In 1999, Patrick Dwayne Murphy, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation (MCN), attacked another member of the tribe on the MCN reservation in Oklahoma. Murphy stabbed and cut the other man, causing severe wounds. The man later died. A state court found Murphy guilty of murder and sentenced him to death in 2000. Since then, he has attempted to appeal the ruling. He claims that because the crime took place on Indian land and the victim was Native American, the state of Oklahoma did not have the right to try him. In the United States, the federal government has legal jurisdiction over murders carried out by Native Americans on lands in “Indian Country.” The term “Indian Country” means land inside federally-recognized reservation borders, dependent Indian communities or areas historically given to tribe members which their families still hold. In time, Murphy’s case landed in a federal appeals court. After examining historic documents and earlier rulings, judges overturned the guilty finding in August 2017. This meant that Murphy could have a new trial in a federal court, with the tribal court sharing jurisdiction. In federal court, he would likely escape execution because federal law gives tribes the right to decide if they want to execute criminals. MCN rejected the death penalty.
