UPDATE:Mvskoke Media has confirmed though the MCN Attorney Generals Office that Rep. Joseph Hicks Felony DUI charge has been dropped and will be refiled as a misdemeanor.
Muscogee Creek Nation National Council Rep. for Creek District Seat A, Joseph Hicks has been charged with Felony DUI in the MCN District Court.
Mvskoke Media received a tip from a concerned citizen that Rep. Hicks had been charged with a DUI in MCN District Court on March 26.
Mvskoke Media was able to locate the case in the online court calendar for the MCN District Court but we were unable to obtain a mugshot to verify the suspect was Rep. Hicks.
Mvskoke Media requested the Charging documents for the case in order to try to identify the individual and substantiate whether it was the council member in question, but was told that no documents were available for the case.
We continued to check with the court weekly over the course of the next month, and were able to obtain the charging documents in the case on May 6.
The charging documents listed the Date of Birth for the individual charged as the same date used on Rep. Hicks Facebook profile.
In the charging documents, a previous conviction in Okmulgee County on May 8, 2015 is listed.
Mvskoke Media utilized the OSCN.Net system to find the court records for this prior conviction, and found that the case listed is for a different individual, a Joseph Charles Hicks, who has a different date of birth.
Since there appeared to be an error on the charging documents, Mvskoke Media contacted the MCN AG Geri Wisner to see if corrected charging documents would be filed in the case.
We have not received a response.
Court documents listed a June 6 arraignment in the case, and Mvskoke Media was in court on that date to visually identify Rep. Hicks as the party in question.
When the case was scheduled to be heard, a bailiff for the court removed Mvskoke Media staff, who remained outside the courtroom and saw Rep. Hicks enter the building.
Mvskoke Media contacted Rep. Hicks for comment on the case, but he stated he had no comment.
As of June 8, no further filings have been updated on the MCN District Court website.
The MCN Constitution, Article 6 Legislative Branch, section 2, c, states that,
“ No person shall be a representative who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) and hold full citizenship, nor has a felony conviction within the past ten years (10) years as of date of filing for candidacy or has ever been convicted of a felony crime against the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in a court of competent jurisdiction.”
Mvskoke Media will have ongoing coverage of this developing story.
