EDMONDSON, J.
¶ 2 Dutton pleads a cause of action challenging the correctness of a judgment and sentence in three municipal criminal matters. He seeks an adjudication on the legal correctness of these judgments and sentences in this proceeding, and in the alternative he requests an extraordinary remedy to compel the District Court to provide him a direct appeal of his municipal criminal convictions in the District Court. We conclude that the pled cause of action and remedy sought by him involve criminal matters that are not within the original jurisdiction of this Court. We conclude that Dutton's action in this Court should be dismissed without prejudice to him seeking appropriate relief in the proper court.
¶ 3 Dutton alleges that on April 15, 2013, he was convicted in the municipal court of the City of Midwest City, Oklahoma, of the charges of assault, public intoxication, and domestic assault and battery. He states that he was sentenced to thirty days in jail. He states that he was incarcerated for a felony charge on November 24, 2011, which was ultimately dismissed, and he "was released on his own recognizance on about March 7, 2013," and then transferred to the Midwest City jail for trial on his municipal charges. He alleges that he was released from the Midwest City jail on May 10, 2013. He states that while he was incarcerated on the felony charge he was represented by a "public defender."
¶ 4 He states that he filed three applications for post-conviction relief in the District Court after his release. He alleges that the District Court dismissed the applications for the reason that they should have been filed with the municipal court in Midwest City. His application for this Court to assume original jurisdiction was filed on August 29, 2014, approximately one year and three months after his release.
¶ 5 Dutton alleges that he was denied his rights guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He states that he was denied counsel at trial and was not allowed to cross-examine witnesses. He alleges that he was denied his rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He states that he was denied (1) advance notice of the municipal charges against him, (2) a fair trial due to insufficient evidence, and an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, (3) counsel for an appeal, (4) a direct appeal, (5) "out-of-time appeal," (6) an adequate post-conviction remedy, and (7) counsel for a post-conviction appeal. In his filing herein entitled "Motion to Provide Relief," he alleges that he was "denied his 6th and 14th Amendments rights to counsel and a fair trial and subsequently denied his right to an appeal of wrongful convictions by the city of Midwest City, Oklahoma."
¶ 6 Dutton alleges that shortly prior to his trial in municipal court he was provided with a written notice of one of the charges against him. He states that the judge refused his request to have a lawyer appointed for him. He states that after the City's prosecutor failed to appear for his trial, the judge questioned the witnesses and refused Dutton's request to cross-examine the witnesses.
¶ 7 Dutton alleges that the District Court of Oklahoma County:
Application to Assume, Aug. 29, 2014, at pg. 2, material omitted.
¶ 8 Dutton's Appendix does contain purported uncertified photocopies of orders issued by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Three orders, which show docket designations for post-conviction appeals, state that the Court of Criminal Appeals declines jurisdiction and dismisses the matters because Dutton failed to attach to his petition in error a certified copy of the District Court order being appealed, as required by the rules for the Court of Criminal Appeals.
¶ 9 Dutton's Appendix also contains a purported photocopy of an order of the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissing his motion for the court to reconsider "declining jurisdiction of his post-conviction appeals from Oklahoma County." The court explains that a petition for rehearing that challenges the court's decision in post-conviction appeal is not allowed.
¶ 10 Midwest City's response states that Dutton's allegations relate to three different factual episodes resulting in a criminal prosecution for assault and battery on his wife, prosecutions for assault on a police officer and public intoxication, and then an arrest for felony possession of incendiary devices. He was released from jail, awaiting trial on the felony charge, and returned to the municipal jail for prosecution of the misdemeanors.
¶ 11 The response states that Dutton and his wife filed two civil rights actions pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and claimed that his constitutional rights were violated by Midwest City and its officials in the context of Dutton's arrests, convictions, and sentence of incarceration. The federal court's order dismissing, in part, Dutton's claims lists the violations of constitutional rights as alleged by Dutton and his wife in the federal proceeding.
Order, Jan. 31, 2014, at p. 3, Rodney Dutton and Shirley Dutton v. City of Midwest City, et al., No. CIV-13-0911-HE, 2014 WL 348982, U.S. Dist. Crt., W.D. Okla., (explanation added).
The federal court concluded that the plaintiffs could not bring a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action based upon allegations of an unconstitutional conviction when state law provided a means for challenging the conviction.
