Misdemeanors
Facing a misdemeanor charge can feel overwhelming, but understanding your rights and the legal process is crucial. Misdemeanors in Oklahoma carry serious consequences that can impact your future, including fines, jail time, and restrictions on your rights. Whether you need advice or representation, learning about your options is the first step toward protecting yourself. For trusted guidance, a Tulsa misdemeanor attorney can help clarify the charges and potential outcomes.
When legal challenges arise, having an experienced advocate makes a difference. Wirth Law Office offers knowledgeable defense tailored to your unique situation. If you need legal help, call Wirth Law Office at (918) 879-1681. Speak with a Tulsa attorney who understands Oklahoma misdemeanor law and can help you navigate the court system with confidence.
Misdemeanor Court Basics in Oklahoma
Navigating a criminal misdemeanor case in Tulsa often extends beyond the ideal 30-day resolution, frequently expanding to a timeline of two to six months. While initial appearances and arraignments might set the stage, the journey typically involves multiple court settings, such as the sounding docket and potentially several Allen hearings, depending on the discovery process's pace. Each phase can introduce delays, influenced heavily by evidence availability and negotiation dynamics. Although the progression might seem slow, this thorough approach ensures that defendants' rights are upheld, providing a comprehensive and strategic path through the legal system. Read more »Road Sign Theft: What The Law Says
The curious allure of road signs might make some wonder if they can claim one found unattended, but in Oklahoma, the law is clear: taking a road sign is illegal. Regardless of how a sign comes into one’s possession, the law sees it as a misdemeanor, which can result in fines or imprisonment. The implications become severe if such actions cause harm—for instance, removing a stop sign leading to accidents could escalate to a felony, carrying a potential two-year prison sentence. Even what seems like a simple act can carry significant legal ramifications, necessitating careful legal consideration. Read more »Legal Advice: How To Handle Misdemeanors
Facing criminal misdemeanor charges can be daunting and confusing. In Tulsa, the process begins with an arraignment docket where individuals, alongside their attorneys, discover if charges have been filed. It's crucial to enter a plea of not guilty and be prepared for further court appearances. Sometimes, the prosecution may be undecided about filing charges, necessitating a proactive legal strategy to prevent charges from being filed. Having an attorney could potentially lead to swift dismissals or even avoid charges altogether, keeping them off public records. Exploring legal options promptly is essential for minimizing the impact on one's life. Read more »Demystifying Misdemeanor Cases: Your Guide Through Legal Steps
Facing misdemeanor charges and unsure of what to expect? I'm Carl Birkhead, an attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, specializing in criminal law for seven years. Let me guide you through the process. Misdemeanor cases differ from felonies primarily in that they're typically tried before one judge. Initially, you'll enter a plea, and the court could set an Allen hearing to ensure discovery is complete. At disposition, you'll decide whether to negotiate a plea or proceed to trial. If you're uncertain or need assistance, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm here to help make the legal process easier for you. Read more »New Law Makes It a Misdemeanor to Spy with a Drone in Oklahoma
New Oklahoma law that classifies spying with a drone as a misdemeanor. Learn more from our video series on new state laws. Read more »HB 3135: Misdemeanor Defendants Now Eligible for Community Sentencing under New Oklahoma Law.
New Oklahoma law, HB 3135, allowing misdemeanor defendants to receive community sentencing. Learn more from us at makelaweasy.com. Read more »What is the Default Punishment for a Misdemeanor in Oklahoma?
Default punishment for a misdemeanor in Oklahoma? Learn about the possible jail time and fines with Tulsa Attorney James Wirth. Read more »What Is a Predicate Misdemeanor in Oklahoma?
A predicate misdemeanor is a type of misdemeanor that becomes a more serious felony if the individual is convicted of the same offense again. Read more »You Can’t File a Motion to Quash on Misdemeanor Case Anymore: 2022 OK CR 28.
The OCCA decided that the decision is limited. It doesn't apply all of the procedures related to felonies to misdemeanors. Read more »The Ever-Expanding Scope of Misdemeanor Manslaughter Involves Oklahoma
Tulsa Attorney, James Wirth speaks on how the scope of what is criminalized under that seems to keep expanding in the state of Oklahoma. Read more »Will You Be Incarcerated for Violating Misdemeanor Probation?
