Scott v. State

808 P.2d 73, 1991 WL 26808
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 27, 1991
DocketF-89-320
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 808 P.2d 73 (Scott 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
Scott v. State, 808 P.2d 73, 1991 WL 26808 (Okla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

OPINION

LANE, Presiding Judge:

Clarence Scott, Appellant, was tried by jury for the crime of Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance with Intent to Distribute after Former Conviction of a Felony (63 O.S.1981, § 2-401(B)(2)) in Tulsa County District Court, Case No. CF-88-2348. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of the primary charge and not guilty of former conviction. The trial court sentenced appellant in accord with the jury’s verdict to twenty-five (25) years imprisonment. The appellant raises five propositions of error; two regarding evidence, two regarding the jury instructions, and prose-cutorial misconduct. The State concedes, and we find, that the jury was instructed incorrectly regarding the possible length of sentence. We affirm the judgment and remand this case to the trial court for resentencing pursuant to 22 O.S.Supp.1990, §§ 929 and 1066.

Sometime on June 7, 1988, a confidential informant bought PCP at an upstairs apartment in the Vernon Manor Apartment complex in North Tulsa and reported the buy to police. On the morning of June 8, 1988, several Tulsa Police Officers arrived at the apartment to serve a search warrant. Officer Whittingham went around to the back while others served the warrant at the front door. At about the same moment he heard the police announce their presence, he saw the appellant throw a Crown Royal bag out of a window of the apartment. The bag landed about five (5) feet from him. He retrieved the bag and discovered that it contained four (4) vials containing phencyclidine (PCP), several empty vials, and a bottle of food coloring in a brown pouch. The vials contained approximately thirty-five (35) doses of PCP which had an estimated street value of $175.00. Officer Yelton who was one of the first officers to enter the apartment saw the appellant in the kitchen at the back of the apartment when he entered. He also seized a bag in plain view on the living room sofa which contained twenty-eight (28) vials of PCP.

The appellant argues that the evidence did not prove his intent to distribute and was therefore insufficient to sustain his conviction. To support this position he first argues that the bag of twenty-eight (28) vials of PCP which was admitted into evidence was not shown to be in his possession. Appellant also attacks the credibility of Officer Whittington who stated he only got a “glimpse” of the appellant tossing out the Crown Royal bag. To bolster this credibility argument the appellant relies on the conflicting testimony of Officer Kurow-ski, who followed several seconds behind Officer Whittington, that a brown paper sack was thrown from the window.

Intent is a state of mind that will be proven, if at all, by circumstantial evidence. See Foster v. State, 714 P.2d 1031 (Okl.Cr.1986), cert. denied 479 U.S. 873, 107 S.Ct. 249, 93 L.Ed.2d 173 (1986). Circumstantial evidence by its nature requires [76]*76the jury to use it to draw reasonable inferences. On appellate review this Court accepts all reasonable inferences which tend to support the jury’s verdict Williams v. State, 721 P.2d 1318 (Okl.Cr.1986), and the evidence will be found to be sufficient if it excludes every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt. Riley v. State, 760 P.2d 198 (Okl.Cr.1988).

The fact that the bag which the appellant threw from the window contained approximately thirty-five (35) doses of PCP with a street value of $175.00, as well as empty vials which are used in the trade for dipping cigarettes in single doses for sale supports the jury’s finding of intent to distribute. The fact that Officer Whitting-ton observed the appellant briefly, and that another officer testified that a brown paper bag was thrown from the window goes to the weight and credibility of Whittington’s testimony. The task of resolving this conflict is not for the appellate court, but rather for the jury which is the exclusive judge of weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses, Raymond v. State, 717 P.2d 1147 (Okl.Cr.1986). The jury in this case chose to believe Officer Whittington. The jury’s finding of intent is supported by the record and will not be disturbed on appeal.

Appellant next argues that an evi-dentiary harpoon prevented him from receiving a fair trial. The alleged harpoon occurred after Officer Whittington testified that marijuana had been found in the apartment and the trial judge specifically admonished the State to “stick to PCP”. Whittington then testified:

Q. So a total of eight hundred and seventy-five dollars worth of controlled drug at street value found inside this apartment?
A. Right.
Q. Okay.
A. In addition to the other — the marijuana. There was also marijuana.

This Court has clearly defined the six (6) characteristics of evidentiary harpoons:

(1) they are generally made by experienced police officers, (2) they are voluntary statements; (3) they are wilfully jabbed rather than inadvertent; (4) they inject information concerning other crimes; (5) they are calculated to prejudice the defendant; and (6) they are prejudicial to the rights of the defendant on trial.

Pierce v. State, 786 P.2d 1255, 1260 (Okl.Cr.1990); Bruner v. State, 612 P.2d 1375, 1378 (Okl.Cr.1980). Given the fact that the trial court only moments before had cautioned the prosecutor to “stick to PCP”, we have no doubt that Officer Whittington, an experienced officer who by his own admission had testified hundreds of times in trials of drug related offenses, intended to hurl an evidentiary harpoon.

Immediately after Officer Whittington attempted to hurl this defective harpoon, the trial court admonished the jury to disregard the testimony regarding marijuana.

The trial court’s admonition to the jury will cure this error unless the evidence admitted is so prejudicial that common sense tells us the jury could not disregard it in reaching its verdict. See Sullivan v. State, 716 P.2d 684 (Okl.Cr.1986). The un-eontroverted evidence established that the appellant threw a sack containing four vials containing thirty-five doses of PCP out the apartment window, and twenty-eight vials of PCP were recovered inside the apartment. This is strong, if not overwhelming evidence that the appellant possessed PCP with the intent to distribute it. Under these facts we do not find that the evidence that the appellant also possessed marijuana contributed to the jury’s determination of guilt. Admonition by the trial court was sufficient in this case to cure this evidentiary error.

The appellant did not request a cautionary instruction on the eye-witness identification by Officer Whittington, but now claims that the trial court erred by not so instructing sua sponte. Appellant has waived all but fundamental error by his failure to request this instruction. Davis v. State, 753 P.2d 388, 392 (Okl.Cr.1988); Hair v. State, 597 P.2d 347, 349 (Okl.Cr.1979).

[77]*77A cautionary instruction is required only when eye-witness identification is a critical element of the prosecutor’s case and serious questions exist concerning the reliability of the identification. Davis at 392, McDoulett v. State, 685 P.2d 978, 980 (Okl.Cr.1984).

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Scott v. State
808 P.2d 73 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
808 P.2d 73, 1991 WL 26808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scott-v-state-oklacrimapp-1991.