Littrell v. State

1922 OK CR 173, 208 P. 1048, 21 Okla. Crim. 466, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 178
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 10, 1921
DocketNo. A-3359.
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 1922 OK CR 173 (Littrell 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
Littrell v. State, 1922 OK CR 173, 208 P. 1048, 21 Okla. Crim. 466, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 178 (Okla. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinion

BESSEY, J.

Jess Littrell, plaintiff in error, in this opinion designated as the defendant, was ori the 15th day of November, 1917, convicted of robbing the First National Bank of Harrah on the 12th day, of January, 1917, and his punishment was fixed at imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a term of 25 years. From this judgment and sentence he appeals.

It appears from the record that ^ this defendant had been a resident of Nowata county, Okla., and that he was, arrested in Okfuskee county, Okla., on January 18, 1917, charged with having killed L. M. Bouldware. On the same day a warrant was issued, charging this defendant with ;the robbery of the bank at Harrah six days previous.. After a mistrial in Okfus-kee county upon the charge of murder the robbery charge here at issue was set for trial in Oklahoma) county for November 7, 1917. The defendant claimed that he was not ready for trial, and the cause was passed over and reset for November 12, 1917.

The defendant contends that the judgment in this case should be reversed for reasons substantially as follows:

(1) That the defendant’s motion for a continuance should have been sustained.

(2) That the defendant’s challenge to the jury panel should have been sustained.

(3) That incompetent evidence was admitted, to the prejudice of the defendant.

*469 (4) That some of the defendant’s witnesses were intimidated by the assistant prosecuting attorney, to the prejudice of the defendant.

The grounds principally relied upon for a continuance were that the authorities had succeeded in keeping the defendant in jail, and that, if he had been at liberty, he would have had a better opportunity to prepare for and organize his defense. The record shows that he had employed counsel, and that he and his counsel for some months previous knew that the case would cornel; on for trial in due course in Oklahoma county. Considering the application as a whole, no good cause for a further continuance was set updn the motion. A motion for a continuance is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and the court’s refusal to grant a continuance will not be disturbed unless manifest injustice has been done. Richards v. State, 15 Okla. Cr. 582, 179 Pac. 777; Reed v. State, 14 Okla. Cr. 651, 174 Pac. 800. See, also, other eases cited in the above opinions.

It is next urged that the court j should have sustained the defendant’s challenge to the jury panel. The grounds urged in this challenge were that the 600 persons designated by the jury commissioners from which to seleet jurors were all residents of Oklahoma township, in Oklahoma county, and that the jur$' commissioners met on the 10th day of July for the purpose of selecting the jury _list instead of on) the first Monday in July, as the law directs. It is claimed that the jury list, having been selected from one municipal township in Oklahoma county, was not representative of the body of the people of the county, .and that such procedure tended to prevent the defendant from having a fair and impartial trial.

The defendant has a constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury, but the defendant has no absolute or vested right to have his ease tried before jurors residing in any par- *470 tieular community or communities. This court will take judicial notice that Oklahoma City is in Oklahoma township, in Oklahoma county, and is the most populous city in the''state, whose citizenship is of a cosmopolitan character, and that the number 'of inhabitants in Oklahoma township is more than five-sixths of the total population of the county. The defendant’s counsel in his brief admits that) the defendant had the reputation of being a violator of the law. The record shows that he was a fugitive from justice on charges of illegally transporting liquor in Oklahoma; that he was charged with murder in another county; and that he was here charged with bank robbery. The defendant complains that the jury in this ease was composed of 12 business men from Oklahoma City, and that the result might have been different if the jury had been composed of some cowboys, old settlers and frontiersmen, stockmen, and farmers.

The defendant has no right to insist upon or demand that jurors of certain occupations shall be included in the jury. The right of the accused in the selection of a jury is one of exclusion of incompetent jurors, not one of inclusion of particular persons or classes of persons who are competent. Mathews v. State, 19 Okla. Cr. 153, 198 Pac. 112.

It would be aj^novel position to contend that because an accused person bears (or enjoys?) a bad reputation as an habitual criminal, he should be given privileges and safeguards not accorded to- others. The disadvantages of a bad reputation affect people in their business and social relations everywhere, and the ill effects of such reputation cannot always be eliminated in the 'trial of cases. If courts should attempt to do so it would result in the miscarriage of justice rather than be instrumental in the administration of justice.

In the case of Watson v. State, 9 Okla. Cr. 1, 130 Pac. 816, it appeared that one-half of the 200 names on the jury *471 lisias selected were of persons living in Cheeotah township, and that none were selected' from two l other municipal townships in the county. There was no claim nor showing that these irregularities were corruptly conceived, or that the jury commissioners were in any way prejudiced against the defendant. Before the defendant can avail himself of such irregularities on the challenge to the panel, he must show intentional omission on the part of the jury commissioners, from which he has suffered material prejudice. However, in the Watson Case it is stated that it,is the duty of district courts to compel a compliance not only with the spirit of these statutes,^but, so far as possible, with the letter thereof. This declaration we again approve and emphasize. But the statutes providing for the selection of jurors are directory only, and any slight deviation from the mode prescribed therein will not be sufficient grounds for sustaining a challenge to the panel unless it appears that such irregularities are prejudicial to the substantial rights of the defendant. Bearing in mind that .the defendant has no inherent or vested right to have a ease tried before any particular men or class of men, we hold that in this case there was no prejudicial error in the court’s refusal to sustain the challenge to the panel. Blankenship v. State, 10 Okla. Cr. 551, 139 Pac. 840, L. R. A. 1916A, 812; Moore v. State, 9 Okla. Cr. 9, 130 Pac. 517; Wood v. State, 3 Okla. Cr. 553, 107 Pac. 937.

The defendant next complains that the court permitted F. C. Carter, Who was acting as a deputy sheriff, to testify to resistance to arrest on! the part of the defendant five days after the robbery. It appears that the defendant was in hiding a few miles distant from the place of the robbery, and that when he and others were discovered and .surrounded by the officers he fired several shots at this officer and wounded another deputy there. Defendant came out of the house and literally shot his way through the officers’ lines, sending one *472

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1938 OK CR 42 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1938)
Skelley v. State
1938 OK CR 30 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1938)
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1937 OK CR 158 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1937)
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Young v. State
1928 OK CR 307 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1928)
Snoddy v. State
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1922 OK CR 173, 208 P. 1048, 21 Okla. Crim. 466, 1921 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/littrell-v-state-oklacrimapp-1921.