Ex Parte Goff

1948 OK CR 53, 194 P.2d 206, 87 Okla. Crim. 33, 1948 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 198
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 26, 1948
DocketNo. A-10961.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1948 OK CR 53 (Ex Parte Goff) 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
Ex Parte Goff, 1948 OK CR 53, 194 P.2d 206, 87 Okla. Crim. 33, 1948 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 198 (Okla. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

BRETT, J.

This matter comes before the court on a petition for writ of error coram nobis by Jimmie Goff, pro se, wherein he contends that he was adjudged guilty of the crime of murder in the district court of Okmul-gee county on the 16th day of October, 1937, and was sentenced by said court to life imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. He complains that the judgment and sentence is excessive; that he was never informed by written-statements or orally of his indictment by a grand jury sitting in Okmulgee county, Oklahoma. He further states that all of the parties representing the State of Oklahoma in the course of his trial and thereafter were of the opinion that he should not receive a sentence greater than his accomplice in the alleged crime, Olin Anderson. In support of the latter statement he attaches thereto a letter of the county attorney of Okmulgee county, the sheriff of said county and the judge of the district court who tided him stating that in their opinion the Pardon and Parole Board would be justified in commuting his sentence to 20 years. He further alleges that his accomplice Olin Anderson was released from the Granite Reformatory upon the expiration of his 20 years sentence. He further says that the reason he is asking for a writ of error coram nobis is because of the fact that a writ of habeas corpus cannot be substituted for an appeal.

*36 He sets forth a factual statement involved in his case substantially as follows, to wit:

“Petitioner was jointly convicted, at the same hearing, in the District Court of Okmulgee County, with one Olin Anderson, for commission of the same crime. However, the charge or Murder was placed against the petitioner, upon conviction of which he was sentenced to Life imprisonment. Said Anderson w'as sentenced on the charge of Manslaughter and * * * received a twenty (20) year sentence.”

The cause of said convictions he says were as follows:

“On June 19, 1937, the aforementioned Olin Anderson and the petitioner attended an outdoor picnic a few miles east of Beggs, Oklahoma. After their arrival at the picnic, the said Anderson and the petitioner separated. Shortly thereafter Anderson approached the petitioner requesting that the petitioner take his (Anderson’s) pistol, and keep it for him until the festivities were over. The petitioner complied with Anderson’s wishes as Anderson assured the petitioner that trouble for him (Anderson) was brewing, and he did not wish to have the gun on his person. Later, during the course of the picnic, the petitioner approached the grandstand and upon elevating himself to the rostrum, was ordered by one of the occupants to leave. Harsh Words ensued and in a fit of wrath the petitioner discharged the pistol which he was holding for Anderson. The person on whom the attack was directed was able to escape uninjured, but several innocent bystanders were injured, some fatally. The petitioner was definitely proved to be in an intoxicated state and a wholly irresponsible state at the time of the altercation. At the time that Anderson handed the pistol to the petitioner for safekeeping he likewise handed the petitioner a full, half-pint bottle of whisky. The Hon. J. Harvey Smith presided at the trial. The Hon. L. A. Wallace represented the State in his capacity as County Attorney for Okmulgee County. The Hon. Tom Payne was the defendant’s counsel. Petitioner entered *37 a plea of Not Guilty, inasmuch as the killings were purely accidental in nature. Petitioner was committed to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on September 29, 1937. He was paroled September 16, 1946 and his parole was revoked on August 18, 1947. His prison record is clear.”

To this petition the Attorney General, appearing on behalf of the State of Oklahoma, filed a response wherein it is alleged in substance that the defendant seeks to vacate and set aside a valid judgment and sentence entered on October 16, 1947, in the district court of Okmul-gee county finding the defendant guilty of murder and fixing his punishment at life imprisonment in the penitentiary. He further alleges that on July 7, 1937, an information was filed in the district court of Okmulgee county charging the defendant Olin Anderson with the murder of John Grayson on June 19, 1937, by shooting the deceased with a pistol; that on October 12, 1937, the matter came on for trial by jury after severance in which trial he was convicted and sentenced as hereinbefore set forth. Prom this judgment and sentence no appeal was taken.

After conviction a motion for new trial was heard and overruled by the court, and on October 16, 1937, the court proceeded to render judgment and sentence in accordance with the verdict of the jury, and on which judgment and sentence defendant has now served about nine years.

In petitions for habeas corpus and petitions for writ of error coram nobis which have been filed by inmates of state institutions, this court is very liberal in construing the same particularly where the same has been prepared without the advice and help of an attorney, as we realize there will be many cases where prisoners may have good grounds for petitioning this court for relief *38 but are unable to secure the assistance of an attorney because of their financial condition or otherwise; and in those instances We give every reasonable inference that we can to their petitions to see whether the same are sufficient on their face to justify a hearing upon the issues thus raised. Ex parte J. H. Tollison, 73 Okla. Cr. 38, 117 P. 2d 549; Ex parte Walker, 84 Okla. Cr. 190, 180 P. 2d 670. In its response the state sets forth that in Anderson v. State, 76 Okla. Cr. 260, 137 P. 2d 254, involving the appeal of Olin Anderson from his separate trial and conviction, “in the body of the opinion at page 268, of 76 Okla. Cr., at page 258 of 137 P. 2d we note this comment:

‘At the time of his trial he (Goff) took the witness stand and testified that he did not do any shooting on that night, but that the defendant Olin Anderson had the gun and did the shooting. At the present trial he took the witness stand and admitted that he had the gun and did the shooting, and that the defendant Olin Anderson did not fire a shot.’ ”

Further the respondent says that the facts stated in his petition are not sufficient to entitle the petitioner to the relief prayed for. The Attorney General seems to be of the impression that while the petition is labeled for writ of coram nobis, it was the intention of the petitioner to seek relief by writ of habeas corpus. If it was intended as an application for a writ of habeas corpus the same will not lie for the reason, as was said in Ex parte Linam, 71 Okla. Cr. 155, 109 P. 2d 838, in paragraph 3 of the syllabus:

“Where facts stated in a petition for a writ of ha-beas corpus, if established, will not warrant the discharge of the petitioner, the writ will be denied.”

*39 Moreover, the writ of habeas corpus is limited to cases in which the judgment and sentence of the court attacked are clearly void. Ex parte Walker, 84 Okla. Or. 190, 180 P. 2d 670. Further, in Ex parte Matthews, 85 Okla. Cr. 173, 186 P. 2d 840, 842:

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Related

Application of Anderson
1990 OK CR 82 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1990)
In re Writ of Error Nobis by Young
1960 OK CR 87 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1960)
Scroggins v. State
1955 OK CR 87 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1955)
Ex Parte Tidwell
1951 OK CR 167 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Ex Parte Hinley
1951 OK CR 103 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Ex Parte Mathis
1949 OK CR 34 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
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1948 OK CR 126 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1948)
Gibson v. State
1948 OK CR 78 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1948)

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Bluebook (online)
1948 OK CR 53, 194 P.2d 206, 87 Okla. Crim. 33, 1948 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-goff-oklacrimapp-1948.