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Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane inherited the office of DA when his mentor and former Oklahoma County DA "Cowboy" Bob Macy resigned as the Gilchrist Scandal was breaking wide open and shaking Oklahoma's system of Junk Justice and Okie Science to its very core.

DA Lane was appointed to fill the remaining portion of Macy's term by Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating and assumed office on July 1st, 2001. This after having spent his entire public career of twenty years under the wing of former DA Macy.

For a bit of background on Wes Lane you may view the Oklahoma County District Attorney's official web site by Clicking Here

When Governor Keating announced the appointment of Wes Lane as Oklahoma County District Attorney he was quoted as stating:

"Wes is a tough professional and will conduct himself with the highest of ethics"

In the opinion of the editor of Bubbaworld, Governor Keating as usual got it wrong, once again demonstrating why we refer to him as "Bumble Frank Keating".

Also in the opinion of this writer, the year since Mr. Lane's appointment has been one noteworthy for the lack of ethics on the part of DA Lane, as time and again he demonstrated a firm belief in and grasp of "double standards". Double standards that bring discredit not only upon the office of District Attorney but the entire state of Oklahoma and make a mockery of the word "justice".

Pretty harsh words, right?

Yes they are and I would not use them were they not justified.

To understand why I feel such statements are justified one must realize that during a portion of his 20 years with the District Attorney's Office, Wes Lane served as Chief Prosecutor for the District Attorney’s Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force. That means that he was personally involved in prosecuting drug offenders, insuring they were convicted and sentenced to prison. There's nothing wrong with that, as society consider drug offenses to be serious crimes deserving of harsh punishment when the laws are broken.

Where we at Bubbaworld take issue with DA Lane's handling of drug related crime arises when a member of his own family is involved, as it appears in the opinion of this writer that there's clearly a set of "double standards" that come into play. One set for the "typical drug offenders" and a second standard for "special drug offenders".

What drug offender could be more "special" than the wife of the District Attorney?

Yes, you read that correctly.

Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane's wife, Dr. Lori Hansen, is an admitted drug offender.

Dr. Hansen pled guilty to two felony drug offenses on 11/20/2001, just over four months after her husband was appointed to office. The guilty plea was arranged in a "deal" to spare Dr. Hansen jail time for obtaining a controlled drug by misrepresentation. In the "plea deal" Dr. Hansen admitted that she wrote bogus prescriptions for her personal use between January 1997 and June 2000, when she was confronted by her office staff.

Dr. Hansen received a one-year deferred sentence, $2,370 in fines and court costs and was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service with 50 of those hours to be spent in public speaking on chemical dependency. DA Lane was quoted in local news media as having no knowledge of his wife's drug addiction until she was confronted by her office staff in June of 2000. And this in spite of the couple having been married for fourteen years, during a portion of which Wes Lane was the prosecutor in charge of "drug cases" in Oklahoma County.

As on outgrowth of her felony conviction for drug abuse, Dr. Hansen's license to practice medicine was suspended by the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision on January 18, 2002. Dr. Hansen had continue to practice medicine in her specialty of "plastic surgery" from the time of her arrest until the date of her suspension.

In a Daily Oklahoman news report titled, "Plastic surgeon's license suspended for drug abuse" it was reported that:

Elizabeth A. Scott, an assistant attorney general assigned to the medical licensure board, said Hansen hasn't been forthright in trying to prove she's addressed her addictions.

"She can't give us any documentation to prove her sobriety. We have no proof ... that the public is protected," said Scott, adding that for 11 of the past 18 months, the board has no record that Hansen has tested negative for drug use.

Board members said they were shocked that Hansen was given the drug Xanax for anxiety when her drug problems were reported in the news media in November.

Doing that just compounded problems with any drug testing, board members said.

It should be noted that neither DA Wes Lane or his office were officially involved in the "plea deal". The case was handled by a "special prosecutor", Stephens County District Attorney Gene Christian. Christian was appointed to handle the case by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson.

In spite of the "special prosecutor" brought in to handle the case, we here at Bubbalworld can not escape the nagging possibility that Dr. Hansen received "special treatment" in her case, owing to her husband's position in county law enforcement. We have no proof what so ever that this is the case, just a nagging doubt that similarly situated individuals have in the past received similar treatment at the hands of the Oklahoma County District Attorney's office and Wes Lane in particular.

