Evidentiary Issues

F-2018-360

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In OCCA case No. F-2018-360, McNeary appealed his conviction for lewd acts with a child under 16. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm the conviction. No one dissented. Goldy Romeo McNeary was found guilty by a jury for two counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 16 years old. The jury sentenced him to ten years in prison for each count, and these sentences were ordered to be served one after the other. The court also decided that McNeary must serve 85% of his sentence before he could be considered for parole. McNeary appealed his conviction, arguing several points. First, he claimed that the trial court wrongfully allowed evidence of other bad acts, which he said made his trial unfair. Second, he said that this evidence was more harmful than helpful, violating his right to a fair trial. Third, he argued that the trial court did not give the jury proper instructions about how to use this evidence. Fourth, he felt that the trial court was wrong to not allow him to present evidence about Speck Homes, where the acts took place. Lastly, he believed that when considering all the errors together, they warranted a new trial. For the first two points, the court looked at whether the admission of the other crimes evidence was an obvious mistake and if it affected McNeary’s rights. They concluded that even if there was a mistake, it did not change the outcome since there was clear evidence of his guilt. Thus, the evidence did not rise to the level of a serious error. For the third point, the judge had promised to give instructions about the other crimes evidence but failed to do so at the right time. However, since the judge provided some instructions later, the court found no harm was done to McNeary from this. On the fourth point about Speck Homes, the court reasoned that the evidence was not allowed mainly because it was not relevant and also tried to avoid bad effects such as confusion. The trial judge made a choice based on their understanding of the law, and the appellate court did not find it to be a mistake. Lastly, the court examined McNeary's claim that all the errors combined were enough to grant him a new trial. They determined that no significant individual errors had occurred that would justify this request. In conclusion, the court upheld the judgment and sentencing, affirming McNeary’s conviction without any dissent from the other judges involved.

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F-2015-393

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In OCCA case No. F-2015-393, Tucker Ryan McGee appealed his conviction for First Degree Malice Aforethought Murder. In an unpublished decision, the court affirmed his conviction but vacated his sentence of life without the possibility of parole and remanded the matter for re-sentencing. One judge dissented. The case involved the tragic disappearance of 16-year-old JaRay Wilson, who went missing in October 2012. Investigators later connected Tucker McGee and his friend Cody Godfrey to JaRay's disappearance. Evidence presented during the trial showed that McGee, while under the influence of drugs, shot JaRay in the head and subsequently helped dispose of her body. Throughout the trial, McGee raised numerous issues regarding jury instructions and the fairness of his trial, arguing that certain instructions on lesser offenses were improperly given or omitted, that the jury was misled by a flight instruction, and that he was deprived of a fair trial due to the evidence presented against him. He also claimed that the prosecution engaged in misconduct and that he did not receive effective assistance of counsel. The court reviewed all the claims made by McGee and found that while certain instructions were given that could be considered errors, they did not ultimately affect the outcome of the trial. The strengths of the evidence against McGee, including his confessions and the testimony of witnesses, led the court to determine that the errors did not warrant reversal of his conviction. Importantly, the court also addressed the implications of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on juvenile sentencing, specifically those related to life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders. The court acknowledged that the previous standards did not adequately consider the unique circumstances surrounding juvenile offenders and determined that McGee's sentence required re-evaluation under updated legal interpretations regarding the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system. As a result, while McGee's conviction was upheld, his life sentence without the possibility of parole was vacated, allowing for the opportunity for re-sentencing that would take into account his age and circumstances at the time of the crime.

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F-2014-500

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In OCCA case No. F-2014-500, Dale Lynn Taylor appealed his conviction for Second Degree Rape. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm the conviction but modify the sentence to fifteen years in prison. No judges dissented. Dale Lynn Taylor was put on trial and found guilty of Second Degree Rape after a jury deliberated on the evidence presented. He had a previous felony conviction from 1992, which the State tried to use to enhance his punishment. However, since the previous conviction was over ten years old, it was considered stale and should not have been used for increasing his sentence. The jury originally recommended a punishment of twenty years in prison. The court reviewed Taylor's claims of error, which included the improper use of the old conviction, the admission of certain evidence, and the actions of the prosecution during the trial. The court found that while some issues raised were valid, others were not significant enough to alter the outcome of the case. After looking closely at all the evidence, the court decided that Taylor's sentence should be reduced to fifteen years in prison. They believed this was a fair outcome considering the circumstances of the case and the nature of the crime. Taylor's arguments about the trial process raised important points, but in the end, they did not change the decision about his guilt. The final outcome was that Taylor's conviction remained, but his punishment was adjusted to be more appropriate under the law. The court emphasized that even though there were problems, they did not warrant completely overturning the conviction. Therefore, he would still serve time but for a reduced period.

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M-2003-784

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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.

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F-1999-1293

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In OCCA case No. F 99-1293, #1 appealed his conviction for #4 counts of Lewd Acts with a Child. In an unpublished decision, the court decided #3 counts were affirmed and #1 count was reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss. #0 dissented. #1, William Dean Carter, was found guilty in a jury trial after being accused of committing inappropriate acts against children. These acts happened a long time ago, but the case took a while to come to court. Carter was sentenced to several years in prison for his crimes. Carter claimed that his rights were violated during the trial. He said he should not have been charged because the time limit for bringing the case to court had passed. He also argued that the prosecution made unfair comments during the trial and that he did not get a fair chance to defend himself. The court looked closely at all the details of the case. They found that for two of the counts against Carter, the prosecution was valid, but for the other two, the time limit had expired. Because of this, those two counts were dismissed. The judges felt that the evidence against Carter was strong enough for some of the charges, even if there were some errors during the trial. In conclusion, the court said that two of Carter's convictions would stay, but the other two would be thrown out and should not continue in court.

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