Oklahoman
With dozens of convictions already overturned, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed Friday to consider whether the U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming the existence of the Muscogee Nation reservation should have applied retroactively.
In a brief order issued Friday, the court put on hold a case involving a Native American inmate convicted of second-degree murder on the Choctaw Nation’s reservation and gave District Attorney Mark Matloff and the inmate’s attorneys 20 days to file written arguments. The court also invited Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter and the Choctaw Nation to file briefs.
The Court told the parties to address the question of whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the McGirt case last July should be applied retroactively to void a conviction that was final before that decision and a related one involving the Choctaw reservation was issued.