The Legal Definition of Child Abuse in Oklahoma Child abuse is an incendiary topic. When we hear about it, our first instinct is to find the culprit and lock them away to prevent it from happening again. Sometimes, this leads to unfounded allegations that are made in haste and without evidentiary support. We must be […]
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James M. Wirth, Esq.
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Recent research that reviewed thousands of child abuse cases where shaken baby syndrome was alleged revealed there is virtually no reason to presume abusive head trauma was to blame when no evidence beyond an infant’s symptoms or brain injuries were present.
James M. Wirth, Esq. 
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals decided year-long delays before DUI drivers license revocations hearings amount to speedy trial violations. While Oklahoma DPS says the delays are the result of budget constraints, the agency is also awaiting the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s possible review of a decision that undermined the agency’s reliance on a current generation of breathalyzers. The Intoxilyzer 8000 is used to gather evidence for drivers license revocations and for DUI criminal cases.
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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.
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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.
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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 […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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 […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
No Rogers County Officials Indicted An Oklahoma grand jury has recommended that the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office draft model policies to guide prosecutors’ handling of information that could assist criminal defendants. The recommendation was the most substantive result of a grand-jury investigation into alleged wrongdoing among Rogers County prosecutors and police. The clock ran out […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Misconduct Makes Cop’s Testimony Unreliable When police officers step on the wrong side of the law, the personal tragedy in some ways resembles that of any other person in trouble with the law. Regardless of an urge to gloat among those – including criminal defense attorneys – who often engage cops in legal battles, it […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
The New York Times recently reported that prosecutors in a federal extortion case had claimed a right to use as evidence jailhouse e-mails a defendant sent to his attorney. The federal Bureau of Prisons routinely monitors inmates’ e-mails delivered via a prison e-mail system. Among pre-trial discovery materials prosecutors provided, defense attorneys found e-mails a […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Landmark Decision Advances Digital Privacy In a decision that could effect countless ongoing cases, the United States Supreme Court has determined that police cannot search an arrested suspect’s cell phone without a warrant. The unanimous June 25, 2014 decision was immediately hailed as a landmark contribution to digital era privacy rights. The court heard arguments […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
A sheriff sneaks into your farm field in the early hours of the morning to plant a camera. Is it legal or not? The question came up in Rogers County when the office of Sheriff Scott Walton apparently placed a camera somewhere on 400 acres of farmland owned by county commissioner Kirt Thaker. Walton said […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court eventually upheld the execution secrecy law. In the process, the court established that a person condemned to die still has a right to approach Oklahoma courts.
James M. Wirth, Esq.
In an expedited ruling that averted a looming constitutional crisis, the Oklahoma Supreme Court on April 23, 2014, reversed a district court decision related to secrecy surrounding execution procedures. The decision means Oklahoma may execute two convicted killers without triggering a constitutional showdown. A looming constitutional crisis emerged when attorneys asked a district court to […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Constitutional Showdown Looms Over Oklahoma Death Penalty Secrecy In the virtual shadows of modern-day gallows, Oklahoma’s two highest courts in April, 2014 became embroiled in a historic constitutional showdown. The top civil court stayed two pending executions after the top criminal court twice refused to order the executions stayed. Then, within hours of a scheduled […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
Americans’ Fourth Amendment right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” ranks among the most zealously protected freedoms we enjoy in the United States. Yet an ever-growing list of exceptions appears to erode those fundamental freedoms. Lawmakers in both Oklahoma and Tennessee recently voted to stop some […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
The spread of smartphone technology has dramatically increased the frequency with which people use text messages for legal purposes in Oklahoma civil cases and criminal trials. Yet litigants who need to show the contents of text messages in court can face several hurdles. The simplest hurdle is often merely preserving the contents of text messages. […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
A January 28, 2014, Oklahoma Supreme Court decision makes it difficult — if not impossible — for the state to continue revoking drivers licenses based on evidence provided by the current generation of breath analysis machinery. Currently anyone arrested for DUI in Oklahoma who blows a .08 or more (or refuses to blow) has their […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
A Wirth Law Office client has filed a federal civil rights suit alleging malicious prosecution when police raided her home based on a search warrant that targeted a nearby residence. The woman and her husband filed the federal case against Creek County after a court dismissed bogus charges stemming from the raid. Wirth Law Office […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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 […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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 […]
DCollins 
Tulsa DUI Attorney James Wirth talked with News on Six at KTUL-Tulsa this week about Oklahoma’ metabolite DUI-D law. The law, which took effect Oct. 1, 2013, allows prosecutors to charge anyone with driving under the influence if they have any metabolites of any Oklahoma Schedule 1 drug in their blood, saliva, urine or other […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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 […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
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 […]
James M. Wirth, Esq.
The use of sniffer dogs in criminal court has to be among the most bizarre trends yet to sweep across modern jurisprudence. In some cases, judges have virtually handed their authority over to dogs, allowing police to conduct unwarranted searches based on an officer’s interpretation of their loyal K9’s nuanced behavior. A 9th Circuit Court […]
