Direct Examination Archives

F-2018-485

Post author:Staff
Post published:August 15, 2019
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2018-485, Scott Thomas Stout appealed his conviction for First Degree Rape and Sexual Battery. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm the conviction. One judge dissented. Scott Thomas Stout was found guilty by a jury in Kay County for forcing himself on a long-time friend and for sexual battery. The jury did not find him guilty of two other charges of Rape by Instrumentation. The judge sentenced him to twenty years for the rape charge and four years for the sexual battery charge, which he must serve consecutively. Furthermore, he must serve at least 85% of his sentence before being considered for parole. Stout raised two main points in his appeal. First, he argued that the prosecutor acted improperly and that these actions denied him a fair trial. Second, he claimed that the trial court made a mistake by allowing the prosecution to call a witness in the middle of his defense to present evidence. In the first point, Stout pointed out three specific issues with the prosecutor's conduct. He said the prosecutor tried to make the jury feel sorry for the victim, asked questions that seemed to give opinions on the victim's credibility, and used first names for witnesses inappropriately. The court looked at all of the evidence and determined that these actions did not distract from the overall fairness of the trial. The jury acquitted Stout on two of the charges and recommended lighter sentences for the others. Therefore, the court ruled that Stout did not experience unfairness due to prosecutorial misconduct. Regarding the second point in his appeal, Stout argued that it was wrong for the prosecutor to cause the defense to stop its case to bring in a detective to verify some evidence. The court noted that the prosecutor's interruption was related to a question raised by Stout's own lawyer and that the trial judge had acted fairly in allowing it. The judge ruled that this did not disrupt the trial's fairness. In conclusion, the court found no errors in how the trial was conducted and affirmed Stout's conviction, meaning the original decision stood.

F-2004-688

Post author:Staff
Post published:January 20, 2006
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2004-688, Arthur Gerald Graves appealed his conviction for Trafficking in Illegal Drugs. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse the conviction and remand the case for a new trial with effective counsel. One judge dissented. Graves was convicted after a non-jury trial where he was found to have drugs in his possession. The police had noticed a lot of people going in and out of a hotel room and decided to investigate. When the police knocked on the door and were let in, Graves showed up with a bag in his hand. This made the officers suspicious. They arrested him and found drugs and cash on him. Graves claimed that the police did not have a good reason to search him or arrest him. He argued he was just carrying his keys when he knocked on the door. However, the trial court did not agree with him and allowed the evidence found to be used against him in court. During the appeal, Graves's main argument was that he did not receive good help from his lawyers. The court found that his lawyers did not do their job well, which affected the trial's outcome. They had three different attorneys, and their lack of teamwork hurt his defense. The judges noted that the defense lawyers failed to present important evidence that could have helped Graves and that they made some arguments that did not relate to the case. The court stated that the mistakes made by Graves's lawyers made it hard to trust the trial's results. Because of this, they decided that Graves deserved another chance to have a proper trial with the right legal help. Therefore, the court reversed his conviction and sent the case back for a new trial.

M-2003-784

Post author:Staff
Post published:May 12, 2004
Post category:M

In OCCA case No. M-2003-784, the Appellant appealed his conviction for Stalking. In a published decision, the court decided to reverse the Appellant's judgment and sentence and remand for a new trial. One judge dissented. The Appellant, Bradley Allen Crawford, was initially convicted of Stalking in the District Court of Oklahoma County. He was sentenced to six months in county jail. During his appeal, he argued that he should have been allowed to show that the complaining witness might have had a reason to be biased against him. During the trial, the Appellant wanted to present evidence related to a child custody case that involved the complaining witness. However, the trial court did not permit this information. The Appellant also tried to question the complaining witness about her possible bias during her testimony, but the trial court stopped him, stating that it was related to other domestic issues. After the trial, the Appellant requested a new trial because the judge had not allowed him to present evidence about the witness’s potential bias, but this request was denied. The court noted that it’s important to allow evidence that could show a witness might be biased. It explained that this kind of evidence is usually admissible in court. The appellate court found that the Appellant was not given a chance to show that the complaining witness had motives that could affect her testimony. They pointed out that the witness's credibility was crucial to the trial since everything the police said was based on her accounts. The appellate court decided that the trial court's errors in not allowing the questioning about the witness's bias were significant enough that they could have changed the outcome of the trial. Because of this, the Appellant's original conviction was overturned, and the case was sent back to be tried again.