Tulsa Attorney Blog
Will Tulsa Jury Trial Delays Cause Oklahoma Speedy Trial Violations?
Tulsa County court officials have announced jury trials will be suspended for two full months during the summer of 2016. The court cut two jury weeks from the schedule on either side of judge's regular July summer vacation time after state officials announced a $1.3 billion budget shortfall. Delays in jury trial schedules pose questions about potential speedy trial violations. Read more »Database Ranks Tulsa County, Oklahoma Near Top of Exonerations List
A University of Michigan Law School study reveals Tulsa County has one of the highest rates of exoneration for a county its size anywhere in the nation. False allegations, perjury and official misconduct contributed to many of the convictions that were later overturned. Read more »Can I Fight a Tulsa Oklahoma Texting and Driving Ticket?
Oklahoma's texting and driving law includes ambiguities similar to those in an Indiana law a federal court called "largely inefficacious" and "probably wrong. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said a police officer who sees a driver holding a cell phone has no reasonable basis to suspect the driver is illegally texting and driving. Read more »Oklahoma Court Reverses Sentence on Tulsa Prosecutor's Misconduct
An Assistant District Attorney's dramatic reenactment using a doll during a closing arguments was way over the top, even for Oklahoma's often prosecution-friendly Court of Criminal Appeals.
The court overturned a defendant's life-without-parole sentence because of the prosecutor's theatrical behavior. Although it was not published as precedent, the case summarizes standards that my be used to identify prosecutorial misconduct during arguments by attorneys in Oklahoma criminal trials.. Read more »Wagoner County Sheriff Faces Civil Asset Forfeiture Extortion Charge
A grand jury indictment of Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert on felony charges related to asset seizure sheds light on the narrow difference between civil asset forfeitures purpose for restricting flow of criminal assets and civil forfeitures used as an alternative form of punitive criminal justice. Read more »Deadlines Include Weekend Days in Oklahoma Criminal Courts
Twice in 2016, five-day deadlines to appeal judicial disqualifications will be reduced to one day because of court holidays and rigid Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals opinions. The unreasonably short deadlines result from the court's refusal to apply it's own appellate rules to lower criminal courts, a stern refusal to recognize some civil procedure as applicable to all Oklahoma courts and a strained interpretation of Oklahoma law to conclude the legislature mandated rules that are not spelled out in any Oklahoma law. Read more »Tulsa District Court Announces Felony Domestic Violence Court
Tulsa County District Court has ordered the creation of a felony domestic violence court and assigned "certain specific felony matters" to the new FDV docket. Read more »House Approves Oklahoma Expungement Law Reforms
The Oklahoma Senate is considering a bill that would reduce waiting periods for expungement of court records in misdemeanor and non-violent felony cases. The reform would also for the first time allow expungement of two non-violent felonies, allow immediate expungement of some misdemeanors where fines were under $501, and allow expungement of misdemeanors or non-violent felonies resulting in deferred judgements even after prior misdemeanor convictions. Read more »Washington County Judge Upholds Oklahoma Citizen Participation Act
A Washington County court has dismissed a lawsuit on free speech grounds under a fast-track procedure created in the 2014 Oklahoma Citizens Participation Act. The decision runs contrary to two previous OCPA decisions in other libel cases, all of which involve the same group of Rogers County defendants, sued by former District Attorney Janice Steidley. The contrary rulings set the stage for an appellate decision on the Oklahoma law intended to provide timely relief when a libel lawsuit challenges constitutionally protected advocacy. Read more »Federal Judge Calls Broken Arrow Detective Testimony 'False'
Officers on a DEA task force testified falsely that police did not enter a house before a judge issued a search warrant. When a federal judge excluded evidence because of false police testimony, prosecutors dismissed the synthetic marijuana case Read more »Fed Court Delivers Smackdown Opinion of Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
In a stinging review of Oklahoma criminal procedure, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Bemoaned Oklahoma's short appellate deadlines and lack of a prison mailbox rule for computing deadlines pegged to dates court documents are issued. Read more »Does a Joint Tax Return Make a Common Law Marriage in Oklahoma?