¶ 13 In his reply, Dutton requests this Court adjudicate his convictions to be "invalid, null, and void" and to also grant the relief as set forth in his Application filed with this Court. In his Application to Assume Original Jurisdiction, he requests an order of this Court directing the District Court of Oklahoma County "provide him a direct appeal with appointed counsel from Midwest City Municipal Cases docketed as #2011-4369 — Domestic Violence, #2011-5808 — public intoxication, and #2011-5808 — assault and/or any other relief that is appropriately just."
¶ 14 This Court issued an order and requested Midwest City brief the issue whether this Court possesses jurisdiction to adjudicate the claims made by Petitioner.
¶ 15 A court has a duty to inquire into whether it possesses jurisdiction over the subject matter of an action that has been brought before the court.
¶ 16 Subject matter jurisdiction is the "power to deal with the general subject involved in the action"
¶ 17 The Legislature has authorized a municipality to create a municipal court not of record.
¶ 18 A final judgment of a municipal court not of record may be appealed by filing a notice of appeal in both the municipal court and in the District Court in the county where the municipal government is located.
¶ 19 The Oklahoma Constitution states that the appellate jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Supreme Court "shall be coextensive with the State and shall extend to all cases at law and in equity; except that the Court of Criminal Appeals shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases until otherwise provided by statute...." Okla. Const. Art. 7 § 4 (emphasis added). We have explained that the Oklahoma Supreme Court lost its jurisdiction to provide appellate review of a judgment on a criminal cause of action upon creation of the Criminal Court of Appeals,
¶ 20 Dutton's pleadings fail to distinguish this Court's jurisdiction in civil matters from the jurisdiction of the Court of Criminal appeals when it adjudicates a criminal cause of action, e.g., personal criminal liability, defenses thereto, and the imposition and execution of a criminal sentence. Secondly, his pleadings do not distinguish claims within the civil jurisdiction of this Court when they are
¶ 21 The first distinction involves the issue defining civil and criminal matters for the purpose of defining a civil matter within this Court's supervisory civil jurisdiction and a criminal matter which is not. We have often explained that if a petitioner's claim is of such a nature that it is normally reviewed by the Court of Criminal Appeals in a properly filed proceeding in that Court such as a direct appeal or post-conviction appeal, then the Oklahoma Supreme Court will not assume jurisdiction on that claim.
¶ 22 Dutton claims that he was imprisoned without benefit of counsel, and that Midwest City failed to follow the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Argersinger v. Hamlin, which guarantees counsel for indigent defendants imprisoned by municipal court process.
¶ 24 An additional example of this distinction is found in Walters v. Ethics Commission.
¶ 25 The third distinction involves our exercise of jurisdiction when the Court of Criminal Appeals has acted in excess of its authority in a particular case. For example, when the Court of Criminal Appeals acts in a controversy where no appellate jurisdiction is vested in that Court, then this Court may assume jurisdiction and delineate that Court's jurisdiction.
¶ 26 Fourthly, the Legislature has created civil claims as well as Supreme Court jurisdiction in certain matters although our exercise of jurisdiction may have an impact on a criminal proceeding,
¶ 27 Dutton filed pleadings in this Court invoking this Court's original jurisdiction. The Oklahoma Constitution vests this Court with original jurisdiction to issue extraordinary writs and a general superintending control over all inferior courts, agencies, commissions, and boards created by law.
¶ 28 The Oklahoma Supreme Court has been granted statutory authority by the Legislature to issue orders of statewide application relative to procedures in and practices before the municipal courts and appeals therefrom, subject to the provisions of article 27 of the Municipal Code; and under its general superintending control of all inferior courts, it has the power and authority by and through the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to call annual conferences of the judges of the municipal courts.
¶ 29 The type of corrective relief within the jurisdiction conferred by this statute is one to correct institutional deficiencies and not one to adjudicate individual proceedings determining criminal liability. Nowhere in the statute is this Court given the power to issue writs of either supervisory or superintending control to review an individual criminal proceeding in a municipal court. One reason for this is that the authority to issue writs to a municipal court not of record lies in the District Court, which court also has the statutory appellate criminal jurisdiction over the municipal court criminal case.
