Okla. Court Of Criminal Appeals Overturns OKC Man's Murder Conviction, Grants New Trial

The Oklahoma Court of Criminals Appeals reversed a first-degree murder conviction and life sentence this week after taking a closer look at a decade-old drug deal in northwest Oklahoma City that turned deadly.  

The courts ordered a new trial for Anthony Coldiron-Rangel, 28, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

Coldiron-Rangel’s trial attorney Joi Miskel reacted on Friday to the court’s decision.

“Been praying for this for a long time,” Miskel said. “This has been a battle since the charges were filed.”

Miskel was notified Thursday that the Court of Criminal Appeals granted her client a new trial. She shared the news with Coldiron-Rangel's mother over the phone.

“She is ecstatic, over the moon,” Miskel said. “We both cried on the phone.”

Coldiron-Rangel was an 18-year-old when he went to buy marijuana with four other men. The drug deal turned into a robbery and shooting that killed Cody Davis. 

Miskel said her client should have never been charged with felony murder based on the fact he was not the gunman and was only there to buy drugs. 

In 2020, a judge vacated the jury's guilty verdict against Coldiron-Rangel. A decision that devastated the victim's family.

“Her son is dead and has been dead since 2012,” a friend of the Davis family said. “He cannot come back and fight for his damn life.”

Coldiron-Rangel’s case was the second similar murder conviction in Oklahoma County the courts have reversed. 

Jamar Simms, 28, was convicted in 2018 of double murder, but the evidence showed Simms was buying drugs and not dealing drugs during a robbery that turned fatal.

“You can be charged for first-degree manslaughter if you’re buying drugs,” Miskel said.

Simms was granted a new trial but instead pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter.

Miskel believes the court's rulings will impact more cases down the road. 

“It shows the systems works,” Miskel said. “That’s why we have the court of criminal appeals for cases just like this.”

Miskel said her client could take a plea deal or go to trial. That decision has not been made yet. The other men in the case have taken plea deals or were found guilty and convicted by a jury.