Fairness and Integrity

F-2019-54

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In the case of Anthony Phillip Miller, Jr. v. The State of Oklahoma (Case No. F-2019-54), the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Miller's conviction and sentence for child sexual abuse. The trial, held in the District Court of Tulsa County, resulted in a jury finding Miller guilty and sentencing him to twenty-five years imprisonment, with an additional ten years of post-imprisonment supervision. Miller raised several issues on appeal: 1. **Prosecutorial Misconduct**: Miller argued that the prosecutor's comments during closing arguments deprived him of a fair trial. He claimed that these comments undermined his constitutional rights, including his right to a jury trial and his right to remain silent. Although the Court acknowledged that some comments were improper, they ruled that the overall evidence against Miller, which included a confession, rendered any prosecutorial error harmless. 2. **Ineffective Assistance of Counsel**: Miller contended he was denied effective legal representation because defense counsel indicated in opening statements that he would testify but ultimately did not. However, the Court found that this was a strategic decision made after consulting with Miller and did not demonstrate ineffective assistance. 3. **Cumulative Error**: Miller claimed that, although no single error warranted reversal, the cumulative effect of errors did. The Court found that there were no combined errors affecting the trial's outcome. Ultimately, the Court upheld Miller's conviction, stating that the errors did not undermine the integrity of the trial, and affirmed the sentence imposed by the District Court. The mandate was ordered to be issued following the decision.

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F-2018-284

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In OCCA case No. F-2018-284, Carl Wayne Gundrum, Jr. appealed his conviction for first-degree rape and lewd acts with a child under 16. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm his convictions and sentences. One judge dissented. Gundrum was found guilty by a jury in Cleveland County and received a 30-year sentence for the rape and a 20-year sentence for the lewd acts. Both sentences are to be served consecutively, meaning he must serve them one after the other. Before the appeal, he argued several things regarding his trial. First, he claimed that his right to a speedy trial was violated because there was a delay of about 21 months from his arrest to the trial. The court looked at four things to decide if his right was violated: how long the delay was, why it happened, whether he asked for a speedy trial, and whether he was hurt by the delay. The court found that the delay was not enough to violate his speedy trial rights. Second, Gundrum argued that the court made a mistake by allowing evidence of another child molestation case to be shown in his trial. His lawyer objected to this evidence being used, and the court said that it was appropriately admitted, so they found no error here. Third, Gundrum claimed there was bad behavior from the prosecutors that made his trial unfair. Many of these actions were not objected to during the trial, so the court only looked at the ones that were considered plain errors. They decided that the prosecutor's actions did not change the outcome of the trial significantly enough to cause an unfair result. Fourth, he argued that his lawyer did not do a good job by not objecting to the prosecutor's misconduct. The court reviewed this situation and found that Gundrum could not prove that he was harmed by this lack of action, so his claim did not work out. Finally, Gundrum sought relief by stating that all these errors together made his trial unfair. However, since the court found no individual errors, they concluded that there could not be an accumulation of errors either. In the end, the court affirmed Gundrum's conviction and stated that he must serve a significant portion of his sentences before he could be considered for parole.

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F-2014-830

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In OCCA case No. F-2014-830, Cody Wayne Mayfield appealed his conviction for possession of a controlled dangerous substance and failure to stop at a red light. In a published decision, the court decided to reverse Count 2 and remand with instructions to dismiss it, while affirming the other counts. One judge dissented. The case involved Mayfield being found guilty of two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and one count of failure to stop at a red light. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the drug charges and ten days in jail for the traffic violation. Mayfield raised several points in his appeal. He claimed that being convicted for two types of possession from the same incident violated double jeopardy rules, which protect against being punished twice for the same crime. He also argued that certain evidence presented in court, including information about his past crimes and a photograph of a piece of cellophane, was not relevant and unfairly biased the jury. The court found that the first count of possession was improperly charged alongside the second due to double jeopardy, so they reversed the second charge. However, in relation to the other arguments, the court decided that the admission of the pen packet evidence and the photograph did not greatly affect the trial's outcome. The court also ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence for Mayfield to claim that he wasn't connected to the drugs found in the area. Additionally, Mayfield's complaints about his lawyer's performance did not lead to a different outcome, as the court found the defense wasn't significantly lacking. Finally, the court noted that Mayfield’s life sentence was appropriate and consistent with the law because of his past criminal record. Most of Mayfield's arguments were rejected, leading to the final decision.

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F-2011-962

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In OCCA case No. F-2011-962, Jonas Alan Thornton appealed his conviction for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse Thornton's conviction and remand the case for a new trial due to concerns over the impartiality of the trial judge. One judge dissented. Thornton was convicted after a non-jury trial where the judge was someone he had previously consulted while looking for legal advice regarding the case against him. The incident occurred in January 2010 when Thornton allegedly fired a handgun into a house. After being arrested, he spoke with the judge, who was not in his judge role at that time. Later, the judge was elected and presided over Thornton’s trial. During the appeal, Thornton claimed that the judge should have recused himself because of their prior interaction, which could influence how the judge viewed the case. The court found that the judge failed to follow rules requiring him to step aside, which led to a decision that Thornton did not receive a fair trial. The court stated that even though Thornton did not directly ask for the judge to disqualify himself at the time, this did not eliminate the obligation for the judge to recognize a conflict of interest. The relationship between Thornton and the judge meant that the fairness of the trial could be doubted. As a result, the court ruled that Thornton's conviction needed to be reversed, and he would get a new trial. This decision effectively set aside the earlier trial's results and meant that any further claims Thornton made concerning his representation or other trial aspects were not addressed since the focus was on the impartiality of the judge.

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M-2006-1334

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In OCCA case No. M-2006-1334, Michael David Williams appealed his conviction for misdemeanor Domestic Abuse. In a published decision, the court decided to affirm his conviction for one count but reversed the other, instructing that charge be dismissed. One member of the court dissented. Michael David Williams was charged with two counts of misdemeanor Domestic Abuse after incidents involving his wife. After a jury trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for both counts, though one fine was not imposed. Williams claimed errors in the trial regarding witness statements, insufficient evidence for his conviction, and misconduct by the prosecution. During the trial, Williams' wife testified that no abuse had occurred and that injuries she had were due to a fight with her aunt and an accident. However, earlier police statements made by her during investigations indicated otherwise. Williams argued the trial court should not have allowed these statements without proper instruction on how the jury could use them. The court noted that it could allow witness statements to be used for impeachment purposes, even if the witness didn't fully recall making them. However, the court found that the jury might have been misled about how to use those statements in one of the cases, leading to confusion regarding the evidence of guilt. The court affirmed Williams' conviction for the first case, where there was a lot of strong evidence against him, including police testimony and photographs of the scene. However, for the second case, the court ruled that the evidence presented was not enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They decided to reverse this conviction and ordered it to be dismissed. In conclusion, the court upheld the conviction for the first incident but reversed the second due to insufficient evidence and errors in how the trial was conducted.

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