QUALIFICATIONS
View John Dunn's
Professional Profile
Personal
Statement from John Dunn
John Dunn has been KFAQ's "go
to guy" for legal questions
On August 20, 2015, John Dunn
joined Pat Campbell to discuss the legal issues involved in prosecuting
the security guard who was involved in the shooting death of Monroe
Bird. You can
listen to the podcast.
On October 26, 2015, John Dunn joined Pat
Campbell to discuss the legal issues involved in the OSU homecoming
tragedy. You can
listen to the podcast.
John Dunn's Recent Victories
When a client was arrested for Actual Physical Control while sitting in
the passenger seat of a running motor vehicle. The law at the time
permitted the revocation of the client's driver's license. While
the criminal charge was dismissed, the Department of public Safety
continued to pursue the client's driver's license. The Department
was successful at both the administrative court and the district court
level. However,
John Dunn's firm successfully appealed a District Court's decision to
take away his client's driver's license.
John Dunn and associate Stephanie Bush successfully convinced the Court
of Civil Appeals that the crime of "Actual Physical Control" requires
some intent to drive.
In Tulsa County, the district court dismissed a case before District
Court Arraignment, finding that the witness that provided the evidence
necessary for the examining magistrate was not credible. The State
appealed, arguing that credibility is an issue for the jury. The
attorney for the defendant asked for help.
John Dunn and MJ Denman successfully convinced the Oklahoma Court of
Criminal Appeals that the State is required to establish the reliability
of the evidence it offers at preliminary hearing in order to bind the
Defendant over to district court.
John Dunn made law by successfully arguing that the Oklahoma Sex
Offender Registration was so punitive that it could not be applied
retroactively without violating the ex post facto clause of the
Oklahoma constitution. This opinion makes Oklahoma one of the
few states that has found their law to be punitive. Since this
opinion was released, it has been cited by other courts of the United
States as a basis for limiting the unconstitutional application of these
kinds of punitive statutes nationwide.
Mr. Dunn has additionally prepared a
"question and answer" page about this opinion and some
subsequent decisions expanding on the Supreme Court's decision.
John Dunn successfully represented a client that had been defaulted by
the District Court for failure to timely answer a Petition.
John Dunn successfully argued that his client had not received the
notice required by law and that as a result, they were entitled to be
heard. Mr. Dunn will now get the opportunity to represent his
client in litigation that they were previously denied.
John Dunn championed the cause of a single mother who had changed her
mind about giving her child up for adoption. The prospective
adoptive parents pursued a guardianship in an effort to keep custody of
the child - despite the fact that they were not qualified to be
guardians under Oklahoma Law. John Dunn and his associate Brian
Melton rode to the rescue and took the matter to the Oklahoma Supreme
Court.
The Court ordered that the out of state guardians be removed and awarded
Natural mother her attorney fees.
In an order that keeping in line with Starkey, John Dunn
recently successfully argued to the District Court of Tulsa County that
the residency restrictions do not apply to a person who became subject
to the act prior to 203 when that portion of the law was enacted.
The Order
has also been included here so it can be downloaded. (During
argument, the City of Tulsa offered an interesting internal memo from where it is
represented that police policy
prohibits arrest on sight if someone is residing in a "zone of safety".)
