Harrison v. State

1969 OK CR 263, 461 P.2d 1007, 1969 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 627
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 8, 1969
DocketA-15259
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 1969 OK CR 263 (Harrison 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
Harrison v. State, 1969 OK CR 263, 461 P.2d 1007, 1969 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 627 (Okla. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

BUSSEY, Judge.

Alphonzo Harrison, Jr., hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Oklahoma County for the crime of Murder, and from the judgment and sentence fixing his punishment at life imprisonment in the state penitentiary, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

Briefly stated, the facts adduced on the trial reveal that around 2:00 or 2:30 in the afternoon of July 20, 1968, the defendant entered Crosby’s Pool Hall, chased Clarence Reed (the deceased) with a bumper jack, struck the deceased in the back of the head at least twice with the jack after the deceased stumbled and fell. At all times the defendant was in a standing position. At this point Elizah Robinson, the operator of the pool hall, got his pistol from the back bar and ordered the defendant to quit hitting the deceased, which he did, and the defendant then asked him to call the ^.w. There is no phone in the establishment and Mr. Robinson gave someone a dime to go and call the police. The defendant then left the premises, and an ambulance arrived and picked up the body of the deceased. An autopsy was performed and the cause of death was multiple skull fractures on the back left side of the head.

Officers Gary Smith, Jerry Johnson, Charles Douglas and Officer Causley had been informed that the defendant was wanted for questioning in connection with the homicide. They arrived at 19th and Prospect, advised the defendant of his constitutional rights, and placed him under arrest.

Defendant was the only witness in his own behalf. He testified that he was a tubercular, but that Reed, whom he knew as Red Blalock, was under the impression that defendant was an epileptic. Defendant testified that Reed had robbed him of money on three previous occasions, the last occasion being the morning of the homicide. That afternoon defendant met up with one Willis outside the pool hall and asked Willis to drive defendant to his mother’s house. Willis agreed, but first wanted to return the bumper jack, so Willis entered the pool hall with the jack and defendant followed. Defendant said Reed pulled out a knife from his pocket and Willis handed defendant the jack, which then came apart in three pieces. He further testified that Reed roughed him into the wall and defendant hit his arm in the process and knocked the knife from his hand. Reed then ran and defendant asked for the return of his money. Defendant asked others in the rear to catch Reed and they stopped him and someone whom defendant could not identify, hit Reed with another part of the bumper jack and shoved him back so that he fell on top of defendant. Defendant could then see that Reed had been hit in the back of the head. Defend *1010 ant struck Reed once while in a sitting position with Reed on top. He denied any intention to kill Reed, and denied that he had ever struck Reed in the back of the head.

On appeal, as in his Motion for New Trial, the defendant contends that the trial court erred when it failed to instruct on Manslaughter, as requested. In the case of Newby v. State, 17 Okl.Cr. 291, 188 P. 124, this Court held:

“The refusal to give manslaughter instructions is not error if there is no evidence to reduce the degree of the crime from murder to manslaughter.” [listing many citations].

And further, in Newby v. State, supra, citing Sayers et al. v. State, 10 Okl.Cr. 233, 135 P. 1073, it is stated:

“When a defendant, who has a right of election as to several defenses, takes the stand as a witness and makes such admissions as to render every theory of defense unavailable save one, he will be deemed to have elected that one.”

In the instant case, defendant’s testimony is consistent with only two theories: (1) his blows to the deceased were not the ones that killed him; and (2) if his blows did cause death, defendant was acting in self-defense. The trial court’s instructions 3, 6, and 11 were adequate to cover both of these theories, and defendant has not claimed otherwise. For the above reasons, we are of the opinion that this assignment of error is without merit.

Defendant, in his own behalf, has submitted a number of items he claims to be error. He first contends that it was a false and improper arrest, in that no warrant was shown.

The pertinent part of 22 O.S. § 196, states as follows:

“A peace officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person:
* * * * * *
2. When the person arrested has committed a felony, although .not in his presence.
3. When a felony has in fact been committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it.”

In construing this statute, this Court stated in Darks v. State, Okl.Cr., 273 P.2d 880:

“Arrest by peace officer without a warrant is not unlawful if officer from his own knowledge or from facts communicated to him by others has reasonable grounds to believe that person arrested has committed a felony.”

See also Reed v. United States, C.A.Okl., 364 F.2d 630 (1966), certiorari denied 87 S.Ct. 878, 386 U.S. 918, 17 L.Ed.2d 789.

In the instant case defendant was arrested. after a homicide had been committed and on the facts communicated to them, the police officers had probable cause to believe the defendant was guilty. In accordance with the authority above set forth, we are of the opinion that the arrest was lawful; however, even had the arrest been illegal, the failure of the defendant to raise this issue prior to entering a plea to the charge on its merits and proceeding to trial, constituted a waiver and therefore may not be urged as a grounds for reversal. This Court has repeatedly held that:

“The fact that an original arrest may have been unlawful does not affect the jurisdiction of the court, nor is it a ground for quashing the information. And it does not preclude trial of the accused for the offense.”

See Allen v. State, Okl.Cr., 400 P.2d 463, and Walters v. State, Okl.Cr., 403 P.2d 267.

Defendant next contends that he was “Held incommunicado from 7-20-68 until 7-22-68 (a busy signal terminated the one phone call) without an attorney to aid me, I was unable to learn if I had a real charge against me or a ‘Harrassment’ which is contrary to the United States Constitution.”

The only portion of the record which remotely touches this issue deals with the defendant’s isolation and physical condition *1011 and appears at page 200 of the case-made, where the defendant testified as follows concerning his physical condition, the fact that he was a tubercular and had been in the T.B. Sanitarium at Clinton:

“A. I’m a patient down there, I don’t have any income. My mother and my. brothers, everybody, I can’t be around their children, so I had to move off and move down on Second Street whenever I’m in town.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1969 OK CR 263, 461 P.2d 1007, 1969 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harrison-v-state-oklacrimapp-1969.