Gorsuch's pivotal vote could favor Oklahoma tribe in controversial Native American rape case

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Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch will likely be the deciding vote in a high-profile rape case that hinges on whether or not a portion of Oklahoma falls under state jurisdiction or that of the Indian reservation.

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Jimcy McGirt, 71, has served almost 23 years of his 500-year prison sentence for raping, molesting and sodomizing a 4-year-old girl in 1996. McGrit is appealing the decision, arguing that the crime was committed on Muscogee (Creek) Nation territory, which he says is an Indian reservation and not a part of Oklahoma, which became a state in 1907.

If true, a large chunk of eastern Oklahoma -- including Tulsa, the state's second-largest city -- remains an American Indian reservation, a question the Supreme Court failed to resolve a year ago. In addition, McGrit's case would then be tried by a federal court, which can sometimes be advantageous to the defendant.

The state argues that the territory was never technically a reservation to begin with, and if it ever were, Congress has since stripped it of its status as such.

Last year, eight justices on the Supreme Court heard arguments about the same jurisdiction issue in a different case involving a convicted murderer, but the decision was split 4-4 and the justices shelved the issue until a full court could decide on the matter.

Gorsuch didn't participate in the earlier case because he took part in it when he served on the appeals court in Denver before becoming a justice in 2017.

All nine justices heard arguments for 90 minutes on Monday via teleconference, in line with social distancing rules put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Justices in favor of the state point out that if the land is deemed a reservation, it would create a series of financial issues, exempting tribe members from paying state taxes and allowing previously convicted Native Americans to challenge their convictions on the grounds of jurisdiction.

Gorsuch -- who was confirmed to the Supreme Court under President Trump's administration -- seems to be leaning toward siding with the Native Americans, pointing out that “states have violated Native American rights,” in the past.

“I would have thought that ... we might have seen a tsunami of cases, if there were a real problem here, that we haven’t seen," he added, referring to the potential for many cases to be overturned with a new ruling about the reservation by the Supreme Court.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.