Novey v. State

1985 OK CR 142, 709 P.2d 696, 1985 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 333
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 6, 1985
DocketF-83-564
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 1985 OK CR 142 (Novey 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
Novey v. State, 1985 OK CR 142, 709 P.2d 696, 1985 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 333 (Okla. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinions

OPINION

PARKS, Presiding Judge:

The appellant, Charles Antoine Novey, was tried by jury for Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance After Former Conviction of Two or More Felonies in the District Court of Oklahoma County, [697]*697Oklahoma, Case No. CRF-81-2244. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and set punishment at twenty-five (25) years’ imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. The trial court sentenced appellant in accordance with the jury’s verdict, and appellant has appealed.

The appellant’s conviction was based primarily on the testimony of an undercover narcotics officer working for the Mustang Police Department. The officer testified that he had an arranged meeting with the appellant in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant in Oklahoma City on December 23, 1980. He had never seen the appellant before. According to the officer, the purpose of the meeting was to make a drug buy. The officer stated that he met with the appellant inside a parked van and purchased what was later determined to be 100 “tabs” of LSD. After the buy, the officer took the tag number from the van and traced its ownership to the appellant.

In defense, the appellant presented evidence of an alibi. His employer testified that she had paid the appellant to go to San Antonio during the time the drug buy occurred. A friend testified that he had accompanied the appellant on the trip. And, a mechanic testified that he had worked on a van belonging to the appellant during the same period.

I.

As his first assignment of error, the appellant contends that the trial court erred by refusing to submit his proposed substitute alibi instruction to the jury. We disagree. As this Court stated in Tate v. State, 664 P.2d 1036, 1039 (Okl.Cr.1983):

Instructions given to the jury are left to the sound discretion of the trial court, and this Court will not reverse a jury conviction where the instruction, viewed as a whole, fairly and accurately state the applicable law in conformity with the constitutional mandate.

The trial court had suggested the following instructions relating to alibi and burden of proof:

INSTRUCTION NO. 3
To this charge the defendant was entered a plea of not guilty which casts on the State the burden of proving the material allegations of the information to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt before you would be justified in returning a verdict of guilty.
The defendant is presumed to be innocent of the crime charged against him, and innocent of each and every material element constituting such offense, and this presumption of innocence continues until such time as his guilt is shown to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt, and if, upon a consideration of all the evidence, facts and circumstances in the case you entertain a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the defendant of the crime charged against him, you must give him the benefit of that doubt and return a verdict of not guilty.
INSTRUCTION NO. 8
The defendant has interposed in this case as one of his defenses what is known in law as an alibi. That is, the defendant was at another and different place at the time of the commission of the crime charged. The law is that such a defense is proper and legitimate, and you should consider all of the evidence bearing thereon, whether introduced by the State or the defendant, and if after a careful consideration of all the evidence in the case you entertain a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant was present at the time and place where the crime was committed, if it was committed, then and in that event the jury should give the defendant the benefit of the doubt and acquit him.
INSTRUCTION NO. 9
Should you find from the evidence, under the instruction and beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant is guilty of DISTRIBUTING A CONTROLLED DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE as charged in the information, and as defined in [698]*698these instructions, then you shall find the defendant guilty as charged, but if you do not so find, or should entertain a reasonable doubt thereof, or should you find that the defense of ALIBI as defined in these instructions, has been established, or should you entertain a reasonable doubt thereof, then in either of said latter events, you shall find the defendant not guilty.

The appellant then made a request asking the trial judge to substitute the following alibi instruction in place of the instruction the court had proposed:

DEFENDANT’S REQUESTED INSTRUCTION NO. 1
Evidence has been introduced tending to establish an alibi, which means that the defendant was not present at the time when, or at the place where he is alleged to have committed the offense named in the information.
If, after consideration of all the evidence in the case, you have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant was present at the time and place the alleged offense was committed, you must acquit him.
The jury is instructed that the state’s burden of establishing the involvement of the defendant, and all other essential elements of the offense as defined in these instructions is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge declined to grant the appellant’s request, and stated that the appellant’s proposed substitute was included in substance in the court’s Instruction No. 8. The appellant did not object, and the trial judge proceeded to submit the instructions to the jury as originally proposed.

The appellant now contends that the trial court’s instructions were inadequate to warn the jury that they should not treat the appellant’s failure to establish his alibi as tantamount to a showing of guilt. The appellant relies on United States v. Hoke, 610 F.2d 678 (9th Cir.1980), as precedent for his proposal. In Hoke, the trial court had suggested giving an instruction which was almost identical to the instruction submitted by our appellant. The defendant in Hoke, however, had requested that the trial court supplement its instruction with the following language:

Failure to establish an alibi is not evidence of guilt since it is the burden of the Government to prove the complicity of Defendant Hoke and not the burden of Defendant Hoke to establish his innocence.

The trial court refused the request and the Ninth Circuit reversed. In reversing, the Circuit Court stated that in a situation in which the State’s- proof of identity is weak and the defendant’s alibi contains internal inconsistencies, such a request should be granted in order to warn the jury that a weak alibi does not prove guilt. Id. at 679.

Appellant argues that Hoke indicates that the trial court should have accepted his substitute alibi instruction. An examination of Hoke,

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

Related

Routt v. Pettit
N.D. Oklahoma, 2024
STATE v. BLACKSHER
2016 OK CR 8 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 2016)
Watts v. State
2008 OK CR 28 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 2008)
McCormack v. Ward
Tenth Circuit, 2007
McCormack v. Jones
248 F. App'x 29 (Tenth Circuit, 2007)
Turner v. State
1990 OK CR 79 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1990)
Jones v. State
1990 OK CR 17 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1990)
Chambers v. State
764 P.2d 536 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Johnson v. State
1988 OK CR 242 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Jackson v. State
1988 OK CR 236 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Ellis v. State
1988 OK CR 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Blunt v. State
1987 OK CR 201 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1987)
Novey v. State
1985 OK CR 142 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1985 OK CR 142, 709 P.2d 696, 1985 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/novey-v-state-oklacrimapp-1985.