Dillon v. State

1973 OK CR 173, 508 P.2d 652, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 711
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 28, 1973
DocketA-17707
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1973 OK CR 173 (Dillon 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
Dillon v. State, 1973 OK CR 173, 508 P.2d 652, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 711 (Okla. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

Appellant, Dexter Dillon, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Canadian County, Oklahoma, for the offense of Burglary in the Second Degree After a Former Conviction of a Felony. His punishment was fixed at ten (10) years imprisonment, and from said judgment and sentence a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

Briefly stated, the evidence at the trial adduced that on the evening of October 25, 1971, at approximately 9:00 p. m. officer Whitington of the Mustang Police Department and another officer drove past Bob Cobb’s Gibble Gas Station and noticed nothing unusual about the closed station. After a short time they returned by the station and saw two individuals inside with an automobile parked in front. Whiting-ton stopped to investigate and defendant came out of the station and approached his automobile. Whitington noticed a cut upon the forearm of defendant and, upon approaching the station, found a front window broken next to the door latch, and the door was open. Inside, Whitington found several dents and pry marks on a soft drink machine. Whitington further made a quick search of defendant’s automobile and noticed a tire tool and screwdriver lying on the back seat.

Officer Whitington and Canadian County Deputy Sheriff Mike Grimes further testified without objection about the arrest, pictures taken at the scene, Miranda warnings given the defendant, waiver and consent to search forms signed by defendant, the subsequent search of defendant’s automobile and the tire tool and screwdriver *654 found therein. The written Miranda waiver, the written consent to search, the tire tool and the screwdriver were also admitted into evidence without objection.

Mr. Robert Lee Cobb testified that he was the owner of the station, that the station was secured when he left that evening, that he gave no one permission to enter the station and that nothing was missing.

A Mr. Otto Griffin then testified that he was the owner of a local wrecker service and that on the night in question he picked up an automobile at the request of the Mustang Police Department and adequately-secured same overnight. He further testified that some time before noon on the following day an officer came back and searched the automobile and took some tools out of the back seat.

Defendant urges in his first proposition that the state failed to prove venue since at no place in the record was there clear proof that the act was committed in Canadian County. With this contention the Court cannot agree.

Venue, if objected to, must be proved as laid in the information, and where there is no evidence of venue in the record a conviction will be reversed. Thompson v. State, 89 Okl.Cr. 383, 208 P. 2d 584. Venue in a criminal action need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Vanderslice v. State, 59 Okl.Cr. 192, 57 P. 2d 267. Venue may be established by direct testimony or circumstantial evidence, or both. McMurty v. State, 81 Okl.Cr. 24, 159 P.2d 567.

This Court has held in Application of Poston, Okl.Cr., 281 P.2d 776, in the third syllabi as follows:

“The right guaranteed by the State Constitution to trial in the county where the offense was committed relates to the venue rather than jurisdiction, and may be waived by failure to make the objection at or before trial, preventing raising of the question on appeal or where release is sought by way of writ of habeas corpus.” An examination of the record in the instant case reflects that defense counsel did not raise the question of venue either before or during the trial. The record also reflects that Robert Lee Cobb testified that his station was located in Canadian County. Therefore, for the reasons set forth above, this Court must hold that defendant’s proposition concerning venue is without merit.

Defendant next urges in his second proposition that the state failed to identify affirmatively the man on trial as being one and the same person as the man charged, and there was no indication that defendant was even in the courtroom during the trial proceedings. Defendant also urges that the state failed to prove each and every allegation as contained in the information.

An examination of the transcript of the testimony reflects that it is replete with instances that establish defendant’s identity and his presence at the trial. For example, the transcript at page 41 contains the following question posed by defense counsel on cross-examination and the following answer :

Q. “Did this defendant, Mr. Dillon, cooperate with you in all manners?”
A. “Yes.”

Although there can be no doubt that it is much better procedure for one of the state’s witnesses to identify positively the defendant as the person charged and to establish his presence in court, the record in the instant case is sufficient.

Defendant’s brief further contends that the record is void of any evidence supporting the element of “willful and felonious intent ... to steal property” as required by Title 21, Oklahoma Statutes, Section 1435; and that the state wholly failed to prove the defendant reached in and unlocked the front door as alleged in the information.

Citing Cooper v. State, Okl.Cr., 490 P.2d 762, which holds that:

“The offense [of burglary] is complete when the building is broken into and en *655 tered with specific intent to steal, and the actual stealing is but evidence of such intent. The intent to steal may be established by circumstantial evidence. The taking of the property was not a necessary ingredient to the offense charged.”

The state contends that there was adequate and sufficient circumstantial and direct evidence reflected in the transcript to prove the element of willful or felonious intent to steal and the other material allegations of the information. With this contention we agree. The transcript reflects that there were pry marks on the soft drink machine and that the tire tool fit said marks. The window was broken by the front door latch, and defendant’s arm was cut or scratched. An adequate instruction on circumstantial evidence was given by the trial court. The Court, therefore, holds that there was adequate evidence presented at the trial to prove all elements of the crime charged and all material allegations of the information.

Defendant’s third proposition argues that defendant was not properly advised of his Miranda rights and that, therefore, his subsequent written consent to the search of his automobile was void. Defendant cites Schorr v. State, Okl.Cr., 499 P.2d 450, in support of his argument and further contends that, since the consent was void, the tire tool and screwdriver found in said search were inadmissible.

An examination of the record shows that defense counsel did not file a motion to suppress, nor did he object to any testimony concerning the search or the admission of evidence obtained therefrom. In Watson v. State, Okl.Cr., 382 P.2d 449, in the first syllabi, this Court held as follows:

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Related

Becker v. State
768 S.W.2d 527 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1989)
State v. Kaba
349 N.W.2d 627 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1984)
Reed v. State
1978 OK CR 58 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1978)
Thigpen v. State
1977 OK CR 305 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Roberts v. State
1977 OK CR 166 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Hines v. State
1976 OK CR 325 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1976)
Voran v. State
1975 OK CR 115 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)
Matthews v. State
1975 OK CR 4 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1973 OK CR 173, 508 P.2d 652, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dillon-v-state-oklacrimapp-1973.