Farrar v. State

1973 OK CR 28, 505 P.2d 1355
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 24, 1973
DocketA-16712
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 1973 OK CR 28 (Farrar 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
Farrar v. State, 1973 OK CR 28, 505 P.2d 1355 (Okla. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

*1357 OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

Appellant, Gary Dean Farrar, hereinafter referred to as defendant was charged, tried, and convicted in the District Court of Texas County, for the offense of Burglary in the Second Degree, After Former Conviction of Felony. The defendant was tried before a jury, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. Subsequent to that finding, the jury was read the second part of the information charging Burglary in the Second Degree, After Former Conviction of Felony. Punishment was fixed at ten (10) years imprisonment in the state penitentiary, and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

On the 15th day of February, 1971, Ben Ellis, owner of an antique shop in Hooker, Oklahoma, was at his place of business between 10:30 and 11:00 p. m. when he heard the sound of breaking glass from across the street. His attention was thereby directed to the Schaapveld Oil Company where he observed two people force open a side door and enter the building. Ellis entered his car and continued to observe the Schaapveld Oil Company where he saw a man in a “rather distinctive shirt” kneeling in front of a cigarette machine.

Ellis drove away from the scene and sent for the police. He returned with two other parties and continued to maintain surveillance on the building. Momentarily, two men ran from the building across Highway 54 to the south. Ellis identified the defendant as the man in the building wearing a “distinctive shirt.” Soon after-wards, co-defendant Henson was apprehended at the scene in a red Mustang with a Kansas tag.

Jim Honeman, manager of Schaapveld Oil Company, testified that he received a phone call from Police Chief Mel Simer about 12:00 midnight. He thereupon went to his service station where he observed that the glass in a door had been broken out. He testified that he had locked the door upon closing on February 15, that he kept personal property of value inside the service station, and that he gave' no one permission to enter the premises on February 15.

Daniel Steven Hill, Jr., testified that he left Kansas State Industrial Reformatory in the company of defendant and Glen Henson on February 13. They entered Oklahoma driving a red Mustang. He entered Hooker, Oklahoma, in the company of the same two men where Hill testified that he broke into a gas station.

The combined testimony of Chester Juvenile and John Robert Juvenile established the latter’s car was stolen from their residence about 11:00 on the night of February 15. The car was next seen in Guy-mon, Oklahoma, the following day. Chester Juvenile testified that the residence from which the car was stolen was four and a half blocks from the Schaapveld Oil Company.

Joe Ferguson, Assistant Chief of Police, Guymon, Oklahoma, testified that he was on duty on the night of February 15. At approximately 2:30 a. m. on that evening he stopped a car, the description of which matched one reportedly stolen in Hooker. The vehicle carried two persons, Daniel Hill and defendant.

The defendant raises error in six propositions. They will be considered numerically.

The defendant’s first proposition is that the trial court erred in admitting testimony of a witness for the State by transcript of previous testimony. This argument is based on two allegations: First, that a proper predicate had not been laid for the testimony; secondly, that the transcript of the preliminary hearing had not been properly filed with the clerk of the Court.

In support of his first allegation, the defendant relies on the cases of Barber v. Page, 390 U.S. 719, 88 S.Ct. 1318, 20 L.Ed.2d 255 (1968) and Mullins v. Page, Okl.Cr., 443 P.2d 773 (1968). In Barber v. Page, supra, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the mere absence of a witness from the jurisdiction without *1358 some showing of diligence on the part of the prosecution to secure the presence of the witness was not sufficient ground for dispensing with the accused’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation.

In so holding the Court acknowledged that:

“ * * * [T]here has traditionally been an exception to the confrontation requirement where a witness is unavailable and has given testimony at previous judicial proceedings against the same defendant which was subject to cross-examination by that defendant. * * * ” “* * * [Tjhere may be some justification for holding that the opportunity for cross-examination of a witness at a preliminary hearing satisfies the demand of the confrontation clause where the witness is shown to be actually unavailable * * *”

The requirement of “actual unavailability”, removes the instant case from the operation of the rule applied in Barber v. Page, supra. This requirement was expressed by the court in Barber, supra, when the court declared:

“In short, a witness is not ‘unavailable’ for purposes of the foregoing exception to the confrontation requirement unless the prosecutorial authorities have made a good-faith effort to obtain his presence at trial.”

In this case the testimony clearly shows that several attempts were made to locate the witness, Ben Ellis, at his home, at a hospital in Oklahoma City and also at two locations in the State of Kansas. It is also a matter of record that an attempt was made to locate Ellis’ wife and it was indicated that she was accompanying her husband.

The defendant mistakenly cites Mullins v. Page, Okl.Cr., 443 P.2d 773 (1968), intending to cite In Re Bishop, Okl.Cr., 443 P.2d 768 (1968), where the court states:

“ * * * [T]he State is required to show that a diligent effort has been made to locate the missing witness, and that he is actually unavailable. * ⅜ * ’>

And further states:

“ * * * However, exercise of that discretion is subject to certain limitations. Those limitations include: that the testimony was taken down by a reporter in the presence of the defendant and his counsel, who cross-examined him; that the testimony was filed with the clerk; that a proper predicate is laid for the introduction of such testimony, by showing the exercise of due diligence in attempting to locate the missing witness ; and, that due diligence has been exercised in an effort to produce the witness, by timely issuance and service of subpoena. In the absence of such showing, the transcript of previous testimony should be denied by the trial court. * * *»

It is clear from the facts of this case that the requirements of both Barber v. Page, supra, and In Re Bishop, have been sufficiently met and that the State clearly showed the use of “due diligence” in its attempt to locate the witness, Ben Ellis. Therefore, having satisfied those requirements, we find this portion of the defendant’s first proposition to be without merit.

The defendant’s second allegation states that the transcript of the preliminary hearing had not been properly filed with the clerk of the Court.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1973 OK CR 28, 505 P.2d 1355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farrar-v-state-oklacrimapp-1973.