This judge was out of order.
A sitting Oklahoma judge already facing multiple felony gun charges in Texas has now been indicted for allegedly riddling his brother-in-law’s home with bullets in a drive-by shooting in his home state, authorities said.
Garfield County Associate Judge Brian Lovell, 59, was charged with fresh felony counts of discharging of a firearm into a dwelling and use of a vehicle to facilitate the discharge of a firearm last week in connection with the Feb. 12, 2023 gunplay in the town of Bison, Okla., the Enid News & Eagle reported.
Two days after the alleged shooting outside brother-in-law Kenneth Markes’ home, Lovell claimed that the gun had been stolen from his vehicle, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a press release this week.
It was not Lovell’s first scrape with the law involving a firearm.
The controversial jurist also faces eight felony counts in Texas for allegedly using the same Glock 23 .40-caliber gun in a similar incident in Austin on Sept. 11 of last year.
In that case, Lovell is accused of driving near Matamoros and Santa Maria streets in his white SUV, during which he allegedly “discharged a firearm approximately five times,” the Eagle said.
The bullets hit “several vehicles” in the area.
About an hour later, Lovell allegedly rear-ended another vehicle during a road rage encounter, the victim claiming he tried to push her car into oncoming traffic.
The judge was indicted in the Austin case on Feb. 29 and is free on a $10,000 bond, the outlet said.
In the new Oklahoma indictment, Lovell’s lawyer, Stephen Jones, said prosecutors don’t have a case.
“As far as the merits of the charge and the defense, we do not at this time have the discovery material which in due course will be made available to us,” Jones said. “From our own investigation, the evidence is insufficient to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
“We intend to defend the case vigorously and during the course of the investigation the judge and Mrs. Lovell have cooperated fully,” he said.