Gonzalis v. State

1972 OK CR 183, 499 P.2d 1400, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 586
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 19, 1972
DocketNo. A-17492
StatusPublished

This text of 1972 OK CR 183 (Gonzalis 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
Gonzalis v. State, 1972 OK CR 183, 499 P.2d 1400, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 586 (Okla. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

BUSSEY, Presiding Judge:

Appellant, Max Gonzalis, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Ok-mulgee County, Oklahoma, for the offense of First Degree Rape; his punishment was fixed at a term of not less than five (5) years nor more than ten (10) years imprisonment, and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

At the non-jury trial, Regina Owl testified that on August 10, 1971, her husband, Dennis, and the defendant picked her up when she got off work at approximately 3:00 p. m. Her husband informed her that he and the defendant were going to Stilwell that evening and would be back the following morning. At approximately 10:00 p. m. someone knocked at the door and when she asked who it was they refused to answer. At about 11:30 p. m. someone again started knocking at the door and again refused to identify themselves. About fifteen minutes later the banging resumed and she asked who it was. Defendant identified himself and stated that her husband was down in the car passed out and that he wanted her to drive with him to the Wagon Wheel to pick up their car because her husband was too drunk to drive it back. As she opened the door, the defendant grabbed her around the neck and dragged her down the stairs. He forced her to get into the car and pushed her head down between her legs by applying pressure to her neck. He drove a short distance and stopped the car near a narrow blacktop road. He told her to get in the back seat and when she refused, he started “roughing me up and hitting me.” He continued to choke her and pulled her britches down to her knees. He told her that her husband was dead and that if she didn’t cooperate he would leave her there for dead. He then proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her. After completing the act of intercourse, he drove approximately one-quarter of a mile, wherein she managed to jump out of the car and run to a house. The people in the house called the police and upon their arrival, she was taken to the hospital where a smear was taken. Regina denied, on cross-examination, going to the defendant’s mother’s house with her sister and her sister’s husband and calling for the defendant to leave his wife and come with her.

Dennis Ray Owl (Regina’s husband) testified that on the 10th day of August 1971, he and the defendant were both students at Oklahoma State Tech. After their [1402]*1402classes were over in the morning, he and the defendant drank several beers until Regina got off work. He testified that they took Regina home and that he and the defendant went to Stilwell to attempt to find an address of an uncle. After attempting unsuccessfully to find the uncle, the defendant said that he wanted to stay around Stilwell for a while and Dennis agreed to pick him up at a beer joint at 10:00 p. m. He went by the beer joint at the designated hour and could not find the defendant. He continued to look for him until 11:00 p. m., at which time he went to his mother-in-law’s house where he spent the night. He testified that during the course of the day and evening, he and the defendant consumed about two and one-half six packs of beer.

Dr. Jack Myers testified that he examined Regina Kay Owl at approximately 1:40 a. m. on August 11, 1971. He testified that he took a vagina smear which was “read by the Pathologist the next morning and it was positive for sperm.” (Tr. 102)

Donald Styles testified that in the early morning hours of August 11, 1971, he heard a knock at his door and upon answering it found Regina Owl, who said that she had been “attacked.” He testified that she was hysterical and kept putting her hands to her throat like she was having a hard time talking. Her clothing was disarranged and she was having a problem keeping her pants up. After having a conversation with her, he called the police.

The testimony of Janet Styles did not differ substantially from that of her husband.

Officer Rickman testified that he received a call at approximately 1:00 a. m. to proceed to the Styles’ residence. Upon arriving, he observed Regina Owl, who had bruise marks on her neck. She appeared to be scared and had difficulty holding her clothes up.

Ralph Rogers testified that he was an auxiliary police officer and accompanied Officer Rickman on the morning in question. His testimony as to the prosecu-trix’ physical condition did not differ substantially from that of Officer Rickman.

For the defense, Betsy Gonzalis, the defendant’s mother, testified that one night her other son, Emmett, his wife, Hazel, and the prosecutrix came by her house where the defendant was living with his wife. Emmett and the prosecutrix both yelled for the defendant to come outside.

Hazel Gonzalis, the prosecutrix’ sister, testified that she came to her house at about 2 or 3:00 on the morning of the 11th. She testified that she said that the defendant tore the zipper of her britches and tried to rape her but was unable to accomplish the act of intercourse because he was too drunk.

The defendant testified that he and Dennis Owl went to Stilwell together. They both had been drinking beer since before they left Okmulgee. He testified that Dennis tended to drive pretty fast when he was drinking so he told him that he would meet him in town later. He subsequently looked for Dennis and when he couldn’t find him, his sister took him back to Ok-mulgee. He got his car and drove to Dennis’ house to see if he had gotten back yet. He knocked on the door and Regina answered it asking him where Dennis was. She asked him if he would take her to look for her husband. He denied grabbing her and pulling her to the car. They eventually ended up parking on the outskirts of Muskogee. She appeared to be friendly and did not ask him to take her home. He denied using any force on her and stated that she got in the back seat voluntarily. He testified that he had trouble attempting to pull down the zipper on her pants and because of his intoxication, he didn’t really remember all of what happened although he “didn’t have intercourse." He testified that there was no struggle and that she consented to his advances.

In rebuttal, Hazel Gonzalis was recalled and testified that prior to Regina’s marriage to Dennis, she, her husband, Emmett, and Regina went to the home of Betsy Gonzalis. Regina and Emmett had been [1403]*1403drinking and that Regina was “asking for Max.” She did not recall hearing Regina holler anything into the house.

The first proposition asserts that the trial court erred in admitting hearsay testimony of Dr. Myers. Dr. Myers testified without objection that he took a vaginal smear from the prosecutrix which was submitted to another doctor who reported the results of the test to be positive. The defendant cross-examined the doctor concerning the report of the other doctor and at the conclusion of his testimony made the following motion:

“MR. ELIAS: Your Honor, on behalf of the Defendant herein, at this time, we move that the entire testimony of Doctor Jack P. Myers be stricken from the record for the reason that the same is completely incompetent, by his own admission, and irrelevant; additionally, most of his testimony is based exclusively on hearsay and consequently we ask that his testimony be stricken from the record and disregarded by the Court.” (Tr. 110)

We are of the opinion that the defendant’s motion was not timely made. In Campbell v. State, Okl.Cr., 462 P.2d 349, Judge Brett stated:

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Related

Campbell v. State
1969 OK CR 297 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)
Parks v. State
1969 OK CR 210 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1969)
Sutterfield v. State
1971 OK CR 420 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
1972 OK CR 183, 499 P.2d 1400, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalis-v-state-oklacrimapp-1972.