Rowbotham v. State

1975 OK CR 176, 542 P.2d 610, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 439
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 18, 1975
DocketF-75-44
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 1975 OK CR 176 (Rowbotham 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
Rowbotham v. State, 1975 OK CR 176, 542 P.2d 610, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 439 (Okla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

Appellant, Roger Dallas Rowbotham, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court, Rogers County, Case No. CRF-74-43, for the offense of Murder, First Degree, in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1974, § 701.1, |[ 2. In accordance with the provisions of 21 O.S.Supp.1974, § 701.3, the defendant was thereafter sentenced to suffer death, and from said judgment and sentence a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

Mary Rossi testified she was a registered nurse at St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and that she was so employed on the 15th of February, 1974, on which day she worked from 6:30 a.m. to 3 :00 p. m. She testified that she had known the decedent, Beverly Meeker, as Mrs. Meeker, was also a registered nurse at the same hospital on February 15. She had conversed with the decedent on the morning of February 15 and the decedent appeared to be in good health. Mrs. Meeker had worked the 11:00 p. m. to 7:00 a. m. shift and she left for home at approximately 7:15 a. m. on that morning.

Willie Rowbotham testified that he was the father of the defendant who he had seen on the morning of February 15, at the Verdigris River Bridge on Highway 33. He stated that at approximately 8:00 a. m. on that morning he was driving to Tulsa when he observed the defendant’s car parked at the side of the road. Upon stopping, he found the car unattended with the keys in the ignition. He took the keys with him and returned about one hour later finding the defendant sitting in the car at which time he lectured defendant about leaving keys in an unattended car. He further testified that he accompanied the defendant to a nearby service station to call his (defendant’s) wife to instruct her that she need not bring him a car key.

George Shirer testified he lived on old Highway 33 approximately one-half mile from the Verdigris River and had resided at that location for about five or six years. On the morning of the 15th of February, 1974, after having breakfast at approximately 8:00 a. m., he and his wife left their house to feed his cattle and upon returning from feeding the cattle he noticed an unoccupied pickup on the northwest side of the highway. He also observed a car parked near the boat ramp very close to the river. Upon investigation he observed a person slumped over the steering wheel and observed blood on the person’s arm. Thereafter he notified the authorities.

[613]*613Paul Kroker testified that on the morning of February 15, 1974, while hauling eggs from Chouteau to Tulsa on Highway 33, he observed a dark green Pontiac and a pickup parked on the side of Highway 33 at the Verdigris River. He observed one individual in the pickup and someone standing beside the car.

Jimmy Williams testified that on the 15th of February, 1974, he was employed in Tulsa and at approximately 8:30 that morning he was in the vicinity of the Verdigris River and Highway 33. He stated that upon crossing the river bridge he observed a man walking up the bank from the river to a green Pontiac with a dark top which was parked on the left side of the highway. Thinking that the man had car trouble, he turned around and returned to the parked car to offer assistance, whereupon the man told him that his father had taken his car keys. He then identified in court the defendant as that individual. He further testified that after offering assistance to the defendant on that morning, he observed the defendant to have, in his hand, a pocket knife which was approximately three to three and one-half inches in length. Upon being shown State’s Exhibit No. 1, a pocket knife, he testified said exhibit resembled the knife he had seen in the defendant’s hand on that morning.

Benny Dirck testified he was employed as the Deputy Sheriff of Rogers County and had been so employed for approximately five and one-half years. While in that capacity he participated in the investigation of the case, State versus Rowbotham. Upon being shown State’s Exhibit No. 2 and No. 3, photographs of footprints, he testified that these photographs had been taken on the 18th of February, 1974, in the area where the decedent’s body was found. The photographs were taken in his presence and they accurately depicted the scene on that day. The photographs were then admitted into evidence.

T. J. Smith testified he was employed as Assistant Superintendent for Mid-Con Fabricators for the Port of Catoosa and was so employed on the 15th of February, 1974. He testified that the defendant had been employed with the firm for three to four weeks and his working hours had been from 8:00 a. m. to 5:30 p. m. The firm’s procedure for reporting to work consisted of punching a time card. The witness was then shown and identified State’s Exhibit No. 4, defendant’s time card dated February 15, 1974, which had been punched in at between 10:00 and 10:06 a. m. Thereafter, the card was admitted into evidence.

J. B. Hamby testified he was employed as the Undersheriff of Rogers County and had been so employed intermittently for ten years. While so employed he was in the vicinity of the Verdigris River and Highway 33 on February 15, 1974, at approximately 10:00 a. m. He stated that he went there in response to a call and found Officer Jim Clark already at the scene. He observed a 1970 Chevrolet parked facing the water with a woman inside slumped over, clothed in a brown coat under which she was nude. He observed that the woman’s throat was slashed and she had no pulse. A photographer was called who took photographs and thereafter, at approximately 11:30 a. m., the body was taken from the scene to the Health Center in Claremore. Later, the body was taken to the Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where an autopsy was performed. Upon being shown State’s Exhibits No. 5, 6 and 7, photographs of the car in which decedent was found, and two photographs of the decedent as she was found in the car slumped to the left, he stated said photographs accurately and truly represented the scene as depicted therein. Thereafter, said exhibits were admitted into evidence. On the 16th day of February, at approximately 12:40 p. m., he, with the assistance of Sergeant Larry Johnson and Bill Mitchell, Chief Criminal Investí-[614]*614gator for Osage County, went to the Port of Catoosa and arrested the defendant on suspicion of murder. Upon arresting the defendant, he and Sergeant Larry Johnson advised the defendant of his rights according to the Miranda decision, specifically stating that Officer Johnson read the defendant his rights from his “little Miranda card.” He then identified State’s Exhibit No. 4, a time card belonging to the defendant, which had been given him by T. J. Smith. Upon being shown State’s Exhibit No. 10, an army jacket, State’s Exhibit No. 11, a shirt, State’s Exhibit No. 12, a pair of pants, and State’s Exhibit No. 13, he testified said clothing was the same clothing the defendant was wearing the day of the arrest and they were removed as there appeared to be blood on the shirt. At the police station the defendant signed a rights waiver which was marked State’s Exhibit No. 8, and later admitted into evidence. After the defendant signed the rights waiver at 2:30 p. m., and before interrogation, he requested he be allowed to talk with his wife and father, which request was granted, whereafter the defendant’s wife and father arrived at approximately 5 :00 p. m. After conversing with them for 30 minutes, the defendant voluntarily told the officers he was ready to talk and he admitted killing the decedent, Beverly Meeker.

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Bluebook (online)
1975 OK CR 176, 542 P.2d 610, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 439, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rowbotham-v-state-oklacrimapp-1975.