Berryhill v. State

1977 OK CR 269, 568 P.2d 1306
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 2, 1977
DocketJ-77-471
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1977 OK CR 269 (Berryhill 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
Berryhill v. State, 1977 OK CR 269, 568 P.2d 1306 (Okla. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

BRETT, Judge:

Appellant, Tommy D. Berryhill, a juvenile, appeals from an order of the Juvenile Division of the District Court, Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Case No. JF-77-47, waiving jurisdiction over him and empowering the State to prosecute him as an adult on the charge of Murder in the First Degree.

Appellant was charged with “[effecting] the death of Anna Maxfield by means of beating the said Anna Maxfield with his hands and fists and/or other dangerous weapons, striking and beating her about the head and body with force and violence, while engaged in the commission of the crime of forcible rape.” He was certified to stand trial as an adult for this crime in Case No. JF-76-108, and in T.D.B. v. State, Okl.Cr., 561 P.2d 577 (1977), this Court reversed for further proceedings on the ground that the original petition was improperly verified.

*1308 The following evidence was presented at the certification hearing. On September 5, 1976, the badly beaten body of Anna Max-field was found on the floor of her home by one of her daughters. The head and face of the body were swollen, and the head had been crushed in as though it had been stomped and beaten. There were marks on the body where the decedent’s assailant had bitten her. Expert witnesses testified that while it was extremely difficult to place the exact time of death, in all probability the decedent had died at least twelve hours before the autopsy which was conducted in the early afternoon, and that the injuries which finally caused Mrs. Maxfield’s death could have occurred several hours prior to the actual time of death.

At around 3:00 p. m. on September 4, a young Indian male driving a 1959 or 1960 white International pickup without a rear bumper or tailgate, drove into a Porum, Oklahoma, gas station. According to the testimony of the owner of the gas station and of his attendant, the white pickup was running extremely hot and was making a lot of noise. The driver of the truck wanted to purchase a fan belt but said he did not have enough money to pay for it. The owner of the gas station told him he could look through some used fan belts to see if there was one he wanted, but the young man left without getting one. Both the owner of the station and the gas station attendant picked the juvenile out of a photographic lineup and also testified in court that the juvenile appeared to be the person about whom they had testified. They also identified pictures of the juvenile’s truck as appearing to be the truck which defendant drove to their station that day. They both said that the juvenile indicated that he was on his way to Eufaula.

The State’s next witness was Louise Sampson, who lived a mile south of Porum. She testified that sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 p. m. on the afternoon of September 4, a young man came to the door asking for directions to the Eufaula dam and for water for his truck, an old white pickup which made a lot of noise. The woman said she became frightened when the young man told her that it sounded to him as though she lived there alone, so she told him that her husband was in the house and slammed the door. She said that although she gave him directions to Eufaula dam, when he left he took the road back into Porum rather than taking either of the routes to the dam. She identified the juvenile as the young man.

Several of Mrs. Maxfield’s neighbors reported having seen an old white noisy pickup in front of Mrs. Maxfield’s house. Shortly after one of her daughters had brought her home from grocery shopping at about 3:00 p. m. George Stewart reported having seen the vehicle at about 4:00 p. m. and reported that the tailgate was either down or missing. Leonard Cooper said that the pickup stayed in front of the house for approximately 30 to 40 minutes sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon. Dovie Cooper reported that she saw what she thought was an early 1960’s model white pickup and heard it making a lot of noise. She said she saw a dark complected, dark haired young man, who weighed between 150 and 175 pounds and who was about 5'10", running from the truck. She said that she would be unable to identify the young man, because she had seen him from such a long distance.

Sheriff Eugene Doyle testified that at about 9:30 on the night of September 4, the juvenile came to his office in Eufaula saying that he had run his pickup off into a ditch, and that he had gone into Eufaula where he had met a couple of boys who had “rolled” him for $40.00. His right hand appeared to hurt, and he had a stain on his clothes which the Sheriff said looked like blood. He had driven his 1958 white International pickup off into a ditch. He still had $10.00 which he said he had hidden away.

Herschel Alexander, who owned a body shop and wrecker in Eufaula, testified that he had gone with the juvenile to get his older model white International pickup truck which he had run off the highway. Alexander testified that the juvenile had a *1309 dark spot on his clothes, and that he said he had hurt his hand when the pickup went into the ditch. The juvenile told Alexander that he had $10.00, but he drove off without paying. Alexander also stated that the juvenile threw some things that fell out of the truck over into the ditch.

Leola Harrison, the decedent’s daughter, found her mother’s body at about 9:30 Sunday morning. The groceries, including perishables, which Mrs. Maxfield had purchased the previous afternoon were still in the shopping bag on the table. Her mother’s purse was open, and various articles from the purse were strewn about. Mrs. Harrison testified that her mother should have had at least $35.00, but that no money was in the purse.

Verlene Stewart, the decedent’s other daughter, testified that she had taken her mother grocery shopping the day before and that they had returned shortly after 3:00 p. m.

Semen and phosphatase were found in the decedent’s vagina indicating that the woman, who was in her eighties, had had sexual intercourse shortly before her death. Samples of the juvenile’s pubic hair matched hair samples that were found on the decedent’s body, and an OSBI forensic chemist testified indicating that the two samples of hair could have come from the same person.

Psychiatric evaluations of the juvenile determined that he knew right from wrong, was not psychotic, and would be able to assist counsel in the trial of his case. He had an I.Q. of 88 or 89, and the results on the Addiction Research Center inventory ranged from the mid to upper 20’s in September of 1976 to 39 in April of 1977. Both of these results were below the cutoff point for sociopathic behavior which is set at 40. In discussing the results of the earlier test, Dr. R. D. Garcia stated that the juvenile’s score indicated an elevation of addictive behavior which would “merit watching” although it was below the critical level. Dr. H. Brent Dietsche, in discussing the later test, stated that while the score was high and indicated that one should look out for alcoholism, the score did not indicate sociop-athy or criminal behavior. The juvenile had had no previous juvenile petitions filed against him, and had had no prior proba-tions or commitments to juvenile institutions.

The juvenile raises six propositions of error.

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Related

L.M.O.C. v. State
1987 OK CR 224 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1987)
State v. Maynard
1979 OK CR 54 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1979)
In Re FS
586 P.2d 607 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1978)
In re F. S.
586 P.2d 607 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1977 OK CR 269, 568 P.2d 1306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berryhill-v-state-oklacrimapp-1977.