Neal v. State

1974 OK CR 221, 529 P.2d 526
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 10, 1974
DocketF-74-359
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 1974 OK CR 221 (Neal 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
Neal v. State, 1974 OK CR 221, 529 P.2d 526 (Okla. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

Appellants, Roy Elden Neal and Paul Everett Neal, hereinafter referred to as defendants, were charged, tried and convicted in the District Court, Payne County, Oklahoma, Case No. CRF-73-76, for the offense of Burglary in the Second Degree, in violation of 21 O.S., § 1435. Their punishments were both fixed at a term of four (4) years’ imprisonment. From said judgments and sentences, they have perfected their timely appeals to this Court.

Gilford Duggan, manager and part owner of the Forty North Apartments in Still-water, Oklahoma, testified that on March 29, 1973, between 1:30 and 2:00 p. m., while in his apartment, an alarm system attached to the automatic washers in the apartment house laundry sounded. Dug-gan walked to his front bedroom, peered through the window and observed the two defendants inside the laundry. Defendant Paul Neal was inside the laundry at the farthest machine from the door while defendant Roy Neal stood at the door of the laundry peering down the sidewalk. Dug-gan attempted to call the apartment house office but was unable to contact any one. He obtained his rifle, walked outside toward. the laundry, and observed, through the door which was opened wide, defendant Paul Neal taking money from one of the coin boxes on one of the washers. Duggan approached the laundry room, looked through a window, and observed defendant Paul Neal at the third laundry machine from the door. After looking through the window Duggan eased to the door whereupon he observed defendant Paul Neal make a motion with his arms as if he were throwing something. Duggan instructed Roy Neal to walk from the laundry room. Defendants protested stating they had permission to be on the premises further stating they were lock salesmen. The pair was escorted to the apartment complex office. Duggan instructed an assistant manager to station himself at the door of the laundry. After the police were summoned to the apartment complex, Dug-gan and Officer Hargroves proceeded to the laundry room. Following a search of the area a vending machine key, identified as State’s Exhibit No. 1 was found. From a further inspection of the washers they ascertained only one machine in the laundry room still had money in its coin box. Duggan testified that on the previous Friday he had washed laundry in one of the machines and on this date he inspected the coin box and found that it contained money. On the day in question, the following Thursday, only the far west washer still had money in its coin box. Duggan finally related that he and Hargroves found *528 State’s Exhibit No. 2, an instrument used in making vending machine keys, on the couch in the office where the defendants sat while being held for the police.

Detective Roger Bastion of the Stillwa-ter Police Department related that on the day in question he was dispatched at approximately 3:00 p. m. to the above mentioned location. He corroborated Duggan’s testimony establishing that the inside of the laundry was visible from Duggan’s apartment window. Further, Bastion related that he obtained a tubular’ type key, State’s Exhibit No. 1, from between two washers in the laundry room. Bastion further related he found a laundry basket setting between two machines which contained both clothing and a considerable quantity of quarters. Bastion identified State’s Exhibit No. 4 as being a straw basket with clothing inside and stated that he ascertained that there were two layers of clothes with a layer of quarters between each layer of clothes. He identified State’s Exhibit No. S as $8.75 in quarters and State’s Exhibit No. 6 as a container of $15.25 in quarters, both retrieved from the laundry basket. Bastion stated that after investigating the area he returned to the complex office, advised defendants of their rights and after a search of defendant Paul Neal found change in the amount of $52.46, approximately $50.00 of this being in quarters. Bastion related that he and Duggan found an instrument, State’s Exhibit No. 2, a lock smith’s tool, under a cushion where defendant Paul Neal had been sitting.

Thereafter the State rested.

Defendant Paul Neal testified he was employed as a self-employed motel consultant and admitted to being at the apartments on the date in question. He stated that his brother, co-defendant Roy Eldon Neal, worked for a development company by the name of Baca Grande and that he was a salesman for that company. He stated that business had been slow so they decided to develop some leads through the use of “colored quarters,” a sales promotion which they described in detail. It was for this reason that they were in the apartment complex as. they were distributing at random cards which promoted their sales. Following the distribution Paul Neal decided to call his wife in Oklahoma City. He testified that he saw what he thought was the apartment office, proceeded thereto, and startled a “long haired man” who came out of the door and brushed past him. He walked in and found that it was not an office but a laundry room and observed that there was not a pay telephone inside. As he was leaving the laundry room Duggan stopped his brother with a gun and escorted them to the apartment office. Defendant identified defense exhibits Nos. 3 through 8 as photographs of the laundromat under what he stated were conditions similar to visual conditions on the date of the arrest. All photographs indicated that it was difficult to see into the room.

Defendant Roy Neal testified he was a salesman from Oklahoma City and in substance corroborated his brother’s testimony. He related that he gave the police a card which denoted the name of “Key Securities” which he testified authorized him to sell securities in Wichita, Kansas. The defendant, however, admitted that the card was void as it had expired on August 14, 1968.

Thereafter the defense rested.

The State presented rebuttal testimony establishing the photographs which depicted that it was difficult to see inside the laundry were not accurate representations of an observation of the same area with the naked eye. Further, the details, of discrepancies regarding conditions surrounding the photographs and the conditions existing at the time of the burglary, were established by this witness.

On surrebuttal Tom Beadles, an Oklahoma State University student, testified that he, his fiancée, and defendant Paul Neal took the picture alluded to above and related that he ascertained there were no *529 trick angles or anything done to make the pictures unnatural.

Defense counsel argues in his first proposition this case requires reversal for the reason the prosecutor cross-examined the defendant regarding his silence at the time of arrest and made reference to same in closing argument. We observe the argument and cross-examination taken out of context are prohibited arguments under our recent decisions of Buchanan v. State, Okl.Cr., 523 P.2d 1134 (1974) and Miles v. State, Okl.Cr., 525 P.2d 1249 (1974). We therefore will not set them forth in detail in this opinion. As pointed out in the State’s brief, however, there is an additional consideration in resolving the issue in this case. At page 73 of the transcript of trial, defendant Paul Neal on direct examination in presenting his defense, stated as follows:

“A. ...

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Bluebook (online)
1974 OK CR 221, 529 P.2d 526, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/neal-v-state-oklacrimapp-1974.