Armstrong v. State

1975 OK CR 188, 541 P.2d 213, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 453
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 24, 1975
DocketF-75-168
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1975 OK CR 188 (Armstrong v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armstrong v. State, 1975 OK CR 188, 541 P.2d 213, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 453 (Okla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

Appellant, Dannye Edward Armstrong, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court, Tulsa County, Case No. CRF-74-1444, for the offense of Robbery With Firearms, in violation of 21 O.S.1971, § 801. The jury fixed his punishment at a term of five (5) years’ imprisonment and from this judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

The State’s first witness at trial was Johnny Dewayne Coday who testified that he was employed with American Airlines with his working hours being from 4:30 p. m. to 12:30 a. m. He further stated that on the 8th day of May, 1974, he went to the Git-N-Go store on Pine and Sheridan Streets at approximately 12:45 a. m. He stated he remained at said store talking with William James Turner until approximately 2:00 a. m. During his conversation with Turner, he observed the defendant and two other young black males enter the store. At this time an evidentiary hearing was held outside the presence of the jury, and after the taking of testimony the trial court ruled that the in-court identification of the defendant would be permissible as the witness’ identification of the defendant was based upon his personal observations on the evening of the conversation with Turner.

Coday further testified that the three youths entered the store, bought some small items, and asked Turner and himself if they had seen a blue Volkswagen. He testified that the boys left at this time but returned shortly and bought soft drinks and again asked about the blue Volkswagen. As he was leaving the store he observed the defendant was in the phone booth outside the store and the other two youths appeared to be leaving the store. When he arrived at his home he received a telephone call from Turner who related to him that he had been robbed. He then returned to the store.

[214]*214William James Turner testified that he was employed as a clerk for the Git-N-Go store at Pine and Sheridan and was so employed on the 8th day of May, 1974, and that his working hours were from 11:00 p. m. to 7:00 a. m. He testified that at approximately 2:30 a. m. on that morning he was robbed by three black youths, one of whom used a blue steel pistol.

At this time an evidentiary hearing was held to determine whether or not the witness would be allowed to make an in-court identification of the defendant. At the close of taking testimony during the evi-dentiary hearing, the trial court ruled that an in-court identification of the defendant would be permissible because said identification would be based upon the witness’ personal observation on the morning of the robbery.

The witness then identified in court the defendant as one of the men who robbed him on May 8, 1974. He stated that the defendant pointed a gun at him and ordered him into the back room of the store where the defendant took the witness’ wallet. He stated he did not see who took the money out of the cash register.

The State then rested.

The first witness for the defense was Mr. Don E. Austin, Tulsa Court Clerk, who testified that the defendant was arraigned on the 27th of June, 1974, on the present charge and that the bond was set at $10,000, but subsequently raised to $50,000 at arraignment. He further testified that the County court records did not reflect any prior juvenile court proceedings.

Mr. Willie Armstrong testified that he was the father of the defendant and that the defendant was one of ten children. He said that he had worked two jobs, one at the Post Office and one as a night janitor to support his family. He stated that the defendant was 16 years of age and lived at home. Further, he stated that the defendant had been involved in a motorcycle accident in late April or early May and that as a result of said accident the defendant had scars on his face, forehead and shoulders from pavement burns. He stated that the scars were visible for some weeks and as he remembered the scars were still visible on the 18th day of May, 1974, when he, the witness, left for Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, to satisfy his service duty. On cross-examination he testified that his son had been in Jane Phillips Hospital in Bartles-ville, Oklahoma, for first aid treatment on the 28th or 29th day of May, 1974, but that he believed the defendant had the motorcycle scars during the first week of May, prior to the treatment in Bartlesville.

Debra Armstrong testified that she was the defendant’s sister and that she was also aware that about the first of May, 1974, the defendant had scars on his face and body as the result of a motorcycle accident. She specifically placed the scene of the accident on Garrison Street in Tulsa County. She further stated that she was aware of the fact that the defendant had been involved in a second accident in Bartlesville subsequent to the accident in Tulsa. She placed the time of the first accident at about the time school was letting out for the summer.

The defense then rested.

The defendant’s first assignment of error asserts the trial court erred in admitting testimony regarding the lineup identifications of the defendant. The defendant notes that witness Coday testified that Assistant District Attorney William G. La-Sorsa instructed Coday and Turner not to say anything regarding identification in the presence of defense counsel nor to answer any of counsel’s questions at the lineup. Defendant contends that although his counsel was present during the mechanics of the lineup procedure the orders given to the witnesses that they not make any statements regarding identification in the presence of defendant’s counsel, nor answer any of counsel’s questions, effectively denied the defendant hi's Sixth Amendment right enunciated by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 [215]*215S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967) and Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178 (1967). The defendant urges that such occurrences at the lineup operated to constitute an exclusion of his counsel from the single most crucial moment of the lineup procedure placing an indelible taint upon the identifications which the trial court failed to recognize and erroneously failed to exclude as required by Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963).

A hearing was held outside the presence of the jury to determine if the in-court identification was based on the lineup identification of the defendant and/or the photograph exhibition conducted subsequent to the robbery. In construing United States v. Wade, supra, we set forth recommendations and guidelines to be followed by the trial court in determining whether the in-court identification was based in part on the lineup identification or whether the witness would have been able to identify the defendant independent of the lineup identification. These guidelines appear in Thompson v. State, Okl.Cr., 438 P.2d 287 (1968), wherein we stated in the second Syllabus by the Court:

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Related

Welliver v. State
1980 OK CR 101 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1980)
McDaniel v. State
1978 OK CR 29 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1978)
Wilson v. State
1976 OK CR 282 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1976)
Armstrong v. State
1975 OK CR 188 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)

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Bluebook (online)
1975 OK CR 188, 541 P.2d 213, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 453, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armstrong-v-state-oklacrimapp-1975.