Fray v. State

1930 OK CR 49, 285 P. 142, 46 Okla. Crim. 260, 1930 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 414
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 25, 1930
DocketNo. A-7239.
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 1930 OK CR 49 (Fray 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
Fray v. State, 1930 OK CR 49, 285 P. 142, 46 Okla. Crim. 260, 1930 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 414 (Okla. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinion

EDWAEDS, P. J.

The plaintiff in error, hereinafter called defendant, was convicted in the district court of Tulsa county of the crime of murder, and was sentenced to death.

A brief statement of the facts of the crime are as follows: Defendant, in 1913, was married to Laura Angel. To this marriage, two children were bom, a boy, at the time of the tragedy, 14 years of age, and a girl 9 years of age. This marriage was dissolved by divorce in April, 1927, and the two children were awarded to the custody of *262 the divorced wife. She resided at Jenks, and defendant resided at Tulsa. Defendant was a habitual user of intoxicating liquor, and much of his trouble with his first wife was due to this. In March, 1928, defendant married a second wife, Lucille. Defendant was of the opinion that his first wife was running a disreputable house in the town of Jenks, and was very much worried about her having custody of the children. On the morning of May 3, 1928, defendant made a batch of home brew, and defendant’s wife, Lucille, and a. friend went to the town of Jenks to bring defendant’s mother to defendant’s home, which they did, and also brought a Mrs. Bryan. Late in the afternoon, defendant’s wife and her friend took defendant’s mother and Mrs. Bryan back to Jenks, the defendant remaining at home. While they were gone, defendant and two other men drank some of the home brew, defendant drinking about three pint bottles.

About 6:30 or 7 p. m., defendant’s wife and her friend returned and brought a second young lady friend, a Mrs. Rose Oldham. Mrs. Bryan later left the house, and Mm Oldham remained to spend the night. Defendant was first affectionate toward his wife, but later became quarrelsome and abusive. He had an automatic pistol in the house, which his wife obtained, unloaded, and hid from him, and a quarrel developed between them, defendant trying to make his wife tell what she had done with the pistol. In the course of this colloquy, defendant said he was going to Jenks to kill Laura, his former wife. His wife, Lucille, told him he was not going to do so, and she would not get the pistol. Defendant struck his wife several times, and then got a twelve gauge pump shotgun, which was kept in the house, and told his wife he was going to' kill her if she did not give him the pistol. She refused; he then said he was going to leave anyhow and *263 use his shotgun. After further words, defendant went to the garage, broke the lock, backed the car into the driveway, but his wife went out of the house, and persuaded him not to leave, and he came back into the house. He was carrying the shotgun, and began a further search for his pistol, and later suggested that the car ought to be put up. Defendant’s wife and her Mend went out and put the car up, and hid the pistol outside the house. When they returned, defendant was still hunting for the pistol, and his wife told him that, unless he behaved himself, she would call an officer about the home brew. Defendant went into the kitchen, and proceeded to break the bottles, while his wife pretended to dial a number. He went where his wife was, jerked the telephone loose, and struck her several times, from which she was apparently dazed, but in a few minutes she revived, and told him that it was the last time he was going to whip her; that she was going to leave. Mrs. Oldham then said she was going to her sister’s and defendant’s wife said she wanted to go to town. Defendant told them he would kill them if they attempted to go. The wife insisted, and he then shot her in the abdomen with the shotgun, and, holding the gun, told Mra Oldham to get her coat, that she was going with him. She asked him not to kill her, and got her coat, and asked him to take her to her sister’s. He made her get 4n the car, took the shotgun with him, and. drove directly to Jenks. On the way, she asked him to call an ambulance for his wife; he did not do so, but told Mrs. Oldham she was on her way to see him kill Laura. She asked him not to do so, and he told her he was sorry he killed Lucille, but she should not have made him mad when she knew he. was worried about the children.

He drove to his mother’s residence, a small hotel in Jenks; went in the back way, taking Mrs. Oldham with *264 him. He told his mother that he had killed Lucille, and was going to kill Laura and Curtis, the town mashal. He loaded the shotgun, put some shells in his pocket, went to the home of his former wife; finding the door locked, kicked in the window, and shot her in the head, killing her. Then he returned to his mother’s place, and said he had shot the top of his first wife’s head off, but could not find the town marshal. Something was said about him leaving, and he said, if he had enough money, he might. He was asked whether or not he was nervous, and he held up his hand to indicate that he was not. Soon the town marshal and two other officers came to the hotel. Defendant saw them, and concealed himself, and, when they entered, he shot the marshal from the back, and, stepping from his place of concealment, was shot by one of the officers. He then said to the officer: “Well, Bill, you’ve got me.” He was taken to the hospital, and there made statements, telling in detail all these circumstances.

The defense was insanity. No hereditary insanity nor physical injury to the brain was shown or attempted. Testifying in his own behalf, defendant related what had occurred up to about 6:30 or 7 o’clock on the evening of the homicide, but stated from that time he did not remember anything until after he had been operated on at the hospital. There is no substantial controversy as to the facts of the killing. He is charged with the murder of Lucille Fray, the second wife.

Several assignments of error are urged as ground for reversal. The first is that the jury was not impaneled in substantial compliance with the provisions of the statute.. The jury was drawn as provided by sections 3517, 2644, Comp. Stat. 1921. But the claim is that there was a violation of section 2645, Comp. Stat. 1921. This section is:

*265 “When the ease is called for trial, and before drawing the jury, either party may require the names of all the jurors in the panel to be called, and the court in its discretion may order that an attachment issue against those who are absent; but the court may, in its discretion, wait or not for the return of the attachment.”

The district court of Tulsa county has four judges. Section 3083, Comp. Stat. 1921. All or any number of them may hold court at the same time. Section 3089, Comp. Stat. 1921. One hundred and seven jurors of the panel selected for the term were qualified and in attendance upon the entire court composed of four judges. Sixty-one of this number were in attendance upon that division of the court presided over by the trial judge in this case. The others were either serving on juries in other divisions of the court or were in attendance upon some other divisions engaged in impaneling a jury. It is not contended that the sixty-one jurors assigned to this division were improperly selected or were disqualified by reason of the manner of their selection, but that, under section 2645, supra, the names of the persons impaneled to serve as jurors in the trial were not drawn from the entire venire.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1930 OK CR 49, 285 P. 142, 46 Okla. Crim. 260, 1930 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fray-v-state-oklacrimapp-1930.