Filing joint tax returns can have serious implications involving common law marriage in Oklahoma. A joint tax return can be enough to tip the scales creating a common law marriage, but a legal divorce might be required to end a common law marriage. Read more »Court Says DHS Overcharged Interest on Back Child Support in Oklahoma
A court says Oklahoma DHS relied on the wrong law for nearly 20 years when it assessed parents 10 percent interest on certain child support accruals. In a published 1993 case, the state appeals court had determined that, when back child support in Oklahoma is accrued before a child support judgment is in place, interest is set according to the state's Civil Procedure, which results in a significantly lower rate than the 10 percent assessed by law on delinquent child support.
Read more »Oklahoma's Federal Appeals Court Okays Prosecution of Confidential Informants
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the prosecution of a woman was charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine after she worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency in hopes of avoiding prosecution. Read more »Oklahoma Foster Parents Rights are the Law
Oklahoma's childrens code defines specific rights of foster parents, including the right to information necessary for providing proper care, the right to be notified before a child is relocated and the right to be heard in a judicial proceeding if a foster parent objects to relocation of a foster child. A Tulsa foster parents attorney helps foster families exercise their rights. Read more »Feds Knowingly Distributed Child Porn in 2015 Sting Operation
In controversial sting operations, federal agents have twice in recent years hosted child porn Websites seized during criminal investigations. Analysts say it is a new tactic for federal agents who have previously argued children are exploited any time the child pornography is viewed. Read more »Constitutional Tensions Strain Oklahoma Courts
Two top courts in Oklahoma's bifurcated court system have published contrary opinions about whether criminal court deadlines include weekends or holidays. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals maintains a legislative mandate requires it to include count all calendar days in deadlines, even if the court is closed on a day of a deadline. The Oklahoma Supreme Court earlier published an opinion declaring its business-day rules govern some criminal court deadline procedures. Read more »Polygraph Testimony Admitted as Evidence in Federal Case
10th Circuit Carves Out Lie Detector Exception True or false? Lie detector tests are not admissible in criminal court. Standard wisdom holds that polygraph test are never admissible in Oklahoma criminal trials. There is more to it. Let’s try another question. True or false? Results of polygraph tests may not be admitted as evidence of […] Read more »No New Rules Sought for Breathalyzer Tests in Oklahoma
Tests Director Responds to Appeals Court Case The Oklahoma Board of Tests of Alcohol and Drug Influence will probably not seek emergency rules for approval of reference materials used in DUI breathalyzers throughout Oklahoma. The director of the state agency has declined to recommend emergency rule making in the wake of a November, 2015 decision […] Read more »Oklahoma Supreme Court Again Trumps Court of Criminal Appeals
Jurisdictional conflict erupted again in Oklahoma's bifurcated court system when the top civil court ruled in a matter emerging from a criminal case. The matter involved how deadlines are computed when a litigant appeals a motion to disqualify a judge. Read more »Oklahoma Eyes Drug Overdose Good Samaritan Law
Oklahoma might soon join a rapidly growing number of states that have adopted medical amnesty laws to protect people who call for assistance when someone is suffering a drug overdose. Dubbed Good Samaritan laws, the measures exempt people who call for help from prosecution when small amounts of drugs or drug paraphernalia are found at the scene of an overdose emergency. Read more »Tulsa Jail Death Case in the News
News on 6 had some questions for Wirth Law Office concerning the death of a man in confined to the Tulsa County jail. Read more »Oklahoma Court Strikes Breathalyzer in DUI Drivers License Revocation
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has been asked to review a case that could stop DUI drivers license revocations in Oklahoma until the Board of Tests for Alcohol and Drug Influence promulgates rules related to calibration of the Intoxilyzer 8000 breathalyzer. Read more »Plea Bargains in Oklahoma: Can Prosecutors Hide Exculpatory Evidence?
U.S. Appellate courts have handed down mixed opinions about the right of defendants to inspect exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations. The Brady rule otherwise entitles defendants to inspect exculpatory evidence before going to trial. The 10th Circuit, which includes Oklahoma, says the Brady rule does extend to plea negotiations. A West Virginia state court opinion summarized nationwide jurisprudence related to the Brady rule during plea negotiations. Read more »Tulsa Asset Forfeiture Attorney in the News
Reform of asset forfeiture laws in Oklahoma is not moving as quickly as federal reforms, but a recent property forfeiture reform bill could change that. Tulsa asset forfeiture attorney James Wirth discussed the bill with a Fox23 investigative reporter. Read more »
