GILLIOMS v. STATE

2022 OK CR 3
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma·Decided January 27, 2022·Published·Cited by 27 cases

Opinion

GILLIOMS v. STATE
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GILLIOMS v. STATE
2022 OK CR 3
Case Number: F-2020-469
Decided: 01/27/2022
MARTAVEOUS DWAYNE GILLIOMS, Appellant v. THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, Appellee


Cite as: 2022 OK CR 3, __ __

S U M M A R Y O P I N I O N

LUMPKIN, JUDGE:

¶1 Appellant Martaveous Dwayne Gillioms was tried by jury and convicted of Second Degree Felony Murder, After Former Conviction of Two or More Felonies (Count I) (

21 O.S.2011, § 701.8(2)) and Gang Association While in the Commission of a Gang Related Offense (Count II) (21 O.S.2011, § 856.3), in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Case No. CF-2017-5008. The jury recommended as punishment imprisonment for twenty (20) years in Count I. Appellant's conviction in Count II carried an automatic sentence of five (5) years in prison. The trial court sentenced accordingly, ordering the sentences to be served consecutively.1 It is from this judgment and sentence that Appellant appeals.2

¶2 Appellant raises the following propositions of error in support of his appeal:

I. Because the evidence was insufficient to support [Appellant's] conviction for committing a gang related offense, due process requires that conviction to be reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss.
II. Because the crime of commission of a gang related offense is a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, this charge must be reversed and remanded with instructions to dismiss.
III. The other bad acts evidence in this case was improperly admitted in violation of Okla. Stat. Tit. 12, § 2404(B) and the due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions as the probative value did not outweigh its unfair prejudice.
IV. The prosecutor made highly prejudicial and inflammatory statements during closing argument depriving [Appellant] of a fair trial.
V. Trial errors, when considered in cumulative fashion, warrant a new trial.

¶3 After thorough consideration of these propositions and the entire record before us on appeal including the original record, transcripts, and briefs of the parties, we have determined that under the law and the evidence no relief is warranted.

¶4 In Proposition I, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction in Count II, Gang Association While in the Commission of a Gang Related Offense, and asks this Court to reverse and remand his conviction with instructions to dismiss. Appellant argues the evidence in his case was insufficient to prove that his actions during the assault on the victim, Maurice Pendleton, which ultimately led to the victim's death, were done while in association with any criminal street gang.

¶5 Challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence are reviewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution to determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Mitchell v. State,

2018 OK CR 24, ¶ 11, 424 P.3d 677, 682. In reviewing sufficiency of the evidence claims, this Court does not reweigh conflicting evidence or second-guess the decision of the fact-finder; we accept all reasonable inferences and credibility choices that tend to support the verdict. Id.

¶6 Appellant was convicted under

21 O.S.2011, § 856.3, which provides in pertinent part:
Any person who attempts or commits a gang-related offense as a condition of membership in a criminal street gang or while in association with any criminal street gang or gang member shall be guilty of a felony offense. . . . For purposes of this section, "criminal street gang" is defined by subsection F of Section 856 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes and "gang-related offense" means those offenses enumerated in paragraphs 1 through 16 of subsection F of Section 856 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

Title

21 O.S.2011, § 856(F) provides in pertinent part:
F. "Criminal street gang" means any ongoing organization, association, or group of five or more persons that specifically either promotes, sponsors, or assists in, or participates in, and requires as a condition of membership or continued membership, the commission of one or more of the following criminal acts . . . [list of eighteen (18) criminal acts].

¶7 This Court has not previously defined the phrase "while in association with any criminal street gang or gang member" as used in Section 856.3. Under the well-established rules of statutory construction, a statute should be given a construction according to the fair import of its words taken in their usual sense, in connection with the context, and with reference to the purpose of the provision. See Luna-Gonzales v. State,

2019 OK CR 11, ¶ 4, 442 P.3d 171, 173; State v. Anderson, 1998 OK CR 67, ¶ 3, 972 P.2d 32, 33.

¶8 The plain language of the statute shows the crime can be committed either by an individual as a part of criminal street gang initiation or "while in association with" a "criminal street gang or gang member." While other sub-parts of the statute provide definitions relating to this offense, Section 856.3 is the operative criminal statute setting out the elements of the crime.

¶9 If the plain language of the statute were not enough, we note that Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the term "in association with" as "in connection with or together with". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary (2021).

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