Bingham v. State

1946 OK CR 9, 165 P.2d 646, 82 Okla. Crim. 5, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 161
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 23, 1946
DocketNo. A-10483.
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 1946 OK CR 9 (Bingham 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
Bingham v. State, 1946 OK CR 9, 165 P.2d 646, 82 Okla. Crim. 5, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 161 (Okla. Ct. App. 1946).

Opinion

JONES, P. J.

The defendant, Alfred Clarence Bing-ham, was charged in the district court of Tulsa county with the crime of murder; was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, and has appealed.

The information filed against defendant alleged that he killed his wife, Mary Bingham, on August 8, 1943, by cutting her throat with a sharp pocket-knife.

At the trial of the case, the killing of Mary Bingham was admitted by the defense and no evidence was offered or contention made that the homicide was excusable or justifiable, but the sole defense offered was that of insanity.

*8 The defendant was a painter and paper-hanger by ' trade. He had been married to the deceased, Mary Bing-ham, for about 14 years. During their married life, the defendant had had periodic drunken sprees, and, on some occasions, it had become necessary for the deceased to take her three children and go to her mother’s home in Tulsa, to secure food and clothing for herself and the children. In 1941, the deceased obtained a divorce from defendant on the grounds of extreme cruelty and habitual drunkenness of defendant, but they continued to live together thereafter as man and wife. About three months before the homicide, the deceased, together with her three children, moved into the home of her brother, who lived in the city of Tulsa. She went to work for the Douglas Aircraft Company at Tulsa, and was supporting herself and the children. During this three-month period, the defendant had been drinking heavily. On the few occasions when he saw the deceased, he would curse her, accuse her of infidelity, and had threatened her life. On Sunday evening, August 8, 1943, the defendant came to the home of the brother of the deceased and inquired for the deceased. Mrs. Rusher, mother of the deceased, told defendant that she had gone to the picture show and was not at the house, to which the defendant replied, “Oh, I know where she is— she is out with some man.” The defendant had a knife in his hand at that time and told the Rushers that if the deceased came home with some man that he was going to kill her. At that time, little Jess Bingham, age 10, the son of defendant and deceased, came around the house to the defendant, and defendant took him by the hand and left.

Mrs. Rusher, sister-in-law of deceased, testified that about 30 minutes later she heard little Jess Bingham scream and that she and her husband ran to where he *9 was screaming. That they found the deceased, Mary Bingham, lying against the curb. Her throat had been cut and she was bleeding terribly. She died in a few minutes. The defendant was not present when the Bushers arrived at the scene of the homicide, but had fled. He was arrested three days later by a Tulsa policeman. After the defendant was taken to police headquarters, he gave a detailed statement concerning the crime, which statement was reduced to writing and introduced in evidence. The statement was quite lengthy and this opinion will not be burdened by quoting all of it. The statement was in question and answer form and was taken in shorthand and later reduced to writing and signed by the defendant. Some of the essential parts of said statement are as follows :

“Q. Now, on the evening, the early evening of August 8th, what had you been doing? A. I had been in whisky joints and beer parlors. Q. Do you remember what ones? A. Different ones. Q. How long had you been drinking that day? A. All day long. Q. You didn’t work that day? A. No. Q. Had you seen your wife Mary earlier that day? A. No. Q. You knew where she lived at 713 W. 4th? A. Yes. Q. When did you first go to your wife’s home? A. Along late in the evening. It was dark. Q. Your wife was not home then? A. I didn‘t see her. Q. Did you see your son? A. Yes. Q. Where? A. He came out and met me. Q. This is the only time you were at your wife’s house that day? A. The only time that I know of. Q. When you went down to your wife’s house, did you have a knife? A. I had a pocket-knife. Q. What kind of a knife as best you can describe? A. Either a two blade or a three blade knife. Q. Where did you get it? A. I found it in a pair of painter’s overalls, about two weeks ago. Q. And you carried it from the time you found it? A. No, sir, not all the time. * * * Q. When you got up there to your wife’s home and your little boy met you, did you have any conversation with him? A. It seems like that *10 I picked my finger nails with that knife. Q. Do you remember telling him what you were going ,to do to your wife if you found her coming home with another man? A. I have some faint remembrance of saying something to him but I do not know exactly what it was. Q. Do you remember telling your boy that you were going to rip her wide open if she came home with another man? A. I don’t know whether I did or didn’t. Q. How long had you been over there at your wife’s house with your little boy before your wife came home? A. Off hand, I couldn’t say. I’d been there talking for some time. Q. You were in the front yard there at 713 W. 4th when you first saw your wife coming toward the house? A. I was on the lawn there in front some place. Q. What did you do when you saw her coming? A. Seems like I met her down the street. Q. You still had your knife in your hand that you had been cleaning your finger nails with? A. I don’t know whether I had it in my hand or had pulled it from my pocket. Q. Did you say anything to her as you met her? A. Seems like we had some words. Q. Do you remember what you said or what she said? A. No, I couldn’t say that I did. Q. Do you remember slashing her with the knife at all? A. No, I cannot remember slashing her with the knife at all. I hit or cut her one or the other. I know that I did something to her, but don’t remember what. Q. She fell to the ground, didn’t she? A. I have a faint memory of her hollering or something like that and running backwards, and she fell and it flashed on me that something had happened. Q. When she fell did you go over to her again? A. No, I can’t say that I did. * * * Q. You know that you did strike her or cut her and she fell? A. Yes, I know that. Q. Now, after you say that she had fallen to the ground, what did you do? A. I got away from there as fast as I could because she had told me that if I ever hit her she would have me arrested. Q. You knew you had done wrong and you wanted to get away from there before you got arrested? A. Yes, it dawned on me that I had done something and I wanted to get away fore I got arrested. Q. Did you run when you *11 left there? A. I ran some place and when I woke up the next morning, I was down there on the tracks, bnt where I went in the meantime, I don’t know. Q. What portion of the tracks were you on? A. Sand Springs trolley tracks. Q. What station? A. I don’t know but I’ll take them down there and show them where it was. Q. Did you have the knife when you woke up the next morning? A. No, I must have lost it or dropped it or threw it away. Q. About what time did you wake up the next morning? A. I don’t know, the sun was up. Q. Was there blood on your clothing? A. No, sir. * * * Q. After you woke up here on the tracks the following morning, where did you go and what did you do? A. Over to Newblock Park. Q. Did you see anyone you knew? A. I stopped and talked with a fellow over on Edison. * * * Q. What did you do the afternoon of the 9th of August, the next day after this thing happened? A. I went to look after a paint job. * * * Q.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1946 OK CR 9, 165 P.2d 646, 82 Okla. Crim. 5, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bingham-v-state-oklacrimapp-1946.