Attorneys for two Sperry teenagers charged as adults for rape by instrumentation continue to fight legal battles on behalf of their clients.
The teenagers are accused of assaulting another teen through his clothes with a hairbrush in 2024.
The district attorney’s office has charged the youth as adults, citing a state statute that couples rape and rape by instrumentation together.
Judge Clifford Smith approved the adult charges March 7 despite a different state law that says youth will be charged as such in rape by instrumentation cases. In his decision, Smith acknowledged a conflict in how the law is written.
Attorney M.J. Denman said Smith's interpretation could allow the state to charge small children as adults if they wanted to.
“Now, I know that sounds ridiculous, OK, but is it ridiculous when it’s a 10-year-old? Is it ridiculous if it’s a 14-year-old? When is it no longer ridiculous?” Denman said.
District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler has argued the state Legislature made it clear that “rape is rape” when they wrote the law.
Denman and attorney Brian Boeheim will present a motion to dismiss the case on April 16 because all the attorneys involved in the case couldn’t be in court on Wednesday.
Attorneys for the accused said after the March 7 hearing that they planned to take the case to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. But Boeheim said Wednesday that that process is a lengthy one.
“We have to weigh that out, especially since our clients are children. Every day matters, and every day counts,” Boeheim said.
A third teen was initially prosecuted in the case but had his charge dismissed last week due to new evidence.
Boeheim said he wishes “all three” charges were dismissed. But Denman hesitated to comment on the case itself because they haven’t seen all of the DA’s office’s findings.
“We don’t know how in-depth the investigation was,” he said.
