Your right to be tried by a jury of your peers is enshrined in the Seventh Amendment of the United States Constitution, and, as such, this right is one that has been honored since the founding of our country. While our federal constitution preserves the "right of...
Many times, a person attempting to commit a criminal act is somehow prevented from completing the crime itself. What stops that person could be any number of things. Perhaps the police came before a person could successfully break and enter into another person's...
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects us all from unreasonable government searches and seizures of our home. While many of our constitutional rights have developed over the years based on later Supreme Court decisions, the right to be free in your...
Make no mistake, a DUI is a criminal offense in Oklahoma, and the law in OK for what qualifies as a DUI is relatively strict. Furthermore, Oklahoma prosecutors frequently bring DUI charges against first-time offenders. Jail time is a possibility for an OK DUI...
One of the most common questions that criminal defense lawyers hear - especially when there has been a recent encounter with police - is "when can the police search my car?" Roadside stops by the police are probably the most frequent one-on-one interactions...
Both manslaughter and murder in Oklahoma refer to crimes in which a defendant causes another person's death through illegal means. But even though the end result in both murder and manslaughter cases is one person's death and another person's criminal culpability, the...
No doubt about it: if you are convicted of murder either by a jury or through a guilty plea in Oklahoma, you will spend time in prison. But whether you are convicted of first-degree murder or second-degree murder can literally mean the difference between life and...
It goes without saying that the people that know us best - and know our deepest and perhaps darkest secrets - are often our spouses. While every marriage is different, it is common for one spouse to tell another spouse things he or she wouldn't tell anyone else in the...
The phrase that someone "turned himself in for the crime" is one that is commonly heard in local TV news and movies, but doesn't always have a specific meaning. At the very least, it refers to a person presenting himself to the police or other authorities for arrest...
Near the beginning of any formal criminal proceeding, the charged defendant has the option of pleading guilty or not guilty. For some people, the idea of ever pleading guilty to a crime makes no sense. Others may be motivated to plead guilty for a variety of reasons,...
