Supreme Court ruling unsettling

Convicted murderer Shaun M. Bosse and up to an estimated 2,000 other Oklahoma inmates could possibly attempt to get their convictions overturned after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the federal government has jurisdiction over major crimes involving Indians in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s historic reservation.

Bosse was convicted of killing Katrina Griffin and her two young children, Christian Griffin and Chasity Hammer, at the family’s mobile home near Dibble July 23, 2010.

Mother and son had been stabbed numerous times. Bosse put Chasity Hammer in a closet and used a chair to wedge the door shut, before setting a fire in the home.

The jury recommended a 35-year prison sentence and $25,000 fine on Bosse’s first-degree arson conviction.

Bosse was dating Katrina Griffin after they met online. He murdered the family to cover up his theft of a computer, Play Station video game system and movies belonging to Griffin and her son.

Bosse is currently sitting on death row for the murders.

Attorney’s for Bosse, a non-Indian, said the case should have been tried in federal court since the Griffins were citizens of the Chickasaw Nation and the crime was committed on the historic Chickasaw reservation.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in early July the case of child rapist Jimcy McGirt was wrongly tried in state court because he was a member of a tribe and the crime occurred on the Creek reservation.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said, “The McGirt case does not constitute a get-out-of-prison-free card.

“We are not going to allow our justice system to be exploited by individuals who have murdered, raped or committed another crime of a serious nature while the federal government considered whether to re-arrest and adjudicate their cases.”