(Stillwater, Okla.) — An ex-convict avoided a jury trial next week on charges of assaulting three men at Simpson’s Chiropractic Clinic in Cushing in 2012 by accepting a plea bargain Monday for a four and one-half year prison term.
William Ray Doherty Jr., 43, of Cushing, pleaded no contest Monday to choking a male massage therapist and brandishing a knife at two male patrons when they attempted to intervene on May 23, 2012, at Simpson’s Chiropractic and Physical Therapy Center in Cushing.
Doherty — who was arrested about 15 minutes after the attacks — was also charged with obstructing then-Cushing Police Chief Terry Brannon and Officer Bill McCarty by failing to remain seated in a vehicle and shouting profanities at the officers.
As part of a plea bargain approved in court Monday by Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler, that count was dismissed by the prosecution.
Doherty, who has been in custody for nearly two and one-half years, was given credit Monday for the time he has already served, court records show.
A jury trial for Doherty had been repeatedly postponed while he underwent mental evaluations and treatment at the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita.
According to state Department of Corrections records, Doherty had been released from prison in 2008 after serving one and one-half years of a five and one-half year sentence for assault with a dangerous weapon in McClain County in 2003.
Doherty had been given a 10-year prison term in 1996 in Cleveland County for grand larceny after a former felony conviction, of which he served about five years prior to his parole in 2001, DOC records show.
Doherty had been given a nine-year prison term in 1996 in Cleveland County for possession of LSD with intent to distribute, of which he served about three and one-half years, DOC records show.
Doherty had been placed on probation in 1990 in Cleveland County for second-degree burglary, which was later changed to a five-year prison term, of which he served about two years, DOC records show.
In court Monday, Doherty waived his right to remain in the Payne County Jail for 10 days prior to being transported to state prison to serve his sentence in the Cushing clinic assault.
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