Parkhill v. State

1977 OK CR 128, 561 P.2d 1386
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 31, 1977
DocketF-76-537
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1977 OK CR 128 (Parkhill 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
Parkhill v. State, 1977 OK CR 128, 561 P.2d 1386 (Okla. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

The Appellant, Michael Leo Parkhill, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried before a jury in a two-stage proceeding and convicted in the District Court of Tulsa County, Case No. CRF-75-1407, of the crime of Burglary in the First Degree After Former Conviction of a Felony. Punishment was assessed at a term of thirty (30) years under the direction and control of the Department of Corrections of the State of Oklahoma. From a judgment and sentence in accordance with the verdict, the defendant has perfected his timely appeal.

Briefly stated the evidence adduced at trial is as follows: Barbara Smith testified that on June 21, 1975, her husband was away attending military training and that she and her five year old daughter were sleeping together in the same bed. At approximately 4:00 a. m. she awoke to find a man standing over her bed with his hands on her crotch area. The witness screamed and the man fled the room and left the house through a window in the daughter’s bedroom. The witness then made an in-court identification of the defendant as the intruder, stating that he lived next door and that she had occasionally seen him in the yard and spoken to him. Mrs. Smith further testified that within a minute she called the police and that the defendant was arrested upon their arrival. She further related that she never gave the defendant permission to be in her home, that a part of the curtain on her daughter’s window had been pulled down and that the screen on the window had been pulled loose. Pictures of the outside of the window and the interi- or of the daughter’s room were introduced into evidence.

On cross-examination the witness stated that the Parkhill family had lived next door for a few months and that she had loaned the defendant and his brother, Ron Park-hill, tools which they had returned and that there had never been any trouble between them. She further stated that she awoke from a sound sleep, that she was not wearing her glasses which she needed for reading, that the man was there long enough for her to see his face clearly, that she kept a bathroom light on every night but could not remember turning it on that night, that there was moonlight from the window, that she described the defendant to the police as being “six feet or a little bit under”, that she remembered no distinguishing facial characteristics or tatoos on the hands, and that the police returned from next door for a further description.

The state’s only other witness was Tulsa Police Officer Eddie Newman who testified that at approximately 4:00 a. m. on the morning in question he received a call that there was a burglary in progress. He arrived at the Smith home approximately five minutes later and noticed a pried window. Entering the bedroom with the pried window he found a curtain awry and a chair turned over near the winde' • sill. He further related that Mrs. Smith described the intruder as being “a white male, slight build, little less than medium height and had, . . ., dark shaggy hair and a little bid balding.” He then went to the house next door and arrested the defendant *1389 who was wearing a shirt and pants. The officer found the defendant in the company of another male about the same age and an older female. He then identified state’s Exhibit 3 as a close-up shot of the window reflecting the pried screen. The state then rested.

The defense called Randy Finley who testified that on the night in question he was a house guest at the Parkhill residence and slept in the defendant’s bedroom. At approximately 3:30 a. m. the defendant and Ron Parkhill came home from a local night club, went into the defendant’s bedroom and talked for awhile. They then took off their clothes and went to bed. The witness was later awakened by knocking at the front door. The defendant got up and went into the living room dressed only in his underwear. The only other people present in the house was the defendant’s brother, mother and stepfather. The defendant was described as being five feet five inches to five feet six inches tall.

The defense then called Ron Parkhill who testified that on the evening in question he was with Randy Finley, the defendant and two others who all went to a local club. Around 1:00 a. m. they brought Randy, who was under age, back to the defendant’s house and then went to another club. The witness and the defendant came home between 3:30 and 4:00 a. m., had a conversation with Randy, undressed and went to bed. Subsequently police officers came to the door and the defendant answered wearing his underwear. He also described the defendant as being five feet six inches tall and having tatoos on his hand. The defense then rested. After the jury determined guilt the state put on proof of the defendant’s two prior felony convictions.

The defendant’s first assignment of error urges that the trial court erred in allowing Mrs. Smith to make an in-court identification of the defendant due to the poor lighting conditions, the immediate exit of the intruder and after she had given an oral description of the intruder as being approximately six feet tall when in fact he was much shorter. In support of his contention the defendant cites Arriola v. State, Okl.Cr., 520 P.2d 690, wherein an intruder entered the room of a sleeping victim under similar lighting conditions. However Arrio-la involves an in-court identification which was prejudicially tainted by an extrajudicial lineup which was most suggestive. In the instant case the identification of the defendant by the victim is positive and there is no evidence to indicate that, her in-court identification was in any way influenced by an extrajudicial identification. Therefore the strength or weakness of the identification of the defendant was a matter for the consideration of the jury. See Bennett v. State, Okl.Cr., 495 P.2d 413, and Jones v. State, Okl.Cr., 468 P.2d 805. The defendant’s first assignment is without merit.

The defendant’s next assignment of error contends that the state totally failed to prove that the intruder had the criminal intent to commit rape at the time he entered the home. The pertinent portion of 21 O.S. § 1431 reads as follows:

“Every person who breaks into and enters in the night time the dwelling house of another, in which there is at the time some human being, with intent to commit some crime therein, . . . ”

The information alleges that the defendant forcibly broke open the outer window of the Smith dwelling .and entered “without the consent of said occupant, with the unlawful, felonious and burglarious intent then and there to commit the crime of rape”.

In Logan v. State, 95 Okl.Cr. 76, 239 P.2d 1044, this Court held in paragraphs one and two of the syllabus as follows:

“1. Before a conviction may be sustained for the crime of burglary in the first degree all of the elements of the offense must be proved by the state, including the intent to commit a crime in the dwelling house, but this intent may be proved by circumstantial evidence.
2. The question as to whether one intended to commit a crime in a dwelling house is determined by the intent of the individual at the time the unlawful entry *1390 was made.

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

Related

Harris v. State
2000 OK CR 20 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 2000)
Wood v. State
1998 OK CR 19 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1998)
Glidewell v. State
1981 OK CR 39 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1981)
Ziegler v. State
610 P.2d 251 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1980)
Billy v. State
1979 OK CR 121 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1979)
Hainta v. State
1979 OK CR 61 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1977 OK CR 128, 561 P.2d 1386, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parkhill-v-state-oklacrimapp-1977.