Criminal Law
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 »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 »Oklahoma Cop's DNA Transfer Defense Exposes Flaws in Touch DNA Evidence
Shreds of Evidence Are Not Always Reliable A defense attorney representing an Oklahoma City police officer facing six counts of first-degree rape told jurors a woman’s DNA found inside the officer’s pants is not evidence that he raped her. “It’s transfer DNA,” the attorney argued in the November, 2015 trial of Daniel Holtzclaw. Whether the […] Read more »Why You Need a Good Oklahoma Defense Attorney
Although a good Oklahoma criminal defense attorney can sometimes turn the tables on steamroller prosecution, effective criminal defense requires preparation and resources. Take a look at how capital defense attorneys in Virginia brought executions to a near standstill after criminal defense teams got the resources required to provide proper representation. Read more »Oklahoma Criminal Law: Evidence Stacks Up Against Forensic Evidence
Forensic experts at a Texas crime lab are walking back claims that DNA evidence singled out defendants with 1-in-a-million certainty. It is part of a pattern of errors, lies, neglect, conflicts of interest and exaggeration among forensic labs nationwide. Criminal defense attorneys in Oklahoma must challenge misplaced trust in forensic evidence. Read more »Police Officers Arrested in Oklahoma More Often Than You Might Think
Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz is one of more than a dozen Oklahoma law enforcement officers charged with crimes in 2015. Other officers were charged with assault and battery against suspects, sex crimes involving minors and drunken driving. A Tulsa criminal defense attorney compiled this list. Read more »Oklahoma Court Finds No Right to Resist Illegal Detention
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals refusal to suppress evidence of resisting arrest during an illegal traffic stop removes an important deterrent to police misconduct. The court said people may reasonably resist illegal arrest but may not lawfully resist illegal detention. A Tulsa defense attorney says people often have no way of knowing whether they are illegally detained or illegally arrested. Read more »Possession of Selfies Convictions Highlight Overly Broad Child Pornography Laws
Are some teen's selfies illegal? Laws that criminalize children for having their own pictures on their cell phones might not pass strict scrutiny for limits on free speech. The question arises from a North Carolina case where teens where charged with felonies for their naked selfies. A Tulsa criminal lawyer says It could happen in Oklahoma, too. Read more »Legislature Reforms Oklahoma Mandatory Minimum Sentences
Criminal defense attorneys in Tulsa will have new opportunities to argue for probation or alternative sentences under new Oklahoma mandatory minimum sentence reforms. Read more »What Does Obstructing an Officer Mean in Tulsa Oklahoma?
Some criticism of police is protected speech, yet contempt of cop cases are often masked as disorderly conduct, resisting, and obstructing an officer charges. In Houston v. Hill, the Supreme Court said a man who shouted at police "pick on someone my size" engaged in protected First Amendment speech. Read more »Free To Go? Oklahoma Court Decides Consent to Search Case
In an unpublished consent to search case, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decided a man did not voluntarily consent to a search after police blocked the sidewalk where he was walking. Citing Florida v. Royer, the appellate judges said it was the State's burden to show “clear and convincing” proof that the search was consensual. Read more »Two Second Rule Simulator for Oklahoma Drivers
Tulsa traffic ticket attorney posted this following distance animated simulator to demonstrate what the two second rule for safe following distance looks like in highway driving conditions. Read more »Oklahoma Court Affirms Life Sentence in Error Ridden Hit and Run Case
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals acknowledged there were errors in the trial that sent Joey Lynn Smith to prison for life after a hit-and-run accident. The errors the court acknowledged – and others errors the Oklahoma criminal defense attorneys alleged on appeal – are only part of the story. For a hit-and-run case, the prosecution essentially argued an assault and battery with a deadly weapon case. Read more »Appeals Court Details Oklahoma Rules of Statutory Construction
Tulsa law firms can use the Court of Criminal Appeals decision in State ex rel Pruitt v Steidley as a handy cheat sheet for rules of statutory construction, Oklahoma style. The court summarized Oklahoma case law as it applies to interpreting statutes that otherwise might lead to contrary or ambiguous conclusions. Read more »Oklahoma Appeals Court Does U-Turn on Tailgating Law
An Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals tailgating opinion gives police a basis to stop almost any driver on suspicion of following too closely. The opinion is an abrupt reversal of an opposite decision just 19 months earlier that had said a two-second rule for following too closely does not provide police an objective basis for reasonable suspicion. A Tulsa traffic ticket lawyer explains... Read more »Former Rogers County Commissioner Charged With 2011 Embezzlement
The former Rogers County Commissioner who filed a libel suit against critics over a petition that asked a grand jury to investigate embezzlement allegations has been charged with embezzlement. A Claremore detective who circulated the petition was among those who first investigated the embezzlement allegations -- two years before the citizens' petition sought a grand jury investigation. Read more »10th Circuit Reverses Oklahoma Constructive Possession Conviction
A driver convicted on federal charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute won his freedom back when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit overturned the conviction. The April 22, 2015 decision said a jury could infer guilt based on arguments that the man knew his passenger was carrying 14 bricks of marijuana and about an ounce of methamphetamine in a duffel bag. Yet the evidence was insufficient, the court said, to find guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Read more »Police Cannot Delay Drivers While Waiting for Drug Dogs
Police nationwide may not delay drivers longer than it takes to conduct the usual business of a traffic stop unless they have reasonable suspicion that the vehicle might contain illegal contraband, according to a new U.S. Supreme Court decision. Defense lawyers will now be able to challenge the lack of reasonable suspicion if police held a driver on a mere hunch or based on some form of criminal profile. Read more »Oklahoma Juvenile Certification Case Raises 8th Amendment Questions
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decided in a March 20, 2015 opinion that adults charged for crimes committed in their youth must be tried and sentenced as adults. Recent Supreme Court decisions, however, suggest youthful status is related to the age and mental status of youth at the time of their crimes. Read more »Oklahoma Town Dismisses Dozens of Distracted Driving Traffic Tickets
Oklahoma law allows police to write a full time and attention to driving traffic ticket only when a distracted driver poses a specific danger or is involved in an accident. Police in Durant had cited drivers for such dubious distractions as eating a hamburger while driving and for having a dog in the front seat. Read more »Fake Cell Tower Technology Lets Cops Avoid Judicial Oversight
Secret Technology Flouts Wiretap Laws “‘Inhibiting law enforcement’s rights are second to protecting mine!’ (Florida Circuit Court Judge Frank) Sheffield thundered, gesturing with both hands and fixing his gaze on the prosecutor.” That is how the Washington Post described a Florida judge’s response to a prosecutor who tried to deny a defendant information about sophisticated […] Read more »Did an Oklahoma Court Authorize Traffic Stops on Anonymous Tips?
Can a police officer stop a vehicle based on an anonymous tip, then use evidence from the traffic stop to build a criminal case? The U.S. Supreme Court recently said yes, sometimes. Read more »10th Circuit Says No Rounding For Age of Consent Law
Days Count in Statutory Rape Age Differences How would you interpret a statutory rape law that permits sexual contact between an 18 year old and someone four years younger? Does it mean an 18 year old and a 14 year old, or someone born within 48 months of the day the 18 year old was born? The United States Court of […] Read more »Oklahoma Court Erodes Confrontation Clause Shield Against Hearsay
An Oklahoma court has decided a defendant does not have the right to confront authors of a list that tracks cold pill purchases used as evidence in criminal trials. The decision chips away at a constitutional protection known as the confrontation clause. The confrontation clauses of the Oklahoma Constitution and United States Constitution alike afford […] Read more »
