Did Wallace Collins Pull Strings to Keep His Son Out of Jail?
Some Norman residents are questioning the uncharacteristic leniency extended to Representative Wallace Collins’s son, Ryan Collins, during criminal proceedings involving a DUI conviction and probation violation. According to one Norman resident who is familiar with the situation, Ryan Collins should have been charged and jailed for violating the terms of his probation stemming from a 2008 DUI conviction. The situation caught the eye of several people due to the well-earned reputation the City of Norman and Cleveland County for showing very little leniency on criminal complaints dealing with alcohol. Furthermore, given the fact that Wallace Collins was directly involved and the prosecutor and judge are known big-time Democrats, it raised additional suspicion.
On February 13, 2008, Wallace’s son waived his right to jury trial and pleaded guilty on charges resulting from a DUI arrest. Wallace was the bondsman for his son. Mr. Collins received a deferred sentence and was placed on two years probation. Part of the terms of his probation was that he not violate any city, state, or federal laws. The end of the two years would be February 2010.
Almost exactly one year into his two year probation, in February 2009, Mr. Collins was again arrested, this time for public intoxication. Once again, Wallace was his bail bondsman. Given that Collins was still on probation, he should have been charged with violating the terms of his probation and sent to jail, just like any other citizen. According to several Norman attorneys, it is unheard of for the city to show any leniency in such intoxication crimes and pass on a probation violation. Yet, somehow the charges were dismissed. Now this could have been because there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute or it could be because Wallace used some political connections to get his son off. We only mention this second possibility because we discovered in the court records that Mr. Collins was actually fined and ordered to pay costs relating to his arrest. He was even required to pay the state for the time he spent in jail.
According to our source, “When the State dismisses a charge because they don’t think they have the evidence or because they were wrong, they will just dismiss it with Costs to the State. They will merely write this on a Court Minute and file it and it is done. In this case, the State dismissed with Costs to the Defendant. For this to happen, the Defendant would have to agree to it and the judge would have to sign the order. Even though the charges were dismissed, the Defendant is still being punished because he is still paying a fine. The state just can’t dismiss an action and say, “You’re gonna pay for this.””
Making the political connection argument even more plausible are the other players in the case. First, the prosecuting attorney was Jeff Virgin, a Democrat donor and brother of current House District 44 Democrat candidate Emily Virgin. If Emily Virgin is to be successful as a candidate, she will need a lot of political clout behind her, given her sparse public service record and lack of any tangible experience. Second, the case was assigned to Judge Rod Ring. Judge Ring is widely known around Norman for his pronounced liberal leanings and his support of local Democrat candidates. He is also being considered as a replacement for Judge Hetherington’s seat.
We’ll keep an eye on this case and continue to investigate what is going on here, but we suspect that the fact a politically-connected person got off on a charge a regular person in Norman wouldn’t have is no surprise to people familiar with Norman politics, inside the courthouse and outside.
This isn’t the first time the Collins family has been in trouble with the law. Wallace Collins himself was found guilty by two separate juries of libeling his opponents during his 1996 campaign and ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars to his Democrat primary opponent and Republican general election opponent.
