Perry v. State

1942 OK CR 64, 125 P.2d 219, 74 Okla. Crim. 234, 1942 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 239
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 15, 1942
DocketNo. A-9972.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1942 OK CR 64 (Perry 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
Perry v. State, 1942 OK CR 64, 125 P.2d 219, 74 Okla. Crim. 234, 1942 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 239 (Okla. Ct. App. 1942).

Opinion

BAREFOOT, P. J.

Defendant, Bill Perry, was charged in Ottawa county with the crime of burglary in the second degree, was tried, convicted, and sentenced by the court to serve a term of three years in the penitentiary, and has appealed.

Counsel for defendant in his brief says:

“While there are several assignments of error presented to- this court by the petition in error herein filed * * * we ask this court to review the case upon one point alone * * viz., “It is our position that this cause should be reversed at the hands of this court for lack of evidence and if no further evidence can be offered, by the state, at a later date, it should be, by the court then having jurisdiction, ordered dismissed.”

The information jointly charged the defendant and Ernest Jackson with the crime of burglary in the second degree. A co defendant, Claude Murphy, who was charged jointly in the preliminary complaint, entered his plea, of guilty and'was sentenced to- serve a term of two years in the state reformatory at Granite.

This charge grew out of the burglarizing of the residence of M. A. Miller and his wife, Gertrude Miller, in Ottawa county on Sunday, December 11, 1938, at which time numerous articles of clothing, household goods, bed *236 ding, and .groceries were stolen. The evidence revealed that Mr. and Mrs. Miller left their country home between 12 and 12:30 p. m. on December 11, 1938, for the purpose of visiting relatives and friends in the city of Picher, which was located near their home. That all the doors were securely locked and fastened when they left. That when they returned between 4 and 5 p. m. on the same date, their home had been broken into and much property had been taken, including men’s, women’s, and children’^ clothing, and bedding, and a certain box of groceries which they had purchased the preceding. Saturday. The door had been unlocked but had been partly closed by Mrs. Miller’s mother, Mrs. Grandon, who had preceded her daughter to her home. On the following Tuesday a search warrant was procured, and the residence of the defendant, Bill Perry, together with the residence of Claude Murphy, who* both lived in the town of Picher, was searched by officers, and both Mr. and Mrs. Miller were present and identified much of their clothing, bed clothing, and other articles which were found at these residences and most of which was found at the residence of the defendant, Bill Perry. There were certain groceries there which they could not positively identify, but resembled the ones which they had purchased. The defendant, Bill Perry, was not present at the time the search was made and was not arrested until some nine months after the commission of this crime, having left the country a few days after the search and having- lived in New Mexico and other places during the interval.

In contending that the evidence is insufficient, it is claimed that the evidence shows that Ernest Jackson is an accomplice and that his evidence is not corroborated in the manner required by the law of this state and that the same is therefore insufficient.

*237 It is the contention of the state that this witness was not an accomplice under the evidence and, further, that if he was an accomplice, the evidence is amply sufficient to properly corroborate his testimony.

The court in charging the jury submitted this issue as a question of fact as to whether the witness Ernest Jackson was an accomplice and properly instructed the jury that if they believed he was an accomplice his testimony should be corroborated.

The evidence of the witness Ernest Jackson was that he had been keeping company with defendant’s daughter, and that on Sunday morning; December 11, 1938, the defendant, in company with Claude Murphy, came to his home in Picher about 9 o’clock and wanted him to go driving with them in his new car, and that they drove out to Claude Williams’ sawmill, which was about ten miles and across the Missouri and Oklahoma state line. Defendant desired to see Dolty McDonald, who> was working there. They arrived about 12 o’clock and left a little after 1 o’clock p. m. That while driving along the road defendant passed a house and said “it was no good.” That in a few moments they passed the Miller home and he said that was a “good one.” That he stopped the car and both the defendant and Claude Murphy got out and went into* the Miller home and in a few minutes returned with a bundle of clothing wrapped in a sheet, groceries, etc., and put them in the car. That they tried to get him to participate in the burglary, but that he refused to do so and refused to open the door of the car so> they could place them therein when they returned. That the defendant drove back to Picher, arriving there about 2:30 p. m. That he got out of the car on the street and went to the show. That he went to the Perry home that night and that both defendant and Claude Murphy were there. He testified:

*238 “Q. Was anything said between Perry and you and Murphy in regards to this stuff? A. Yes, sir, he wanted to get me toi sell some of the shirts to my stepfather and I told him that I couldn’t take anything like that up to my stepfather and sell it to him. Q. Did he say anything about where he got the shirts? A. No, sir, he knew I knowed. Q. Did you see any of the things? A. I seen a suit of clothes— Q. What kind and color? A. Blue serge. Q. Was any conversation had between you and Bill Perry with reference to that suit? A. Yes, he told me to try it on. Q. Did you do that? A. No, sir, I told him I didn’t want to have anything to do> with any of that stuff. Q. What did you do then? A. I stayed up there with Mrs. Perry and her boy was sick and I would help her and get medicine. I liked them on account of going with their daughter. Q. You say you went with a daughter ? A. Yes, sir.”

Mr. and Mrs. Art Grandon testified for the state that they were the mother and father of Mrs. M. A. Miller, and that on the Sunday in question they left their home for a drive, having with them their nine year old grandson, the child of Mr. and Mrs. Miller. They lived in close proximity to the Miller home. As they returned home about 4 o’clock p. m., they noticed the door of the Miller home being opened. Mrs. Grandon went in and found the house had been burglarized and the property above described missing. .She closed the door and notified her daughter upon her return.

Mr. and Mrs. Claude Williams testified to the defendant, Ernest Jackson, and Claude Murphy coming to the sawmill and their home on Sunday morning, as testified by Ernest Jackson, and to- their leaving between 12 and 1 o’clock p. m. They said it was about three-quarters of a mile from the sawmill to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Miller.

*239 Albert Slaughter and Veri Cartwright were working and lived near the home of Mr. Williams wlm owned the sawmill. They both saw the defendant, Ernest Jackson, and Claude Murphy came to the sawmill and Williams’ home on Sunday, December 11, 1938, and saw them there from 12 to 1 p. m., when they left.

The defendant, Bill Perry, corroborated the evidence of the witness Ernest Jackson as to the visit to the sawmill on Sunday morning. However, he testified that they did not enter the home of Mr. and Mrs.

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Related

Payne v. State
1958 OK CR 62 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1958)
Woody v. State
1951 OK CR 155 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Rushing v. State
1948 OK CR 22 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1948)
Hamrick v. State
1947 OK CR 102 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)
Jennings v. State
1947 OK CR 44 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)
McMurtry v. State
1945 OK CR 60 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1945)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1942 OK CR 64, 125 P.2d 219, 74 Okla. Crim. 234, 1942 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perry-v-state-oklacrimapp-1942.