Attorneys For Former Tulsa Police Officer Ask For New Trial

A former Tulsa Police officer who was recently found guilty of second-degree murder in federal court is asking for a new trial.

His attorneys say the key witness against Kepler is now charged with child molestation, but Kepler’s most recent jury never got to hear that. The attorney believes if they had, the verdict might’ve been different.

Michael Hamilton has been the key witness in all of Kepler’s trials, saying he saw Kepler shoot and kill Jeremy Lake in 2014, and that Kepler fired a shot at him too. Now, Kepler’s attorney says the timing of Hamilton’s child molestation charges is fishy because the charges came too late for the jury to know about them.

Kepler’s attorney says Tulsa Police completed Hamilton’s sex abuse investigation in September of 2020, so he wants to know why those charges weren’t filed until seven months later and right after Kepler’s federal trial was over.

Tulsa County prosecutors say the reason why it took so many months to file the charges, is because of COVID policies that caused long delays. Kepler’s attorney says the DA’s office managed to file 3,500 other felony cases during the same seven months.

Kepler’s attorney believes there should be a new trial where a new jury could not only hear Hamilton testify but, also hear about his new charges. Tulsa County prosecutors say even if the charges were filed earlier, the material probably wouldn’t have been admissible in court.