McHam v. State

2005 OK CR 28, 126 P.3d 662, 2005 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 24, 2005 WL 3455193
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 14, 2005
DocketF-2004-450
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 2005 OK CR 28 (McHam 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
McHam v. State, 2005 OK CR 28, 126 P.3d 662, 2005 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 24, 2005 WL 3455193 (Okla. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

OPINION

C. JOHNSON, Judge.

¶ 1 Appellant, Ray Dean McHam, was charged in Garvin County District Court, Case No. CF-2002-266, with Firsb-Degree (Premeditated) Murder (21 O.S.2001, § 701.7(A)). The jury found Appellant guilty of the lesser offense of Firsb-Degree (Heat of Passion) Manslaughter (21 O.S.2001, § 711(2)), and recommended a sentence of twenty years imprisonment. On April 30, 2004, the Honorable Candace L. Blaylock, District Judge, sentenced Appellant in accordance with the jury’s recommendation. Appellant then timely filed this appeal.

¶ 2 On the night of August 25, 2002, Appellant fatally stabbed his neighbor, Johnny [666]*666McElwee. Appellant lived in Pauls Valley with his wife Peggy and their young daughter, and McElwee lived alone, next door, in a garage apartment. The two men were visiting with each other on the night of the homicide, and Appellant made several visits to McElwee’s apartment. The only witnesses to the altercation were Appellant and McElwee. Police learned of the homicide when Appellant’s wife called 911 in the early morning hours of August 26, exclaiming that her husband had just fatally stabbed a man. McElwee’s body was found on the ground outside the apartment, in the early morning hours of August 26; he had suffered thirteen stab wounds, some of which were not life-threatening, but several of which were. Toxicology reports showed a high degree of alcohol, and a detectable amount of methamphetamine, in McElwee’s body. Inside McElwee’s apartment police found furniture in disarray. A section of the wall had been crushed in. Traces of blood were found throughout the apartment.

¶ 3 The State theorized that Appellant killed McElwee in unjustified anger, using McElwee’s own knife, believing that McEl-wee had stolen his wallet earlier in the evening. Appellant made a claim of self-defense; he claimed that an intoxicated McElwee made a sexual advance toward him, and followed up by threatening Appellant with a knife. Appellant testified that he was able to wrest the knife away from McElwee, and that he stabbed McElwee in an attempt to get away from him.

¶ 4 Appellant said that earlier that evening, McElwee began drinking whiskey; Appellant claimed he had only one beer the entire night. The two men visited and Appellant made several trips back and forth between McElwee’s apartment and his own home. At one point, while Appellant was trying to fix McElwee’s CD player, McElwee allegedly pulled Appellant’s wallet out of his back pocket in a joking manner. Appellant also said that at some point in the evening, he saw McElwee go into his bathroom with a small package of what appeared to be methamphetamine.

¶ 5 Later that evening, as he prepared for bed, Appellant noticed that his wallet was missing. He was very concerned because it contained all of his family’s funds. Appellant testified that he and Peggy searched for the wallet, inside the house and out, to no avail. Appellant then walked to McElwee’s apartment to see if his wallet was there. Appellant denied being angry or suspecting McEl-wee of actually taking the wallet. Peggy MeHam, testifying for the State, corroborated her husband’s story on these points.

¶ 6 Appellant-said that when he arrived at the apartment, McElwee was sitting on the couch and appeared to be drank. Appellant testified that as he rummaged around the couch, looking under cushions for his wallet, McElwee reached out and groped his genitals. Appellant said this made him feel very uncomfortable, and that when he rebuffed McElwee, McElwee displayed a lock-blade knife and said something to the effect of, “I do what I want to do.... This is my daddy’s knife. I’m going to stick you.” Appellant testified that McElwee poked at him with the knife, but that he was able to grab McEl-wee’s arm and avoid injury. The two men fought over the knife for a time; Appellant said that when he gained control of the knife and attempted to leave, McElwee grabbed him, and the two fought in a corner of the apartment. Appellant identified the site in one of the photos taken by police, showing the jury how McElwee had pushed him into the wall so hard as to break the sheetrock. Appellant stabbed at McElwee with the knife. Appellant testified that the entire struggle lasted only a couple of minutes. Eventually McElwee relented, and Appellant was able to get away.

¶ 7 Appellant testified that he went home, told his wife what had happened, and cleaned himself up. He showered and put his bloodstained clothing, and McElwee’s knife, in a trash bag. Appellant admitted that he did not attempt to call police, but instead, went back outside to look for his wallet again.1 It was then, he said, that he discovered McEl-wee’s body, lying between the two houses. With his wife’s assistance, Appellant wrapped McElwee’s body in a plastic rain poncho and [667]*667unsuccessfully attempted to use an engine hoist to lift the body into the bed of Appellant’s pickup truck. Appellant asked his wife to dispose of the bag containing his bloody clothing and MeElwee’s knife. During this time period, Peggy McHam was able to walk to a nearby convenience store, without her husband’s knowledge, and call 911. Appellant walked several miles to the town of Stratford, where he and his wife had recently rented a house which they were in the process of moving to. He was there for several hours, moving belongings around the premises. When police arrived at the Stratford home later that afternoon, Appellant immediately surrendered and pleaded with them not to shoot him. Appellant gave a statement to police, which was recorded on videotape and played for the jury.

¶ 8 The defense presented substantial evidence of McElwee’s reputation for violence. Appellant testified that MeElwee had bragged about this reputation to him, and once said, “I’m a bad man with a knife and a bat, so nobody [messes] with me.” The defense also presented evidence, including expert testimony, of Appellant’s mental health problems. Appellant had been admitted for treatment several times since he was a young teenager. He was diagnosed as bipolar (manic-depressive) with Intermittent Explosive Disorder. One of his admissions was prompted by the fact that at the age of thirteen, he had threatened his sister with a knife. The defense pointed out that Appellant had been prescribed several medications for his disorders, but that he was not taking them at the time of the homicide; Appellant said he could not afford them. Additional facts will be presented as relevant to the propositions of error.

¶ 9 In Proposition 1, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he did not act in self-defense. In Proposition 2, he claims the trial court erred by instructing the jury on the lesser related offense of First-Degree (Heat of Passion) Manslaughter over his objection. These issues are interrelated, and we address them together.

¶ 10 By charging Appellant with Firsh-Degree Murder, the State was obligated to prove that he lulled MeElwee with a deliberate intention to do so. 21 O.S.2001, § 701.7(A). Appellant maintained, from his arrest through trial, that he acted in self-defense. Self-defense is an affirmative defense which admits the elements of the charge, but offers a legal justification for conduct which would otherwise be criminal. 21 O.S.2001, § 733; West v. State, 1990 OK CR 61, ¶ 6, 798 P.2d 1083, 1085. Appellant told police, after his arrest, that he acted in self-defense after MeElwee assaulted him with a knife, and he testified to the same effect at trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 OK CR 28, 126 P.3d 662, 2005 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 24, 2005 WL 3455193, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcham-v-state-oklacrimapp-2005.