Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals concluded DUI attorneys cannot challenge admissibility of breathalyzer results based on the Board of Tests failure to follow state rules for authorizing breathalyzer equipment.
Appeals Court: Oklahoma DUI Prosecutions Can Rely on Invalid Rules Read Post »
Oklahoma courts require clear and convincing evidence when a common law marriage is alleged. Common law marriage can occur with a meeting of the minds between two partners who agree to be married, but proving that agreement can be a more complicated endeavor.
Tulsa Common Law Marriage Attorney on Fox 23 Read Post »
A Tulsa expungment lawyer explains how people convicted of some misdemenaors are immediately eligible to have the conviction removed from public records. Wait times for other expungments were cut from 10 years to five years. The law also allows some people convicted of two non-violent felonies to seek expungment.
New Law Allows Fast Track Expungement in Oklahoma Read Post »
Tulsa auto accident attorney James Wirth spoke with Tulsa’s Channel 8 about the limits of auto liability coverage and how policy limits affect personal injury lawsuits in Oklahoma. The reporter needed more information about Oklahoma personal injury law after a victim of the 2015 Oklahoma State University homecoming crash filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for damages.
Tulsa Personal Injury Attorney Interviewed on KTUL-TV Read Post »
Posting bond can reduce your chances of getting a court-appointed attorney in Oklahoma. Yet, even if you post bond, when you appear in court without an attorney the court must still ask whether you can afford an attorney. If a court fails to ask about your ability to pay for legal counsel, any decisions the court makes while you do not have a lawyer might be reversed on appeal.
Can I Get A Tulsa Public Defender if I Post Bail? Read Post »
State Failed to Adopt Valid Intoxilyzer 8000 Rules The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Sept. 26, 2016 declined to review the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals decision in a drivers license revocation case that effectively – should – make breath test evidence from the current generation of breathalyzer machines inadmissible in Oklahoma DUI cases. It might
Court Declines to Review Case that Invalidated Oklahoma DUI Breathalyzer Tests Read Post »
First degree manslaughter charges filed against a Tulsa police officer for killing an unarmed suspect who disobeyed orders highlight a narrow distinction between justifiable self-defense homicide and unlawful killing in a heat of passion or while preventing a criminal attempt.
What is First-Degree Manslaughter Resisting Criminal Attempt in Oklahoma? Read Post »
The Pawnee Business Council has appointed Wirth Law Office of-counsel attorney Earl Lawson as Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma’s prosecutor in Pawnee Nation District Court.
Pawnee Business Counsel Appoints Earl Lawson as Tribal Prosecutor Read Post »
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.
Speedy Trial Violations Void Drivers License Revocations in Oklahoma DUI Arrests Read Post »
Publication Investigated Alleged Hate Crime TalkingPointsMemo.com quoted Tulsa attorney James Wirth in an article about a shooting in which Khalid Jabara, a Tulsa man of Lebanese heritage, was shot to death on his front doorstep. Witnesses alleged a neighbor charged as a suspect in the south-side killing, Stanley Vernon Majors, was motivated by ethnic hatred. The
Tulsa Attorney Provides Legal Expertise on Bail Bonds in Oklahoma Read Post »
State auditors cited two Oklahoma felony laws as criteria for a finding that the District Attorney’s Office in Rogers County deleted financial records. The audit also cites a misdemeanor provision of the Oklahoma Open Records Act, which forbids public officials from deleting public records.
Audit: Rogers County DA Office Deleted Financial Records Read Post »
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.
Will Tulsa Jury Trial Delays Cause Oklahoma Speedy Trial Violations? Read Post »
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.
Database Ranks Tulsa County, Oklahoma Near Top of Exonerations List Read Post »
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.
Can I Fight a Tulsa Oklahoma Texting and Driving Ticket? Read Post »
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..
Oklahoma Court Reverses Sentence on Tulsa Prosecutor's Misconduct Read Post »
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.
Wagoner County Sheriff Faces Civil Asset Forfeiture Extortion Charge Read Post »
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.
Deadlines Include Weekend Days in Oklahoma Criminal Courts Read Post »
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.
Tulsa District Court Announces Felony Domestic Violence Court Read Post »
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.
House Approves Oklahoma Expungement Law Reforms Read Post »
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.
Washington County Judge Upholds Oklahoma Citizen Participation Act Read Post »
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
Federal Judge Calls Broken Arrow Detective Testimony 'False' Read Post »
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.
Fed Court Delivers Smackdown Opinion of Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Read Post »
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.
Does a Joint Tax Return Make a Common Law Marriage in Oklahoma? Read Post »
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.
Court Says DHS Overcharged Interest on Back Child Support in Oklahoma Read Post »
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.
Oklahoma's Federal Appeals Court Okays Prosecution of Confidential Informants Read Post »
