Robinson v. State

1973 OK CR 152, 507 P.2d 1296, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 767
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 16, 1973
DocketA-17141
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 1973 OK CR 152 (Robinson 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
Robinson v. State, 1973 OK CR 152, 507 P.2d 1296, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 767 (Okla. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

Appellant, Donald Eugene Robinson, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, for the offense of Possession of Marijuana, After Former Conviction of a Felony, Case No. CRF-71-178. His punishment was fixed at twenty (20) years imprisonment, and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

At the trial, George A. “Buddy” Burns testified for the State that on January 20, 1971, he received a call from a Mrs. Montgomery who related that the defendant had brought some marijuana by her house and that he (the defendant) would contact her the next day. On January 21 at approximately 7:00 p. m. Mrs. Montgomery again contacted Detective Burns and informed him that the defendant had been by her house with a small amount of marijuana, that he had just left to go to Norman to pick up a “Mother Load” and that defendant was to return later that evening and they would smoke some. At approximately 9:30 p. m. Mrs. Montgomery again called and related that the defendant was on his way over. Detective Burns instructed Mrs. Montgomery that she was to leave the south window of the residence open and a light on inside. He further told her to get word to him in any way she could as to whether the defendant had marijuana with him.

At this point Detectives Burns and Scott and Lt. Meade proceeded to Mrs. Montgomery’s residence to set up a surveillance. Detective Scott stationed himself at the south side of the house near the open window. Detective Burns and Lt. Meade parked the car around the corner and remained there. The defendant arrived at the house at approximately 9:45. Detective Burns testified that the defendant parked in front of the residence, got out of the vehicle and walked to the front porch carrying a small paper sack. A few moments after he had entered, Mrs. Montgomery left the house, walked around the corner to where Detective Burns had parked, and informed him that the defendant had marijuana with him. At this time Detective Burns informed Mrs. Montgomery that he would call in a short time and advise her to have the defendant leave. Mrs. Montgomery then returned to the house while Detective Burns joined Detective Scott at the south side of the house near the open window.

Detective Burns then testified that they saw the defendant reach into the sack and withdraw two plastic bags containing a green leafy material resembling marijuana. He then withdrew cigarette papers from the bag and hand-rolled two cigarettes using the green leafy substance which he and Mrs. Montgomery then smoked. Detective Burns testified that he detected the odor of burning marijuana, that defendant then got down on his hands and knees, crawled across the room, and attempted to commit oral sodomy with Mrs. Montgomery.

It was at approximately 10:05, Detective Burns testified, that he left the south side of the house, went to the corner, called Mrs. Montgomery and instructed her to have the defendant leave. Defendant subsequently left, carrying with him the sack that he came with. When defendant reached his car, Detective Burns and Scott and Lt. Meade approached him. He threw the sack down and kicked it under the car. The defendant was then arrested and the paper sack seized.

Detective Scott’s testimony was substantially the same as that of Detective Burns.

Both parties stipulated that the Oklahoma State Chemist would have testified, *1299 had he been called, that the evidence that he analyzed in this case was marijuana.

The defendant testified that he had known Mrs. Montgomery prior to January 20, 1971, as Jamie Henderson, that he had not seen her for about six months prior to that time but that on January 20 he saw her at a grocery store and she invited him to come by the following evening to have a drink with her and her husband. He stated that during this conversation she asked him if he smoked grass to which he replied that he had before but had quit due to trouble with the police. He then testified that he arrived at her house at 7:00 on January 21 but that he did not have any marijuana. He stated that he had brought a bottle of vodka and that he and Mrs. Montgomery had a drink, that she kept badgering him to obtain some marijuana and that he finally remembered someone in Norman who might have some and that he would drive up there to pick it up. He went to Norman and returned at approximately 9:00, entered the dwelling, and rolled a couple of marijuana cigarettes which they smoked. Defendant testified that he began to get nervous because he felt that this was an “entrapment thing”, left the house and was arrested outside where the officers were waiting for him.

Royce Henderson, a private investigator, testified for the defense that he had attempted to locate Mrs. Montgomery but was unsuccessful.

As the first proposition, defendant urges that he should have been acquitted at trial because a clear case of entrapment was made out under the laws of the state of Oklahoma.

“Entrapment” is the planning of an offense by an officer,' or is someone acting under his direction and his procure-, ment by improper inducement of its commission by one who would not have perpetrated it, except for the trickery of the officer. Savage v. State, Okl.Cr., 304 P.2d 344 (1956); Crosbie v. State, Okl.Cr., 330 P.2d 602 (1958); Riddle v. State, Okl.Cr., 374 P.2d 634 (1962). One who is instigated, induced, or lured by officer of law or other person, for purpose of prosecution, into commission of crime which he had otherwise no intention of committing may avail himself of defense of entrapment. McCart v. State, Okl.Cr., 435 P.2d 419 (1968). Principle of entrapment places no limitation on right of officers to obtain evidence of any crime originating in mind of anoth er; and an officer may, when acting in good faith with view to detecting crime, make use of deception, trickery or artifice. Shook v. State, Okl.Cr., 453 P.2d 332 (1969).

From the foregoing, and as the Attorney General points out, the real issue in this case is whether the defendant had the criminal intent to obtain marijuana without inducements or undue pressure or exertion on the part of law enforcement officers or their agents. This Court held in Ryans v. State, Okl.Cr., 420 P.2d 556 (1966), that intent as an essential element of an offense is a question for the jury to be determined from what the accused does and says, and all the facts and circumstances of each case. Suffice it to say that here the jury chose not to believe the defendant’s version of being badgered into obtaining the marijuana. Indeed, the defendant admits driving from Oklahoma City to Norman, buying the marijuana and returning to Oklahoma City by himself. Additionally upon leaving the informant’s house, defendant left only a small amount of marijuana and took the remainder with him. This Court has repeatedly held that where the evidence is conflicting and different inferences can be drawn therefrom it is the province of the jury to weigh such evidence and determine the facts. Grant v. State, Okl.Cr., 385 P.2d 925 (1963); McCluskey v. State, OklCr., 372 P.2d 623 (1962); McCart v. State, Okl.Cr., 435 P.2d 419 (1968).

Defendant further claims that the trial court committed error of law in the giving of Instruction No.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1973 OK CR 152, 507 P.2d 1296, 1973 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-state-oklacrimapp-1973.