¶ 30 Relief from a criminal judgment and sentence in a municipal court not of record lies in the municipal court, District
¶ 31 We have also used "superintending control" in the context of (1) issuing prohibition to prevent a trial court from denying a person's fundamental right of notice and an opportunity to be heard in a judicial proceeding,
¶ 32 Dutton's claim is that he was imprisoned without the benefit of counsel appointed to represent him, and that he was denied a federal constitutional right. The constitutional grant of superintending control in this Court is not an unlimited power, but a power that is exercised within the definition of "judicial power" as vested in this Court by Article 7 of the Oklahoma Constitution. If a party files a pleading in this Court and requests a determination of his or her legal rights, then a particular type of Article 7 judicial power is invoked in a particular context and the Court acting on that pleading is functioning in the role of an "adjudicator" and not, for example, legislatively or administratively.
¶ 33 Our superintending control jurisdiction is created by Article 7 §§ 1 and 4 of the Oklahoma Constitution and that jurisdiction must be construed in harmony with the constitutional exclusive jurisdiction in criminal matters that is vested in the Court of Criminal Appeals via enactments of the Legislature.
¶ 34 The Court of Criminal Appeals is constitutionally vested with "exclusive appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases" as implemented by legislation.
¶ 35 It is nothing new for this Court to examine the scope and effect of a party's requested relief to determine whether this Court is impermissibly intruding upon the jurisdiction of the Court of Criminal Appeals. For example, in State ex rel. Henry v. Mahler, the Department of Corrections was statutorily required to apply earned credit days towards a prisoner's sentence of incarceration. We explained that the scope of the statute in the controversy applied to alter a criminal judgment and sentence and was a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
¶ 36 We conclude that Dutton's pleadings attempt to invoke an original supervisory or superintending adjudicatory jurisdiction of this Court for the purpose of providing him with an appellate review of his municipal criminal judgments and sentences, and we decline to assume original jurisdiction on such claims.
¶ 37 Dutton has ten filings in this supervisory proceeding.
¶ 39 The concept of an adequate remedy appears in several areas of the law with slightly different and overlapping meanings. In the context of creating a remedy and providing equitable relief, we have indicated that when a party has an action at law an equitable remedy will not be available.
¶ 40 Generally, in the context of a civil proceeding when the federal constitution requires this State to provide an adequate remedy for a person claiming the denial of a federal constitutional right by the State, the adequacy of an available remedy at law is not measured by that particular party's eventual success on the merits of his or her litigation, but whether a person in that party's circumstances is provided with a clear and certain opportunity for obtaining complete relief at law.
¶ 41 Dutton filed a motion requesting the Court appoint counsel to represent him in this proceeding. This Court has noted a right to counsel possessed by a defendant in a criminal prosecution, and that the right is expressly conferred by Art. 2 § 20 of the Oklahoma Constitution.
¶ 42 There is no doubt that the assistance of a legal practitioner is fundamental to due process "in certain types of civil litigation, aspects of which are analogous to criminal proceedings."
¶ 43 We assume original jurisdiction solely on the issue of our jurisdiction to hear
¶ 44 COMBS, V.C.J., WATT, WINCHESTER, EDMONDSON, TAYLOR, and GURICH, JJ., concur.
¶ 45 REIF, C.J., KAUGER, and COLBERT, JJ., concur in result.
A. An appeal may be taken from a final judgment of the municipal court by the defendant by filing in the district court in the county where the situs of the municipal government is located, within ten (10) days from the date of the final judgment, a notice of appeal and by filing a copy of the notice with the municipal court. In case of an appeal, a trial de novo shall be had, and there shall be a right to a jury trial if the sentence imposed for the offense was a fine of more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) and costs.
B. Upon conviction, at the request of the defendant, or upon notice of appeal being filed, the judge of the municipal court shall enter an order on the docket fixing an amount in which bond may be given by the defendant, in cash or sureties for cash in an amount of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than twice the amount of such fine. Bond shall be taken by the clerk of the court wherein judgment was rendered. Any pledge of sureties must be approved by a judge of the court.
C. Upon appeal being filed the judge shall within ten (10) days thereafter certify to the clerk of the appellate court the original papers in the case. If the papers have not been certified to the appellate court, the prosecuting attorney shall take the necessary steps to have the papers certified to the appellate court within twenty (20) days of the filing of the notice of appeal, and failure to do so, except for good cause shown, shall be grounds for dismissal of the charge by the appellate court, the cost to be taxed to the municipality. The certificate shall state whether or not the municipal judge hearing the case was a licensed attorney in Oklahoma.
