DAKODA AARON MCCAULEY, Appellant v. STATE OF OKLAHOMA, Appellee

¶1 Appellant, Dakoda Aaron McCauley, was tried and convicted by a jury in the District Court of Osage County, Case No. CF-2018-135, of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Heat of Passion), in violation of 21 O.S.2011, § 711.1 The jury sentenced McCauley to twenty-two years imprisonment. The Honorable Burl O. Estes, Associate District Judge, presided at trial and pronounced judgment and sentence in accordance with the jury's verdict.



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¶4 Appellant claims in his first proposition of error that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to try him. Appellant argues he is a citizen of the Osage Nation and the crime occurred within the boundaries of the Osage Nation Reservation. Appellant raised this claim for the first time below in a Motion for New Trial filed on February 10, 2022 (O.R. 495-98).4 Appellant contended therein, inter alia, that McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. __, 140 S. Ct. 2452 (2020) overruled prior Tenth Circuit precedent finding that the Osage reservation was disestablished by Congress. See Osage Nation v. Irby, 597 F.3d 1117, 1127 (10th Cir. 2010) ("the Osage reservation has been disestablished by Congress."). The trial court disagreed as does this Court. McGirt did not expressly overrule Osage Nation, nor is the binding precedent established in Osage Nation incongruent with the Supreme Court's decision in McGirt. Further, the Tenth Circuit's decision in Osage Nation applies here because of its preclusive effect. Appellant's claim is entirely derivative of the Osage Nation's original claim, and as such the claim cannot be relitigated here by Appellant.5







¶5 For these reasons, we decline to revisit the issue and affirm the vitality of the Tenth Circuit's decision in Osage Nation. See also Chance v. Zinke, 898 F.3d 1025, 1027 (10th Cir. 2018) (reiterating Congress' disestablishment of the Osage Reservation); Murphy v. Royal, 875 F.3d 896, 954 (10th Cir. 2017), aff'd sub nom. Sharp v. Murphy, __U.S.__,140 S. Ct. 2412 (2020) (discussing Osage Nation and reiterating Congress' disestablishment of the Osage Reservation). Appellant's claim that his crime occurred in Indian Country is precluded by the prior precedent established in Osage Nation. Proposition I is denied.

¶40 The Judgment and Sentence of the District Court is AFFIRMED. Pursuant to Rule 3.15, Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch. 18, App. (2024), the MANDATE is ORDERED issued upon the delivery and filing of this decision.



AN APPEAL FROM

THE DISTRICT COURT OF OSAGE COUNTY

THE HONORABLE BURL O. ESTES

ASSOCIATE DISTRICT JUDGE