06/21/2023
The Oklahoma Innocence Project is excited to announce that OKIP client Ricky Dority’s conviction has been overturned. In 2015, Ricky was convicted of first-degree murder in Sequoyah County and was sentenced to life without parole. OKIP took on Ricky’s case in 2021 working with Private Investigator Bobby Staton. Over the past two years, evidence was discovered that undermines the State’s case against Ricky and strengthens the alibi defense he presented at trial. Last week, the trial judge in Sequoyah County determined that Ricky’s right to the effective assistance of counsel was violated by counsel’s failure to find and present a witness whose testimony refuted key testimony from one of the State’s witnesses. In the course of OKIP’s investigation it was also discovered that the State had withheld important information about the same witness and his motives for testifying against Ricky. If that evidence had been presented at trial, the jury likely would have rejected the witness’s testimony and would not have had sufficient evidence on which to convict. The State of Oklahoma has 90 days to decide whether to retry Ricky or dismiss the case. Ricky has served 9 years for a crime he did not commit.
This result is the culmination of years of hard work by OKIP staff, investigator Bobby Staton, several Oklahoma City University School of Law students and University of Central Oklahoma Forensic Science students. We appreciate the work and dedication of everyone who worked on and believed in this case.
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