Criminal Law

Question 1

Under federal law, crimes committed by an Indian on any Indian land are punishable by what law?

Answer 1

Tribe or federal law, but not by state law.

Question 2

Do Oklahoma courts have jurisdiction over crimes committed by an Indian on Indian land?

Answer 2

No

Question 3

Do Oklahoma state courts have jurisdiction over crimes committed by non-Indians on Indian land?

Answer 3

Yes.

Just not by an Indian on any Indian land.

Question 4

What rule for insanity is used in Oklahoma?

Answer 4

The M’Naghten Rule

Question 5

In Oklahoma, when is a defendant required to give notice of an intent to raise the insanity defense?

Answer 5

No later than 30 days after formal arraignment.

Question 6

In Oklahoma, what factors are considered by the court in determining whether a child should be tried as an adult?

Answer 6

1. Seriousness of the alleged offense
2. Maturity of the juvenile
3. Juvenile’s past record
4. Likelihood of rehabilitation

Question 7

In Oklahoma, what children may be certified as adults in the court’s discretion?

Answer 7

Children who commit acts that would be a felony if committed by an adult.

Question 8

In Oklahoma, when is a person presumed to have a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm to himself or another, and thus privileged to use deadly force?

Answer 8

Whenever there is an unlawful and forceful entry into a:

dwelling,

residence,

place of business,

place of worship,

or an occupied vehicle.

A person using force in this instance is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of force.

Question 9

In Oklahoma, can a defendant who enters a situation armed with a deadly weapon claim self-defense?

Answer 9

No, no matter how great his peril becomes.

Question 10

OK Self-Defense

Answer 10

In Oklahoma, a person is presumed to have a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm to himself or another whenever there is an unlawful and forceful entry into a dwelling, residence, place of business, place of worship, or an occupied vehicle and thus is privileged to use deadly force.

A person using force in this instance is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force.

Question 11

OK Jurisdiction - Offense Committed in More than One County

Answer 11

In OK, when a crime is committed partly in one county & partly in another county, the crime can be prosecuted in either county.

The same goes for property taken in one county by burglary, robbery, larceny, or embezzlement and brought to another county.

Howveer, a conviction or aquittal in one county is a bar to prosecution for the same offense in another county.

Question 12

Is an overt act required for conspiracy in OK?

Answer 12

Yes.

An overt act by one or more of the parties to the conspiracy is required.

Question 13

OK Burdens of Proof & Persuasion for Insanity

Answer 13

D must produce sufficient evidence to raise a reasonable doubt as to sanity.

Once a reasonable doubt as to D’s sanity has been raised, the burden shifts to the state to prove sanity beyond a reasonable doubt.

Question 14

OK Battered Woman Syndrome

Answer 14

Expert evidence on the battared woman syndrome is allowed to assist the jury in evaluating self-defense.

In Oklahoma, the reasonable belief that one is being faced with imminent deadly force has both subjective and objective elements.

Essentially, the question is whether a person who had suffered the abuse that the defendant had would have reasonably believed that she was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm from the victim.

Question 15

In Oklahoma, children who commit acts that would be a felony if committed by an adult may be certified as adults in the court’s discretion. Factors considered by the court include:

Answer 15

Seriousness of the alleged offense

Maturity of the juvenile

Juvenile’s past record

Likelihood of rehabilitation

Question 16

OK Assault

Answer 16

In Oklahoma, an assault is any willful and unlawful attempt or offer to commit a battery.

Question 17

OK Battery

Answer 17

In Oklahoma, a battery is any willful (i.e., with intent to do the act) and unlawful use of force or violence upon another.

Question 18

OK Assault & Battery

Answer 18

When an assault culminates in a battery, OK calls the offense assault and battery.

Question 19

OK Aggravated Assault and Battery

Answer 19

Assault & Battery that either:

Causes great bodily injury to the victim

or

Is committed by a healthy or strong person against one who is aged, decrepit, or incapacitated.

Question 21

Oklahoma case law requires a nexus between the underlying felony and the victim’s death for the defendant to be convicted of felony murder.

Oklahoma lists the following felonies for first degree felony murder:

Answer 21

(i) the murder of another person;
(ii) the shooting or discharge of a firearm or crossbow with intent to kill;
(iii) the intentional discharge of a deadly weapon into any dwelling or building used for public or business purposes;
(iv) forcible rape;
(v) robbery with a dangerous weapon;
(vi) kidnapping;
(vii) first degree burglary;
(viii) first degree arson;
(ix) The unlawful distribution of controlled dangerous substances or synthetic controlled substances, trafficking in illegal drugs, or manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance; and
(x) escape from lawful custody or eluding an officer.

Question 22

Right of Aggressor to Use Self-Defense in OK

Answer 22

A Defendant who enters a situation armed with a deadly weapon cannot claim self-defense no matter how great his peril becomes.

Question 24

OK Proximate Causation for Felony Murder

Answer 24

Oklahoma case law requires a nexus between the underlying felony and the victim’s death for the defendant to be convicted of felony murder.

Question 25

OK Born Alive Rule

Answer 25

An unborn fetus that is viable at the time of injury is a human being who may be the victim of a homicide.

Question 26

OK Statutory Rape

Answer 26

In Oklahoma, statutory rape is defined as follows:

Sexual intercourse, even if consensual, committed by a person over age 18 with a person under 14 is first degree rape.

If sexual intercourse is committed by a person over age 18 with a person under 16 but over 14, and the sex is consensual, the crime is second degree rape.

Sexual intercourse committed by a person under age 18 with a person over 14 is not rape if it is consensual.

Question 27

In OK, can a person be convicted of raping his spouse?

Answer 27

Yes if force or violence is used or threatened.

Question 28

Does OK have the year and a day rule?

Answer 28

No.

OK abolished it.

Question 29

OK Burglary Dwelling Requirement

Answer 29

In OK, the dwelling includes any structure joined to and immediately conncected with a house or edifice used as a dwelling.

Question 30

OK Arson

Answer 30

Oklahoma has four degrees of arson.

First degree arson is of an inhabited building or involves the burning of a person.

Second degree arson is of an uninhabited or unoccupied structure.

Third degree arson is of property (e.g., a car).

Fourth degree arson is an attempted first, second, or third degree arson.

Furthermore, anyone who aids, counsels, or procures the burning or destruction of the building or property is treated as a principal.

Oklahoma also extends the definition of first and second degree arson to include the destruction of a building resulting from the “manufacturing or attempting to manufacture a controlled dangerous substance” as defined by Oklahoma law (generally illegal drugs).

Question 31

OK Perjury

Answer 31

In Oklahoma, there is no requirement that the false statement be material. However, the materiality of the statement may be used in determining the severity of the punishment.

It is a defense to a charge of perjury by contradictory statements that the defendant believed each statement was true at the time he made each statement.

Question 32

In OK, is it arson to burn your own dwelling?

Answer 32

Yes