Criminal Law
Synthetic Marijuana Case Dismissed
A judge this week dismissed charges against an Okmulgee County retailer accused of selling synthetic marijuana after an attorney for Wirth Law Office pointed out that particular substances sold as potpourri or incense were not illegal at the time police raided the retail location. Legislators had earmarked a chemical in the blend to be added […] Read more »Drivers License Restored in Oklahoma Reckless Driving Case
A man who paid a reckless driving ticket didn’t know the routine handling of a traffic citation could cost him his license. Fortunately for him, he had a right to know. A law that was in place for just one year increased the number of points assessed against a drivers license for reckless driving from […] Read more »Oklahoma's Pay Per Conviction Laws Create Conflict of Interest
“If you cannot afford an attorney and desire one, the court will appoint one for you.” That is what police officers are required to tell every person arrested for a crime in the United States. In Oklahoma, since Nov. 1, 2013, there’s more to it. The unstated message to those arrested in Oklahoma is “If […] Read more »Was New Mexico Man's 15-hour Ordeal a Cavity Search or Rape?
It’s the epitome of invasive law enforcement. Police seek warrants for body cavity searches when they claim to suspect someone has secreted illegal drugs in their private parts. On other occasions, police have conducted invasive searches without warrants. Sometimes so-called cavity searches involve probing inside a driver’s undergarments during traffic stops. Recent lawsuits allege officers […] Read more »Tulsa Protective Order Defense Attorney
Protective orders, also called restraining orders, can be useful tools for preventing interpersonal violence. Unfortunately, the easy-to-obtain orders have at times been abused to gain leverage in divorce, to influence a child custody decision, or even just to embarrass the other party in a dispute. If you’ve been served a temporary restraining order, it’s important […] Read more »Tulsa Pardon Attorney
Representation in the Oklahoma Pardon Process You’ve done your time and now you want a fresh start. Oklahoma law allows the governor to pardon those who have been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony. A Tulsa pardon attorney can help you determine if you are ready to ask for official forgiveness. If so, he or […] Read more »Tulsa Expungement Attorney
Expungement: Almost Like It Never Happened Are old court records making it difficult for you to find employment, win trust of colleagues, or pass background checks? You might need the counsel of a Tulsa expungement attorney. Many people who have a brush with the law reach deferred prosecution agreements that let them comply with conditions […] Read more »Tulsa Asset Forfeiture Attorney
It’s Your Money: Let Us Prove It Critics call it a travesty of due process – an inherent violation of constitutional rights. Victims might call it a ripoff or legalized highway robbery. Tulsa asset forfeiture has nonetheless become a standard police tool, albeit one that makes police appear to be bounty hunters. In many Oklahoma […] Read more »Tulsa Misdemeanor Defense Attorney
A Lawyer Knows: It’s Never “Just” a Misdemeanor Oklahoma statutes define misdemeanors as any crime not punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary or capital punishment. Misdemeanor charges can arise from a DUI arrest, insufficient funds for a check you wrote, a misunderstanding about merchandise you purchased in a store, a verbal dispute with someone in […] Read more »Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorney
An Ally When Your Reputation is On the Line The criminal defense attorneys at Wirth Law Office provide the expertise you need when criminal charges threaten your future. Whether you are charged with a minor misdemeanor or a major felony, Tulsa criminal defense attorney James Wirth and the experienced Oklahoma defense attorneys at Wirth Law […] Read more »Rogers County DA Cites Silkwood, Accuses Sheriff of Malicious Libel
The day after a Tulsa judge tossed out a petition containing 6,994 signatures of Rogers County residents seeking a grand jury investigation of Rogers County officials, the district attorney and two assistants named as targets of the grand jury petition filed a libel action against petition sponsors – including the sheriff, a city detective and […] Read more »How to Petition for a Grand Jury in Oklahoma
Oklahoma is among at least six states that allow citizens to petition courts to empanel a grand jury that may investigate allegations of crimes. In Oklahoma, the citizens right is enshrined in the state constitution’s Bill of Rights. Like most rights, the right to petition for a grand jury in Oklahoma comes with some obligations. […] Read more »Appeals Court Tosses Faulty Oklahoma DUI Revocation Affidavit
An Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals has upheld a trial court’s decision to toss out a police officer’s revocation affidavit because it was legally inadequate. The decision means the driver who appealed a DUI revocation gets to keep her Oklahoma drivers license after being arrested for DUI. The decision calls into question potentially thousands of […] Read more »
Rogers County DA Pays Newspaper Publisher to Write Press Releases
Asks Sheriff to Investigate Police Chief’s Courthouse Visit Ongoing conflict among law enforcement officials and the Rogers County District Attorney just keeps getting more tangled. It’s a story fiction editors might reject as implausible or too complex – unless it were written with the flair of Shakespeare whose witch in MacBeth chants “fair is foul […] Read more »
Everybody is Guilty Under Oklahoma's Zero-tolerance Metabolite DUI-D Law
Oklahoma’s new metabolite DUI law sets the strictest standard possible for evidence of forbidden drugs potentially found in drivers’ blood. The standard is so strict that, technically speaking, everyone who gets behind the wheel is guilty of violating the law. Those who are in pain, even more so. Sound unbelievable? Here’s how it works. Instead […] Read more »
Past Pot Use Can Be an Crime Under Oklahoma's New Zero-tolerance DUI-D Law
Police call it DUI-D. A new law that takes effect today, Oct. 1, 2013, makes it a crime for anyone driving in Oklahoma to have any detectable amount of marijuana in their blood, saliva, urine or “other bodily fluids.” Drivers on Oklahoma highways need to be wary. Police may soon be using new tactics to […] Read more »
Do Parts of the Oklahoma Violent Offender Registry Law Deny Equal Protection?
