Native American’s Simple Assault Conviction Overturned on Appeal

A Native American man found guilty of simple assault for an incident at a rally on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation won his appeal to undo the conviction after the Tenth Circuit agreed the lower court lacked jurisdiction to convict.

Jason Hopson initially was prosecuted for a more serious offense under the the Major Crimes Act, which makes certain crimes committed by “American Indians in Indian country” a violation of federal law. But simple assault, for which he ultimately was found guilty, isn’t one of those offenses, so the district court lacked jurisdiction to convict him, the US Court of ...