Long-awaited finale for Epic co-founders’ court hearing delayed again

Defense attorney Gary Wood attends a preliminary hearing for his client, Epic Charter School co-founder David Chaney, on Tuesday in special judge Jason Glidewell's courtroom at the Oklahoma County Courthouse. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY — The conclusion of an already delayed court hearing for Epic Charter School’s co-founders will be postponed even further because of a last-minute demand that one of the defense attorneys be disqualified from questioning a star witness.

The preliminary hearing for Benjamin Scott Harris, 48, and David Lee Chaney, 45, was set to resume Tuesday and Wednesday in Oklahoma County District Court but now will wait until July. Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office already spent a week in March presenting evidence and witness testimony to establish probable cause for their major embezzlement and racketeering case against Harris and Chaney.

Epic’s former chief financial officer, Joshua Aaron Brock, 42, was meant to return to the witness stand this week to continue his testimony. But minutes before the hearing started, Brock’s legal team, led by attorney Irven Box, filed a request that Chaney’s lawyer, Gary Wood, recuse himself. 

The request claims Wood represented Brock in the past. 

Former Epic Charter School chief financial officer Josh Brock, right, follows his attorney Chris Box through the Oklahoma County Courthouse in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

Brock’s attorneys contended it would be unethical for Wood, or anyone from his law firm, to cross-examine a former client. Wood has given legal advice to Brock, Harris and Chaney since 2019 and learned “confidential and privileged information” through the relationship, the filing states.

Wood said the claim is “completely false.” Brock has hired different attorneys from Harris and Chaney since the embezzlement case was filed in 2022.

“I never represented Josh Brock,” Wood said.

Special judge Jason Glidewell postponed the hearing until July 25 to give Wood time to respond and to reach a decision on the disqualification. The hearing could be delayed even further if Chaney is ordered to find another attorney to handle Brock’s cross-examination.

Harris, Chaney and Brock were charged in 2022 with racketeering and a series of alleged financial crimes, all stemming from their leadership at Epic. Harris and Chaney founded the virtual charter school in 2011 and made millions of dollars managing it until Epic cut ties with them in 2021.

The co-founders deny any wrongdoing. Brock said he agreed to testify against them and plead guilty in exchange for no prison time.

Epic Charter School co-founders David Chaney, left, and Ben Harris, right, attend a preliminary hearing on March 27 in special judge Jason Glidewell’s courtroom at the Oklahoma County Courthouse in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

When his testimony began in March, Brock described a profit-focused mentality that he and the co-founders had while operating the public charter school.

He said he knowingly filed false financial reports with the Oklahoma State Department of Education. He said these reports claimed Harris and Chaney’s company, which earned 10% of Epic’s annual funding, was owed reimbursement for services it never provided.

Harris and Chaney spent Oklahoma funds and local employee resources to expand the Epic charter brand to California without fully repaying the cost, Brock said.

Bank records prosecutors presented showed the co-founders and Brock used Epic’s Learning Fund — advertised for students to spend on lesson plans, technology and extracurricular activities — for their personal expenses.

The co-founders have contended the Learning Fund was a private account that belonged to their company, not the school, and therefore could not be embezzled. However, Brock agreed with prosecutors that the Learning Fund should be considered public, taxpayer dollars intended for students.

Harris’ attorney, Joe White, said during the March proceedings that the defense team would dispute the claims “all the way to trial.”

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