Oklahoma Criminal Law

Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyer Kevin Adams

Kevin Adams - Criminal Defense Lawyer

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Eighty-Five Perecent 85% Charges in Oklahoma

Oklahoma law requires that a person serviving a prison sentence for particular crimes "shall be required to serve not less than eighty-five percent (85%) of any sentence of imprisonment imposed by the judicial system prior to becoming eligible for consideration for parole. Persons convicted of these offenses shall not be eligible for earned credits or any other type of credits which have the effect of reducing the length of the sentence to less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed."

The eighty-five perecent statute can be found at Title 21 O.S. Section 13.1. Trial courts are required to instruct juries that "A person convicted of [Specify Crime in 21 O.S. Supp. 2019, § 13.1] shall be required to serve not less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for consideration for parole and shall not be eligible for any credits that will reduce the length of imprisonment to less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the sentence imposed." (See Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instruction OUJI-CR 10-13A) If the charge which the person is accussed of carries Life in prison, trial courts are also required to instruct the jury "If a person is sentenced to life imprisonment, the calculation of eligibility for parole is based upon a term of forty-five (45) years, so that a person would be eligible for consideration for parole after thirty-eight (38) years and three (3) months. However, if a person is not granted parole, he or she will be imprisoned for the remainder of his or her natural life while serving a sentence of life imprisonment." (See Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instruction OUJI-CR 10-13B.)

For years juries were not informed of the 85% nature of certain crimes dispite Oklahoma having a law that provided for "jury sentencing". The practice of not informing the jury of the eight-five perecent nature of certain crimes ended in 2006 with the case of Anderson v. State, 2006 OK CR 6, paragraph 23, 130 P.3d 273 (2006) ;

This approach allows Oklahoma’s sentencing juries to more accurately gauge their intended sentences, according to an informed perspective on parole eligibility. Since jurors are likely to assume that defendants would become parole eligible at a much earlier point in time, explaining the 85% Rule will avoid unnecessary and unfair prejudice to the defendant – due to juries "rounding up" their sentences, in an attempt to account for their uninformed guesses about the impact of parole. Thus instructing upon the 85% Rule will actually discourage jury speculation, while still respecting the separation between the judicial and executive branches. Although 85% of a given sentence may not be as readily calculable as perhaps 50% or 75%, the concept is clear, and there is no good reason not to provide Oklahoma’s sentencing juries with this critical information about how the sentences they give are required to be served.

Often times people will refer to 85% crimes as "violent". Often times people will ask "is it violent"? Not all the 85% crimes are violent and not all violent offense are 85% crimes. To see if a crime is 85% you just need to check the list.

Courts are also required to inform defendants facing eighty-five perecent crimes that they will be required to serve 85% of their sentence before being eligible for release.

Return to the Oklahoma Criminal Law Guide

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