Thursday, March 4, 2010

County Attorney Stegall in limelight for work with Haiti detainees

by Kenneth Lassiter  

County Attorney Caleb Stegall has been busy of late in his private law practice because of work to represent three men who had been among a group of 10 missionaries detained in Haiti.

Stegall said he began representing Topekan Drew Culberth along with Culberth’s brother-in-law and nephew, Paul and Silas Thompson of Idaho, Feb. 13, which was five days before the trio were among eight Americans released from prison in Haiti. The group had been accused of kidnapping 33 children and attempting to take them to the Dominican Republic in the wake of the devastating January earthquake in Haiti. Leader Laura Silsby and group member Charisa Coulter of Idaho remain in prison in Haiti. According to news reports, the Haitian judge refused to release Silsby or Coulter because they had visited the country in December with plans to open an orphanage.

Stegall said the charges against the trio of people he represents were in the process of being dropped with only a final order yet to be issued. He was part of the efforts to negotiate the release of the detainees, who have been a topic of national news during their imprisonment and release.

“I was contacted and asked if I could help,” Stegall said. “This situation was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It was at the point the group got American legal assistance that things started to work toward a release.”

Culberth, who is a Topeka firefighter and youth pastor, and the Thompsons and friend Steve McMullin, also from Idaho, returned home Feb. 18 to a media crush that saw Stegall read a prepared statement and the group later appeared on NBC’s Today Show.

“It’s a very unique case,” Stegall said. “You don’t get this kind of case very often. In the Haitian judicial system, they gather the facts and after a very thorough investigation, they determined my clients hadn’t done anything wrong. If they hadn’t decided that, they’d still be in a jail cell now and not home with their families.”

Stegall said the media coverage of the situation also put some pressure on the Haitian government.

“They were under a great deal of media spotlight, so I’m sure they wanted to make sure things were done right,” Stegall said.

As it stands, Stegall said his clients are back at home with their families and trying to adjust back to normal life. He said the situation made him thankful for his normal job.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Stegall of the media attention and nature of the case. “It was a privilege to be able to help those folks. They were pleased to be back home. It makes me happy to be here in my office right now in the courthouse enjoying a quiet day.”