Okla. Stat. tit. 47 § 11-306 Archives

F-2018-175

Post author:Staff
Post published:October 31, 2019
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2018-175, Charles Randall Hayes appealed his conviction for first-degree manslaughter while driving under the influence of drugs. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse the conviction for the misdemeanor driving under the influence charge but affirmed the convictions for first-degree manslaughter and driving left of center. One judge dissented. Mr. Hayes was found guilty of serious charges, including manslaughter, because he caused an accident while driving under the influence. The jury gave him a life sentence for this, along with fines for the other charges. He had multiple reasons for appealing his case, claiming that he didn’t get a fair trial, that his sentence was too harsh, that his lawyer didn’t help him enough, and that mistakes happened during the trial that made it unfair. The court looked at whether the charges against him were correct. They agreed that he couldn't be sentenced for both manslaughter and for the misdemeanor of driving under the influence at the same time because that would be unfair punishment for the same action. Mr. Hayes argued that the prosecution behaved badly during the trial, but the court found that there were no serious mistakes that changed the outcome. They believed that the prosecutor's actions did not make the trial unfair enough to change the results. When Mr. Hayes said his sentence was too harsh, the court decided that it was still within the legal limits. They only change sentences if they are shockingly unfair, which they did not find here. Mr. Hayes also claimed that his lawyer did not defend him well enough. However, since the court did not find that the prosecutor made major mistakes, they thought there was no reason to think that a different lawyer would have helped him more. Finally, Mr. Hayes felt that too many errors had happened to make the trial fair at all. The court disagreed and said that since they found none of the individual mistakes were harmful, they couldn’t consider them as a group. In conclusion, the appeal changed one of the misdemeanor charges but largely supported the main conviction.

F-2016-696

Post author:Staff
Post published:September 21, 2017
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2016-696, Mesfun appealed his conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol, transporting an open container of liquor, driving without a license, and driving left of center. In a published decision, the court decided to modify the sentence on one count and affirmed the rest of the judgment. One justice dissented. Mesfun was found guilty of multiple offenses in Tulsa County District Court. The charges included driving drunk, having an open container of alcohol while driving, not having a driver's license, and driving in the wrong lane. He received a long sentence, including years in prison and fines, to be served one after the other. Mesfun's appeal included three main points. First, he argued that the jury was wrongly told how much punishment they could give him for transporting an open container of liquor. The court agreed with him on this point and changed that sentence to a shorter jail time and fine. Second, Mesfun claimed that the prosecutor acted unfairly during the trial, which hurt his chances of a fair trial. However, the court found that the prosecutor's comments were allowed and did not harm Mesfun's case. Third, he said that his lawyer did not do a good job to help him. The court looked at this claim and said that his lawyer's actions did not affect the trial's outcome, so this point was also denied. Overall, the court modified one part of his sentence but upheld the rest of the decision from the trial court.