Ellison v. State

1972 OK CR 31, 493 P.2d 837
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 19, 1972
DocketA-15985
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 1972 OK CR 31 (Ellison 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
Ellison v. State, 1972 OK CR 31, 493 P.2d 837 (Okla. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinions

SIMMS, Judge.

Plaintiff in error, Ralph B. Ellison, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was charged by information in the District Court of Oklahoma County with the crime of Possession of Narcotics, After Former Conviction of a Felony. He was tried by a jury, found guilty, and his punishment assessed at Twenty Years in the penitentiary. From that judgment and sentence he has appealed to this Court.

From the record and transcript the facts of the case, briefly, are as follows: Officers C. R. Acox and Don Schimmels, Detectives with the Oklahoma City Police Department, testified that on December 24th, 1969, at approximately 1:05 P.M., they were attempting to turn into a driveway at 905 S.W. 29 Street, when the defendant and a companion, John Hartwell Hall, were attempting to exit by the same driveway. Both cars stopped, and Officer Acox testified as follows:

“Q. Would you tell the jury what the occasion was for you seeing the defendant in this particular driveway at that time?
A. Yes, sir. My partner and I were going East on Southwest 29th Street and we turned into this driveway and as we did we met a 1958 Ford Station Wagon coming onto 29th Street from this drive[839]*839way and apparently the passenger in the right side of this automobile which was Mr. Ellison observed us and he became excited and stepped from it—
Q. Did you see this?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. All, right. Go ahead.
A. Then he opened the right front door of the station wagon and stepped out, at which time I did the same and I observed a small white object fall to the ground.
Q. All right, sir. Did you check the small white object?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What was it ?
A. I found it to be a white powdery substance which I felt to be narcotics.
Q. Was it in anything at the time you found it? Was the powdery substance contained in anything?
A. In a piece of white folded paper.
Q. All right, sir. Did you check this? A. Yes, sir.
Q. All right, sir. Then, what if anything did you do after that, Officer?
A. I placed the Defendant and the driver of the automobile under arrest and searched the person of the Defendant and found in his right coat pocket a piece of newspaper which had been placed inside a cellophane bag that contained a needle and syringe.
Q. Then what if anything did you do, Officer?
A. They were both taken to the Police Station and booked in Jail and a Preliminary Field Test was conducted on the white powdery substance which showed positive for an opiate derivative.”

Officer Schimmels testified substantially the same, stating that he observed the defendant open the door and reach down and throw a white object under the car, and that Officer Acox then went around to the side of the car where defendant was and picked it up.

John McAuliff, Chemist for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, testified regarding the chemical analysis identifying the white powdery substance as “diacetyal-morphine or heroin * * * an opiate derivative.”

The defendant did not testify nor was any evidence presented in his behalf.

Defendant was represented both at trial and on appeal by the Public Defender from Oklahoma County, and has filed several “briefs, etc.” pro se.

Defendant’s first contention of error is that he should have been sentenced under Title 21, O.S.1961, § 51, sub-paragraph (2), which would limit punishment to a maximum of ten (10) years, rather than under the provisions of Title 63, O.S.1961, § 420(a).

The information filed against the defendant alleged, specifically, on page one of the information, the offense of Unlawful Possession of Narcotics. Page two of the information alleged that defendant had previously been convicted of the specific offenses of Illegal Possession of Narcotic Drugs; Possession of Marijuana After Former Conviction of a Felony; Possession of Marijuana; and Failure to Pay Tax on Marijuana. The exhibits attached to the Transcript on file in this Court, and as offered by the state in support of the allegations made on page two of the information, clearly indicates the defendant had previously been convicted of the offense of Illegal Possession of Narcotic Drugs, and the offense of Possession of Marijuana After Former Conviction of a Felony. These two judgment and sentences were introduced in the punishment phase of the trial by stipulation of the parties and without objection of the defendant; and after a finding of guilty by the jury as to the allegations contained in the first page of the information.

Title 21, O.S.1961, § 11, controls this alleged assertion of error by reason of the following language contained within the statute:

“If there be in any other chapter of the laws of this state a provision making any specific act or omission criminal and pro[840]*840viding the punishment therefor, * * * that offense and the punishment thereof, shall be governed by the special provisions made in relation thereto and not by the provisions of this penal code.”

Title 63, O.S.1961, § 420, deals specifically with violations of the narcotic laws and provides specifically:

“ * * * For a third or subsequent offense, or if the offender shall previously have been convicted two or more times in the aggregate of any violation of the law of the United States or of any other state, territory or District of Columbia relating to narcotic drugs or marihuana, the offender shall be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or be imprisoned not less than ten (10) or more than twenty (20) years.” (Emphasis ours)

This Court, long ago, held that Title 21, O.S.1961, § 51, the statute under which defendant contends he should have been punished, does not create a new or define a different crime. Ex parte Bailey, 60 Okl.Cr. 278, 64 P.2d 278, which opinion has consistently been followed in subsequent decisions.

The record shows that no demand was made by defendant upon the state to elect under which statute they were proceeding. Therefore, the evidence adduced at trial brings the defendant exclusively under the provisions of Title 63, O.S.1961, § 420(a), and we find defendant’s first contention wholly without merit.

Pro se briefs filed by defendant, after the perfection of this appeal raise the issue of the legality of the seizure of the narcotics at the time of his arrest on December 24, 1969. No objection was made by defense counsel or defendant at the time the contraband was introduced and received in evidence.

An objection to evidence obtained, allegedly, by illegal search and seizure must be interposed at first opportunity and should be made either at beginning of trial by motion to suppress evidence or in the course of examination as soon as it becomes apparent that state will rely thereon, and defendant’s failure to make timely objections waives right to be heard upon this question. Watson v. State, Okl.Cr.,

Related

Munson v. State
758 P.2d 324 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Temple v. State
1977 OK CR 274 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Johnson v. State
1977 OK CR 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Hayes v. State
1976 OK CR 113 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1976)
Box v. State
1975 OK CR 194 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)
Buff v. State
1975 OK CR 129 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)
Wood v. State
1973 OK CR 418 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1973)
Graham v. State
1972 OK CR 253 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1972)
Ellison v. State
1972 OK CR 31 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
1972 OK CR 31, 493 P.2d 837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellison-v-state-oklacrimapp-1972.