Tahlequah Lawyer Blog
Can You Get An Expungement For An Old Felony?
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. Read more »
Why You Need An Attorney For An Oklahoma Misdemeanor Case
Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie explains some advantages to having an attorney even on a misdemeanor case which typically carry lighter punishments than felonies. Read more »
Can You Still File A Case During COVID-19?
Cherokee County attorney Ryan Cannonie discusses changes to the courts during the Covid-19 pandemic and considerations you need to be aware of when pursuing legal action. Read more »
What Does It Mean To Be Defaulted?
What is a default? My name is Ryan Cannonie, I am the Tahlequah criminal defense attorney for Wirth Law Office in Cherokee County. I want to talk a little bit about default. In legal terms, a default is when one party has put forth a claim, and the other party either doesn't respond or doesn't show up. Read more »
Does Getting A Divorce Always Require Going To Court?
Does Getting a Divorce Always Require Going to Court? Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie discusses mediation and how the process is different than what people normally expect in a divorce case. One thing that most people think of when they think of courts, they think of judges and attorneys battling it out and witnesses on the stand. You can't handle the truth lies, being able to prove people are lying or whatnot, but they don't always think about the alternatives to court. Read more »
Is Alimony Legal In Oklahoma?
Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie explains generally what is alimony and if it is even still something Oklahoma courts will grant. So with alimony, yes, it is legal in Oklahoma. Oklahoma's one of several states that recognize alimony. Alimony, the point of it is to cushion the fall of one party in a divorce, from the lifestyle they had before to what they're going into. Read more »
How Serious Is DUI Third Offense Or More In Tahlequah?
We must all use due care when driving on public roadways. That means driving with a clear head, and paying attention to road conditions as we drive. Anything that interferes with the ability to drive safely can get us into trouble. This is especially true with intoxicants. Driving under the influence, or a DUI, can […] Read more »What You Should Not Do If You Are in a Traffic Stop on a Reservation
Most counties had cross deputization agreements with the tribes long before McGirt, the decision got filed. I'm talking years and years and years ago, most tribes gave a cross deputization out to deputies in the counties. So the situation is you can still be pulled over by a lot of officers in Oklahoma. Even if you qualify as a native American member on a reservation, the difference is, is your citations and tickets or if you're arrested for a DUI, something like that, shouldn't go to state court, there's issue you either go to tribal or federal. That's where you get into a difference. Read more »
Does The McGirt Decision Impact Criminal Law In Oklahoma?
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. Read more »
What To Expect In A Divorce
When you go to file a divorce, there has to be a petition filed, there's paperwork to do. If you have an attorney, they can guide you through this. What you're going to be seeing though, is that there's an attorney fee on it. Let's say this is a very simple divorce. Attorney's charging you only 1,500. Even let's say this is just an agreed upon. Well, in addition, that 1,500, you're going to have to pay filing fees, which range from 250 to 300, depending if you have kids or not. There are certain things you have to have in your divorce filing. There's certain paperwork by statute. You can't just file a piece of paper that says, "I want to be divorced." You have to have certain other pieces, certain other documents filed with it. Your attorney's going to know what those documents are. If you have children, it actually increases the filings and increases some of the costs when you file for divorce. But your basis for divorce are going to be those reasons I listed. Like I said, there's more, but those are really the primary ones. Once you get that, then you're going to have to go sit with your attorney, start going through what documents they need from you, what things they have to have you sign, and then proceed with filing the divorce. Read more »
What Is An Indecent Proposal To A Minor In Oklahoma?
Oklahoma has a number of laws to protect children from inappropriate sexual conduct and exploitation. One of those laws forbids making a lewd or indecent proposal to a minor in Oklahoma. Here is what you need to know about the law and how it is handled in Tahlequah. The Law Against Making A Lewd Or […] Read more »What Are Your Options If You Are Filing for Divorce?
Tahlequah attorney discusses some options you have if you are thinking about filing for a divorce. Some divorces are actually, in fact, a lot are very amicable. The people just realized, "Hey, we're not good together. Maybe we make better friends than spouses. Or we decided that this is just not our thing, and we tried and it didn't work out." And there's no shame in that. When you have an agreed-on divorce, it actually makes things a lot simpler. Your options, I'm going to go through some of our options we give people when they contact us about a divorce. The first thing we do as a firm is we can just draft the papers for you. We will draft up all the divorce papers, we will sell them to you for $500, is how the retainer fee works. Read more »
What Is A Paternity Action?
Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie explains a paternity action and some considerations for those thinking of filing one. One thing that comes up quite a lot actually is paternity actions. Now, when I say paternity actions, this is a situation, let's say you're a father, you have children, but you weren't ever put on the birth certificate. You have never had DNA done. You and the children's mother were never married and just their kids were born and you've always kind of been in the picture. You maybe don't live together, so they visit with you sometimes. They visit with her sometimes, and that's kind of the situation you're in. So if you find yourself in a situation like most of the time when people come in, it's not because things are going well. No one goes to the court system because things are going well. But a lot of times what happens is over the years, there's disagreements, there's re-marriages, there's other situations, maybe possibly moving. And what happens is visitation is stopped. So you are no longer allowed to see your children because their mother just won't let you around them. Well, when you go to try to get an order from the court to let you see your children, you're going to run into one big problem. It's that you're going to have to prove you're their father. Read more »
Charged With Possession Of A Stolen Vehicle In Oklahoma? Learn More
Being caught in possession of a stolen vehicle in Oklahoma doesn’t mean that the person caught actually stole the vehicle. However, both are crimes in Oklahoma. Mere possession of a stolen vehicle can subject a person to prison time. If you are facing charges in Tahlequah, here is what you need to know about the […] Read more »How A Guardianship Ends
If your kids have been placed in a guardianship based on a deprive situation, DHS was involved and the court placed them in a guardianship, you're going to have things in that guardianship order that you're going to have to have completed and you're going to have to have proof of that. If this is just a regular guardianship, a Title 30 guardianship is what we call it, then you're still going to have to come in and prove that you're the parent and you have a good home situation, and that there's a reason for the court to terminate that guardianship. Remember, the court at one point found there was good reason to have a guardianship so you're going to have come in and prove well, there's a reason now to get rid of it. And if you don't have an attorney, and if you don't have an attorney that knows what they're doing, this could be very difficult for you, and in some cases you're probably going to get told no and you're going to have keep coming back. Read more »
What Does Guardianship Mean In Oklahoma?
What Does Guardianship Mean in Oklahoma? Tahlequah attorney Ryan Cannonie gives you an in-depth overview of guardianships. One of the things that comes up a lot is guardianships. A guardianship, I think I've done a video about them as it relates to deprived, deprived guardianships are usually found in title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes. We're going to be talking about a different form of guardianship right now, specifically a title 30. That just means it's found in the Statutes under title 30. A title 30 guardianship is what most of your guardianships are going to be filed under. Title 30 includes guardianships for both adults and for children, so it can be filed in either case. There are certain things you have to do to qualify, certain requirements that have to be met depending on if you're filing for an adult or a child. Read more »
What Happens When No Plea Agreement Is Made In Criminal Cases?
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. Read more »
What is a Status/Disposition/Sounding Docket?
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. Read more »
Bonding And Bailing: What Happens After Your Arrest?
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. Read more »
Your First Day In Court: Navigating The Initial Appearance Docket
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." Read more »
Defining Assault And Battery On A Police Officer In Oklahoma
We live in a time of increasing confrontation. When that confrontation includes the police, emotions can run high and things can escalate quickly into a physical confrontation. That physical confrontation can include assault and battery on a police officer in Oklahoma. If you are facing charges in Tahlequah, here are some things that you may […] Read more »What Is The First Step In An Oklahoma Criminal Case?
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. Read more »
How Serious Is Rape By Instrumentation In Oklahoma?
Rape is a crime of violence. Rape by instrumentation is a specific type of rape, though not commonly discussed. Here is what you need to know about rape by instrumentation in Oklahoma and how it is handled. Rape Defined Rape is legally defined as an act of non-consensual sexual intercourse involving the vaginal or anal […] Read more »Pro Se Chronicles
We can do a consultation, talk to you about your options, hopefully help you and maybe even get your plea offer reduced, get a different charge as a reduced charge, maybe even get it dismissed. But we will be able to help you a lot more than you going in with a book you read last night on what it means to be a lawyer. Read more »How McGirt Could Impact Your Case
Here are certain types of crimes that can only be charged federally or through a tribe if the defendant is a Native American member or if the victim is a Native American member. There's a list of them. I had to write them down, so let me read through them. If either the victim of the crime or the accused perpetrator of it is on a crime for murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, rape, child sexual abuse, incest, assault against a child under the age of 16. Child abuse may mean child neglect, assault and battery, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny over a thousand dollars, domestic assault and battery by strangulation or assault and battery with serious bodily injury. Read more »
