Okla. Stat. tit. 21 § 1713

C-2005-1198

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In OCCA case No. C-2005-1198, the Petitioner appealed his conviction for burglary in the second degree and knowingly concealing stolen property. In a published decision, the court decided to grant the petitioner's appeal. One member dissented. The case involved a man named Brad Daniel Richards who pleaded guilty to two charges: burglary and concealing stolen property. He received a sentence of seven years in prison for the burglary and a five-year suspended sentence for the other charge. After his conviction, he wanted to take back his guilty pleas because he felt that his lawyer did not represent him well during the hearing where he tried to withdraw his plea. Richards argued that his attorney had a conflict of interest. During the hearing to withdraw his plea, the attorney mentioned that there could be an issue with his previous representation but did not argue on Richards' behalf. The court noted that a lawyer should provide good help to their client, especially at this critical stage of the process. The court looked closely at whether Richards' lawyer's conflict of interest affected his case. They pointed out that Richards had not testified, and his lawyer did not really support his claims. Because of this, the court could not make a clear decision about whether Richards should be allowed to withdraw his plea. In the end, the court granted Richards' request to review the original decision and said he deserves a new hearing with a different lawyer who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the lower court's judgment was reversed, and the case was sent back for a new hearing.

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C-2004-1017

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In OCCA case No. C-2004-1017, Libera appealed his conviction for Knowingly Concealing Stolen Property. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to grant Libera's petition to withdraw his guilty plea and remand for further proceedings. One judge dissented. Stephen Mark Libera was charged for concealing stolen property in Tulsa County. He chose to waive a preliminary hearing and entered a guilty plea. During the plea, there was some confusion about what the consequences would be. Although there was mention of a possible deferred sentence (which would mean he might not have to serve time), Libera felt he was not given clear advice about what this plea meant for him. When he was sentenced, the court did not follow what a previous report suggested, which was to give him probation instead of prison time. Libera believed that if the recommendation by the pre-sentencing investigation (PSI) was not followed, he should be allowed to change his guilty plea. He felt he had been led to believe that probation would be granted, and when it wasn't, he wanted to withdraw his plea. The court agreed that he should have been given a chance to do so. Thus, they decided in favor of Libera, allowing him to withdraw his plea and sending the case back for further actions consistent with the new decision. One judge did not agree with this outcome.

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F-2004-332

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In OCCA case No. F-2004-332, Sheila Ann Sutton appealed her conviction for grand larceny and knowingly concealing stolen property. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to modify her conviction to petit larceny and reversed and dismissed the charge of concealing stolen property. One judge dissented. Sutton was accused of stealing electronic items, including DVD players, with friends. The jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to five years in prison for grand larceny and four years for concealing stolen property, with the sentences running at the same time. During her appeal, Sutton argued several points. She claimed that simply being in a car with stolen shoes did not mean she was hiding them. The court agreed that the evidence did not show she attempted to conceal the shoes and reversed the charge for that reason. Sutton also argued that she only took property worth less than $500, which should be classified as petit larceny, not grand larceny. The evidence showed that she took one DVD player worth $487, and the other players taken by her companions did not change that. The court agreed and changed her conviction to petit larceny. Additionally, Sutton claimed that the jury was not properly instructed about the law surrounding the charges against her. The court found that the instructions were lacking and noted that without proper guidance, the jury might have struggled to understand how to reach their decision on grand larceny. Sutton also pointed out that there was an instruction about flight, but the circumstances didn't support it, meaning it should not have been mentioned during the trial. The court acknowledged this, saying that giving such an instruction without proper context was wrong. After reviewing all of Sutton's claims, the court modified her conviction to petit larceny and changed her sentence to two years in prison. They dismissed the second charge. The dissenting opinion argued that there was enough evidence to support the original conviction and that the jury understood what happened during the events in question. In summary, the court modified Sutton's conviction and sentence due to errors in the trial process, particularly related to jury instructions, while the dissenting judge believed the jury's original decision was justified.

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F-2004-871

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In OCCA case No. F-2004-871, George Shelton, Jr., appealed his conviction for Knowingly Concealing Stolen Property. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm Shelton's conviction but modified his sentence. One judge dissented. George Shelton was found guilty after a trial. He was accused of hiding stolen things and had a history of past crimes, which meant he could face a heavier punishment. The jury decided on a sentence of thirty-five years in prison. Shelton thought this punishment was too harsh and argued that what the prosecutor did was unfair because they brought up his past crimes during the trial. He believed this was done because he had tried to defend himself. The court looked very closely at everything that happened. They thought there wasn’t enough evidence to show that the prosecutor acted unfairly against Shelton. They believed that the facts presented during the case were enough to prove he was guilty. However, they agreed with Shelton that his punishment was too much. They decided to change his sentence to five years instead of thirty-five. In short, the court upheld the conviction of Shelton but changed his punishment to be less severe. While one judge agreed with the conviction and the sentence reduction, they did not think the modification was correct and chose to disagree.

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F-2004-184

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In OCCA case No. F-2004-184, Kenneth Kelmer Jackson appealed his conviction for Accessory After the Fact to First-Degree Murder and Knowingly Concealing Stolen Property. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm the conviction for Accessory After the Fact but reversed the conviction for Knowingly Concealing Stolen Property with instructions to dismiss that charge. One judge dissented. Kenneth was found guilty of helping someone after a murder had taken place and for hiding stolen items. The jury said he should go to prison for 14 years for the murder accessory charge and 5 years for the second charge, which would be served one after the other. On appeal, Kenneth argued that he should not be punished for both crimes since they came from the same act. The court agreed with him on this point and reversed the second conviction. Though they looked at his other claims about the trial not being fair, they decided they did not change the outcome of the case. In the end, the court said he could remain guilty of being an accessory to murder, but the charge regarding hiding stolen property was removed. One judge disagreed with part of this decision.

