Okla. Stat. tit. 10 § 7115(E) Archives

F-2018-36

Post author:Staff
Post published:September 26, 2019
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2018-36, Robert Eugene Brewer appealed his conviction for Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 12. In a published decision, the court decided to affirm Brewer's conviction. One judge dissented. Brewer was tried in Tulsa County for sexually abusing a child under the age of 12. He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervision after his prison term. Brewer appealed the decision, arguing that the trial court made a mistake by allowing evidence related to other crimes that he believed had not been proven. The court reviewed the evidence and arguments presented. The main issue was whether the trial court had the right to let in evidence that showed Brewer had a pattern of behavior related to sexual abuse. This type of evidence is sometimes called propensity evidence. Brewer argued that the trial court should have held a special hearing before allowing this evidence and should have required witnesses to testify in person. However, the court found that the trial judge had done a thorough job. The judge had held multiple hearings and considered the evidence carefully. The judge did not make a mistake by allowing the evidence because they had enough information to decide it was relevant and necessary for the case. Even though Brewer did not object to the evidence when it was presented during the trial, the court considered whether there was a serious mistake that affected the fairness of the trial. After reviewing everything, the court concluded that the trial judge acted correctly. In summary, the court believed that the evidence presented was acceptable and did not harm Brewer's case. Therefore, Brewer’s conviction was upheld, but the court also instructed the district court to make some corrections to its legal documents regarding the correct law that applied to Brewer's actions at the time of the crime. The decision was to keep Brewer's sentence in place while correcting the legal documentation properly.

F-2010-615

Post author:Staff
Post published:September 1, 2011
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2010-615, Lawrence Grant Stewart appealed his conviction for several crimes involving child sexual abuse. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse one count due to double punishment but affirmed the rest of the convictions. One judge dissented. Lawrence Grant Stewart was found guilty by a jury for multiple crimes, including lewd molestation, rape by instrumentation, and child sexual abuse. The jury recommended long prison sentences for each of the counts, leading to a total of several decades in prison. Stewart's appeal raised several issues regarding his trial and convictions. One point of appeal was that Stewart did not get effective help from his lawyer during the trial. He argued that his lawyer shared too much personal information with the jury, which he believed should not have been revealed. However, the court found that the lawyer's decisions were made to help Stewart and did not seriously harm his chances in the case. Stewart also claimed that he received multiple sentences for the same behavior, which he believed violated his rights. The court agreed in part, particularly regarding one count of child sexual abuse, and decided to reverse that count and dismiss it. However, they found that separate punishments for the other crimes were appropriate since they involved different actions. Lastly, Stewart argued that the sentences he received should not be served one after the other (consecutively), but the court decided the original judge made the right choice in this matter. In summary, while some of Stewart's appeal points were accepted and one count was reversed, most of his convictions remained upheld.

F-2009-385

Post author:Staff
Post published:June 1, 2011
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2009-385, Jeffrey Eugene Rowan appealed his conviction for Child Sexual Abuse by a Person Responsible for a Child's Health, Safety, or Welfare. In a published decision, the court decided to grant Rowan's motion for a new trial and dismissed the appeal because the case would be retried. One judge dissented. Rowan was convicted in the District Court of Pittsburg County and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison. His conviction was based on various testimonies, including his own admission to investigators about inappropriate behavior with his stepdaughter and medical testimony suggesting signs of abuse. However, after the conviction, new evidence came to light regarding the medical witness that may have affected the credibility of the case against Rowan. The new evidence showed that the physician assistant who examined the child had her medical license suspended due to drug abuse and misconduct. This detail raised concerns about the reliability of her testimony, which was crucial to the prosecution's case. The court found that this new evidence could change the outcome of the original trial and therefore ordered a new trial. Rowan's original appeal was deemed moot because the case would be retried, and there was no need to evaluate the specific claims raised in that appeal. As a result, the motion for a new trial was granted, and the case was sent back to the lower court for another trial.

F-2007-165

Post author:Staff
Post published:April 29, 2008
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2007-165, the appellant appealed his conviction for Child Sexual Abuse and Child Abuse. In an unpublished decision, the court decided that while the appellant's argument about multiple punishments was not needed for reversing the conviction, the sentences had to be modified to run concurrently. One judge disagreed with the decision to modify the sentences.

F 2005-569

Post author:Staff
Post published:October 19, 2006
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F 2005-569, Anthony Logan Merrick appealed his conviction for multiple counts of sexual crimes involving minors. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm most of Merrick's convictions but reversed and dismissed certain specific counts. One judge disagreed with part of the decision. Merrick was tried and found guilty of 21 counts of sexual abuse of a child, 2 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, 15 counts of possession of obscene material involving minors, 4 counts of first-degree rape by instrumentation, and 8 counts of indecent or lewd acts with a minor child under sixteen. He received two life sentences and additional time for the other charges, which would run together, but separately from some other counts. Merrick raised several issues in his appeal. He argued that the search warrant used to gather evidence was not valid because it did not show enough probable cause, and therefore, the evidence collected should not have been allowed in court. The court disagreed and explained that the affidavit (the document that supported the search) did provide a reasonable basis for the warrant. They determined that there was enough evidence to suggest a crime had taken place and that the search was lawful. He also claimed the warrant was not detailed enough in specifying what items could be seized. The court found that the warrant was correctly written to allow officers to identify the items they needed to seize. Merrick's next point was about double punishment. He argued he should not be punished for both the act of lewd molestation and the possession of related images, saying it was unfair. However, the court concluded that these were separate crimes, and thus he could be punished for both. Merrick also believed he should only be charged once for a large number of images found, but the court stated that there were indeed separate counts for each type of evidence that were introduced. Lastly, Merrick claimed that his lawyer did not help him enough during the trial, which hurt his case. The court said there wasn't enough evidence to show that he was harmed by his lawyer's performance. As a result, the court upheld the majority of the convictions while reversing some counts related to possession of images, ordering them to be dismissed.