Leeth v. State

1951 OK CR 54, 230 P.2d 942, 94 Okla. Crim. 61, 1951 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 255
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 25, 1951
DocketA-11306
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 1951 OK CR 54 (Leeth 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
Leeth v. State, 1951 OK CR 54, 230 P.2d 942, 94 Okla. Crim. 61, 1951 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 255 (Okla. Ct. App. 1951).

Opinion

POWELL, J.

John Paul Leeth, J. R. Killion and Frank Wimer' were jointly charged by information filed in the district court of Mayes county with the crime of burglary, second degree. It appears that at the first trial the jury was unable to agree, and was discharged. The defendants thereafter each asked for a severance, and the same was granted. The state elected to try Leeth first, and he was by a jury found guilty of the crime charged and his punishment was fixed at two years imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. Appeal has been duly perfected to this court.

The specifications of error in petition in error are argued in briefs filed under three propositions, and being:

(1) That “The defendant was unduly restricted in the voir dire examination.”
(2) That “The trial court permitted incompetent evidence to go to the jury, engaged in the trial of said cause over the objection of the defendant, to the defendant’s hurt.”
(3) That “The trial court did not in its charge to the jury cover every material issue in the case.”

Considering proposition one, the record discloses that the name of one Christine Walker was endorsed on the information as a witness for the state. The case-made shows that after the jury had been selected and the trial was ready to commence, the following colloquy transpired between counsel for the defendant and the court:

“Mr. Wilkerson: May the record show, your honor, that in the voir dire examination the defendant propounded the following general question to the jurors: ‘Are any of you gentlemen acquainted with Christine Walker, of Spavinaw, Oklahoma?’ The Court: To which the county attorney interposed an objection, and it appearing that Christine Walker is not the prosecuting witness to this case, the court overruled the objection. Mr. Wilkerson: We call the court’s attention to the fact that her name is endorsed upon the information as one of the witnesses for the State. The Court: The court takes the position the fact that she may be a witness, and the jurors might be, some of them, might be acquainted with her, is immaterial. Mr. Wilkerson: To which ruling on the part of the court, the defendant excepts.

This court has held that an examination of a juror on his voir dire has a twofold purpose; first, to ascertain when a cause of challenge exists; and, second, to ascertain whether it is wise or expedient to challenge peremptorily. And the ruling of the trial court will be carefully examined in connection with the facts and circumstances peculiar with a particular case and as disclosed by the record; and, if it appears that the right of the accused to challenge a juror peremptorily was prejudicially impaired and resulted in the prevention of the defendant having a fair and impartial jury to try the charge against him, the error of the court will be held to constitute reversible error. Kizer v. State, 67 Okla. Cr. 16, 93 P. 2d 58, and Temple v. State, 15 Okla. Cr. 176, 175 P. 733.

In this case the record fails to show that the attention of the court was called on voir dire examination to the facts later revealed during the trial of *63 the ease, that the witness Christine Walker was claimed to be an eyewitness to the burglary and that she was a niece of the man whose store was claimed to have been burglarized. The record fails to show that counsel objected to the ruling of the court at the time the question on voir dire was propounded, and fails to show whether defendant exercised any or all of his peremptory challenges, of made any challenge for cause. The record fails to show any effort of counsel to ask further and specific questions concerning any possible kinship or any other relationship of any prospective juror with Christine Walker. We have no evidence before us of any serious effort to convince the court of the possibility that there might be members of the jury panel who by reason of blood relationship or by reason of anything between the witness in question and some of the prospective jurors that might deprive the defendant of a fair and impartial consideration of his case by any such juror. Counsel could, out of the hearing of the jury panel, have advised the court of his reasons for attempting the line of questioning sought, and required the reporter to have made a record. Counsel might have convinced the court of the relevancy of the questions sought to be asked. But at all events, such record would have revealed whether or not the court was advised of the purpose of the line of questioning sought and had a fair opportunity to rule thereon, and at the same time would have presented such a factual history as would have materially assisted this court on appeal in treating the question raised.

It is true that the record discloses that the state’s witness Christine Walker was a niece of the prosecuting witness and did work in a bar owned by one Doc Reynolds and that she and Reynolds lived at the same rooming house, but nothing presented by the record would justify even an inference of any relationship between such witness and any juror or jurors that might have prevented the defendant from receiving a fair trial. In the absence of further record, we must assume that the court had good reason for the ruling made. It may have been that the groundwork was being attempted that would enable the defense to get before the jury a surreptitious relationship between the witness and Doc Reynolds, and also the matter of the witness participating with her employer in the violation of the intoxicating liquor laws and other possible law violations. We so conclude from matters set forth in defendant’s brief. The court, no doubt conscious of this, was persuaded to rule as he did in an effort to keep out prejudicial matters anticipated from the defense and having no bearing on the guilt or innocence of the accused of the crime charged.

No showing was attempted to be made by the defendant at the time of argument of motion for new trial that he was forced to trial before a prejudiced jury or that there was in fact anything in the relationship between any juror and the witness in question that might have influenced such juror or jurors one way or another in arriving at a verdict. While in light of the later record on trial, we consider the question asked on voir dire to have been a proper question, and that the court should have overruled the objection of the county attorney, yet in view of the facts and circumstances as presented by the record, we conclude that the ruling of the court does not constitute such an error as would justify this court, if this was the only error, in reversing the case.

On trial the state used three witnesses on direct and two on rebuttal; the defendant testified and used his two codefendants.

Christine Walker testified that she was 31 years of age and had lived at Spavinaw all her life; that during April, 1947, she was employed at the Ritz Bar, Spavinaw, operated by one Doc Reynolds; and located on the east side of Main street; that she had a room at a house about a half block north of the Ritz Bar; that the Walker store owned by her uncle, Ernest Walker, was located on the west side of Main street approximately 50 feet south and across the street from *64 the rooming house where she lived, and that she could from her bedroom see the front of the Walker store, which she estimated to be 150 feet away.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1951 OK CR 54, 230 P.2d 942, 94 Okla. Crim. 61, 1951 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leeth-v-state-oklacrimapp-1951.