Update: Judge rules Stanley Majors competent to stand trial in killing of Khalid Jabara
By Samantha Vicent
Tulsa World
A Tulsa County judge has received a competency evaluation report on a Tulsa man who is charged with murder and a hate crime in the shooting death of his neighbor, but he has not yet ruled on the defendant’s competency.
Stanley Vernon Majors, 62, was not set to appear in court until Jan. 4, but Special Judge James Keeley held a status conference Wednesday after receiving the evaluation earlier than expected, said Chief Public Defender Rob Nigh.
During a Nov. 30 hearing, Keeley ordered that Majors undergo a competency evaluation to determine his readiness to stand trial in the Aug. 12 death of Khalid Jabara at the south Tulsa home of Jabara’s family.
Nigh and Assistant Public Defender Paula Alfred argued in a motion filed last month that Majors has dementia and has had issues assisting with his defense. A hearing will be held Jan. 4 to continue what was discussed Wednesday, including possible arguments on a new defense motion to seal the competency report.
Nigh and Alfred filed that motion because of the publicity the case has received. They wrote that local and national media outlets have reported on the case in depth, and that “to expose Mr. Majors’ extensive mental health history would cause another explosion of highly inflammatory articles prejudicing Mr. Majors’ right to due process and a fair trial.”
Jabara’s Lebanese, Orthodox Christian family has said Majors called them “dirty Arabs,” “filthy Lebanese,” “Aye-rabs” and “Mooslems” for years before his death. Majors also has pending charges related to severe injuries sustained by Jabara’s mother, Haifa Jabara, after he reportedly hit her with his vehicle while he was intoxicated.
He was in the Tulsa Jail for about eight months before being granted the right to post $60,000 bond in May in a decision that proved controversial following his newest charges. The case involving Haifa Jabara is assigned to District Judge William LaFortune, who will also preside over the case involving Khalid Jabara if Majors is ordered to stand trial.
Assistant District Attorney Erik Grayless, who attended the Wednesday conference, did not comment on the proceedings and instead referred the Tulsa World to online court minutes. Nigh told the World that Keeley could file a written order before the Jan. 4 hearing or announce his decisions that day on whether Majors is competent or whether his evaluation should be sealed.
Nigh said the court minutes written Wednesday in Majors’ case, which say the judge determined that Majors was competent, are “not entirely accurate.” He asserted that the issue is still undecided because Keeley has not filed an order saying so and did not appear to make such a determination in court.
Both sides are also expected to argue about whether Majors should be considered indigent and therefore eligible to receive services from the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office. Grayless filed a motion Monday to have Majors’ indigent status re-evaluated, three days after a World story that questioned his eligibility to have a court-appointed attorney.
Nigh told the World Monday that he has double-checked on Majors’ financial status and determined Majors cannot afford to hire his own attorney. He said that although Majors’ name appears on properties in California and Oklahoma, they are actually owned by his husband, Stephen Schmauss, who is in bad physical health and doesn’t have the “ability or the willingness” to spend money on Majors.
