Gaines v. State

1972 OK CR 12, 493 P.2d 1130
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 12, 1972
DocketNo. A-16059
StatusPublished

This text of 1972 OK CR 12 (Gaines 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
Gaines v. State, 1972 OK CR 12, 493 P.2d 1130 (Okla. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

BUSSEY, Presiding Judge.

Alfonso Gaines, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged in the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, with the offense of Murder, wherein at the trial the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of First Degree Manslaughter. His punishment was fixed at a term of not less than thirty (30) years, nor more than ninety (90) years imprisonment, and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

At the trial, Woodrow Franks testified that he lived at 3725 West 53rd Street in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. On May 30, 1968, he had invited several friends to a barbeque party. He testified that the party was in progress when at approximately 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon, he observed the defendant walk into his yard. He testified that the defendant walked over to where Mae Francis Williams and Charles Henderson, the victim, were sitting. Mae asked the defendant something, wherein the defendant stated, “You haven’t heard me say nothing about going home.” The next thing he heard was Mae say, “Look out, he has got a gun.” He next observed Henderson running out the front gate and Gaines, the defendant, jumped over the fence. He heard two shots fired, but did not see who shot the gun. As the shots were fired, he observed Henderson running east on 53rd, and the defendant was running south.

John Gill testified that he was at the home of Woodrow Franks on the day in question. He testified that there were various persons at the party in Franks’ yard, including Henderson, John Brown, John Burden, William Brown and Mae Francis. He testified that he first observed the defendant at approximately 9:30 p. m. The defendant walked up to where Mae Francis, who presumably was the defendant’s commonlaw wife, was sitting. Mae asked the defendant something like if he was ready to go home, and the defendant replied, “I didn’t say anything about going home, did I.” Presuming there was going to be some trouble between Mae and the defendant, he moved over to another part of the yard. He heard some unusual commotion and looked around and observed the defendant with some liquid or something on his face and Charles Henderson had a beer can raised “rather high to be drinking it.” He next observed the defendant going in a backward motion toward the big bush and Henderson moving toward the gate. He next heard two shots, but did not see anybody shoot a gun. Some fifteen to twenty minutes later, after searching for Charles Henderson, he was found lying in a yard some three quarters of a block away from Franks’ house.

Officer Helm testified that he arrived at the scene at approximately 10:02 p. m., and observed Henderson lying in the yard. He checked Henderson and found no evidence of breathing or any heart beat. He testified concerning certain photographs that were taken at the scene.

John Brown testified that he arrived at Franks’ house at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon to attend a barbeque party. He testified that other persons arrived during the course of the afternoon and early evening. Somewhere between 8:00 o’clock and 9:00 . o’clock, he observed the defendant come through a small gate and walk up to where he was standing. Mae Francis was sitting on his lap and Charles Henderson was sitting on his right. Defendant began to stare at him, and he asked the defendant what he was staring at, but the defendant did not answer. Mae asked the defendant if he was ready to go home, and the defendant then cursed her. Henderson asked Brown if he was afraid of the defendant, and the defendant uttered an obscenity and asked him what he had to do with it. The defendant then backed off from Henderson [1132]*1132and ran his hand into his pocket. Mae Francis said, “He has got a gun.” Henderson pitched the beer at the defendant and tried to grab him, and failing to do so, Henderson broke and ran. The defendant fired at Henderson when he was approximately four to five feet away. Henderson proceeded out the gate and the defendant jumped the fence to cut Henderson off. He testified that he heard further shots after defendant jumped the fence.

William Brown testified that he arrived at the Franks’ party at approximately 6:30 p.- m. He testified that he observed the defendant arrive somewhere between 8:00 o’clock and 9:00 o’clock. He testified that he was not paying too much attention, but that the defendant went directly to meet Mae Francis and he heard her say, “look out, he has a gun, and then boom.” He testified that he jumped and moved, and by the time he turned around, Charles Henderson ran past him and out the gate. He testified that two shots were fired while Henderson was inside the yard and that he observed the defendant fire two shots after Henderson was running past the gate. He testified that the grass in the area where the defendant jumped the fence was about waist high.

Francis Williams testified that there were about ten people at the Franks’ house when she arrived. At approximately 9:00 o’clock the defendant arrived and she asked Gaines if he was ready to go; he replied that he had not said anything about going yet. She heard John Brown ask the defendant why he was staring at him, wherein Henderson interceded in the dialogue. The defendant told Henderson that he was not talking to him. Henderson then attempted to hit the defendant and the defendant turned and ran into some bushes. She testified that she said, “Stop, Charles, or he will shoot,” and the next thing she heard was two shots. She testified that she did not see the defendant shoot a pistol or have a pistol on his person. She testified that she and the defendant were living together and that they were not married.

Deputy Perkins testified that at approximately 2:00 o’clock a. m., on May 31, 1968, the defendant came to the Tulsa County Sheriff’s office. The defendant stated, “I think you are looking for me,” and turned over a .32 caliber automatic weapon to him. The party therein stipulated that if the FBI expert witnesses were called, they would testify that the two .32 caliber bullets which were taken from the deceased were fired from the pistol that was introduced into evidence.

Dr. Lowbeer testified that he performed an autopsy on the body of Charles Henderson. He testified that there were two gunshot wounds, in the right abdomen and the second in the back. He further testified that the second was fired in a downward direction. He testified that the cause of death was a bullet that entered the heart. He testified that although a shot through the heart was rapidly fatal, “it may not have prevented the man to run a block, as he allegedly did before collapsing.” (Tr. 365) He testified, as did previous witnesses, that the deceased was a large man, standing over six feet tall and weighing somewhere between 250 and 300 pounds.

For the defense, the defendant testified that he was twenty-six (26) years old, and on the afternoon of May 30, 1968, he played cards at Jewel Antwine’s house. Sometime that afternoon, Charles Henderson came to the Antwine house and made a few wise cracks or remarks toward him. That evening he went to Woodrow Franks’ house to get Mae Williams to see if she wanted to go with him to Sapulpa. As he approached where she was sitting, he observed Charles Henderson and John Brown in the near vicinity. He engaged in a conversation with John Brown, wherein Henderson interrupted and attempted to start a fight. He asked Henderson, “What are you doing trying to start something?” Henderson stated, “I’ll show you what I’ve got to do with it,” and threw a can of beer at him. The beer spewed in defendant’s face and got into his eyes.

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Related

Williams v. State
1969 OK CR 291 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)
Humphrey v. State
1969 OK CR 90 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)
Pyles v. State
1971 OK CR 125 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
1972 OK CR 12, 493 P.2d 1130, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaines-v-state-oklacrimapp-1972.