TULSA, Okla. – Cherokee citizen and brother of Governor Kevin Sitt, Marvin Stitt lost an appeal with the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals (OCCA) on March 6. Marvin Stitt was convicted of aggravated speeding following a non-jury trial and was fined $250 in the City of Tulsa Municipal Court. In an attempt to appeal the conviction, Marvin Stitt sued the city. The Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals ruled that Marvin would not be dismissed from paying the fine.
This case follows two others involving the City of Tulsa and its jurisdiction to prosecute tribal citizens who commit crimes on the MCN Reservation despite the Supreme Court’s McGirt decision that affirmed the tribe’s right to prosecute tribal citizens for crimes committed on the reservation.
In the first case, City of Tulsa v. OCCA a judge ruled that the city does have jurisdiction over misdemeanor crimes committed by Native Americans who are not MCN citizens. In the other case, Hooper v. Tulsa, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the city does not have jurisdiction over municipal crimes committed by tribal citizens…