NEWSROOM

The Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office is bound by the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct, specifically Rule 3.6.

Utilizing Rule 3.6 as a guide, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office Media Policy states:

Subject to limitations imposed by law or court rule or order, the office may make public the following information in any criminal case in which charges have been filed.

A.  The defendant’s name, age, residence, employment, marital status, and similar background information.

B.  The substance of the charge, as contained in the Indictment or Information.

C.  Information provided to the media should be limited to the information contained in publicly available material, such as an indictment or other public pleadings;

D.  The identify of the investigating or arresting agency and the length and scope of the investigation;

E.  The circumstances immediately surrounding an arrest, including the time and place of arrest, resistance; pursuit, possession and use of weapons, and a description of physical items seized during the arrest;

F.  Information in juvenile proceedings, should ensure that the identity of a minor is not revealed.

The office shall not make any statement or disclose any information that reasonably could have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding.  As such the office should refrain from disclosing the following, except as needing in a judicial proceeding, or in an announcement after a finding of guilt:

A.  Observations about a defendant’s or a party’s character.

B.  Statements, admissions, confessions, or alibis attributable to a defendant or party, or the refusal or failure of the accused to make a statement.

C.  Reference to investigative procedures, such as fingerprints, polygraph examinations, ballistic tests, or forensic services, including DNA testing, or to the refusal by the defendant to submit to such tests or examinations.

D.  Statements concerning the identity, testimony, or credibility of prospective witnesses.

E.  Statements concerning anticipated evidence or argument in the case.

F.  Any opinion as to the defendant’s guilt, or the possibility of a plea of guilty to the offense charged, or the possibility of a plea to a lesser offense.

The public and the media are encouraged to review Rule 3.6 by clicking here.