We received this from the tip line today.

A group of concerned citizens from District 23 are developing a new site called RichardSmothermon.com. We are currently collecting information about our absent District Attorney and welcome any verifiable information that can be contributed to our site. We want the voters of District 23 to be informed. Do you?

Contact Marley@RichardSmothermon.com with any tips or information you feel District 23 residents would like to know.

By White Rabbit

When you first hear about the tragic beating death of two-year-old Kelsey Smith-Briggs, you can’t help but hope that justice was served. Two people now sit in prison cells with hefty sentences for enabling the abuse that killed Kelsey Smith-Briggs, but no one was or will ever be convicted of her murder.

I personally can’t understand why the prosecution in this case would focus their efforts so solidly on the mother (Raye-Dawn Smith) when during her trial the prosecutor, Richard L. Smothermon stated more than once that he knew from the evidence in the case that Michael Porter (Kelsey’s step-father) had murdered the child. It isn’t terribly farfetched to consider that the prosecution was willing to go with a charge-bargain agreement with Porter in order to secure a conviction. That happens every day in this country; it’s become the normal process for pre-trial.

What really stands out in my mind is that the mother was so aggressively sought after with no real “definite” evidence of either abuse or allowing abuse. In fact, the forty or so reports from five separate agencies actually proved that she took a very active role in parenting and caring for Kelsey in an attempt to protect her from what the courts deemed was an “unknown” perpetrator. Raye Dawn Smith went as far as to quit her job in order to facilitate and manage all of the agency and doctor’s visits during the time the alleged abuse was being investigated. How a jury of twelve people ever came to the unanimous conclusion that she was guilty of enabling, is beyond reason.

Did the jury feel the same pressure from the family and the media that Smothermon felt for four months when he finally decided to charge Raye Dawn Smith with a crime? Is it possible that they came up with the decision to go with enabling because the evidence just didn’t support abuse, and anyone could be convicted of allowing abuse?

Is this jury saying that every parent who has had the misfortune of trusting their children’s life, safety, and happiness to a person who took advantage of that trust is guilty of enabling the abuse that harmed his or her child? Raye Dawn Smith unknowingly brought a pedophile into her home and trusted him with her child’s life! For that she will live with a guilt that no court or prison term will ever be able to erase or compare. As the mother of a child who was raped by a trusted neighbor, I feel that this conviction is definitely worth taking a deeper look into in order to determine whether or not justice has truly been served.

If you would like more information or would like to view evidence in this case go to www.freekelseysmom.com.

This email was sent to our tipline today:

The repugnant Briggs family is in mourning today after a judge dismissed their frivilous malpractice lawsuit.

The phony image and the media manipulation was all about this lawsuit, and now that dream is gone. These are awful people, who used their relationships with a couple of gullible media-types to peddle a false image. They thought they were going to win the lottery. I’m sure now that we’ll see more ghoulish methods to make money off Kelsey’s memory. Be watching for Kelsey items being sold on street corners and such. It’s just pathetic what these people will try to do for money.

I’m sure OKPNS has not yet received a statement from the official Briggs family publicist, Cherokee Ballard, but I will be anxiously awaiting how she spins this defeat in tonight’s news program.

Click here to read today’s Oklahoman story.

Oklahoma City’s worst television journalist, Cherokee ‘Happy Hour’ Ballard, was on KTOK’s Noon News yesterday pitching last night’s latest puff piece on behalf of her friends, the stomach-turning Briggs family.

Ballard, considered one of Oklahoma City’s worst reporters, has ignored the possible involvement of Kathie Briggs, Kelsey’s grandmother, in the abuse of Kelsey Smith Briggs, who was killed in 2005. Judge Craig Key, who ruled that Kelsey should be removed from Kathie Briggs and returned her to her mother Raye Dawn Smith six months before Kelsey was murdered, strongly hinted that something awful was happening to Kelsey when she was in Kathie Briggs’ custody. Key was defeated in 2006, largely because of the controversy fueled by Kelsey’s murder.

Kathie Briggs, who has used Kelsey’s death to ‘champion’ a number of child advocacy ’causes’ in the ensuing years, and son Lance enjoyed some brief fame early on, but the pair have fallen from grace recently as their true character emerged, specifically regarding their manipulation of the media, who fell under their spell as they relayed false and misleading information to the media designed to slander Smith. The pair also launched some frivolous lawsuits to get rich and sponsored some highly questionable “charities.” Most media outlets have been embarrassed by their participation in the Briggs’ spin machine, and have moderated their blatantly pro-Briggs propaganda.

Except for ‘Happy Hour’ Ballard, who continues to ignore the stunning revelations about Kathie Briggs brought forth by informed bloggers and Judge Key’s book about Kathie Briggs involvement in the sordid affair, and is instead launching an effort to expose spanking. Happy Hour lists no children on her KFOR biography page, but says she’ll be exploring Raye Dawn’s use of spanking. She even said she will have co-workers of Smith’s who heard Smith talk about using spanking! After all, we all know people with no children are experts at raising others’ children!

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.