Latest news with #OklahomaSurvivorsAct
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
OK judge grants woman sentenced to life for murder court hearing to challenge sentence
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A Tulsa County District judge says the first Oklahoman to apply for resentencing under the Oklahoma Survivor's Act will get a hearing to decide if her current life sentence is illegal. News 4 has been following April Wilkens' case. She admitted to the 1999 murder of her ex-boyfriend, Terry Carlton. Wilkens said that she was held hostage, raped and assaulted before she shot Carlton with his own gun. The relationship of two years was filled with victim protective orders, drugs and domestic violence. April Wilkens' lawyers request release, call her incarceration 'unlawful' Wilkens has been parole-eligible since 2013, but has been denied five times, despite exemplary behavior while incarcerated. The Tulsa County District Attorney's Office has opposed parole. In 2024, the Oklahoma Legislature passed the Oklahoma Survivors Act, which allows for resentencing for defendants who apply and are approved who have suffered domestic violence. The law applies for both victims who haven't been convicted of a crime and has a retroactive clause that allows people who are already incarcerated to ask a judge to reconsider their sentence. Lisa Moss was the first Oklahoman to get a resentencing hearing in Seminole County earlier this year and be released from prison. She had served more time than Wilkens, but didn't apply until after Wilkens. 'A lot of times, when you're in the legislature, you pass something and four or five years later you may see some results,' said Greg Treat, former Oklahoma Senate Pro Tempore. 'The year after was great.' Treat helped get the law to the finish line, saying authors tried to safeguard the initial bill language to make sure that potential applicants didn't try and exploit the system. 'We really tried to make it a very narrow funnel that people could get through to help the people that it was intended to, and I think we did a good job of narrowing that funnel quite a bit,' said Treat. Even still, the law has faced some push back from those, Treat believes have the impression it will be used to rob other victims families of justice. 'I know that one of the big opponents was the Tulsa County District Attorney to this issue,' said Treat. 'And it sounds like he's being reluctant to allow it.' Wilkens' attorneys argued the same in a writ of habeas corpus filed April 4 seeking that she be placed on supervised release until her hearing. They allege that Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler has 'unreasonably delayed her resentencing.' They say Kunzweiler has shown no evidence was Wilkens shouldn't get a resentencing hearing and calls her current sentence illegal. 1061453250-20250407-103219-Download Wilkens' attorneys declined an interview with News 4 on Monday to comment further. News 4 requested an interview with Kunzweiler as well, a spokesperson declined, but offered the following statement: Statement-from-Tulsa-County-District-Attorney-Steve-Kunzweiler-in-regards-to-new-filing-in-AprilDownload A Tulsa County District judge granted Wilkens a habeas hearing, but a date has not been scheduled. In that hearing, the court will decide if her imprisonment is lawful, and will allow her attorneys to challenge her custody. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
April Wilkens' lawyers request release, call her incarceration 'unlawful'
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Lawyers for April Wilkens are asking a Tulsa County judge to let her out of prison. They call her incarceration 'unlawful' because of unreasonable court delays. CRIMINAL INJUSTICE: A domestic abuse survivor imprisoned for life for the murder of her abuser She was the first Oklahoma inmate to file for a re-sentencing hearing under the new Oklahoma Survivor's Act, which allows leniency in sentencing for survivors of domestic abuse. News 4's Ali Meyer has been reporting extensively on April Wilkens since last year. She is the Tulsa County woman who was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of of her ex-boyfriend back in 1999. Wilkens admitted to shooting the victim during a violent night where she was held hostage in his home, raped, and assaulted. The relationship was a tumultuous two years of victim protective orders, drugs and domestic violence. RELATED STORY: First applicant for Oklahoma Survivors' Act relief still waiting for hearing Wilkens was convicted of First Degree Murder in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, the most lenient sentence available to her under Oklahoma sentencing guidelines in 2000. Wilkens has been denied parole five times since she became eligible in 2013, despite exemplary behavior in prison. The Tulsa County Distsrict Attorney continues to oppose her parole. Last year, the Oklahoma Legislature passed the Oklahoma Survivors Act allowing for flexibility in sentencing for defendants who suffered from domestic abuse. Wilkens' re-sentencing hearing was approved under the Oklahoma Survivor's Act on November 4th, 2024, more than five months ago. However, the Tulsa County District Attorney's office continues to delay the hearing, asking the court for months and months to prepare. In a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed on Friday, Wilkens' defense team calls her incarceration 'unlawful;' an 'unreasonable over-detention' and a 'violation of Wilkens' Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Wilkens' legal team is asking the court to set a hearing for argument and decision under the Oklahoma Survivor's Act, the command the Department of Corrections to bring April Wilkens to Tulsa County to be present during her hearing, to issue a writ of habeas corpus directing Wilkens' release or to place her on supervised release until her resentencing hearing. Under current sentencing guidelines and the Oklahoma Suvivor's Act, defendants convicted of murder are eligible for a sentence of 25 years or less. April Wilkens has already spent 27 years behind bars. According to the court record, a Tulsa County District Judge granted Wilkens' request for a hearing on the writ of habeas corpus. Tulsa County District Attorney, Steve Kunzweiler issued a statement following the ruling: 'Just as Ms. Wilkens is entitled to a hearing, we are entitled to do our due diligence in examiningeverything which has taken place since she has been in prison. That takes time and resources for which this statute did not allocate. We also had to seek out and retain expert witnesses who could assist us with our case once this case is set for a formal hearing. We look forward to addressing all of the evidence in a courtroom which is where matters in dispute should be resolved and not in the media.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Ali Meyer and News 4 win 2025 Gracie Award with ‘The April Wilkens Story'
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Congratulations are in order for KFOR's Ali Meyer for winning a 2025 Gracie Award for 'Criminal Injustice: The April Wilkens Story' The in-depth story by News 4's Ali Meyer follows the case of April Wilkens, a domestic abuse survivor who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her abuser. CRIMINAL INJUSTICE: A domestic abuse survivor imprisoned for life for the murder of her abuser Wilkens' case was integral in sparking a criminal justice reform movement to lessen the severity of sentencing for domestic abuse survivors. This ultimately led to the passage of the Oklahoma Survivors Act (SB 1835) in 2024. As part of their story, Ali and the KFOR news team included a never-before-seen tape of Wilkens' interrogation. That tape had been sitting in a Tulsa warehouse for decades. The Gracie Awards recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women, and about women in all facets of media and entertainment. Ali and News 4 have been honored with six Gracie awards: 2004, Is DNA Enough?2005, Anaka2010, Triple Miracle2014, The Survival of Edith Morales2019, Baseline Breast Cancer (Grand Champion)2025, Criminal Injustice: The April Wilkens Story You can watch the in-depth investigation below. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
