Evans v. State

1975 OK CR 159, 539 P.2d 744
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 20, 1975
DocketNo. F-74-824
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1975 OK CR 159 (Evans 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
Evans v. State, 1975 OK CR 159, 539 P.2d 744 (Okla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

The appellant, David Eugene Evans, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried before a jury in a two-stage proceeding and convicted of the crime of Robbery by Fear After Former Conviction of a Felony in Tulsa County District Court, Case No. CRF-74 — 719. Punishment was assessed at a term of eighty-five (85) years in the state penitentiary. From a judgment and sentence in conformance with said verdict, the defendant has perfected his timely appeal.

The first prosecution witness was Dale Edward Roberts who testified that on the 20th day of March, 1974, he was working in the check cashing booth of a Safeway store in Tulsa. At approximately 4:45 p. m. a man, who witness identified as the defendant, gave him a note which read as follows:

“This is a hold up. There is a man behind you with a shotgun. Just give me all the money, and nobody is going to get hurt.”

The witness gave the note to a girl working in the express lane and then proceeded to put money in a sack which he gave the defendant. He stated that he gave the defendant the money out of fear for his life, that there was no doubt in his mind that the defendant was the person who passed the note and took the sack and that his in-court identification was based solely on his observation and recollection of the robbery.

On cross-examination Roberts stated that shortly after the robbery a detective brought in five photographs and the witness identified one as the robber. Shortly thereafter the second detective brought in a single photograph which the witness recognized immediately. The detective then told him he had arrested the person in the picture the year before for the robbery of another Safeway store. A few days later the witness attended a lineup and identified the defendant. The witness further stated that the series of pictures and lineup each had only one individual who met the general description.

The last prosecution witness was Ginger Lamer who testified that she was also employed at the Safeway store on the day of the robbery and was working the express lane when Mr. Roberts passed her a note stating there was a robbery in process. She finished checking out her customer and then went to another checker and told her to call the police and then returned to the express lane where she observed the defendant and watched Roberts fill the sack with money. She stated that she had no doubt whatsoever that the defendant was the person who robbed the store. On cross-examination Mrs. Lamer testified to essentially the same facts as Roberts con[746]*746cerning the photographs and the lineup. On re-direct examination she stated that her in-court identification was based upon her recollection of the robbery and was not influenced by the pictures or the lineup. State then rested.

After the jury returned a verdict of guilty in the first stage of the proceeding, the State called Don E. Austin, District Court Clerk for Tulsa County, who testified that the defendant had been convicted of seven different felonies. Certified copies of appearance dockets and judgments and sentences were identified and admitted into evidence. Tulsa District Judge, Raymond W. Graham, then testified that the David Evans identified on four of the judgments and sentences was one and the same person as the defendant. The State then rested.

The defendant’s first assignment of error urges that the trial court committed reversible error in' failing to quash his in-court identification by the witnesses Roberts and Lamer. The defendant urges that it was apparent from the record that the in-court identifications were influenced by improper suggestion of police officials when they presented the witnesses with a series of photographs containing only one that met the general description of the robber, with an individual photograph of the defendant accompanied by a police statement that he had been arrested before for a similar crime, and with a lineup wherein the defendant was the only person meeting the general description. An examination of the record indicates that although the issue was raised by motion and objection at the beginning of trial, no evidentiary hearing was requested by defense counsel and no objection was made to the actual in-court identification.

In Anthamatten v. State, Okl.Cr., 506 P.2d 959, this Court citing Bridgeman v. State, Okl.Cr., 496 P.2d 431, held that the issue of a tainted in-court identification was improperly before the court when it was apparent from the record that the defendant failed to make a timely objection at trial to the in-court identification and had failed to make a timely request for an evidentiary hearing.

Although the assignment seems improperly before the Court, it is apparent from the record that both witnesses based their in-court identification upon the observation of the defendant during the commission of the crime. Neither witness waiv-ered during cross-examination and each stated that he immediately recognized the defendant at the lineup and recognized the defendant’s photographs because of independent recollection of the defendant during the robbery. Defendant’s first assignment of error is, therefore, without merit.

The defendant’s second assignment of error urges that reversible error was committed when the prosecutor made prejudicial comments during closing arguments. The defendant first notes the following remark made by the prosecutor during the first stage of the proceeding, to-wit:

“It’s not a pleasant thing for a grown young man to take the witness stand and tell the courtroom full of people and you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how scared he was. But who caused him to have to do that? I didn’t, you didn’t

We do not find the above comment to be prejudicial. It is a reasonable comment upon the evidence concerning the witness Roberts’ fear.

The defendant next complains ' of another remark made during said closing argument as follows:

“It’s not easy work for Mr. Roberts. He told you the type of work he did. He’s got a family. He chooses to go to work at 8:00 and get off at 5:00, earn his weekly salary by abiding by the laws and working and using his brain. He doesn’t believe in going out and making his living by the sweat of other people. He does it himself.”

Such comment does not tend to persuade the jury to have sympathy for the victim [747]*747of the crime. It is only a comment upon the defendant’s evident decision to commit a robbery instead of trying to earn his keep.

The defendant next contends that he was prejudiced by the following comment made by the prosecutor during the closing argument after the second stage of the proceeding, to-wit:

“And while you're thinking of showing some sympathy to this defendant, consider the sympathy that the defendant has shown victims of his crimes throughout his criminal career.”

Said comment was made after the verdict of guilty and during the stage in the proceeding wherein the jury was to determine punishment. Although it does tend to seek the jury’s sympathy for the victims of the defendant’s crimes, it does not amount to prejudicial error in the instant case. It is obvious from the testimony and the evidence that the defendant was guilty of the crime charged and had in fact been convicted of seven prior felonies.

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Related

Smallwood v. State
1988 OK CR 233 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Behrens v. State
1985 OK CR 44 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
1975 OK CR 159, 539 P.2d 744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evans-v-state-oklacrimapp-1975.