Commissioners meet behind closed doors about Watie lawsuit

Ancient philosophers have appropriately observed that “the wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.”

And when you add in dealing with the government — even if it is only municipal government — the justice system reaching a result is particularly slow, but hope remains that there will be an eventual correct outcome.

Sallisaw City Commissioners, Mayor Ernie Martens, City Attorney John Robert Montgomery, Interim City Manager Robin Haggard and City Clerk Kim Jamison met for 42 minutes in executive session Thursday during a special meeting to discuss pending litigation in the five-year-old lawsuit of Watie v. City of Sallisaw, et al.

The meeting was adjourned without any action being taken.

It was June 27 when the city commissioners recommended a summary jury trial to adjudicate the lawsuit brought by Charles Watie in the March 2019 shooting death of Shawn Taylor Watie by Sallisaw police officers Coty Biles and Devin Harriman.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of the estate of Shawn Watie, names as defendants the city and the two officers.

Watie, 27, of Stilwell, was shot on March 14, 2019, when he allegedly charged the officers while wielding a knife, which drew gunfire from the officers, according to the OSBI, which took over the investigation. Neither officer was wearing a body camera, so video footage of the incident is unavailable.

Watie, who was walking along U.S. 59 about two miles south of Sallisaw, was wearing a jacket that covered his neck and face, according to information provided by Capt. Jeff Murray at a press conference on March 15, 2019. Murray said both officers fired their weapons at Watie, killing him. Murray could not say how many times each officer fired their weapons.

A Sallisaw school employee, who Murray did not identify, alerted police of a man walking along the highway, thinking the person might have been the man who had escaped from Heavener police the previous day.

Sequoyah and LeFlore counties had been on high alert due to considerable media and public attention about Travis Lee Davis, who was arrested by Heavener police at a casino on March 13, and then stole a patrol unit only to crash it about five miles away. He reportedly hid out the next few days in a family’s travel trailer near Howe before stealing the family truck the following weekend.

Davis was an escaped inmate from Sedalia, Mo., when he came to Oklahoma. According to the Associated Press, the truck stolen from Howe was found abandoned in a field in Pettis County, Mo., and Davis was recaptured March 19 in Sedalia.

Davis was initially being held in Heavener on an assault charge, parole violation and failure to appear on kidnapping and resisting arrest charges.

When the call came in to Sallisaw police at 9:15 a.m. on March 14, 2019, Harriman had just been called to substitute for another officer who had called in sick. Murray said Harriman was dispatched to the call less than 30 seconds after going on duty.

Because of the seriousness of the call and the suspicion Watie might have been Davis, Harriman did not go by the police department to pick up a body camera. Once officers go on duty, they retrieve a body camera to be worn during their shift. However, Murray said, because of the serious nature of the call, Harriman went directly to the scene.

Murray said had Harriman gone by the department to pick up a body camera, it would have delayed the response time. Biles also responded to the call “due to the severity.” Biles, an investigator, is not required to wear a body camera, and was driving a separate police unit.

Harriman and Biles were placed on administrative leave as the investigation progressed.

In February 2024, city commissioners approved a resolution authorizing settlement of the lawsuit. Police Chief Terry Franklin was authorized to represent the city at a settlement conference.

Following the settlement conference and an April 11 executive session in which no action occurred, the recommendation of a summary jury trial was approved on June 27.

The case is scheduled to be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee.