Garcia v. State

1972 OK CR 174, 501 P.2d 1128, 43 O.B.A.J. 3017, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 654
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 26, 1972
DocketA-16210, A-16400
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 1972 OK CR 174 (Garcia 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
Garcia v. State, 1972 OK CR 174, 501 P.2d 1128, 43 O.B.A.J. 3017, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 654 (Okla. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinions

BUSSEY, Presiding Judge:

Appellant, Abelardo Llamas Garcia, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, for the offense of Murder; his punishment was fixed at death, and from said judgment and sentence, timely appeals have been perfected to this Court and consolidated for the purpose of this Opinion.

At the trial, Carl Morris testified that on December 8, 1969, he was the lessee of two service stations: one located at 2502 West Skelly Drive and the second at Crystal City in Tulsa. He testified that Jimmy Bingham, his sixteen-year-old next-door neighbor, worked for him on a part-time basis. He testified that Jimmy usually worked at the Crystal City station but on December 8, 1969, he filled in for another employee at the West Skelly Drive station. He went by the Skelly Drive station at approximately 5:00 in the afternoon and Jimmy was on duty. He returned to the station at about 11:30 p. m. and observed an off-duty police officer, Alvin Jones, at the station. He had a conversation with Officer Jones and subsequently began to look for Jimmy. He found Jimmy Bingham dead on the ground a few feet away from the back of the station.

Carl Morris further testified that he first met the defendant at the Crystal City station in approximately November 1969. [1131]*1131At the time he met the defendant, Jimmy Bingham was working at the Crystal City station. The defendant subsequently worked for him several nights at the station located at West Skelly Drive. After finding Jimmy’s body, he observed the inside of the station and found approximately two hundred to two hundred fifty dollars was missing from the cash register.

Officer Walker testified that on the evening in question, he was assigned to patrol an area in the southwestern part of the City of Tulsa. He testified that he first drove past the Pacer-Fina Station on West Skelly at approximately 9:00 p. m. He returned at approximately 10:45 p. m. and observed a person wearing a dark brown coat inside the station. At approximately 11:30 p. m. he was summoned to the station and had a conversation with Officer Alvin Jones. After talking to Jones, he proceeded to the rear of the station and observed a young man lying on the ground wearing white jeans and a brown jacket. He testified that there was a similarity between the colors of the jackets that the young man he saw earlier in the evening was wearing to the young man he observed on the ground. He examined the body and the person showed no signs of life. He testified that the lighting condition at the rear of the station was poor.

John Pierce testified that he resided at 2410 West 50th in Tulsa, which was a little more than a city block from the Pacer-Fina Service Station. On the evening in question, after bowling and shopping, he returned to his home some time after 11:00 p. m. After entering the house he heard two gunshots. He looked at his watch and it was 11:10 p. m. Thereafter, he went to bed.

Alvin Jones testified that on the evening in question he was employed as a police officer but was off-duty. He pulled into the Pacer-Fina Service Station at approximately 11:20 p. m. to purchase gas and because of a low tire. He waited for several minutes for the attendant and when no one came, started to leave. He made a U-turn and pulled back in front of the office part of the service station. He went inside the office and observed the cash drawer was open. He called out and no one answered. After looking in the storage room and finding no one, he used the pay telephone and called the police dispatcher. While checking around the outside of the building, he discovered a body lying on the ground behind the station. He checked the body for vital signs and did not find any. There was a puncture wound in the left cheek portion of the face of the body. The hands were still in the jacket pockets of the young victim. He returned to the office part of the station and again called the police dispatcher.

Eugene Wade testified that he operated a pawn shop in the City of Tulsa. On December 6, 1969, he sold the defendant a .22-caliber pistol and some shells. He identified State’s Exhibit Eleven as the pistol which the defendant purchased. Defendant signed a form “A. Garcia” and placed his fingerprints on the form which was mailed to the police department. He testified that he had done business with the defendant before and that on December 8, 1969, the defendant pawned a watch and some records for eight dollars ($8.00).

June Heustis testified that on the day in question, she was employed at the Eldorado Bar as a bar maid. On December 6, the defendant asked her if she had a large purse and dropped a gun and some shells into her purse. Defendant returned to the bar later that afternoon and asked her for the gun which she returned to him. On December 8, the defendant was in the bar when she went to work at 4:00 p. m. He stayed until 6:00 p. m. and left, returning approximately 45 minutes later. He played pool with Dude Wiley and Roy Sullivan and again left at approximately 10 :00 p. m. He came back to the bar at approximately 11:30 p. m. and ordered a glass of beer. Defendant asked her for $2.00 worth of quarters and made a telephone call. After completing the telephone call, he finished [1132]*1132drinking his beer and left the bar saying, “ ‘I will see you on Thursday. I am going to Texas.’ ”

Roy Sullivan testified that he was in the Eldorado Bar on the evening in question. He arrived at approximately 8:30 p. m. and shot one or two games of pool with the defendant. The defendant left at approximately 10:15 or 10:30 p. m. and came back about a quarter till 12. He ordered a beer and made a telephone call to San Antonio, Texas. After finishing the telephone call, defendant said “he bought himself an extra 24 hours.” As defendant got up to leave, Sullivan saw a gun sticking in the defendant’s belt on the right-hand side. Upon cross-examination, Sullivan denied ever having made the statement to the defendant’s attorneys that the defendant left the bar around 8:45 to 9:00 p. m.

James Tilley testified that he was the defendant’s roommate at the Cove Apartments. He first observed the defendant on the day in question at about 11:00 in the morning. Defendant was looking at some insurance papers and had a .22-caliber pistol laying beside him. Defendant stated that he had gotten the gun from his brother. Tilley identified State’s Exhibit Eleven as the same gun he observed in the apartment. He and the defendant had a conversation for several hours and the defendant stated that he needed some money and was going to pull a job by robbing the Fina station on the Skelly By-Pass. Tilley told the defendant it would be silly to pull the job and that he might get five or ten years for it. The defendant left the apartment at approximately 3:00 in the afternoon, taking the gun with him. Tilley testified on cross-examination that he had previously been voluntarily committed to the Eastern State Hospital at Vinita; and that he had been convicted of drunk driving and several traffic offenses.

James Randolph testified that the defendant came to his used car lot shortly after he opened on the morning of December 9. The defendant purchased a 1967 two-door Ford for $150.00, paying $125.00 cash and writing a contract for the unpaid balance of $25.00.

Cíete Hunt testified that he was employed as a police officer in Cleveland, Oklahoma. On December 11, 1969, he was working from 11:00 p. m. until 7:00 the following morning.

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State v. Waddell
194 S.E.2d 19 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1973)
Garcia v. State
1972 OK CR 174 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1972)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1972 OK CR 174, 501 P.2d 1128, 43 O.B.A.J. 3017, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 654, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garcia-v-state-oklacrimapp-1972.