No indictments coming in OU inquiry
Accusations against David Boren, Tripp Hall were investigated
Retired OU President David Boren and a former OU vice president, Tripp Hall, will not face any indictments out of an investigation into sexual misconduct accusations made against them.
A special counsel overseeing the investigation made the announcement Tuesday morning in a news release.
"The OSBI investigation of David Boren and Tripp Hall has concluded," the special counsel, Patrick M. Ryan, said Tuesday. "As the appointed acting AG for this investigation, I have made the decision, after considering all relevant facts and circumstances, to not seek a Grand Jury criminal indictment relative to Boren's and Hall' s alleged wrongful conduct while they were employed by the University of Oklahoma.
"I want to personally thank the OSBI for their extraordinary efforts and for conducting a thorough investigation."
Agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began looking into the allegations more than a year ago. The OSBI reported in a search warrant request that "it was alleged that Boren and Hall in appropriately kissed and touched former and current students and employees of the University of Oklahoma."
The state's multicounty grand jury heard from witnesses in August.
Both Bore na nd Hall denied wrongdoing throughout the investigation.
"A new day has dawned ," their at torney, Clark Brewster, said Tuesday after the announcement.
Boren, 79, is a former governor and U.S. senator who became president at OU in 1994.
He retired in 2018 and ended any further affiliation with the university last year.
Hall, 57, went to work at OU in 1994, at first as a special assistant to Boren. After Bor en retired in 2018, Hall was demoted and then later forced out. Hall's last day on campus was Nov. 1, 2018.
The OSBI began investigating the two in March 2019 after one accuser, Jess Eddy, made a report to Norman police.
Norman police declined to do an investigation for jurisdiction al reasons so OU police became involved.
OU's police chief then asked the OSBI for assistance "in order to ensure an impartial and unbiased investigation."
Ryan is the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh in Denver in 1997.
He was appointed special counsel over the Boren and Hall investigation in
April 2019 after Attorney General Mike Hunter rec used himself from involvement.
On Tuesday, OU said, "From the beginning, the university sought a thorough and objective investigation, cooperating extensively with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation at every turn. The university appreciates the work of the OSBI and of the Grand Jury."
Eddy, 31, on Tuesday thanked" members of the community who believed me and stood with me through the vicious attacks by Boren, his attorneys and his supporters throughout this saga."
"Justice for me was not an indictment but rather that the truth prevail and measures be taken at OU to ensure this never happens again ," Eddy also said ." Sadly, we have yet to see reform in the removal of all individual s who permitted and facilitated David Boren's predation at OU."
A law firm hired by OU conducted a separate sexual misconduct investigation of Boren. The Jones Day firm reported six witnesses gave accounts of encounters with Boren.
That separate investigation led to a personnel action against B or en because he had intended to continue teaching political science at the university.
To resolve the personnel matter, Boren agreed in June 2019 to give up his president emeritus title and to no longer teach.
Bore na nd his attorney have claimed that his successor, Jim Gallogly, instigated the Jones Day investigation as part of an effort to destroy him.
"I came under a personal attack that was so vicious and relentless that it defied my comprehension," Boren said last year.
Brewster said Tuesday that he was happy for Bo rent hat" this castigation that resulted from Mr. Gal log ly' s fervent character attack is now maybe over."
The attorney also called "the time that this l anguished" a sad thing.
Gallogly, who retired as president in May 2019, has denied taking actions to diminish Boren's legacy.
He said last year, "The university was required by l aw to commence an investigation upon the receipt of complaint(s)."
Ryan did not give any specifics in his announcement about the facts and circumstances that went into his decision.
However, a number of the accusations against Boren are known to date back years, too long ago to seek an indictment under time limits on beginning a prosecution for sexual offenses.
Also, some of the accusations involve events in hotels in other states, outside the jurisdiction of Oklahoma prosecutors.
Pending against Hall in Cleveland County District Court is a 2020 civil case accusing him of sexually assaulting a student last year. A 2019 ci vi l case accusing Hall of sexual assault was settled earlier this year.