OKC Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Have You Received a Municipal Speeding Ticket in Oklahoma? We Can Help!
Have you recently received a municipal speeding ticket in Oklahoma? Attorney Aaron Easton from Oklahoma City is here to tell you about a recent success story. He had a client who had been ticketed for speeding in The Village, going 16 to 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. While their primary goal is always to get the case dismissed, sometimes that doesn't happen. In this particular case, they were able to work with the city prosecutors to reduce the charges from 16 to 20 over to just going in excess of the speed limit. This resulted in zero points on their driving record and a smaller fine. Even when a full dismissal isn't possible, a positive outcome can still be achieved. If you need representation for a municipal ticket in the Oklahoma City area, contact Aaron Easton at oklahomacitycriminaldefenseattorney.pro. Read more »
What Is Burglary in Oklahoma?
In this blog post, Oklahoma City Attorney Aaron Easton breaks down the definition of burglary in Oklahoma. He specifically focuses on the phrase breaks and enters and discusses how this can be confusing for people charged with burglary. Attorney Easton explains the different ways in which breaking can occur, including forcibly breaking a wall, door, or window, breaking in any other manner while armed with a dangerous weapon or with the help of confederates, and unlocking doors or opening windows using false keys or by lifting a latch. He emphasizes the importance of having an attorney to navigate the complexities of burglary charges in Oklahoma and warns against speaking to law enforcement without legal representation. Read more »
What to Do if You Are Charged with Burglary but It Did Not Involve Theft in Oklahoma?
Have you been charged with burglary in Oklahoma for a crime that doesn't involve theft? Hi, I'm Oklahoma City Attorney Aaron Easton, and believe it or not, that's pretty common. So while most of us think about burglary as entering a home or a vehicle to commit some theft, the way the statute is written does not always mean that. So with burglary, what the state is saying you did is that you crossed the threshold of that car, or more likely, that home, with the intent to commit a crime at the time you've crossed the threshold. So this is an important concept, because in Oklahoma, and really across the country, crimes fall under two different categories, a general intent crime or a specific intent crime. In a general intent crime, the state just has to prove that you had the intent to do an act that led to a crime. A specific intent crime means that it's the state's job in order to get a conviction, if that's what they're looking for, and obviously they are, it's their job to show that you had the specific intent to commit something. And in burglary, that is, and I'll pull up the statute here just briefly, so it talks about entering a dwelling with the intent to commit a crime. So at the point that you cross the threshold in the house, you have to have the specific intent in mind, or the state has to prove that you had that specific intent, to commit a crime inside. And so often, they charge individuals with burglary who commit some other crime inside of a home, such as a domestic violence, or an assault and battery, or a sexual assault crime, or something of that nature. They also tack on burglary, but the reason you want an attorney in that situation is because they understand the state is going to have to prove that not only did you commit whatever other crime they're talking about inside, for the burglary to stick, they have to show that you had that intention to commit the crime. So it's important not to speak to law enforcement when interviewed about this kind of thing, and certainly not to talk to the state and the prosecutor about it, because burglary is an extremely important crime. It's a crime that carries a sentence up to 20 years. It's a crime in which you have to serve 85% of your time. So a lot of times, folks look at it as a throwaway, as just attached to some other, what they think of as a more egregious crime, but it's Read more »