Remanded Archives - Page 4 of 4

M-2000-1482

Post author:Staff
Post published:November 21, 2001
Post category:M

In OCCA case No. M-2000-1482, the appellant appealed his conviction for unlawful transportation of an opened container of alcoholic beverage. In a published decision, the court decided to reverse the conviction and remand the case with instructions to dismiss. One judge dissented. The appellant was found guilty by a jury in Beckham County, where he was sentenced to six months in the county jail and had to pay more than $1,000 in court costs and fees. The case went through an accelerated process because of its nature. The main issue in the appeal was whether there was enough evidence to support the conviction. The appellant argued that the evidence did not show he had transported an opened alcoholic beverage on a public roadway, street, or alley as required by law. After reviewing the evidence and the details of the case, the court agreed with the appellant and found that there was indeed insufficient evidence to prove he had broken the law in this way. Thus, the higher court decided to reverse the original judgment and told the lower court to dismiss the case. The decision did not go without a disagreement; one judge believed that the conviction should stand.

F 2000-1241

Post author:Staff
Post published:October 3, 2001
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F 2000-1241, McCandless appealed her conviction for possession of controlled dangerous substances. In an unpublished decision, the court decided that two of her three convictions were unfair and should not stand because they violated laws against being punished twice for the same action. McCandless claimed that finding different types of drugs in her home should only count as one offense. The court agreed with her on that point and reversed two of the convictions. However, the court found sufficient evidence to keep the other two convictions. One member of the court disagreed with this decision.

C-2001-225

Post author:Staff
Post published:September 6, 2001
Post category:C

In OCCA case No. C-2001-225, the petitioner appealed his conviction for a crime. In a published decision, the court decided to remand the case for a new hearing on the petitioner's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. This means that the court found that the petitioner should have another chance to argue that his previous attorney did not help him as well as he should have. One judge dissented, meaning that they disagreed with the majority decision of the court.

F-2000-618

Post author:Staff
Post published:August 31, 2001
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2000-618, Keith Avey appealed his conviction for Driving While Under the Influence, After Former Conviction of Driving Under the Influence. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm Avey's judgment and sentence of eight years imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. However, the court requested a remand for a hearing on restitution. One judge dissented. Avey was found guilty by a jury which heard evidence that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. This included observations of his strong smell of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and unstable walking after a collision. The jury decided to give him a punishment of eight years in prison and a fine, along with restitution payment. During the appeal, Avey argued that the trial court made mistakes. He believed the court should have informed the jury about a lesser charge called Driving While Impaired. However, the appellate court ruled that the evidence against him was strong enough that not giving this instruction was acceptable. Avey also contended that the trial court should have examined the specific losses experienced by the victims before setting the restitution amount. The appellate court agreed that the trial court failed to provide this hearing, stating that the law requires the court to establish the actual losses suffered by the victims. This is why they sent the case back for a restitution hearing. Avey argued that he did not get a fair defense because his attorney didn’t challenge the order of restitution effectively. However, the court disagreed, saying that the attorney did raise objections about the amount of loss and therefore did not provide ineffective assistance. Furthermore, Avey claimed that the evidence presented was not enough to prove he was guilty. The court found that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction. Finally, Avey said that the eight-year sentence was too harsh. The appellate court stated that the sentence was appropriate and in line with the law. In summary, while the appellate court upheld Avey's imprisonment and fine, it required a new examination of the restitution amount due to the trial court's failure to provide proper hearings.

F-2000-484

Post author:Staff
Post published:August 23, 2001
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F-2000-484, Sam Henry Watkins appealed his conviction for Endeavoring to Manufacture Methamphetamine. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse his conviction and remand the case for a new trial. One judge dissented. Watkins was tried in a court without a jury and found guilty of trying to make methamphetamine. He was given a 20-year prison sentence. Watkins claimed that there were several mistakes made during his trial that should change the decision. He argued that: 1. He did not properly give up his right to have a jury trial. 2. The police illegally took evidence from him and questioned him. 3. Inappropriate evidence was used against him, which made his trial unfair. 4. He did not have good help from his lawyer. The court looked carefully at all these points and the entire situation. They concluded that Watkins did not show that he willingly gave up his right to a jury trial, which was important. The court noted that there was no proof that he understood what giving up that right meant. Therefore, this was a mistake. As for the evidence collected from Watkins, the court decided that it did not need to change the decision. The court found no error in the way the police handled the evidence during his detention. In the end, the court reversed Watkins's conviction and sent the case back for a new trial. This meant that he would get another chance to defend himself against the charges.

RE 2000-1170

Post author:Staff
Post published:August 10, 2001
Post category:RE

In OCCA case No. RE 2000-1170, the appellant appealed his conviction for revocation of suspended sentences. In a published decision, the court decided to affirm the revocation of the suspended sentence in one case and to reverse and dismiss the revocation in another case. One judge dissented. In this case, the appellant had previously pleaded guilty to two crimes and received suspended sentences, which means he would not have to serve time in prison if he followed the law and met certain conditions. However, the State (the lawyers representing the government) wanted to revoke these sentences, claiming the appellant did not follow the rules. At a hearing, the judge revoked the appellant’s suspended sentences. Later, the appellant appealed the decision, arguing that the State was too late to revoke one of his suspended sentences because the time to do so had expired. The State agreed with the appellant that they did not have the right to revoke the sentence for one of the cases. After considering the arguments, the court decided to keep the revocation for one case but to reverse the revocation for the other case, meaning the appellant would not have to serve time for the second case. The court also canceled a scheduled oral argument, stating it was not needed.

