Keith Davis, right, leaves a courtroom in the Latimer County Courthouse following a November hearing.Â
A Latimer County judge ruled that the reservation status of the Choctaw Nation was never disestablished by Congress.
âIt appears that at one time Congress considered or anticipated the disestablishment of the Indian nations and some steps were taken forward that goal through the granting of allotments and possible other measures,â District 16 Associate District Judge Bill Welch wrote in his ruling. âBut steps in the direction of disestablishment fall short of clear language by Congress disestablishing the Choctaw Nation.â
Welch made his ruling less than two weeks after a November evidentiary hearing that was ordered by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in the case against 79-year-old Keith Elmo Davis.