Oklahoma judge under fire after man she released accused of raping Lyft driver

Editor's note: This story contains references to sexual assault and may be troubling to some.

A veteran Oklahoma County judge is under fire after a Lyft driver reported she was repeatedly raped by a man the judge let out of jail two months earlier through a diversion program.

District Judge Cindy Truong set the man free on a so-called TEEM bond on Feb. 12 even though he admitted to illegally possessing a gun for the third time in the last three years, court records show. The man, Andre Hunter, 20, was also awaiting sentencing on a 2023 drug charge. Police have identified him as a member of the 456 Piru street gang.

Prosecutors allege he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and robbed the female Lyft driver April 18.

TEEM is a nonprofit in Oklahoma City that provides services to defendants on pretrial release. Its full name is The Education and Employment Ministry.

Hunter, of Oklahoma City, was ordered in February to go there and participate in educational classes and gain employment through its assistance program. The judge was going to see how he did there before sentencing him for drug and gun offenses.

The Lyft driver said the leniency shown Hunter is incomprehensible and "put me through this hell I'm living with now."

"She is sending all victims a message that we don't matter," the woman said in a written statement sent through a victim's advocate. "I was raped by him and the judicial system. She is supposed to protect us from people like him but didn't. SHE FAILED ME!!!"

Criticism of the judge's decision has become the talk of the courthouse. A new Facebook page, "Diversion Programs Gone Wild," spotlighted the case as an example of Oklahoma County jail inmates who should not have been released.

The judge declined to address the criticism directly. She told The Oklahoman "the TEEM bond was legally authorized" and that she issued a warrant for Hunter's arrest in early April for violating it.

"The Court notified the proper authorities immediately upon issuance of the warrant," she also said.

Truong was first elected as a judge in 2010. The former prosecutor has become known for her willingness to release inmates on their own recognizance or on TEEM bonds while they await trial. She regularly goes to the jail on weekends to let inmates out.

She was praised for those efforts during the years when the troubled jail was overcrowded. “She's like our 24-hour judge,” a detention officer said in 2018.

"We want to protect the public, but at the same time, we want to get people into treatment and get jobs and be productive citizens," Truong told The Oklahoman in 2018.

Community activist Jess Eddy defended her last week.

"This is one bad example out of hundreds of success stories," he said.

"No one could have known he would commit such a horrible crime," Eddy also said. "I know I speak for the courts, legal professionals and community service providers when I say our hearts are broken for the unconscionable harm the victim has suffered here."

The interim chief public defender, Brigitte Biffle, has heard the criticism but pointed out Hunter's past charges involved nonviolent offenses. "So there was nothing to really predict what could or would happen in the future," she said.

She declined to comment on Hunter's case.

What TEEM says about Andre Hunter

TEEM Executive Director Kris Steele said Hunter at first was going to classes and taking drug tests but then twice failed to meet with his case manager.

"We reported the information to Judge Truong that he was noncompliant. And almost immediately, in real time, Judge Truong issued a warrant for failure to comply. It was a warrant for Mr. Hunter's arrest. That was issued on April 5," Steele said.

Truong asked about Hunter on April 2 and then asked for a violation report after being told he had missed appointments, according to a text exchange Steele sent The Oklahoman.

Lyft driver said man threatened to kill her amid attack

Hunter was arrested by Langston police after the Lyft driver reported being raped April 18 at a Del City park by a passenger. He was charged April 26.

The woman said her attacker had her cellphone when he drove off in her car, according to a court affidavit. She subscribed to the Life360 app that showed her cellphone was in the area of Langston University.

Hunter was located exiting the victim's car in Langston in possession of her cellphone, according to the affidavit.

In a request for a victim's protective order, the Lyft driver wrote the attack began when her passenger "grabbed me and started choking me."

"Any resistance I showed, he would just threaten that he was going to kill me," she wrote. "He kept asking if I had a boyfriend and saying to call him. He wanted my boyfriend to hear him sexually assaulting me."

She wrote she hid in a bush after her attacker dropped her off.

Maj. Brad Cowden, with the Del City Police Department, told KOCO: "It was very disturbing in the interview. This suspect showed no remorse. His demeanor was essentially he knew he was going back to prison, so he didn’t really care."

As a juvenile, Hunter got in trouble for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 2018 and for having a gun illegally in 2021, court records show.

He was caught with a gun again in January 2023 and with ecstasy during a traffic stop. He was the driver. He and five others in the car were at first charged with drug trafficking.

He pleaded guilty last year to illegally possessing the gun and illegally possessing ecstasy with intent to distribute. He had been on probation for those offenses.

He was caught with a gun in January again after his girlfriend reported he had pointed it at her head and said he was going to kill her in front of their child. He pleaded guilty in February to the third weapon offense. He also agreed he should be sentenced again on his 2023 case.

The judge had set sentencing for April 15.

That sentencing didn't happen until last week, after his arrest in Langston. The judge ordered him to prison for 27 years. She warned him he could face additional time on the rape case.

"You want to be with the big boys," Truong said. "That's where you're going."

The judge also told Hunter that she had given him a second chance but that he had blown that "big time."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma judge under fire after man she released accused of raping Lyft driver