Wirth Law Office’s client was charged with six (6) counts of Obtaining Money by False Pretense in October of 1996. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but the warrant was never executed. Fourteen years later, the client finds out about the case for the first time and retains the Wirth Law Office.
Normally the firm has very good success getting these matters dismissed with the agreement of prosecutors because it is so patently unfair to require a defendant to defend himself against charges a decade and a half old. The district attorney’s office was able to do its investigation back in 1996 and presumably preserved the evidence it intended to use. However, the client had no opportunity to investigate the case and preserve exculpatory evidence, as he was unaware of the charge. Moreover, there is United States Supreme Court precedent (Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647 (1992)), directly on point that mandates dismissal in cases such as this.
Nonetheless, the prosecutors in this matter refused to voluntarily dismiss and failed to provide any legitimate authority to support their position that dismissal is not required. Wirth Law Office’s client, who now resides out of state, paid to fly into Oklahoma twice to resolve this matter. The second time was for today’s hearing on the Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Speedy Trial. After testimony and arguments on Wirth Law Office’s motion, the Judge granted the motion and dismissed all charges against the client.