Once You Are Notified You Have 10 Days to File an Objection
Video Transcribed: Can you object to the termination of a deferred prosecution agreement in Oklahoma? I’m Oklahoma lawyer James Wirth, I’m doing a series of videos related to deferred prosecution agreements in Oklahoma. And this is an interesting one because most attorneys don’t even know this.
So let’s get a little bit of background. Deferred prosecution agreement, that’s where it’s under a criminal investigation. It’s referred over to the DA’s office, but rather than filing criminal charges, you’re given an opportunity to defer the prosecution of that, to where you perhaps admit guilt or at least allow them to document evidence and enter a deal where you have to jump through some hoops.
But in response to that, if you do what they say, go through that comply properly, criminal charges are not filed, and then it’s not going to be something’s on your record, not a conviction, all of those things. That’s the deferred prosecution agreement.
Now, if you enter one of those and the DA alleges that you violated the agreement, what can they do? Well, they’re required by law to give you notice of that. So they have to give you notice that they think that you violated the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement. They list out the evidence.
And this is what most attorneys don’t know, they have to give you an opportunity to object and to have a hearing. Okay. So once you have that notice, you have 10 days to file an objection.
And then if you file that objection, you are entitled to a hearing and at the hearing, the burden is on the state. So here’s the statute. I’ll read a little bit of it for you.
Title 22, Section 3050.3. And this is regarding subsection A, which says we’re required to do. The state of Oklahoma should they decide to terminate, shall send a written notice of termination to the accused and the attorney for the accused if any, explaining the reasons for the termination.
Two, disclose to the accused or the attorney for the accused, the evidence supporting the decision to terminate. And three, this is most important, this is what we’re talking about here. For the accused the opportunity to be heard and present evidence and cross-examine witnesses before a judge of the district court.
The accused shall have 10 days from the date of the mailing of the notice to file a written request with the court clerk for the county in which the charges pending for the hearing, after which the right to a hearing shall be waived.
So you only have 10 days to request that. If you don’t file it within 10 days, it is waived. And from the ones I’ve seen, these are almost always waived, almost never filed. Most people don’t know about this provision.
Says, upon that though, the burden shall be upon the state of Oklahoma to prove that the accused did not fulfill the conditions of the agreement and that information should be filed. So the burden is on the state. You’ve got the right to object.
You’ve got the right to have a hearing where you can cross-examine the accusers. The witness is saying that you violated the terms, and if the state doesn’t meet their burden, then the agreement maintains, that the deferred prosecution agreement stands, and the state of Oklahoma cannot file those criminal charges against you.
So you want to make sure if you are on a deferred prosecution agreement that you check that mail if you get notification of any violation that they’re trying to terminate you on, a file that objection, and go to court on that.
So the sorts of things that they could require to do as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, they can have you essentially be almost on probation. There can be fees associated with that supervision.
You’re going to have to jump through some hoops, perhaps do certain types of drug counseling, anger management, there are all kinds of different programs they could do. Depending on the types of crime and the damages there may be a restitution order.
Whatever it is, those conditions are laid out in the agreement that you made with this state when that deferred prosecution agreement was entered, that should be in your documentation as well as the district attorney’s documentation. If they allege you violated it, you file that objection.
Get with the court. If you’re dealing with that circumstance, you’re going to want to talk to a Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorney about your circumstances privately and confidentially. To get that scheduled with somebody in my office, you go online to makelaweasy.com.
