Plummer v. State

1973 OK CR 420, 515 P.2d 256, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 656
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 16, 1973
DocketF-73-220
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1973 OK CR 420 (Plummer 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
Plummer v. State, 1973 OK CR 420, 515 P.2d 256, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 656 (Okla. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

BUSSEY, Judge:

Appellant, Gary H. Plummer, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Ottawa County, Case No. CRF-72-377, for the offense of Second Degree Burglary, his punishment was fixed at two (2) years imprisonment and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

At the trial Faye Feezell testified that on August 5, 1972, she was the manager of the Budweiser Bar in Picher; that sometime that night the police officers took her to the bar whereupon she discovered that the lock had been broken off of the door of the bar. Upon entering, she *258 ascertained that between three and three and half cases of beer were missing.

Wayne Smith, age seventeen, testified that on the evening in question he, Ricky Thomas and Richard Hart were walking down a road after having been to a carnival in Commerce; that Norma Gourd and defendant picked him and his companions up and went to Norma’s house in Picher. He testified that on the way they stopped and defendant bought some beer at a bait shop. They stayed at Norma’s house for approximately an hour and a half drinking beer and talking. He, defendant, Norma Gourd and Ricky Thomas left the house to go get some cigarettes. As they were returning to her house, defendant pulled over on 4th Street and said “he wanted to break into that bar.” (Tr. 29) They went over to the bar and defendant sent him back to the car to get a tire tool. He attempted to break the lock off and defendant told him that he wasn’t doing it right and to give the tire tool to him. He handed defendant the tire tool and walked around the building. When he returned to the front, the lock had been broken off. He, defendant and Ricky Thomas entered the bar and took approximately two cases of beer to defendant’s car. The beer was taken to Norma Gourd’s house and put in her refrigerator. They stayed at the house for approximately ten minutes and as they were returning to Commerce, were stopped by the police officers.

Norma Gourd testified that on the evening in question she was with the defendant in Commerce in a 1959 Plymouth. They stopped and picked up Dick Hart, Rick Thomas and Wayne Smith and went to her house. They stayed at the house for approximately two hours until they left to get some cigarettes. Someone said “There’s a place to get some beer” and they stopped near the bar. Defendant, Rick Thomas and Wayne Smith got out of the car and later returned with some beer, which they took to her house and put in her refrigerator. As they left her house the second time, they were stopped by the police.

Richard Hart, age sixteen, testified that he, Rick Thomas and Wayne Smith were walking towards Thomas’ house on the evening in question when they were picked up by Norma Gourd and defendant. Defendant stopped at a bait shop and bought some beer and they went to Norma Gourd’s house. Norma, Wayne, Ricky and defendant left the house to purchase some cigarettes. When they returned they had “a whole table full of beer,” which was placed in the icebox.

Kenneth Coach testified that on November 5, 1972, he was employed as a police officer with the City of Picher and testified that about 11:00 or 11:30 p. m. he observed an old model Dodge or Plymouth sitting just west of the Budweiser Bar containing only a girl and a boy. Shortly thereafter he observed that the lock had been broken on the door of the bar. Later that evening he and other officers went to Norma Gourd’s house and were invited in by a babysitter. He observed State’s Exhibit 1, the beer, in the refrigerator. After later obtaining Norma Gourd’s permission, he returned to her house and recovered the beer.

M. L. Morgan testified that on the evening in question he was the Chief of Police in Picher, Oklahoma. As he was returning to town from a meeting in Miami, he was stopped by officers who informed him about the burglary of the bar. After receiving information from the officers concerning a vehicle, he stopped a 1959 Plymouth four-door sedan. After stopping the car, he walked approximately fifty yards to the bar and observed that the lock had been forced open with an instrument the size of a tire tool. He told the deputy to take the occupants of the car, the defendant and the others, to the police station. He and the other officers went to Norma Gourd’s house and were admitted by the babysitter where they observed the beer in the kitchen. He returned to the police station and obtained permission from Norma to recover the beer from the house. He denied making threats to Norma that they would take her baby away from her if *259 she refused to give them permission to search the house.

Defendant did not testify nor was any evidence offered in his behalf.

The first proposition asserts that the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence obtained by an illegal search and seizure of Norma Gourd’s house. We need only observe that the record is totally devoid of any evidence indicating that defendant had a proprietary right or interest in the residence in question nor was the defendant a person against whom the search was directed. In Hill v. State, Okl.Cr., 500 P.2d 1080, we stated that in Alderman 1 the Supreme Court of the United States held that co-conspirators or co-defendants who had no possessory interest in the premises searched could not assert their standing to object to an illegal search unless they were the person against whom the search was directed. The court in limiting the exclusionary rule stated:

“ ‘* * * suppression of the product of a Fourth Amendment violation can be successfully urged only by those whose rights were violated by the search itself, not by those who are aggrieved solely by the introduction of damaging evidence. Coconspirators and codefendants have been accorded no special standing.’
“The following language is also found in Alderman, supra, in 394 U.S. at 174, 89 S.Ct. at 966, 22 L.Ed.2d at 186:
“ ‘We adhere to these cases and to the general rule that Fourth Amendment rights are personal rights which, like some other constitutional rights, may not be vicariously asserted, [citations omitted] * * * There is no necessity to exclude evidence against one defendant in order to protect the rights of another. No rights of the victim of an illegal seach are at stake and the evidence is offered against some other party. The victim can and very probably will object for himself when and if it becomes important for him to do so.’ ”

The second proposition contends that the trial court erred in admitting statements and testimony of minor accomplices. Because their testimony goes “as an admission against interest,” we need only observe that defendant has no standing to object to accomplices’ statements and testimony which may tend to self-incriminate them. In the syllabus of Hill v. State, supra, we stated :

“The Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, as protected by Miranda, are personal in nature and may not be vicariously asserted.

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Related

Howell v. State
1994 OK CR 62 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1994)
Wilson v. State
1988 OK CR 111 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1988)
Martin v. State
1987 OK CR 127 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1987)
Smith v. State
1986 OK CR 158 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1986)
Master v. State
1985 OK CR 76 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1985)
Wade v. State
624 P.2d 86 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1981)
State v. Boetger
531 P.2d 1180 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1975)
Pack v. State
1974 OK CR 230 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
1973 OK CR 420, 515 P.2d 256, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/plummer-v-state-oklacrimapp-1973.