Oklahoma Blog: Criminal Law Situations

In October of 2008, Don Mancil and his fellow pipeline worker, Randal Johnson, got into an altercation in Durant. Mancil believed his wife was having an affair with Johnson. During the scuffle, he stomped and kicked Johnson relentlessly, who subsequently died from head injuries. Mancil was initially charged with second-degree murder, even though the state wanted him imprisoned for life. He was to serve a total of 35 years: 25 in and 10 out of prison. The state had a mutilated body and a confession from the accused; it seemed that Mancil had no other options. However, Mancil's attorney, Atkins & Markoff lawyer Mark Bailey, believed this punishment to be unjust. Bailey argued for a bond to be set, and at $250,000, Mancil's family paid and he was free.

During the trial, Bailey argued that this had been a crime of passion. The two men were incredibly large, both in height and weight. As Bailey put it, this fight was going to be to the death no matter what. Mancil had also been bruised and bloodied in the fight, he had just happened to come out the victor. The state, however, failed to present all the facts needed to make a fair and unbiased trial, causing the jury to be somewhat skeptical of their presentation. After a deliberation of almost four hours, the jury agreed that this was in fact a crime of passion that merited a manslaughter conviction instead of murder. In the end, Bailey had Mancil's charge of second-degree murder (which holds a conviction of 10 years to life in prison) reduced down to first-degree manslaughter (which is four years minimum to life), getting him the minimum amount of jail time which not only saves Mancil approximately 31 years in prison, but gives him the rest of his life back.

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