I am tribal member (or accused of committing a crime against a tribal member) what does McGirt v. Oklahoma mean for me?

McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a landmark[1][2] United States Supreme Court case which ruled that, as pertaining to the Major Crimes Act, much of the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma remains as Native American lands of the prior Indian reservations of the Five Civilized Tribes, never disestablished by Congress as part of the Oklahoma Enabling Act of 1906. As such, prosecution of crimes by Native Americans on these lands falls into the jurisdiction of the tribal courts and federal judiciary under the Major Crimes Act, rather than Oklahoma's courts.

McGirt was related to Sharp v. Murphy, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), heard in the 2018–19 term on the same question but which was believed to be deadlocked due to Justice Neil Gorsuch's recusal; Gorsuch recused because he had prior judicial oversight of the case. Sharp was decided per curiam alongside McGirt.

If you are tribal member or defendant accused of a crime agianst a tribal member with a pending state court case you should strongly consider immediately raising the issue of subject matter jursidiction and seeking to have your state court case dismissed!

If you are tribal member or defendant accused of a crime agianst a tribal member with prior state court convictions you should strongly consider immediately seeking post conviction relief of any and all past state court convictions.

Our attorneys are experienced in seeking McGirt relief either through a motion to dismiss or an application for post-conviction relief and have achieved successful outcomes for multiple clients related to this issue.

1st DUI, what happens next?

A first time DUI can mean lots of things, but the first thing you need to understand is that a DUI is actually two separate cases in one.  There is a criminal case which is filed either in county court or municipal court AND a separate administrative proceeding before the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.  It is also important to know that if you don't ask for a hearing in your administrative proceeding within fifteen (15) days of your arrest you will automatically lose the administrative proceeding and have your licence revoked, regardless of whether you were actually driving under the influence.  So you must act fast and you must do so in writing.

How is the Process Supposed to Work?

This is by far one of the most common questions we are asked.  It is so common we have an entire page (click here) dedicated to covering the topic.  Hopefully, it will help you to better understand what to be prepared for and some questions you may want to ask during an initial consultation with our office.