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Alen Dean O'Bryant v. Oklahoma

Paid petition · Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, No. F-2018-294 · judgment August 29, 2019


Certiorari denied · February 24, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

This case involves an allegation of sexual assault against a minor complaining witness. There was no confession. There was no physical evidence of sexual assault. The State’s evidence consisted of the allegations by the minor complaining witness. The State bolstered and vouched for her testimony through testimony by the examining physician, a social worker, a forensic examiner, her own mother, and the prosecutor during closing arguments. The question presented is: Does Due Process prohibit a State from presenting multiple witnesses and the prosecutor from vouching for the credibility of a minor complaining witness?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
James L. Hankins

For respondent

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Feb 24 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 15 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/21/2020.
  3. Nov 26 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 2, 2020)