Hefner v. State

1975 OK CR 215, 542 P.2d 527, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 480
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 6, 1975
DocketF-74-834
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1975 OK CR 215 (Hefner 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
Hefner v. State, 1975 OK CR 215, 542 P.2d 527, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 480 (Okla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

The appellant, Dickie Hefner, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried by the trial court after waiving a jury and convicted in the District Court of Okmulgee County, Case No. CRF-73-31, for the crime of Unlawful Delivery of a Dangerous Controlled Drug. Defendant was sentenced to serve a term of two (2) years in the custody and control of the Department of Corrections of the State of Oklahoma. From that judgment and sentence the defendant now appeals.

Briefly stated the evidence adduced at trial is as follows: Dennis Dill testified that on February 18, 1973, he was making narcotics buys for Jack Lay, an agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and advised the agent that he thought he could make a purchase from the defendant. Lay and Paul Clark searched Dill’s car and his person and then gave him $30.-00. The witness then approached the defendant at a Henryetta drive-in and asked him if he had any dime bags of the drug THC. The defendant replied in the affirmative and stated that the witness should meet him in a few minutes at an[529]*529other location. Later the defendant for $30.00 sold him three paper packets containing a white powdery substance which the defendant identified as THC. The witness then drove to a prearranged location where he met Officers Lay and Clark, initialed and dated the evidence and handed it to the officers.

Upon cross-examination the witness testified that a few days earlier he, the defendant and two others were at a cabin near Lake Tenkiller; that he asked the defendant to sell him drugs, but the defendant declined stating something to the effect that he didn’t have any. The four then drove Dill’s car to Henryetta and during the trip the defendant again declined to sell any drugs. On the way a few marihuana cigarettes were smoked by all, but the witness did not supply same. Dill further testified he got paid for each drug purchase and that he never sold or supplied drugs to other parties.

The State then called Jack Lay who testified that he was an agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and that on the date in question Dill advised that he thought he could make a narcotics purchase from the defendant. Dill’s person and vehicle were then searched and he was given $30.00. Dill then proceeded to the In and Out Drive-in in Henryetta and approached an individual in a parked car. The officer followed Dill when he left the drive-in and observed what appeared to be an exchange between Dill and an individual in a vehicle. At a prearranged location Dill gave Lay three small packets containing a white powdery substance. Dill was never out of Lay’s sight.

Ronald Clodfelter testified that at the time in question he was a chemist for the Crime Bureau of the State of Oklahoma. He stated that it was his job chemically to analyze material and that upon receipt of the packets he analyzed the contents and found it to be a controlled dangerous substance.

Paul E. Clark, a security officer at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, then testified to essentially the same facts as Jack Lay.

The first defense witness was Roy Dean Pippin who stated that he had known Dennis Dill since he was fifteen years old. He testified that on a prior occasion Dill had asked him if he would like to “do some LSD with him.” The witness replied that he would, and Dill gave him a tablet of LSD for $2.00. On cross-examination Pippin testified that although he had known the defendant for a long time, he had never seen the defendant with any drugs.

The defendant next called Lisa Blade who testified that in February of 1973, she, her husband, the defendant and Dennis Dill were all present in a cabin on the lake in Cherokee County when Dill asked the defendant twice if he would sell him some THC. On both occasions the defendant declined although he had three small packets of some substance. They then got in Dill’s car and proceeded to Henryetta. During the trip Dill produced a marihuana cigarette which they all shared. The witness further stated that Dill had testified in a drug violation case against her husband and that the defendant was her brother-in-law.

The defendant next testified in his own behalf stating that he was twenty years old and that he had been living in the cabin on the lake for some time before the 18th of February. The witness testified that before going to the cabin he washed his car and found three packets resembling State’s Exhibit No. 2. He stated that he did not know how the packages got in his car, that he had loaned his car to numerous people and that he figured the packets contained drugs. He further testified that while at the cabin Dill saw the packets, asked twice if it was THC and if he would sell it. The defendant declined both times. After the trip from the cabin to Henryetta, the defendant next saw Dill at the In and Out Drive-in when Dill came over and begged the defendant to sell him THC. The defendant stated that he finally went to his grandparent’s home, got the packets and [530]*530sold them to Dill for $30.00. However, he did not set the price, nor did he know for certain the contents of the packets.

During cross-examination, defendant stated that he was previously convicted of a marihuana violation in Oklahoma. At this time a conference was held before the bench and defense counsel was allowed to present evidence to show that the defendant had received a deferred sentence and that the record had been expunged.

Questioning of the defendant then resumed and he stated that he had no other convictions. He further testified that Dill begged him to sell the drugs and that this continual harassment is what forced him to make the sale. The witness testified that when he was previously asked if he was convicted on a drug charge he did not know the difference between a formal judgment and sentence and a deferred sentence. The defense then rested.

The State then recalled Dennis Dill as a rebuttal witness. He stated that he never sold any drugs to Roy Pippin, that he had no marihuana in his possession on the trip from the lake to Henryetta, that the defendant was the party setting the price of the drugs and that he had previously purchased marihuana from the defendant.

The defendant’s first assignment of error urges that the trial court erred in not sustaining a demurrer to the evidence, motion to dismiss and motion for new trial on the ground that the defendant had been entrapped by law enforcement officers. In support of his contention the defendant argues that Dennis Dill on two occasions prior to February 18, 1973, had asked the defendant to sell him THC, that the defendant had declined and that on the date in question the defendant sold the three packets only after Dill had “begged” for them.

Upon a thorough examination of the record, it is the opinion of this Court that the evidence does not present facts which require a finding of entrapment as a matter of the law. Dill, acting as a police informant, gave the defendant an opportunity to sell drugs which Dill knew the defendant had in his possession. Dill further testified on rebuttal that he had purchased marihuana from the defendant on a previous occasion. There is conflicting evidence concerning whether the sale of three packets consummated on the 18th of February was coerced by Dill’s continual harassment. The resolution of a question of entrapment on controversial evidence is a factual question for the trier of fact. Kissick v. State, Okl.Cr., 504 P.2d 889, and Humphreys v. State, Okl.Cr., 512 P.2d 197.

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Hefner v. State
1975 OK CR 215 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1975 OK CR 215, 542 P.2d 527, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hefner-v-state-oklacrimapp-1975.