What we find particularly interesting is that DA Wes Lane in his official duties as District Attorney of Oklahoma County from time to time initiates law suits for the forfeiture of assets involved in "drug cases". Here is a URL for various "forfeiture actions" filed in Oklahoma County District Court , each listing as the "plaintiff", C. Wesley Lane II (DA Wes Lane's legal name). Care to find any such forfeiture action filed against admitted drug offender Dr. Lori Hansen? Here's a helpful hint, "Don't Waste Your Time".

While you are at it, you might wish to check out these Forfeiture Actions which seem to imply that someone at the District Attorney's Office isn't aware of the name of their boss, as they filed the cases listing Wesley C. Lane II as the plaintiff.

Oh well, no one is perfect and it is "campaign season" with DA Lane locked into a furious primary campaign and therefore the staff is possibly pre-occupied with more pressing matters than insuring they get the boss's name right, as long as they get him elected.

The effort involved in getting Wes Lane elected is where the "double standards" associated with Wes Lane are best revealed by local news media reports.

In a Daily Oklahoman report dated 7/09/2002 and titled, "DA disqualifies office from case" it was revealed that District Attorney Wes Lane had removed his office from prosecuting one of Lane's neighbors on drug charges. This following a request by the man's attorney.

Quoting from that report:

A handwritten note to one of Lane's neighbors calling John Michael Holland "a dopehead" is the reason for the request to disqualify Lane and his office from prosecuting the cases.

Lane wrote in the note -- on embossed district attorney stationery -- that he "arranged" to get Holland out of the northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood.

Holland has three pending drug cases, including one filed March 27, and a case to forfeiture $1,334 to the district attorney.

The note invited a neighbor to a meeting in May to Lane's home to visit with the prosecutors assigned to the cases. The note mentions the neighbor has a sign in his front yard supporting Lane's opponent, Mickey Homsey, for the office of district attorney.

In view of Wes Lane's dedication to removing "dopeheads" from his neighborhood we here at Bubbaworld can only ask when will DA Lane be giving his wife the same treatment as he did Mr. Holland.

After all, "a dopehead is a dopehead", even if one just happens to be the wife of the District Attorney.

Right?

Well...
Let's just say that we here at Bubbaworld are not holding our breath awaiting Wes Lane to do "what's fair".

As the primary campaign for District Attorney shifted into high gear, Wes Lane in his campaign against challenger Mickey Homsey decided to play the "God Card" by sending a letter, written on official letterhead of the office of the district attorney, but including a disclaimer that it was not printed at taxpayer expense urging local ministers to support his election campaign.

The letter contains the following:

"As you know, I have made it no secret where I stand on the subject of my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I have given full credit to Him for giving me this job -- it was the answer to my consistent prayers that I might find favor in His sight and that He would grant me the desire of my heart."

"I have made every effort to glorify Him in the performance of my duties as the 'minister of justice' to this community."

I now find myself engaged in a great battle to keep this job -- a political campaign. My opponent, Mickey Homsey, has made every effort to attack me in various circles as a "right-wing Christian" (as if my relationship with the Lord was something to be belittled). He has also engaged in spreading vicious and untrue rumors about my precious wife. He is a well-funded criminal lawyer who, I'm sure, will soon commence very negative attack ads on television.

"If you believe that the Lord has raised me up to this position and that I have indeed honored Him in my duties, will you help me?"

For the complete "Lane Letter" Click Here .

While we here at Bubbaworld do not advocate the infringement of the religious beliefs of anyone, we do take issue when they seek to "flaunt" their religion during a political campaign and certainly when they are doing so under the official letterhead of their office.

We find equally distressing DA Lane's reference to his political office as "minister of justice", a term one might associate with the former Soviet Union or various and sundry dictatorships, banana republics and the like. In case Mr. Lane has forgotten, he currently holds the office of District Attorney, not "minister of justice". If he's interested in becoming a minister there are numerous religious institutions in Oklahoma all of which may ordain ministers as they see fit. The last I heard ordaining "ministers" was not the responsibility of the voters of Oklahoma County.

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