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F-2003-336

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In OCCA case No. F-2003-336, Joe Lynn Paddock appealed his conviction for several crimes, including conspiracy to manufacture drugs and possession of drugs with intent to distribute. In a published decision, the court decided to reverse and dismiss one conviction due to lack of evidence but upheld the other convictions and modified some sentences. One judge dissented on the sentencing decision.

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F-2003-1145

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In OCCA case No. F-2003-1145, James Lee Wiggins appealed his conviction for Knowingly Concealing Stolen Property. In a published decision, the court decided to affirm the conviction but modified the sentence to eight years of imprisonment instead of ten. One judge dissented. Wiggins was found guilty by a jury and received a sentence of ten years for concealing stolen property after having prior felony convictions. He raised several issues in his appeal. He argued that evidence of his past crimes unfairly influenced the jury and that improper comments during his trial led to an inflated sentence. Additionally, he stated that his case should be sent back to change the judgment so he could receive credit for the time he had already served. Lastly, he claimed that all these errors together made his trial unfair. Upon reviewing the case, the court agreed that some errors occurred, particularly regarding how the prosecution questioned Wiggins about his past prison time. However, they believed that these mistakes did not change the verdict of guilty. They also confirmed that he should receive credit for the time served due to a clerical error in his judgment. In the end, Wiggins' conviction was maintained, but the court reduced his sentence and directed the trial court to correct the judgment to ensure he received credit for the time he served.

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F 2002-869

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In OCCA case No. F 2002-869, Bennie Jay Edwards, Jr., appealed his conviction for Concealing Stolen Property and Breaking and Entering. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm the convictions but modified the sentence for Concealing Stolen Property to ten years imprisonment. One member of the court dissented. Bennie Jay Edwards, Jr. was found guilty in a trial that took place in May 2002. The jury decided he should go to prison for 30 years for the first crime, which was concealing stolen property, and one year for the second crime, which was breaking and entering. These sentences were set to happen at the same time, meaning he would serve the longest one. After the trial, Edwards appealed, saying that there were mistakes during the trial and that he did not get a fair chance to defend himself. His lawyers said the jury was told the wrong information about how long he could be sentenced for his crime of concealing stolen property. The proper punishment should have been four years to life in prison, but the jury was told it could be no less than 20 years. After looking into the issues raised by Edwards, the court decided that he did not lose his chance for a fair trial because of the mistakes that were made about the instructions. However, they agreed that the jury was given the wrong information about the punishment for his first conviction. Because of this error, the court changed the sentence for his first conviction from 30 years to 10 years. The second conviction remained the same. The court explained that even though there were some mistakes, they did not think those mistakes were serious enough to change the conviction itself, just the sentence. In the end, the court found Edwards guilty but reduced his punishment for one of the crimes due to the trial mistakes related to jury instructions.

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F-2002-493

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In OCCA case No. F-2002-493, Donnell E. Williams appealed his conviction for second-degree burglary and knowingly concealing stolen property. In a published decision, the court decided to affirm the judgments but modify the sentences to be served concurrently instead of consecutively. One judge dissented. Williams was found guilty by a jury of breaking into a place that was not his and hiding things that were stolen. The jury recommended a punishment of twenty-five years in prison for each count, with the need to serve all the punishment one after the other. Williams argued several points in his appeal. First, he said that the court did not tell the jury they could consider that he might have had permission to enter the property. Second, he thought the jury should have been told about a lesser crime than burglary. Third, he claimed that the way the prosecutor spoke during the trial was unfair and hurt his chances for a fair trial. Fourth, he felt that his twenty-five-year sentences were too long. Finally, he believed that all the mistakes made during the trial, when added together, meant he did not have a fair chance in court. After looking at everything in the case, the court found that Williams's points for appeal did not require them to change the jury's decision on his guilt. They agreed that the jury did not need information on asking if he had consent or the lesser charge since there was no strong evidence to support his claims. They also concluded that the prosecutor's actions did not prevent Williams from getting a fair trial because there was strong evidence against him. However, the court felt that making Williams serve his sentences one after the other was too severe, especially because he was living in a vacant house and facing challenges like being homeless and struggling with substance use. They decided that twenty-five years was enough time for him to pay for what he did and get the help he might need. In short, the court kept his convictions but changed his sentence so that he would serve his time together rather than separately. This way, he would have a better chance to start again after serving his time. One judge disagreed with the decision to change the sentences to run together, believing the original decision by the trial court was correct given Williams's history of prior convictions.

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F 2001-1348

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In OCCA case No. F 2001-1348, Holly Ann Glasgow appealed her conviction for two counts of Robbery by Force and Fear. In a published decision, the court decided to reverse the conviction on Count One and remand it to the district court to change the charge to Receiving Stolen Property with a reduced sentence. The conviction on Count Two was affirmed. One judge dissented.

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F-2001-352

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In OCCA case No. F-2001-352, Virgil Clayton Rose appealed his conviction for several crimes, including the manufacture and possession of methamphetamine, possession of a precursor substance, possession of a firearm while committing a felony, and concealing stolen property. In a published decision, the court found that some of these convictions violated rules against being punished twice for the same crime. The court agreed with the appeal and reversed the convictions for possession of methamphetamine and the precursor substance. The court modified the sentence for possession of a firearm while committing a felony to five years. One judge disagreed with the decision on certain points but agreed with the overall outcome.

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