Oklahoma Harboring a Fugitive Crimes involve people who in many circumstances get cough up in a crime they didn’t intend to commit. When people think about harboring a fugitive, they often think of movies or old stories. For example, Matt Damon’s character in The Bourne Series is a constant fugitive. Thus, anyone giving him a place to stay is harboring a fugitive. But, in real life, harboring a fugitive is more common than you might think. Take an OKC woman who is currently facing harboring a fugitive charges. Her son shot out the windows of his ex-girlfriend’s home. He eluded police and ran to his mother’s home. His mother now faces these charges since she knew police were looking for her son. You can see how this would be a relatively common charge for family and loved ones who are providing safety for you if police are looking for you in connection with a crime.
Oklahoma Harboring a Fugitive Laws
Title 21 provides the Oklahoma Statutes for criminal offenses. Under §440(A), the statutes describe Oklahoma harboring a fugitive as:
“Any person who shall knowingly feed, lodge, clothe, arm, equip in whole or in part, harbor, aid, assist or conceal in any manner any person guilty of any felony, or outlaw, or fugitive from justice, or any person seeking to escape arrest for any felony committed within this state or any other state or territory…”
Therefore, if you provide a person running from the law with money, clothing, food, and a means to escape or attempt to elude the law, you are harboring a fugitive. This will result in you facing some relatively harsh penalties.
OUR BLOG ALSO DISCUSSES Tulsa MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES, WHICH MAY BE HELPFUL.
Legal Consequences in Oklahoma Harboring a Fugitive
Criminal courts see Oklahoma harboring a fugitive as a serious crime. It is important to note, that criminal courts will determine if you “knowingly
and intentionally” harbor a fugitive. If you do not know the person is on the run, then you will not know that you are committing a crime. Thus, court will unlikely charge or convict you. But in Oklahoma crimes there is a thing called constructive knowledge. This is a kind of knowledge that uses the facts and circumstances of the particular circumstances to impute knowledge to the criminal.
However, if you do knowingly harbor a fugitive, you can expect jail time. Convictions lead to a felony on your record and up to 10 years imprisonment. This applies if the fugitive is a minor or an adult and also if the fugitive is running from crimes in another state as well.
Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorneys
Charges in Oklahoma Harboring a Fugitive are serious and in many cases can lead to a lengthy criminal sentence in prison. If you face this kind of charge we advise you to find legal counsel to fight for you. Our Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorneys have years of experience in fighting felony matters like these. Call our offices for a free consultation.