Landon v. State

1946 OK CR 24, 166 P.2d 781, 82 Okla. Crim. 336, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 175
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 27, 1946
DocketNo. A-10526.
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 1946 OK CR 24 (Landon 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
Landon v. State, 1946 OK CR 24, 166 P.2d 781, 82 Okla. Crim. 336, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 175 (Okla. Ct. App. 1946).

Opinion

JONES, P. J.

The defendant, Dan Landon, was charged by information filed in the district court of Osage county with the crime of rape in the first degree; was tried, convicted of the crime of rape in the second *338 degree, and sentenced to serve 15 years in the State Penitentiary, and has appealed.

This is the second time the defendant has appealed to the Criminal Court of Appeals. In the opinion rendered in the former case, Landon v. State, 77 Okla. Cr. 190, 140 P. 2d 242, some of the evidence against the defendant was discussed. The cause was there reversed because of the admission of certain incompetent evidence. Upon a retrial of the case, the evidence complained of was omitted.

The defendant was accused of the crime of rape committed upon his daughter, Dorothy Landon, age 13, on May 24, 1939. Upon the trial of the case, the evidence disclosed that the act was committed when Dorothy was age 14, in May, 1940. The act is alleged to have occurred at a time when Mrs. Landon and several of their children were absent from the home. Dorothy Landon told of a series of acts of sexual intercourse committed with the defendant commencing five or six years prior to the time in controversy and continuing until she was fully matured. As to the particular act charged in the information, the prosecuting witness is corroborated by her sister, La Etta Landon, who' was occupying the same bed as Dorothy Landon, and testified that the defendant committed the act in her presence while she was there on the bed with Dorothy Landon.

A doctor who examined Dorothy Landon at the request of the county attorney testified that the hymen was completely obliterated and that, in his opinion, she had had sexual intercourse over a long period of time.

The defendant denied the act attributable to him and contended that his daughters were under the influ *339 ence of Ms wife, who wanted to get him ont of her way so that she could remarry. The defendant and his wife had been married 19 years prior to his arrest for this offense and she had borne nine children. After the defendant’s arrest and conviction of this charge, she filed suit and obtained a divorce from him. Subsequently, the wife remarried. It is not shown in the record just how long a period she waited after her divorce before remarriage.

Where there is a conflict in the evidence or different inferences may be drawn therefrom, it is the province of the jury to weigh the evidence and determine the facts. Spann v. State, 69 Okla. Cr. 369, 103 P. 2d 389; Drennan v. State, 69 Okla. Cr. 348, 102 P. 2d 952.

The greater portion of defendant’s brief is devoted to the proposition that the court Avas Avithout jurisdiction to proceed with the trial of said cause because, first, the information was not verified, and second, the complaint filed before the committing magistrate was signed by the Avife of the defendant, and that she was incompetent to institute the proceedings against her husband; therefore, the complaint was a nullity and could not serve as a basis for the filing of an information in the district court.

Counsel states at the outset of his brief that this question was never raised in the trial court and is not set forth in the petition in error filed in this court, but it is contended that the lack of jurisdiction of the trial court may be shoAvn at any stage of the proceedings.

Counsel is correct in his assertion that jurisdictional defects Avill be considered by this court even though raised for the first time on appeal. Ex parte Lane, 58 *340 Okla. Cr. 298, 52 P. 2d 1078; In re Talley, 4 Okla. Cr. 398, 112 P. 36.

Both the state and the defendant have briefed the question as to whether the wife may sign the affidavit making the complaint against her husband, for making an assault upon their daughter, but as we view the record, it is not necessary for us to decide such question.

This alleged defect was directed to the criminal complaint filed before the magistrate. If counsel had wished to question the insufficiency of the complaint filed before the magistrate, he should have done so by proper motion to quash at the time of his arraignment in the district court.

It has been held that the entire preliminary proceedings may be waived in the trial court and is waived by failure to file a motion to quash or set aside before entering a plea on the merits. Herren v. State, 72 Okla. Cr. 254, 115 P. 2d 258, 259; Sheller v. State, 58 Okla. Cr. 204, 52 P. 2d 105.

In Sparks v. State, 71 Okla. Cr. 430, 112 P. 2d 434, it is held:

“Where a defendant voluntarily enters a plea of guilty, or enters a plea of not guilty, and goes to trial, he will be deemed to have waived any right he may have had to question the fact that he did not have such preliminary examination or that the transcript filed by the justice of the peace in the district court is insufficient.”

In the case of State v. Jackson, 57 Okla. Cr. 277, 48 P. 2d 861, this court stated:

“Where an unverified complaint charging a felony is filed before a magistrate, it is insufficient to authorize the issuance of a warrant, but if a warrant is issued on *341 such complaint, and a defendant apprehended and arraigned and submits to the jurisdiction of the magistrate, and has a preliminary trial on such complaint without challenging its sufficiency for lack of verification, such defect is waived.”
“There is no requirement in this state that an information charging a felony, filed in the district court, be verified.”

This court has held in many cases that if a magistrate issues a warrant on an unverified complaint and defendant is apprehended and submits to the jurisdiction of the magistrate, without challenging its sufficiency for lack of jurisdiction, such defect is waived. Steiner v. State, 33 Okla. Cr. 298, 243 P. 1002; Conti v. State, 45 Okla. Cr. 105, 282 P. 182.

It is not required' that information charging the defendant with a felony in the district court be verified. State v. Jackson, supra. However, by statute, it is provided that all informations shall be signed by the county attorney. 22 O. S. 1941 § 303. However, this requirement that an information be signed by the county attorney is one that may be waived and is waived where the defendant goes to trial without .raising this question. Roberts v. State, 72 Okla. Cr. 384, 115 P. 2d 270, 271.

Since the question now raised by defendant is raised for the first time on appeal, we feel that, under the authority of the cases above set forth, this court is bound to hold adversely to the defendant’s contention.

It is next urged that the trial court erred in failing to declare a mistrial because of certain evidence testified to by the prosecuting witness, Dorothy Landon, on cross-examination. In this connection, the record discloses the following incident occurred during the cross-examination of the witness by counsel for defendant:

*342 “Q.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State, Ex Rel. Cannon v. Leary
646 P.2d 727 (Utah Supreme Court, 1982)
Rhea v. State
1977 OK CR 310 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
Edwards v. State
1976 OK CR 199 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1976)
Dodson v. State
1970 OK CR 153 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1970)
Ervin v. State
1962 OK CR 3 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1962)
Goad v. District Court of Oklahoma County
1961 OK CR 32 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1961)
Application of Worley
1960 OK CR 23 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1960)
In Re Williams
1959 OK CR 75 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1959)
Nuttle v. State
1956 OK CR 113 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1956)
Savage v. State
1956 OK CR 112 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1956)
Fitzgerald v. State
1955 OK CR 52 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1955)
Reagan v. State
1955 OK CR 21 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1955)
Estes v. State
1952 OK CR 39 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1952)
Flowers v. State
1951 OK CR 159 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Marks v. State
1951 OK CR 145 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Clark v. State
1950 OK CR 59 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1950)
State v. Pace
212 P.2d 755 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1949)
Ex Parte Pruitt
1949 OK CR 66 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
Ex Parte Story
1949 OK CR 18 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
Ex Parte Cartwright
1949 OK CR 2 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1946 OK CR 24, 166 P.2d 781, 82 Okla. Crim. 336, 1946 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/landon-v-state-oklacrimapp-1946.