TULSA, Okla. — Attorneys for the woman at the heart of the Oklahoma Survivors' Act have filed a motion to disqualify District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler and the Tulsa DA's office from her case due to alleged bias within his office.
April Wilkens was convicted in 1999 for killing her ex-fiance in Tulsa County. Wilkens claimed the shooting was in self-defense after enduring years of domestic and sexual abuse. She is serving a life sentence in prison.
Most recently, a Tulsa County judge denied her request for resentencing on Sept. 3.
Now, her attorneys with the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice claim misconduct by the District Attorney's office and are seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor for the case.
The filing says Kunzweiler's office is compromised by serious conflicts of interest that undermine Wilkens' right to a fair and impartial process. They claim that in May Assistant District Attorneys (ADA) Ashley Nix and Luke Thompson bought the home where April Wilkens was abused in prior to her arrest. The couple got married in the home on Oct. 31.
The filing presents evidence for consideration, allegedly showing that several staff members from the DA's office attended the wedding.
"The ADAs are known to discuss the fact that they purchased 'April Wilkens's house', and frequently discuss it with friends and colleagues," the filing reads.
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The filing states the behavior seemed like described as bragging about the fact that they now live in the home of someone whom their office is prosecuting. At the time, Wilkens was still waiting to learn if she would get sentencing relief.
In addition, court documents claim Kunzweiler has shown his bias against the Oklahoma Survivors' Act.
On May 11, 2024, ten days before the act became law, Kunzweiler emailed State Representative Mark Lepak and told him if the Survivors' Act passed it would lead to cases like the Bevers getting sentencing relief.
2 News spoke with Kunzweiler about this case previously.
On Sept. 17, 2024, it became known that Kunzweiler's office was requiring survivors of domestic violence to sign waivers to their rights under the Survivors' Act, according to the filing.
The filing claims Kunzweiler told the media that both Wilkens and her alleged abuser Terry Carlton had protective orders against each other. There is no evidence of a protective order being taken out against Wilkens by anyone or Terry Carlton.
On Sept. 29, the Tulsa World ran a "Letter to the Editor" from Kunzweiler, which was interpreted to be alluding to the public response to his handling of Wilkens' case, but never mentioned her by name. He did include his cell phone number for the public to contact him.
Text messages from the DA were recovered, in which he discussed the case with the public. The attorneys claim he "inaccurately and misleadingly mischaracterizes the posture of the case."
In one of the text messages, when asked about the motion to reconsider, Kunzweiler said, "We'll deal with that."
Wilkens' attorneys argue that these actions by the DA and his office violate the Rules of Professional Conduct and demonstrate a disregard for the duty of neutrality.
They're asking the court to replace him with a special prosecutor from outside the district or ask the Attorney General to appoint someone. It also asks that Kunzweiler and his office refrain from further extrajudicial commentary about the case and for any other relief the court deems necessary.
2 News reached out to the District Attorney's Office and got this statement:
We are aware that defense counsel is seeking to disqualify the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office from further proceedings involving Ms. Wilkens’ case. This motion is more of smear campaign than it is a legal document, and our office has conducted itself with professionalism and integrity. These accusations of misconduct are reckless and inappropriate. The reality is that defense counsel is trying to circumvent the fact that they failed in their efforts to meet their burden of proof to obtain a modification of Ms. Wilkens’ sentence. We have responded to their request of Judge Guten to “reconsider” his earlier ruling denying sentence modification. We will await Judge Guten’s ruling based upon the pleadings which have been filed."
The fact that Luke and Ashley Thompson bought Ms. Wilkens previous home (25 years later) is a fact that was unknown to them at the time of their acquisition. Luke and Ashley got married this past Friday and it was a lovely ceremony officiated by Tulsa County Presiding Judge Dawn Moody. The notion that they bought this house for any reason other than to enjoy their new union is absurd and insulting. Their original plans were to get married at the courthouse. However, the extensive courthouse renovations made that option unmanageable. I am frankly incensed that the marriage of Luke and Ashley has been maligned in this motion.
I have repeatedly stated that the Oklahoma Survivor’s Act is a good law as it is presently written. It has a process embedded within it, and litigants who are seeking sentence modification are obligated to abide by that process – which includes in some instances a hearing. Ms. Wilkens and her attorneys got the full benefit of the Survivor’s Act. They put their case on as they chose to and Judge Guten ruled against them. The next proper step in this process is to appeal Judge Guten’s decision to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
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