the Payne Count Jail on $560,000 bond.
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