The former sheriff’s deputy who was indicted and is facing 44 different charges was not in court as his formal arraignment took place Friday morning. Daniel Wilkey’s attorney waived formal reading and entered a plea of not guilty, and then Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman set March 31 as the next court date for Wilkey.
"Any person under our state procedural statutes has the ability, through his or her attorney, to sign a waiver of appearance at an arraignment, and the court does this routinely,” said Judge Steelman, explaining why Wilkey was not present for his arraignment. “So this is not anything special.”
The criminal charges against Wilkey include two counts of rape, six counts of sexual battery, one count of assault, four counts of stalking, three counts of false imprisonment, 10 counts of official oppression, one count of extortion, seven counts of reckless endangerment, and 10 counts of reckless driving.
Wilkey resigned on Dec. 27, and faces multiple lawsuits. In one incident, James Myron Mitchell claimed that Wilkey and another deputy carried out a roadside body cavity search looking for drugs. In another incident, a woman said Wilkey, while with another deputy, told a woman he had stopped that he wanted to "baptize her." She said he stripped down to his underwear and had intimate contact with her during the incident. Wilkey also faces multiple lawsuits in federal court.
Judge Steelman said that more court dates would be set on March 31.