DataOklahoma  

*These factors track the process--i.e. the effort and obstacles--for obtaining data from individual states under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and appeals process. These factors do not measure the quality of the data; only the process of attempting to obtain the data.

• 11

  days to respond to our initial FOIA request.

Oklahoma took 11 days to respond to our initial FOIA request on August 7, 2023 with: “I am not sure which other agency would have the offense of felony murder.”

We sent a FOIA appeal on February 8, 2023 to which they took 43 days to respond with a spreadsheet of a range of offenses unspecific to felony murder.

Although we attempted to use publicly available web portals to identify individuals incarcerated under felony murder, as in most other states, Oklahoma does not have a statute specifically codifying felony murder, which would make it easier to identify and isolate felony murder conviction data. Instead, as in most other states, felony murder is defined within its other murder statutes and the publicly available conviction and sentence information did not distinguish felony murder from other murder convictions.

"Unfortunately, I am not sure which other agency would have the offense of felony murder." -Oklahoma Department of Corrections

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In Oklahoma, the felony murder subsection is defined in the first degree (Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 701.7) and second degree murder statutes (Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 701.8).

Prosecutors can charge and convict any person of murder without having to prove that they intended to cause another person’s death. Prosecutors must only prove that a person or an accomplice committed another felony (specific felonies for first degree murder and “any other felony” for second degree murder) and that a death occurred. Prosecutors can prove murder under the first degree murder statute even when the death was caused by a third non-party (i.e. neither the person nor any accomplice).

A conviction for felony murder if convicted as first degree murder carries a sentence of death, life without the possibility of parole, or life. A conviction for felony murder if convicted as second degree murder carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life.