Criminal Law

Tahlequah attorney, Ryan Cannonie, explains how not all false personation cases should be charged as a felony.

Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie discusses getting a protective order for stalking without a relationship between the two people.

Tahlequah attorney, Ryan Cannonie, explains the number one thing to prepare for when turning yourself on on a warrant.

Tahlequah attorney, Ryan Cannonie, explains what a Sentence Enhancement is so you can better understand State Question 805.

What is a violent crime in Oklahoma? Tahlequah criminal defense attorney Ryan Cannonie, with Wirth Law Office in Cherokee County has that answer.  

Tahlequah attorney, Ryan Cannonie, explains what the new State v. Green ruling means to criminal cases in Oklahoma.

Can you get an expungement for a felony even if it’s pretty old, let’s say 30 years old? Answer is yes, maybe, it kind of depends. It depends on some factors and facts to your case.

Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie explains some advantages to having an attorney even on a misdemeanor case which typically carry lighter punishments than felonies.

If you are a Native American member, or if you are accused of a crime where the victim is a Native American member, that means that state courts, that’s your district court of Cherokee County, district court of Adair County, Muskogee County, different, whatever the County is, didn’t have the legal authority to prosecute you. Meaning if you have a case pending, they don’t have the authority. It means if you already pled to a case or was found guilty in a case, then you can file a motion to try to get rid of that based on the fact they did not have authority.

At a preliminary hearing, the judge will either dismiss the case if the prosecutor doesn’t prove what they need. By the way, they are not proving beyond a reasonable doubt. They are proving a much lower burden that your attorney can explain to you and explain what the situation there is. And if they meet that burden, if they prove what they need to prove, then the next step, the judge will set you for a district court arraignment. And that’s kind of like your first arraignment, except a lot of times it’s a little more official. You’re with a different judge. At that point, a lot of times, they’ll maybe read your charges to you again. Any changes to your charges after the preliminary hearing, they’ll make you aware of those. Then you’re set for either a jury trial or possibly a plea if you’ve, after your preliminary hearing, you’ve decided you’re going to take the plea offer if the prosecutor’s still offering it. Either plea or you go to trial. One of the two at that point.

Wirth Office Tahlequah Attorney Ryan Cannonie explains why you want an attorney with you for the next stage of the criminal system, status dockets. Basically, these are dockets for you and your attorney to go in and talk with the district attorney’s office, figure out what’s their case, what their stance is and work on a plea agreement. Now, if you have an attorney representing you, a lot of times, they’ll go in prior to that docket on their own to the DA’s office, try and make an appointment with them, call them in some of the more rural counties, it’s a lot easier.

Once you’re arrested, or once a warrant is served on you and you’re arrested for the warrant, you’ll go to jail, and then you’ll be given a bond. Now, sometimes you’ll be given a bond, like your public intoxes sometimes will have a standard bond. Sometimes court systems have standard bonds, where if you commit A, the bond is whatever they set it at. Certain offenses you have to go before a judge. Domestic violence, you’re always going to have to go before a judge to receive a bond on those cases. And your bond is not always going to be money. There could be other factors associated with that, as well. So when you do go before a judge, you have a certain time limit that they have to have you in front of the judge by. And when you go in front of the judge, they’re going to look and see if there’s probable cause for your arrest.

Your initial appearance is pretty standard. They go pretty quick. Some courts, they want to read the whole charge to you, everything you’re being charged with. The actual procedure that most attorneys do is waive a reading, say, “We can read this ourselves.”

So the first thing that’s important when you come to talk to an attorney, come to talk to us about your case, is to let us know if you were arrested or not arrested. So in the criminal system, if you are accused of a crime and law enforcement, if it’s a misdemeanor and they see it committed in their presence, or there’s a couple of exceptions to that; domestic violence being one, they don’t have to see it in their presence, just see injuries from it, and it has to be within so many hours. If that’s the situation, then you might be arrested right there. If it’s a felony that you’re going to be charged with, and law enforcement believe they have what you call probable cause, that is just a fancy way of saying they think you did it, then they can arrest you for a felony, even if they don’t see it happen in front of them, or if they don’t walk up into it. So that kind of gives you a split where law enforcement can arrest you for those misdemeanors or felonies, or they can do a police report, send it to the district attorney’s office, and then ask for a warrant to be signed by the judge for your arrest.