Sixth Amendment Rights

C-2015-1063

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In OCCA case No. C-2015-1063, Pete Wolfe appealed his conviction for multiple crimes, including attempted robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to grant his request for a writ of certiorari and remand the case for further proceedings. One judge dissented. Pete Wolfe entered guilty pleas without fully understanding what that meant. He later said that his lawyer's advice was not good and wanted to take back his guilty pleas. The court looked at whether he had a fair chance to do this and said that he did not have a lawyer who could represent him properly during the hearing. The court agreed that his lawyer might not have given him the best advice, which was important. So, they decided to let him have a new lawyer who could help him better and to have a new hearing on his request to withdraw the guilty pleas. This was to make sure his rights were protected in the legal process.

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C-2009-1033

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In OCCA case No. C-2009-1033, the petitioner appealed his conviction for two counts of permitting child abuse. In a published decision, the court decided to grant the petition for the writ of certiorari, allowing the petitioner to withdraw his plea of no contest. One judge dissented. The petitioner, Huyen Cleveland Tran, was charged in 2004, with permitting child abuse in Oklahoma County. In May 2007, the petitioner entered a no contest plea and received a deferred sentence, which means she wouldn’t have to go to prison right away if she followed certain rules. However, in 2009, the State asked the court to speed up her sentence, and the court decided she should serve five years in prison. Tran then wanted to take back her plea of no contest because she believed she didn’t fully understand it and thought she had a valid defense. She raised several issues in her appeal, including that she did not have effective legal help because her attorney represented both her and her husband, who was also charged. This was seen as a conflict of interest. The court agreed with Tran that her attorney had a conflict because he could not fully defend her without hurting her husband’s case. Since this conflict affected her legal representation, the court granted her request to withdraw her plea. The ruling means that Tran can now have a new chance to argue her case without the problems that came from the conflict of interest with her previous lawyer. One judge felt that rather than allowing Tran to withdraw her plea completely, the case should be sent back for a proper hearing with a new lawyer who does not have a conflict of interest.

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F-2009-335

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In OCCA case No. F-2009-335, Jermaine Darnell Jeffery appealed his conviction for First Degree Felony Murder and other charges. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to reverse the conviction for Shooting With Intent to Kill and affirmed the other convictions. One judge dissented. Jermaine was found guilty of several serious crimes related to a shooting incident. During the trial, the jury decided on punishments for his actions, including life in prison for murder. Jermaine argued that there wasn't enough proof to connect his shooting with the death of the victim and that he was punished unfairly for the same crime more than once, which is known as double jeopardy. He also claimed that his rights were violated when the court allowed evidence about his silence after being arrested and that hearsay statements from other witnesses should not have been allowed. Jermaine felt he did not get a fair trial because the prosecutor talked about things not proven in court and that his punishment was too harsh. Additionally, he argued that his lawyer did not do a good job by not pointing out mistakes during the trial. The court reviewed all the evidence and arguments. They agreed that there was enough proof for the murder charge but recognized a mistake in charging Jermaine with both murder and the shooting he did, leading to the reversal of that specific charge. The court found that some errors did happen, but most were not serious enough to change the outcome of the trial. In the end, they upheld the punishments for the other crimes while agreeing to dismiss the shooting conviction.

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S-2008-761

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In OCCA case No. S-2008-761, Robert Lee Smallen appealed his conviction for First Degree Murder. In a published decision, the court decided to affirm the district court's suppression order of his statements made during a police interview. Smallen's refusal to waive his rights to silence and counsel was upheld, and he was found not to have voluntarily waived those rights. One judge dissented.

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F-2006-1055

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In OCCA case No. F-2006-1055, Jaumon Mondell Okyere appealed his conviction for First Degree Murder and Child Neglect. In an unpublished decision, the court decided to affirm the conviction for First Degree Murder but reversed the conviction for Child Neglect with instructions to dismiss. One judge dissented. Jaumon Mondell Okyere was found guilty of killing Richard Briggs and neglecting Briggs’ infant child. The case began when Okyere, angry over Briggs’ relationship with his former partner, Melonie Totty, conspired to lure Briggs into a trap where he could harm him. On March 18, 2005, Okyere shot Briggs multiple times and left the baby in a cold car, which was later found unharmed. During the trial, Totty testified against Okyere, leading to his conviction. Okyere argued that his trial was unfair because of issues related to his legal representation, including an alleged conflict of interest where the public defender's office previously represented Totty. The court found that Okyere's right to effective counsel was not violated, stating that the trial court took appropriate steps to address potential conflicts. Okyere also raised objections over the trial court granting continuances for the prosecution without proper procedure, insufficiency of the evidence, and inadequate jury instructions on the Child Neglect charge. The court concluded that any errors did not significantly impact the trial's fairness. However, it did find that the jury was not properly instructed on the requirement of being responsible for the child's welfare, which led to the reversal of the Child Neglect conviction. Ultimately, while Okyere’s conviction for murder was upheld, the court instructed to dismiss the charges related to child neglect due to the instructional error. One judge disagreed with the dismissal, believing the matter warranted a new trial instead.

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F-2004-1271

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In OCCA case No. F-2004-1271, Darrell Antonio Cheadle appealed his conviction for robbery with a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, and aggravated attempting to elude a police officer. In an unpublished decision, the court decided that while the convictions were upheld, the sentences were modified to life in prison for each count, with some sentences running consecutively and others concurrently. One judge dissented, stating that the delay before the trial was prejudicial to the defendant's defense, but agreed that the evidence of guilt was very strong.

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