SCOTUS ruling leads to Oklahoma sentence vacations

A Native American man convicted in Oklahoma of first-degree murder and another who pleaded guilty to manslaughter had their convictions vacated.

The moves came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a large chunk of eastern Oklahoma remains a reservation on which tribal members are subject to federal and tribal law, but not state law.

Joe Johnson Jr. had been serving a life sentence for a fatal shooting in Seminole County.

Travis Wayne Bailey had been serving 36 years in prison for killing a man in a vehicular crash while intoxicated with methamphetamine.

Two convicted sex offenders also won new trials after the landmark ruling.