MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

Local News

Discussion

December 22, 2006

Court upholds Oktaha woman’s sentence

By D. E. Smoot

The conviction and sentence of an Oktaha woman who allowed her husband to repeatedly rape and sodomize their son over a period of several years was upheld by an appellate court.

Alisha Faith Mackey, 31, was sentenced in January 2005 to 20 years in prison for permitting the sexual abuse and fined $500 for failing to report the crime. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, however, reversed Mackey’s failure-to-report conviction and fine because of laws that prevent being punished twice for the same crime.

In its mandate filed this week in Muskogee County District Court, the appellate court found merit with two of the eight issues Mackey raised on appeal.

The first error stemmed from the trial court’s decision to allow Mackey’s son to testify while shielded from seeing his mother. The court held that without a showing of necessity, the screen violated Mackey’s constitutional right to confront her accuser.

The court, in its summary opinion, ruled the violation a harmless error, stating “the remaining evidence of guilt was more than sufficient to support Mackey’s convictions.”

Harmless error also was found with regard to improper statements made by the prosecutor during closing arguments. The court held that statements made about “sparing the guilty, threatening the innocent, and letting evil flourish ... did not deprive Mackey of a fair trial nor affect the jury’s finding of guilt or punishment.”

Mackey’s husband, Jimmy Don Mackey, 35, pleaded guilty to rape, sodomy, lewd molestation and forcible sodomy and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Text Only
Local News