Updates about the Criminalized Survivor interim study sought by OK House Rep. Hasenbeck

For more updates, sign up at freeaprilwilkens.com.

A roundup of coverage about the study before and after:

Oklahoma Appleseed will work with state Representative Toni Hasenbeck of Elgin for Interim Study on issues flowing from Domestic Violence – Capitol Beat – Sept.7, 2022. 

"McCarty joined OKAppleseed when it formed last spring to support justice and opportunity for every Oklahoman by addressing criminal justice reform, mental health care for people in the justice system, and addressing the root causes of over-incarceration.

Recently McCarty was co-host, with attorney Leslie Briggs, of the new podcast “Panic Button,” which outlined the case of April Wilkens, a Tulsa victim of domestic violence who was convicted of murdering her partner in 1999.

The case raises the issue of criminalized survivors who through no fault of their own must defend themselves from abuse and often are convicted of crimes with long sentences.

The podcast is intended to raise awareness of unjust incarceration of victims of domestic violence. Wilkens has been in prison for 25 years."

Fighting back often lands domestic violence targets in jail, legislative panel told – Tulsa World – Sept. 13, 2022

"Among the cases highlighted was that of Tulsan April Rose Wilkens, who remains in prison for the 1998 killing of her former fiancé. According to attorneys Collen McCarty and Leslie Briggs, Wilkens shot Terry Carlton after he raped and handcuffed her and said he was going to kill her. This, they said, followed years of abuse, including several rapes and at least a dozen stalking complaints."

When moms fight back: Stories from the Capitol – VNN  – Sept. 14, 2022. 

"She and fellow attorney Leslie Briggs co-host “Panic Button”, a podcast that promotes awareness of the April Wilkens case, which both women discussed during Tuesday’s study.

Wilkens is currently serving the 25th year of a life sentence for killing her rapist and abuser Terry Carlton.

Despite 14 police reports, three protective orders, and two substantiated rape kits filed over the course of his abuse, Carlton was only arrested one time.

“She has maintained her story and every single piece of that has been substantiated by external evidence,” McCarty said.

“This case happens to be one of the most corroborated cases of abuse and self-defense that I have ever seen,” Briggs added."