James v. State

1987 OK CR 9, 731 P.2d 1384, 1987 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 294
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 21, 1987
DocketF-84-714
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 1987 OK CR 9 (James 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
James v. State, 1987 OK CR 9, 731 P.2d 1384, 1987 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 294 (Okla. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

BUSSEY, Judge:

Joe James was convicted in Cleveland County District Court of Assault With Intent to Rape After Former Conviction of Two Felonies. Punishment was assessed at sixty (60) years imprisonment, and he appeals.

On July 13, 1983, while P.C. was jogging near her house at about 8:00 p.m., a man, she later identified as the appellant, who was driving a greenish two-tone truck, approached her and asked if she wanted a ride. She told the appellant that she did not need a ride. A few minutes later the appellant approached her again and asked if she wanted a ride. She again said that she did not and made a mental note of the tag number on the truck. P.C. proceeded to walk on past the truck when the appellant side-swiped her with his truck and knocked her into a ditch. The appellant then jumped out of his truck and landed on top of P.C. proceeding to beat her and fondle her about the chest. In an effort to free herself, P.C. managed to turn over on her hands and knees. The appellant then tore off her lower clothing and penetrated her vagina with his middle finger. Eventually, P.C. was able to knock the appellant off of her and escape to her neighbor’s house where she and her neighbor phoned the police sometime around 8:15 p.m. that evening. Robert Blair, a deputy for the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the call. He found P.C. in a state of hysteria and noticed that she was dirty and had grass seeds in her hair. He was able to locate the appellant the next morning using the description and tag number of the truck P.C. had given him. He also noted that the appellant had the same physical description P.C. had given of her attacker. The appellant was later arrested and taken into custody. Wanda Eaton, an employee at the Twelve Corner Store, which was in the vicinity of where the attack took place, testified that the appellant entered the store between 8:00 and 8:15 p.m. on the night of the attack to purchase a six-pack of beer.

The appellant contends that on July 13, 1983, between 7:45 and 9:00 p.m. he was watching television and discussing family matters with Connie Boles and her husband at the Boles’ residence which is about a twenty to thirty minute drive from the attack location.

The appellant first asserts that the evidence admitted at trial of the Norman Transcript TV page offered in rebuttal to impeach the credibility of alibi defense witness, Connie Boles, is irrelevant and prejudicial.

We first note that the appellant has identified the correct test for relevancy: “whether the evidence has any tendency to *1387 make more or less probable a material fact in issue.” Kennedy v. State, 640 P.2d 971, 978 (Okl.Cr.1982). However, we cannot agree that the evidence here fails to meet this test. In this case, defense witness, Connie Boles, testified that the appellant was at her house in Noble from 7:45 to 9:10 p.m. on July 13, 1983. She further stated that she had kept track of the time because her favorite TV shows Fall Guy and Dynasty were airing that night on channel five. In rebuttal, the prosecution introduced the TV page from the July 13, 1983, issue of the Norman Transcript which indicated that the Fall Guy and Dynasty were not shown that night. Appellant claims that the programming viewed on the Boles’ TV set is different from that previewed in the Norman Transcript because the Boles have cable TV. We believe the evidence in this case is relevant, bearing on the issue of the credibility of the alibi witness, and that its probative value outweighs any prejudicial effect it may present. This assignment of error is without merit.

Appellant next alleges that the Assistant District Attorney’s impeachment of alibi defense witness, Connie Boles, was improper and constituted fundamental error when he asked her why she did not go to the Sheriff’s Office to report the appellant’s whereabouts on the night in question and when additional questions were asked concerning her husband’s absence at trial. However, no objection was made to the comments at trial, thereby, waiving any error not of fundamental magnitude. Hollan v. State, 676 P.2d 861, 865 (Okl.Cr.1984). After carefully reviewing the trial record, we find no fundamental error in the District Attorney’s comments. Therefore, this assignment of error has no merit.

In his third assignment of error, the appellant asserts that he was denied his fundamental right to have an instruction given regarding his defense of alibi.

We first observe that the record does not reflect that the appellant requested such an instruction; therefore, any error was waived. Maghe v. State, 620 P.2d 433 (Okl.Cr.1980). Moreover, this Court has held that:

To entitle the defense of alibi to consideration, the evidence must be such as to show that at the very time of the commission of the crime charged the accused was at another place so far away or under such circumstances that he could not, with ordinary exertion, have reached the place where the crime was committed so as to have participated in the commission thereof; and, in a criminal prosecution, unless the evidence fills this requirement of the law, no instruction on the subject of alibi is necessary to be given by the trial court.

Giles v. State, 70 Okl.Cr. 72, 104 P.2d 975, 977 (1940). In the instant case, the appellant’s wife testified that the Twelve Corners Grocery Store, which is one and one-fourth miles from the scene of the attack according to P.C.’s testimony, is a twelve to fourteen mile drive from alibi defense witness, Connie Boles’ house. Wanda Eaton, an employee at the Twelve Corner Store, testified that the appellant was in the store between 8:00 and 8:15 p.m. on the night in question. P.C. testified that the attack occurred at approximately 8:00 p.m. on July 13, 1983. Since ttje appellant was positively identified as the alleged attacker and there is corroborating testimony sufficient to place him within the vicinity of the attack at the approximate time of its occurrence, this assignment of error has no merit.

Appellant next asserts that the State failed to meet its burden of proof in establishing the appellant’s prior convictions. We disagree.

We have previously held that in absence of rebutting evidence, copies of judgments and sentences entered in other criminal prosecutions with the name of the defendant appearing thereon could have supported a finding that there had been former convictions. Tucker v. State, 620 P.2d 1314, 1317 (Okl.Cr.1980). In the instant case, although the appellant does not have the same name as the one appearing on the judgment and sentence copies, there is suf *1388 ficient corroborating evidence to show that he is indeed the same person. The appellant’s finger prints, according to identification specialist Larry Peters, matched those of the individual named in the judgment and sentence certificates. The certificates indicated that the appellant had been represented by counsel, specified the number of years sentenced, and there is no evidence of any pending appeals on either of these convictions. This assignment of error has no merit.

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Related

Honeycutt v. State
1992 OK CR 36 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1992)
Pierce v. State
1990 OK CR 7 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1990)
Fowler v. State
1989 OK CR 52 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1989)
Castro v. State
745 P.2d 394 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
1987 OK CR 9, 731 P.2d 1384, 1987 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-v-state-oklacrimapp-1987.