Roddy v. State

1930 OK CR 167, 287 P. 765, 47 Okla. Crim. 283, 1930 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 306
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 19, 1930
DocketNo. A-7165.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1930 OK CR 167 (Roddy 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
Roddy v. State, 1930 OK CR 167, 287 P. 765, 47 Okla. Crim. 283, 1930 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 306 (Okla. Ct. App. 1930).

Opinion

DAVENPORT, J.

The plaintiff in error, hereinafter called the defendant, was convicted in the district court of Tulsa county of conjoint robbery or robbery with the use of firearms, and was sentenced to confinement in the *284 state penitentiary at McAlester for a period of 25 years, and to pay tlie costs of the prosecution. From which sentence and judgment the defendant has appealed.

The evidence on the part of the state tends to show that C. F. Selsor was engaged in the drug business in West Tulsa, Okla.; that said Selsor was alone in the drug store about 2 o’clock the morning, of November 9, 1927; two men came to his place of business and held a gun on him and told him to “stick ’em up”; that the language used by the two men who came in was used by the defendant in this case; that the defendant had a revolver of some kind, and, when the witness Selsor held up his hands, the other man who ivas with the defendant went to the cash register and got about |60 in money; witness Selsor testified he had known the defendant a number of years; that the defendant had a charge account at his store; that defendant wore a mask over his face when he came in, and that after he pointed the gun at the witness he pushed the witness back to the cigar counter and punched him with the gun; the defendant leaned over the cigar case and held the gun on him while the other party that was with him got the money. Witness further testified that while they were in the drug store the mask dropped off the defendant’s face, and he positively recognized the defendant.

On cross-examination the attorney for the defendant questioned the witness Selsor and asked him regarding statements he had made, in which he stated he could not recognize either one of the men. Selsor testified he did not tell any one for two or three days after the robbery that one of the parties who robbed him was Eugene Roddy. It is contended by the defendant that the witness Selsor had stated to different parties that he did not recognize either of the parties who had held him up and robbed him. *285 Selsor says he was undecided for some time as to whether or not he would file a complaint against the defendant.

The prosecuting witness testified that the lights were burning in the store, and that the defendant in this case was within a very few feet of the witness when the mask he had over his face dropped off.

The testimony on behalf of the defendant tends to establish an alibi, in fact, that is the defense made by the defendant, that he was not at the drug store and took no part in the robbery, and denies he knew anything about the robbery, and further tends to show that he was at another place when the robbery was committed. The defendant called several witnesses who testified where they had seen the defendant at certain hours during the evening and night the robbery is alleged to have taken place. The testimony further tends to show a number of witnesses who testified for the defendant were parties who claimed to have been with the defendant on the evening and night of the robbery, and that some of the parties had been associated with the defendant for quite a while, and they were frequently seen evenings around a certain restaurant in the city of Tulsa. The testimony further tends to show that the defendant was a married man, and at the time of the robbery was staying with his mother and stepfather; that his vocation was a cook. Without setting out in detail all of the testimony, the foregoing is in substance the testimony introduced in the case.

Fourteen errors are assigned by the defendant as grounds upon which he insists this case should be reversed. The defendant, prior to the beginning of the trial, filed a demurrer to the information, which was overruled by the court, and defendant excepted, but, as the overruling of the demurrer is not assigned as one of the grounds for a *286 reversal of this case, we take it the defendant considered there was no merit in his demurrer, and for that reason does not argue the same.

The first question argued by the defendant in his brief is that the defendant was not given a fair and impartial trial by the jury selected from the entire panel as required by law.

The defendant contends that he was deprived of his right to a fair and impartial trial of his peers as provided by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Oklahoma, and the laws of the state of Oklahoma, in that the court denied him the right to select from the entire panel in attendance on the court at the time. In the county of Tulsa it is shown they have four district judges, and four divisions of the district court; that the jurors, when regularly drawn under the provisions of the statute, are used by the different divisions of the court. The record shows that considerable testimony was taken on the question of the selecting of the trial jury. Similar questions to the one raised in this case have been before this court in different forms, in all of which cases the courts have held that the important thing to be considered was, Were .the rights of the defendant impaired or prejudiced by the manner in which the jury was drawn, selected, and sworn, and did the manner of selecting and swearing the jury deprive the defendant of a fair and impartial jury to sit in the tidal of his case? If by reason of the method of securing the trial jury in this case the defendant was denied any right guaranteed him under the Constitution and laws of this state, then the court should have quashed the panel and ordered a new jury drawn. A substantial compliance with the law in drawing, selecting, and impaneling the jury is sufficient.

*287 In Yonng v. State, 41 Okla. Cr. 226, 271 Pac. 426, this court in the second paragraph of the syllabus said:

“The statute of this state providing for the impaneling of jurors in criminal cases is not in all particulars mandatory. A substantial compliance will be sufficient where the deviation is not material and has not prevented an accused from having a fair and impartial jury, selected by lot from the entire panel.” Michael et al. v. State, 42 Okla. Cr. 124, 274 Pac. 900, and Sanders v. State, 46 Okla. Cr. 293, 287 Pac. 846.

There is no showing in this record that the jurors selected were biased or prejudiced against the defendant, or that the defendant’s rights were prejudiced by reason of the jury that was selected to try his case. It is not shown that the defendant, by reason of the jurors being-called as they were, examined and impaneled to try his case, did not secure a fair and impartial jury. The challenge of the defendant was without merit, and it was not error for the court to overrule the same. If one division of the district court of Tulsa county was entitled to impanel its jury from the entire number of petit jurors forming the regular panel for the entire term of court it would necessarily follow that the other divisions presided over by the district judges would have to impanel its jurors from open or special venires. We hold that this was not the intent of the lawmakers of the state when the law was passed.

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Related

Riddle v. State
1976 OK CR 279 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1976)
Akins v. State
1972 OK CR 284 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1972)
Gonzales v. State
1964 OK CR 1 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1964)
Young v. State
1960 OK CR 47 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1960)
Taylor v. State
1954 OK CR 27 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1954)
Deskin v. State
1951 OK CR 41 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1951)
Martin v. State
1950 OK CR 110 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1950)
Jackson v. State
1947 OK CR 47 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1930 OK CR 167, 287 P. 765, 47 Okla. Crim. 283, 1930 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roddy-v-state-oklacrimapp-1930.