§ 5-508. Best efforts to accord rights.
A. Osage Nation. Officers and employees of the Osage Nation and other departments and agencies of the Osage Nation engaged in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime shall make their best efforts to see that crime victims are notified of and accorded the rights described in this subchapter.
B. Enforcement and Limitations. The crime victim or the crime victim’s lawful representative and the attorney for the Osage Nation may assert the rights described in Section 5-503(A). A person accused of the crime may not obtain any relief under this subchapter.
C. Multiple Crime Victims. In a case where the Court finds that the number of crime victims makes it impracticable to accord all of the crime victims the rights described in Section 5-503(A), the Court shall fashion a reasonable procedure to give effect to this subchapter that does not unduly complicate or prolong the proceedings.
D. Motion for Relief and Writ of Mandamus. The rights described in this subchapter shall be asserted in the Osage Nation Trial Court in which a defendant is being prosecuted for the crime or, if no prosecution is underway, in the district court where the crime occurred.
1. The Osage Nation Trial Court shall take up and decide any motion asserting a victim’s right forthwith. If the Osage Nation Trial Court denies the relief sought, the movant may petition the Osage Nation Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus.
2. The Osage Nation Supreme Court may issue the writ on the order of a single judge under the Osage Nation Code or the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
3. The Osage Nation Supreme Court shall take up and decide such application within ten (10) days after the petition has been filed.
4. In deciding such an application, the Osage Nation Supreme Court shall apply ordinary standards of appellate review.
5. In no event shall proceedings be stayed or subject to a continuance of more than thirty (30) days to enforce this subchapter.
6. If the Osage Nation Supreme Court denies the relief sought, the reasons for the denial shall be clearly stated on the record in a written opinion, and, when warranted, shall include directives to the Trial Court regarding the motion. If the Court of Appeals grants the relief sought, it shall issue a written opinion with directives to the Trial Court.
E. Error. In any appeal in a criminal case, the Attorney General may assert that the Court denies any crime victim’s right in the proceeding to which the appeal relates is an error, provided such denial was raised on the record before the Trial Court and the Trial Court preserved the issue for appeal in writing.
F. Limitation on Relief.
1. In no case shall a failure to afford a right under this subchapter provide grounds for a new trial, dismissal of charges, setting aside a conviction or sentence, or dismissing or denying a victim’s filing of a civil petition for protection against the defendant.
2. A victim may make a motion to reopen a plea or sentence provided:
a. The victim asserted the right to be heard before or during the proceeding at issue, and that right was denied;
b. The victim petitioned the Osage Nation Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus within five days of the denial; and
c. The accused did not plea to the highest offense charged during any plea negotiations.
3. This section does not affect the victim’s right to restitution.
G. No Cause of Action. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize a cause of action for damages or to create, to enlarge, or to imply any duty or obligation to any victim or other person for the breach of which the Osage Nation or any of its officers or employees could be held liable in damages.
H. Prosecutorial Discretion. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to impair the prosecutorial discretion of the Attorney General or any officer under his direction in accordance with applicable law. ONCA 24-47, eff. Apr. 19, 2024.