D. All proceedings necessary to carry the judgment into effect shall be had in the appellate court.
We also note that two authors have stated that in 1997 the State of New Jersey became the first state to enact legislation requiring every municipal court to have at least one municipal public defender appointed by the governing body of the municipality to represent an indigent defendant accused of an offense, which if convicted, would subject the defendant to imprisonment. Robert J. Martin and Walter Kowalski, "A Matter of Simple Justice": Enactment of New Jersey's Municipal Public Defender Act, 51 Rutgers L.Rev. 637, 676-677, 694 (1999).
The Court's Art. 7 § 4 superintending power over "inferior courts" includes an authority to control and regulate the practice of law. State v. Lynch, 1990 OK 82, 796 P.2d 1150, 1163 (In the context of the Court's superintending power pursuant to Okla. Const. Art. 7 § 4 and its administrative power pursuant to Art. 7 § 6, the Court stated that it "is constitutionally vested with the power to control and regulate the practice of law in this State.").
"The Supreme Court is authorized to issue orders of statewide application relative to procedures in and practices before the municipal courts and appeals therefrom, subject to the provisions of this article, and under its general superintending control of all inferior courts, shall have the power and authority by and through the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to call annual conferences of the judges of the municipal courts of Oklahoma to consider matters calculated to bring about a speedier and more efficient administration of justice."
The district court in each county wherein a municipal court is established shall have the same jurisdiction to issue to the municipal court writs of mandamus, prohibition and certiorari as the Supreme Court now has to issue such writs to courts of record.
Appeals may be taken from a judgment or order of a municipal criminal court of record to the Court of Criminal Appeals in the same manner and to the same extent that appeals are now taken from the district courts to the Court of Criminal Appeals in criminal matters, and no appeals other than those herein provided shall be allowed.
This focus on the interests of the parties has been present when we addressed a justiciable controversy in the context of declaratory relief and have said that justiciability is present when there is: (1) a controversy in which a claim of right is asserted against one who has an interest in contesting it; (2) the controversy must be between persons whose interests are adverse; (3) the party seeking relief must have a legal interest in the controversy, that is to say, a legally protectible interest; and (4) the issue involved in the controversy must be ripe for judicial determination. Chrysler Corp. v. Clark, 1987 OK 32, 737 P.2d 109, 110, quoting Gordon v. Followell, 1964 OK 74, 391 P.2d 242, 244.
District Courts possess "unlimited jurisdiction of all justiciable matters, except as otherwise provided in this Article...." Okla. Const. Art. 7 § 7(a). Reeds v. Walker, 2006 OK 43, ¶ 11, 157 P.3d 100, 107. We need not perform a complete analysis of a District Court's unlimited subject matter jurisdiction based upon the concept of justiciability in Okla. Const. Art. 7 § 7, or compare such to the federal limitation of "judicial power" to "cases" and "controversies" by U.S. Const. Art. III; but we do note that (1) our Court has addressed a lack of subject matter jurisdiction as dependent upon an absence of justiciability, and (2) while subject matter jurisdiction and constitutional justiciability are not the same thing, they have a similar concept involving a constitutional power to adjudicate. See, e.g., State ex rel. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. Brown, 1974 OK 19, 519 P.2d 491, 495 (although a District Court possesses subject matter jurisdiction over tort claims, with regard to the plaintiffs' tort action "the question is whether this is a justiciable controversy"); Katherine Mims Crocker, Justifying A Prudential Solution to the Williamson County Ripeness Puzzle, 49 Ga.L.Rev. 163, 201, n. 204 (2014) ("Under federal law, the concepts of justiciability and subject-matter jurisdiction can be seen as stemming from textually distinct sources, too. Constitutional justiciability doctrines derive from Article III's limitation of `[t]he judicial power' to `cases' and `controversies.'").
We note that a federal constitutional requirement for a State court providing a remedy for a constitutional deprivation is not a rule of universal application. While Congress does not possess the power, under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, to subject nonconsenting States to private suits in their own courts, Congress may authorize private suits against nonconsenting States pursuant to the enforcement power of § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 756, 119 S.Ct. 2240, 144 L.Ed.2d 636 (1999).
A collateral attack on a judicial proceeding is an attempt to avoid, defeat, or evade it, or to deny its force and effect in some manner not provided by law; that is, in some other way than by appeal, writ of error, certiorari, or motion for a new trial. In re Hyde, 2011 OK 31, ¶ 11, 255 P.3d 411, 414, quoting State ex rel. Comm'rs of Land Office v. Corp. Comm'n, 1979 OK 16, ¶ 9, 590 P.2d 674, 677.