What is the likelihood that you're going to be incarcerated if you're found to violate your probation on a misdemeanor? Is that a 100% chance? And the answer is it's definitely not a 100% chance. Read more »Entering a Plea: Step 10 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
This stage could happen any time during the process. Anytime if an agreement is worked out with the state for a plea deal that can be entered on the next court docket, or you could even sometimes make a special setting where you added on to get that plea deal entered. Read more »Sentencing: Step #9 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
Often, if you were found guilty, often on a misdemeanor, you might have credit for time served, you might not get any jail time at all, and it might just be resolved at that time, or maybe the judge does order a little bit of jail time or something. Maximum on a misdemeanor is up to a year in jail, depending on what the offense is. Sometimes the judges will sentence you immediately after the trial. Other times, they'll set it off for sentencing on another date. Read more »Trial: Step #8 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Criminal Case
Sometimes it's a bench trial. Sometimes it's a jury trial. If you're talking about a misdemeanor as a jury trial, we're looking at six jurors. And you've got a right to a jury trial so you can demand that. But courts have also found that the state has a right to a jury trial. Sometimes the defendant would waive it and the state would want a jury trial and you ended up at a jury trial. But either way, it's going to be one or the other, and essentially that means that you're going to be putting on witnesses, exhibits, get the testimony in there. And then somebody is going to be making a determination on one, whether there's guilt, meaning whether each of the elements of the offense has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and two, what the sentence should be within the range of punishment. Read more »Pre-Trial: Stage 7 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
Generally, the pretrial is all about the preparations that need to be made before you go before a judge for a bench trial or a jury for a jury trial. So it's the judge ensuring that we've got everything set and everything's ready to go, so we don't run into issues at that time. If you are the defense or even the state, it's about getting ruling on certain evidentiary hearings. It's about determining whether we have a complete list of witnesses ready to go. It's about pretrial motions, like motions in limine, which is making rulings on admissibility. Read more »Motion Hearing: Stage 6 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
So you've already gone through your arraignment. You've had your status conference, tried to work out a deal with the prosecutor, nothing going there, or there's other issues that you want to address. Perhaps you already went on to make sure the discovery is complete, and then we're talking about motions. Technically, some of these motions sometimes are filed earlier, but sometimes they're filed at this time. So it's not always perfect that everything is one, two, three, four, five, six; because for number six for the motion hearing, sometimes it's earlier, sometimes it's not, depending on the type of motion. Sometimes you want to file a demurrer. And when you're filing a demurrer, essentially you're alleging that the charging document, the information, which is the formal name for the charging document, doesn't even specifically list a crime. In that case, you file a demurrer and try to get it dismissed earlier on, probably directly after the arraignment or at the time of the arraignment. Read more »Discovery Hearing: Stage #5 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
A lot of times we don't get what we're supposed to though and then it becomes a battle where you're arguing with the prosecutor over it and trying to convince the judge to dismiss the case or to provide some sort of sanction because there's materials out there that should have been provided and have not been provided and we've gotten cases dismissed on those grounds at the Allen hearing. Read more »Status Conference: Stage #4 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
A status conference comes directly after the arraignment. It's the first docket after the arraignment. It goes by different names. It seems like every court calls it something different. Could be a conference docket, sounding docket, status conference docket. But whatever you call it, pretty much the same sort of thing happens. Read more »Arraignment: Stage #3 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
At an arraignment, you've got to appear and essentially it's an opportunity where you get the formal information. That's the official charging documents. You get a copy of that, formally it would be read to you and then you would verify that the information, the identifying information, name, date of birth, social security number, those types of things are correct. That in we've got the right person here as far as who we're trying to charge. That's the official way. Read more »Bond Hearing: Stage #2 in an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
Once a case is filed in Oklahoma, arrest warrant issues, and along with that arrest warrant, usually there's a bond that's automatically determined. So we've got bond schedules in a lot of the counties, not all of them, but a lot of the largest counties have a bond schedule so that depending on what the offense is, it automatically says what to charge as the initial bond. Read more »Criminal Investigation: Stage #1 of an Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
Most of the time in a misdemeanor case there's not much of an investigation period. So if you get pulled over for a DUI, usually arrested on the spot and then you've already got a court case going, not much of a time to do investigation. But other times there is... For example.. Read more »Oklahoma Misdemeanors Further Defined in Expungement Case
In the language of law, it is called expunction or expungement. In popular parlance, it is often called having your court records sealed. In Oklahoma, a person arrested for a crime or convicted on criminal charges in certain circumstances can petition a court to seal their records. One of those circumstances involves a misdemeanor conviction […] Read more »