The reasoning behind a September 2013 Oklahoma Supreme Court decision striking down a portion of the Oklahoma sex offender registry law appears to call into question portions of the Oklahoma violent offender registry law. In Hendricks v Jones, 2013 OK 71 the court stated: “We hold applying SORA’s requirements to sex offenders now residing in […] Read more »
Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Laws Reversed – Again and Again
Two decisions handed down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court this month continued to roll back the Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections’ over-aggressive application of the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Act. This month’s decisions involved convicted sex offenders who moved to Oklahoma and were required to comply with Oklahoma sex offender registration rules. The decisions follow a […] Read more »
Rogers County DA: 'I'm Little Ashamed of Some Law Enforcement'
Cue the famous clang – “cha Chung!” – from the ever-popular TV series Law & Order. During the program’s 20-year run, police and prosecutors frequently clashed over competing interests. Cops sometimes wanted to make cases at any cost. Prosecutors wanted cases that withstood legal review. The ongoing clash in Rogers County, Oklahoma between police and […] Read more »
Incentives Taint Crime Labs' Forensic Science, Oklahoma Ranks Among Worst
Criminal defense attorneys in Oklahoma are prohibited by rules of professional ethics from charging fees based on results. The same rules don’t apply to the state’s crime labs where employees provide forensic science expertise for the prosecution. Oklahoma is among several states where forensic science is funded by fees levied against defendants upon conviction. Does […] Read more »
Rogers County Sheriff Seeks Grand Jury Investigation of Rogers County District Attorney
A war of words raging among elected officials in Rogers County by way of court filings and public allegations has escalated again. This time, the Rogers County Sheriff and five others filed an unusual motion to authorize a citizens’ petition for a grand jury investigation into allegations against the Rogers County District Attorney, three assistant […] Read more »
Ohio Judge Rules Against Intoxilyzer 8000 Breathalyzer Used in Oklahoma DUI Cases
An Ohio appeals court ruling this month delivered a severe body blow to a breathalyzer machine now being used in Oklahoma DUI cases to infer blood alcohol levels in drivers suspected of driving under the influence. A judge ruled the results from the Intoxilyzer 8000 are “not scientifically reliable.” In Ohio – as has been […] Read more »
Drug Defendants Robbed of Basic Rights By Secret Police
By now most of us know the government is snooping on our telephone and Internet traffic. Reports detailing how the National Security Agency sucks up vast amounts of data generated by routine activities of hapless citizens not suspected of any crime long predate smoking-gun documents leaked this summer by a former NSA worker. In the […] Read more »
Jurors Scold Prosecution in Muskogee Trial
A Muskogee jury issued an unusual post-trial statement after an Aug. 8, 2013 trial, admonishing police and the District Attorney’s office for a “sloppy and incomplete job.” The unusual scolding came at the end of a trial in which Muskogee defense attorney Larry Vickers had defended a man against charges of burglary, assault and battery, […] Read more »
Among Asset Forfeiture Nightmares, Oklahoma Laws Loom Large
The nationwide investigative journalism project ProPublica has released a report detailing nightmare scenarios surrounding the widely used civil forfeiture process. Under civil asset forfeiture laws state, local and federal agencies routinely seize property from individuals who sometimes have not been convicted – or even charged – with a crime. According to ProPublica, the city of […] Read more »
