<p>MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Eleven men whose murder convictions in Oklahoma were overturned because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on state jurisdiction in tribal territories have been charged with federal murder counts, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.</p>
<p>A federal grand jury in Muskogee issued indictments in the cases that had been either reversed by a state appeals court or dismissed by state prosecutors, the department said in a news release. The reversals and dismissals were based on the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-courts-supreme-courts-oklahoma-virus-outbreak-c90c395f1e156d37a85e59e0a21cb52a">McGirt decision</a>, that found Oklahoma lacks jurisdiction for crimes committed on tribal reservations in which the defendants or victims were tribal citizens.</p>
<p>Those charged include Devin Sizemore, 26, whose conviction and life sentence for the drowning death of his 21-month-old daughter <a href="https://apnews.com/93474957a63b97956adde9e77e32826d">was overturned</a> April 1.</p>
<p>State appellate court rulings overturning criminal convictions based on McGirt have led to a dramatic <a href="https://apnews.com/article/riots-oklahoma-city-floods-oklahoma-merrick-garland-dd13e7cad260fb134c52e0354ccdd5a4">increase in workload</a> for federal prosecutors who must retry the cases in federal court. </p>
<p>U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, on Tuesday <a href="https://apnews.com/c631117fcc6a47efaf02c8c5df7c60dd">introduced legislation</a> in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow the Chickasaw and Cherokee nations compact with the state on criminal jurisdiction.</p>
