Due Process Clauses Archives

RE-2015-180

Post author:Staff
Post published:March 8, 2016
Post category:RE

In OCCA case No. RE-2015-180, the appellant appealed his conviction for two counts of Rape in the First Degree. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse the order revoking his suspended sentence. One judge dissented. Here's a summary of the case: The appellant, after pleading guilty to Rape in the First Degree, was sentenced to twelve years in prison, which was suspended under certain conditions, including registering as a sex offender. Later, the State alleged that the appellant violated his probation by committing a new crime in Michigan, specifically being a felon in possession of a firearm. When the appellant was brought back from Michigan, a hearing took place about whether he had indeed violated his probation. During this hearing, the State presented various documents and testimony to support their claims, but these did not meet the legal requirements. They had included some documents from Michigan that were not certified and did not prove that a final judgment had been made regarding the alleged new crime. The court found that the State did not provide enough competent evidence to support their claim that the appellant had committed a new crime. The judges noted that the State must strictly prove a new offense for revocation of a suspended sentence. Since the State did not prove that the judgment from Michigan was final, the court agreed that there was an error. As a result, the court reversed the revocation order and sent the case back for further actions as needed. The court did not need to consider the other issues raised since the lack of evidence was sufficient to decide the appeal in favor of the appellant.

F-2009-15

Post author:Staff
Post published:November 20, 2009
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2009-15, Alfred Burke, Jr. appealed his conviction for Kidnapping and Forcible Oral Sodomy. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm his conviction but modified his sentence. One judge dissented. Burke was found guilty in Oklahoma County and received a very long sentence of 273 years for each crime, to be served one after the other. This was due to previous convictions he had. Burke disagreed with his punishment and claimed there were several mistakes made during his trial. He argued that a law he was judged under was unfair and went against his rights. He also said that evidence from a previous case should not have been shown in court. He thought his sentence was too harsh and believed that evidence from other crimes made the trial unfair. Finally, he believed that all the errors combined made it impossible for him to have a fair trial. The court looked closely at all of Burke's arguments. They found that the law he challenged was not unconstitutional. Most of the evidence against him was strong, especially the testimony from the person he victimized and DNA proof of his actions. However, the court agreed that showing evidence of his past crime likely impacted the jury's choice on punishment more than it should have. As a result, they changed his punishment to life imprisonment for both crimes, but now those sentences would be served at the same time instead of one after the other. The judges concluded that while there were some mistakes, they did not think these mistakes were enough to change his convictions. One judge did not agree with changing the sentences at all, believing the previous evidence was important for the case.