Phelps v. State

Following a jury trial in the Kay County District Court, defendant was convicted of Murder in the First Degree and sentenced to suffer death. Arguing that the provisions of 21 O.S.1971, § 701.1 ¶ 9, which incorporates 21 O.S.Supp.1978, 843, applies only when a child’s death is caused by a parent or one acting in loco parentis, the Appellant seeks reversal or modification of the charge to Murder in the Second Degree and the sentence to not less than ten (10) years nor more than life imprisonment. Furthermore, it is argued that the search and seizure was illegal and this case should be reversed…