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Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorney | Jury Trial Lawyer |918-277-4800
If you’re looking for the best criminal defense attorney in Tulsa, call the Cale Law Office at 918-277-4800 your initial consultation is free. Attorney Stephen Cale has been practicing for nearly two decades. He focuses his practice on criminal defense. He has handled some of the most serious cases, including murder.
Prosecutors charged the defendant with first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill. The state sought the death penalty. The jury found the defendant guilty on all counts. It recommended the death sentence. The judge sentenced the defendant accordingly.
The defendant’s wife had been several domestic disputes. One morning, when the defendant entered his wife’s workplace, he shot and killed her employer. He also seriously injured his wife. The evidence showed that the defendant and his wife have been involved in a rocky relationship for about 20 years.
The defendant’s wife had several years of experience in automotive the transmission businesses. The defendant was a transposition mechanic by trade. His wife had experience in dealing with customers in ordering parts. Through the years, the two of them were together of various transmission shops in several states. One year, the defense wife got a job in a transmission shop. It was operated by her employer.
The defendant was not able to get a job in Oklahoma. So he worked for a long time in Texas, driving home on some days. Even though the defendant testified that he worked in Texas because he cannot make better money than in Oklahoma, other evidence suggested that the defendant was angry that his wife’s employer would not hire him. The wife testified that her employer did not want to hire her husband. Tulsa criminal defense attorney.
Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorney | Jury Trial Lawyer
During an argument a year later, the defendant made serious specific threats of violence to his wife. He lost his last transmission job in Texas several months before. He was not able to get a new job and became increasingly resentful that his wife’s boss would not hire him. The defendant threatened to kill his wife, her parents, their child, in his wife’s coworkers. His wife took the threat seriously. She noticed a handgun in the garage that her husband had hidden.
Before leaving the house, the defendant toured up, removing most furnishings, cutting or burning his wife’s clothing, and burning holes in the wall with his cigarette. He then broke off the house keys inside the door locks. On one occasion, the defendant’s wife testified that the defendant called her at her work and told her that he was coming to kill her. Someone saw him driving by the shop later that day.
Finally, and the defendant called his wife several times while she was at work. He demanded talk to her at one time in other times hung up unless she answered the phone. The defendant demanded that she give him access to the storage unit containing his personal effects. His wife told him to call her lawyer. During these repeated calls, the defendant asked his wife that she wanted to live to see another day. He also threatened to kill her boss. A short time after the calls, the defendant drove his van to the shop, walked in, and demanded to see his wife. She was in the break room with her bosses daughter-in-law. Her boss step between the defendant and the wife and asked the defendant to leave. Tulsa criminal defense attorney.
The defendant then pulled out a revolver rested up, pushed the woman to the ground and shot the boss twice. He died at the scene. The defendant then Jason shot his wife with the remaining bullets. One boy here her hip and traveled to her internal organs to her sternum. When the gun stopped firing, the defendant pistol whipped his wife repeatedly in the head. The defendant tried to reload his gun because the spent shells had been mainly removed and left on top of the shop floor. The defendant then fled the scene, through waive the gun, been in his car, and hidden his friends house for police found in the next day.
Several days into the trial, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked by terrorists. The attack created a national emergency. The defendant contended on appeal that the trial court’s refusal to adjourn for a few days or declare a mistrial when these events unfolded denied him a fair trial. However, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed. The defendant contended that the events must instruct the jury from giving full attention to this case or otherwise prejudiced him. Tulsa criminal defense attorney.
An accused person is entitled to be tried by jury free from outside influences that could affect the fairness of the proceeding, said Tulsa criminal defense attorney Stephen Cale. A person however, is not entitled to jurors who know nothing of the offense for which the defendant is on trial. Likewise, is not entitled to jurors ignorant of other events taking place in the world around them. The defendant offered no evidence that the terrorist events in the distractor the jurors the evidence been presented at trial. Neither did he show that those events prejudice them in any way against his defense.
The defendant also contended on appeal that it’s not a fair and impartial jury in several ways during jury selection. Issues regarding jury selection are generally reviewed by the appellate court only for an abuse of discretion. An appellate court will court great deference to jurors determination of witness credit credibility, said Tulsa criminal defense attorney Stephen Cale. That’s because jurors have a unique ability to personally observe the demeanor the witness. The appellate court also give great deference to the trial judges in matters regarding jury selection. The trial judge personally conducts voir dire, observing all aspects of the participants demeanor that are not reflected in the printed transcript.
If you’re looking for an aggressive trial attorney, call Tulsa criminal defense attorney Stephen Cale at 918-277-4800. Attorney Cale’s been practicing for nearly two decades. He has handled numerous jury trials including trials for murder. You dearly want to hire attorney Stephen Cale because he focuses on criminal defense.