(Update: One day after the publication of this article, the protective order hearing referenced below was rescheduled to Wednesday, Oct. 15, in Cleveland County District Court. The following article remains in its original form.)
Across back-to-back days of Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners meetings, District 3 Commissioner Myles Davidson rejected calls for his resignation, stepped aside from two appointments and said he does not know why a woman accused him of sexual assault and harassment in protective order applications.
During a special meeting this morning, Davidson stepped aside as chairman of the board and as the county’s appointee to the board for Circuit Engineering District 5, an obscure government body that facilitates road and infrastructure projects that cross county lines. Commissioner Brian Maughan became chairman of the Oklahoma County Board of Commissioners, and Commissioner Jason Lowe became the county’s representative to CED 5.
Those changes came one day after local officials expressed confusion and uncertainty over whether law enforcement was even investigating the allegations against Davidson and his wife, Marilyn. Asked multiple times about a police report of stalking and harassment filed Sept. 2 by the alleged victim, an Oklahoma City Police Department spokesperson eventually confirmed Thursday morning that “it is being investigated.”
“Rough,” Myles Davidson told media Wednesday when asked how the situation was affecting his family. “We’re getting through it.”
Davidson said he had not been contacted by law enforcement, nor did he know if the allegations were being investigated criminally. Also asked about potential inquiries following Wednesday’s regular commission meeting, neither Maughan nor Lowe knew whether Davidson was under criminal investigation.
Informed that OKCPD had confirmed an investigation Thursday morning, Lowe said that means little will be known until investigators “go through the process.”
“I have full confidence that the DA’s office or the AG’s office will conduct a proper investigation if there needs to be an investigation,” Lowe said.
Maughan said District Attorney Vicki Behenna had been in France until today. A spokeswoman for Behenna provided a statement following the publication of this article.
“At this time, nothing has been presented to our office, and it would be premature to comment on any potential future action taken by DA’s office for that reason,” said Brook Arbeitman. “If, and when, charges are presented to the DA’s office, the DA and her team will review the matter and determine whether any conflict of interest exists.”
District attorneys generally represent county boards of commissioners on civil matters, which means Behenna is likely to consider recusing from the criminal inquiry. When DAs recuse owing to potential conflicts, they refer investigations to the Attorney General’s Office, which historically has reassigned recused matters to other DAs, although Attorney General Gentner Drummond has chosen to retain some high-profile cases at his office.
Accuser’s statement read aloud during meeting
On Sept. 2, a woman associated with circuit engineering districts filed two protective order applications against Myles and Marilyn Davidson, alleging that the longtime couple had harassed her. In text messages, Marilyn Davidson accused the woman of having an affair with her husband, but the woman denied the accusation. A series of other bizarre communications unfolded over subsequent weeks.
After media reported on the protective order applications, the woman amended her complaint Monday to include two allegations of sexual assault, saying Myles Davidson grabbed her breasts and attempted to kiss her in Oklahoma City and then “attempted to force me into having sex with him while we were in Philadelphia on a work trip.”
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“Recently I have also began receiving countless calls from local businesses saying that I inquired on their website about their services (new roof, generators, gutters, cars etc.) The online submissions used my phone number, but fake email addresses that were vulgar or personal to me,” the woman wrote. “Some emails included references to things that Myles Davidson knew about my life. I need the harassment to stop and for him to leave me alone. I want nothing to do with him, but he thinks he is above the law.”
Before commissioners voted at Thursday’s meeting to name Maughan chairman and Lowe as the CED 5 appointee, the board allowed activist Mark Faulk to offer public comment for a second day in a row. Acknowledging that it was “very uncomfortable,” Faulk chose to read the narrative filed about Davidson in the woman’s amended protective order petition.
“I think it’s important that the victim’s words be on the record,” Faulk said. “And, yes, you do have your right to speak up against this in court. It’s also true that statistically, 95 percent of the time, victims are telling the truth. I believe the victim in this one.”
Davidson leaned back and cocked his head while Faulk read the accuser’s narrative, commenting calmly at the end of the remarks, “Thank you, Mr. Faulk.”
After Thursday’s meeting, Lowe was asked his reaction to hearing the accusations against Davidson read aloud during a public meeting. He referenced the hearing on the protective order petition set for Monday in Cleveland County District Court.
“It’s always tough to hear. I mean, we have to believe victims,” said Lowe, a criminal defense attorney. “We have to also believe in due process where an individual has a right to face his accuser. So I’m listening to both sides. There’s going to be a court action on Monday, so we’re going to figure out more facts and learn more. But yeah, it’s tough listening to those types of accusations.”
Myles Davidson is being represented by criminal defense attorney Ed Blau.
“Any allegation or insinuation regarding inappropriate and unwanted contact between Commissioner Davidson and the complaining witness is defamatory,” Blau said earlier this week. “These allegations are categorically false, and Commissioner Davidson intends to fight these salacious and ridiculous claims.”
Marilyn Davidson attended Thursday’s six-minute meeting, sitting in the front row and exiting the room with her husband at its conclusion. The accuser’s attorney, Matt Swain, said his client has dismissed the petition against Marilyn Davidson, despite online court records indicating it is still active.
“My client has no intention on dismissing the protective order against Myles. We will be ready for that hearing whenever it occurs. If he wants a hearing on Monday then he will get one,” Swain told NonDoc on Thursday. “My client dismissed the protective order against Marilyn because she has sympathy for her situation and thinks the harassing messages were likely fueled by misinformation.”
(Update: This article was updated at 2:13 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, to include comment from Brook Arbeitman.)