C-2000-35

Post author:Staff
Post published:April 18, 2001
Post category:C

In OCCA case No. C-2000-35, Anthony Dwayne Goshay appealed his conviction for escape from county jail and assault on a correctional officer. In a published decision, the court decided to grant Goshay's appeal and reverse the lower court's decision. One judge dissented. Goshay was in Comanche County District Court, where he pled guilty to two charges on October 7, 1999. At his sentencing on October 20, 1999, he tried to take back his guilty plea, but the judge did not allow it. Instead, Goshay was sentenced to five years for escape and three years for assault. After some time, his lawyer and then Goshay himself asked to withdraw the plea, but those requests were denied in December 1999. The case was sent back to the district court in August 2000 to check if Goshay was present when his request to withdraw the plea was denied. A new hearing took place on October 2, 2000, but the judge again said no to Goshay's request to change his plea. On appeal, Goshay argued that his plea wasn't voluntary because he felt pressured, that he was not informed about all the important parts of the charges he faced, and that his convictions were unfair because they involved double punishment. The court looked closely at these claims and agreed that Goshay's plea should be allowed to be withdrawn. It decided that when Goshay made his guilty plea, he was promised he could change his mind at sentencing without any negative consequences. However, when he did try to back out during sentencing, he wasn't given that chance. Therefore, the court found that Goshay didn't receive the deal he was promised. In conclusion, the OCCA reversed the original conviction and said further actions should follow that are consistent with their opinion, meaning Goshay would have the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea, as originally agreed.

C-2000-1344

Post author:Staff
Post published:March 14, 2001
Post category:C

In OCCA case No. C-00-1344, Betts appealed his conviction for multiple offenses including Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Assault on a Police Officer. In a published decision, the court decided to grant his petition for relief regarding some of the convictions due to a lack of adequate factual support for those charges. One judge dissented. Betts had pleaded guilty to several charges in a lower court, but later claimed he did not understand all the details of the offenses or the punishments he could receive. He filed a motion to withdraw his plea, which was denied by the district court. The case was then brought to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. The court looked at the reasons Betts provided for wanting to withdraw his plea. One of the main issues was that there was not enough factual evidence to support certain charges against him. For instance, when Betts admitted some wrongdoing, he did not talk about other specific charges like the drug possession or tampering with a vehicle. The court found that because of this, Betts did not really enter his plea to those counts in a fair way. While the court affirmed one of his convictions related to Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, they reversed other convictions regarding Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and related charges. The court also mentioned that there were problems with how restitution was handled, which means determining if and how much money Betts should pay for what he did. Overall, the court sent the case back to the district court to ensure that the restitution issues were corrected and to check if the earlier order of restitution was appropriate for the right case. The court set a timeframe for the district court to work on these issues. In summary, the court found that Betts was not properly informed or supported for several of the charges against him, leading them to reverse some of his convictions while affirming one, and they ordered further hearings on the restitution matter.

F 2000-213

Post author:Staff
Post published:February 9, 2001
Post category:F

In OCCA case No. F 2000-213, the Appellant appealed his conviction for Carrying a Controlled Dangerous Substance into Jail. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse the conviction and remand the case with instructions to dismiss. One member of the court dissented. The case involved Heather Davenport, who was accused of bringing illegal substances into a jail. During her trial, the jury found her guilty and suggested a fine and imprisonment. Davenport argued that the jury's decision was unfair because evidence about her husband’s unrelated past crimes was brought into the trial. This evidence was shown to suggest that she knew what she was doing was wrong, which she believed was not relevant to her case. The court agreed with her and noted that the evidence against her did not clearly show that she knew she was breaking the law when she brought the items to the jail. The use of information about her husband’s actions was too unfair and prejudiced her chance for a fair trial. Therefore, the court decided that the conviction should not stand, stating that the evidence presented could have caused a significant mistake in the trial's outcome. The final opinion indicated that the trial court's decision was reversed, and the case was sent back with instructions to dismiss the charges against Davenport.

RE-2000-841

Post author:Staff
Post published:February 8, 2001
Post category:RE

In OCCA case No. RE-2000-841, the appellant appealed his conviction for the revocation of his suspended sentences. In a published decision, the court decided that the appellant's revoked sentences should run concurrently instead of consecutively. One judge dissented.

M-1999-569

Post author:Staff
Post published:January 31, 2001
Post category:M

In OCCA case No. M 99-0569, the Appellant appealed his conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia. In a published decision, the court decided that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. Two judges dissented.

M-2000-230

Post author:Staff
Post published:January 8, 2001
Post category:M

In OCCA case No. M-2000-230, Frank Ford appealed his conviction for Domestic Abuse. In a published decision, the court decided to reverse the sentence and order that it be aligned with the jury's verdict. One judge dissented.