Cummings v. State

1998 OK CR 45, 968 P.2d 821, 69 O.B.A.J. 2901, 1998 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 43, 1998 WL 436621
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 4, 1998
DocketF-96-657
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 1998 OK CR 45 (Cummings 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
Cummings v. State, 1998 OK CR 45, 968 P.2d 821, 69 O.B.A.J. 2901, 1998 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 43, 1998 WL 436621 (Okla. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

OPINION

STRUBHAR, Vice Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 Appellant, Jessie James Cummings, was convicted of First Degree Malice Aforethought Murder (Count I) and First Degree Felony Murder (Count II), in the District Court of Coal County, Case No. CF-94-32, after a jury trial held before the Honorable Doug Gabbard, II.1 As to both of these counts, the State filed a Bill of Particulars alleging two aggravating circumstances: (1) [827]*827that the murders were committed for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution;2 and, (2) the existence of a probability that Appellant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.3 As to Count 1. the jury found the existence of one aggravating circumstance, the existence of a probability that Appellant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society. As to Count II, the jury found the existence of both alleged aggravating circumstances. The jury assessed punishment at death on each count. The trial court sentenced Appellant accordingly. From this Judgment and Sentence Appellant has perfected his appeal.4

FACTS

¶ 2 In September of 1991, Appellant lived in Phillips, Oklahoma, in a residence he shared with his first wife, Sherry Cummings, his second wife, Juanita Cummings, Appellant’s and Sherry’s daughter, Debra, Juanita’s son Robbie, and Appellant’s father, Jesse Samuel Cummings. Appellant had married Sherry in 1987, and, without divorcing her, had married Juanita in 1989. He, in effect, had two wives.

¶ 3 On September 8, 1991, Appellant went to the Atoka County Sheriffs Office and reported his sister, Judy Ann Moody Mayo, and her daughter, Melissa Moody, as missing. Appellant told the clerk that friends had told him that his sister’s vehicle had been seen parked at Atoka Lake on Highway 43 and that it had broken down as its hood and doors were opened. Appellant reported what his sister and her daughter had been wearing at the time of their disappearance. He also said that someone had possibly picked them up. Appellant showed the clerk pictures of Judy and Melissa.

¶ 4 The next day, on September 8, Judy’s body was found floating in a small pond adjacent to Atoka Lake. She had suffered gunshot wounds to her head and neck and her body was wrapped in a quilt and a mattress pad. The following month, in October, the skeletal remains of Melissa were located by the side of a bridge over the Clear Boggy River in Choctaw County. Due to the skele-tonization of the body, an exact cause of death could not be determined but evidence of sharp force injuries to several ribs was noted.

¶ 5 The case remained unsolved for almost three years. During this time, Appellant and his two wives moved from Phillips, Oklahoma, to Lehigh, Oklahoma. In the summer of 1994, Juanita went to work for a minister named Edward Fields. Juanita told Fields that she had shot Judy and that Appellant had made her do it. She also stated that Appellant had wanted her to kill Melissa but she got sick and could not do it. She told Fields that after she killed Judy she went to work and when she got back Judy’s body was gone and so was Melissa.

¶ 6 Subsequently, Juanita was charged with First Degree Murder for the death of Judy, and Sherry was charged with First Degree Murder for the death of Melissa. First Degree Murder charges were dropped against Sherry when she entered a plea agreement with the State and pled guilty to two counts of Accessory After the Fact and one count of Permitting a Child to be Abused. First Degree Murder charges were also dropped against Juanita and she pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder. Both Sherry and Juanita implicated Appellant in the commission of the crimes and testified against him at trial.

¶ 7 Sherry testified that on September 4, 1991, Appellant told her to take his sister, Judy, to look at houses and to shoot Judy from behind when they got to an empty house. The next morning, on September 5, Appellant left early to drive his father to the hospital in Oklahoma City. That morning, Sherry took Judy to look at houses. She did not shoot Judy while they were looking at» [828]*828houses. When they had finished looking at houses, Sherry and Judy returned to Appellant’s residence. Sherry, Judy, and Juanita watched TV in the house and the kids, Debra, Robbie and Melissa were outside. When Judy indicated she was ready to leave, Sherry went to the bathroom. While she was gone she heard five gunshots. When she returned to the living room she saw Judy sitting on the couch slumped over. Juanita had shot her. Sherry and Juanita brought all three kids into the house, covering their eyes when they passed through the living room, and they put them in a back room. They then pulled Judy through the house and outside into the cellar. They cleaned blood off the couch, the floor and the living room wall. After they had cleaned, Robbie and Debra went back outside and Juanita left to go to work at the Dairy Queen in Atoka. Melissa stayed locked in the back room. Juanita returned from work around 11:00 that night.

¶8 Appellant returned from Oklahoma City later that same night. When he got home Sherry and Juanita met him and Juanita told him that she had killed Judy. The three of them retrieved Judy’s body from the cellar and pulled her to her truck. Appellant went to the house and got something white that he wrapped around Judy. Appellant drove Judy’s truck and Sherry followed in the car. Juanita stayed at the house. Sherry followed Appellant toward Atoka Lake. She parked her car and waited while Appellant drove on further. When he came back Judy was no longer in the truck. Appellant parked Judy’s truck off the side of the road next to a bridge. He raised the hood and left the truck there. Appellant drove home in the car with Sherry.

¶ 9 Sherry testified that when they arrived back at the house, Appellant and Juanita went into the bedroom where Melissa was hand cuffed to the bed. They were there from fifteen to twenty minutes. Juanita came out first and then Appellant followed. Appellant handed Juanita the keys to the hand cuffs and told her to bring Melissa out of the room. Appellant then told Sherry and Melissa to go get in the car. Sherry testified that Melissa asked where they were going and Appellant said they were going to meet her momma. Sherry fell asleep while they drove and she woke up when the car stopped. Appellant got out of the car and told Melissa to get out. They walked behind the car and climbed over a railing. They were gone fifteen to twenty minutes and when he returned to the car, Appellant was alone. Sherry stated that he had blood on his hands and the front of his coveralls. Appellant drove back to Atoka Lake and stopped on the opposite side of the lake from where he had taken Judy. He cleaned up, threw away his shoes and they drove back toward the house. On the way there Appellant threw his coveralls out the window. When they arrived back at the house, Appellant and Juanita took the couch and left. They were gone for about an hour before they returned.

¶ 10 Sherry testified that when she was first questioned by authorities about Judy and Melissa’s disappearance she told them that they had left in a dark blue or black pickup that had come by the house. She claimed to have given this statement because Appellant told her to.

¶ 11 Juanita also testified against Appellant at trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1998 OK CR 45, 968 P.2d 821, 69 O.B.A.J. 2901, 1998 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 43, 1998 WL 436621, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cummings-v-state-oklacrimapp-1998.