A Tulsa County judge on Thursday denied a resentencing request for a domestic violence survivor who argued her long prison term should be reduced under the Oklahoma Survivors' Act.
Kim Perigo has been in prison for more than 20 years for the 2001 shooting death of ex-husband, Jeffrey Packett. Before announcing her decision, Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Nightingale cautioned spectators to go into the hallway if they anticipated reacting to the ruling.
Nightingale then announced the denial of resentencing and said she'll explain her decision later in writing. The move differs from previous Survivors' Act cases where judges talked about their reasoning from the bench.
Perigo’s request was the fourth filed in Tulsa County under the law, which took effect last year and aims to reduce sentences for domestic violence survivors who commit crimes against their abusers. All four Tulsa County requests have now been denied.
Only one request resulted in the release of a domestic abuse survivor. Lisa Wright was released in January after a Seminole County Judge granted her resentencing relief.
Emotional testimony in hearing’s first day
Perigo spent nearly four hours on the stand Tuesday during the first day of the hearing. With tears in her eyes, she testified to years of physical and sexual abuse by Packett during their marriage, as well as stalking and intimidation after their divorce. She said Packett assaulted her again in his trailer shortly before the shooting.
Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Megan Hilborn pressed Perigo on why her account has changed over the years, questioning discrepancies between her testimony and what she told an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent after the shooting.
Perigo did not testify during her original trial, but investigators used transcripts of her OSBI interview as evidence.
Hilborn’s cross examination mirrored her questioning in another recent Survivors' Act case involving Erica Harrison. In both cases, prosecutors challenged the survivors’ credibility by highlighting inconsistencies between their statements then and now.
Experts disagree on whether abuse contributed to the killing
At the end of Tuesday’s hearing and throughout Wednesday’s hearing, the court heard from expert witnesses for both sides.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Reagan Gill testified for the defense that domestic violence was a substantial contributing factor in the killing. Prosecutors argued she lacked key records from the original trial. Gill agreed that more information is better when forming an opinion, but maintained her conclusion would not change if she received all the court transcripts.
The prosecution’s expert, forensic psychologist Dr. Jarrod Steffan, disagreed. He said Packett’s abuse was only “one data point” and did not “substantially contribute” to the killing.
During cross examination, Perigo's attorney, Abby Gore, emphasized that Steffan is not a medical doctor and questioned whether he fully accounted for evidence that Packett had methamphetamine in his system when he was shot. Gore argued Packett threw Perigo down while high, which she said was the triggering act of violence that led to the shooting.
Steffan was paid roughly $11,000 by the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office. Gill was paid roughly $2,000 by the defense.
Both Steffan and Gill agreed that Perigo has post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered violence at the hands of Packett.
Why the judge said no is so far unclear
As of Friday morning Nightingale has not yet released her legal reasoning on OSCN, leaving unanswered why Perigo’s request was denied.
After Thursday’s decision, Perigo’s defense team declined to comment, and Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler was unavailable.
Gore announced she will be appealing the decision.
