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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s highest criminal appeals court is throwing out five more first-degree murder convictions based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals issued the rulings Thursday in line with what is known as the McGirt decision.
The court’s rulings also affirm that Congress never formally disestablished the reservations of the Choctaw and Seminole nations.
As a result, the state lacks jurisdiction to prosecute certain crimes by or against Native Americans inside the historic boundaries of those tribes.
Similar rulings already have been made regarding the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Muscogee (Creek) nations.
