Smith v. State

1974 OK CR 40, 519 P.2d 1370
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 7, 1974
DocketF-73-367
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1974 OK CR 40 (Smith 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
Smith v. State, 1974 OK CR 40, 519 P.2d 1370 (Okla. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

BUSSEY, Judge:

Appellant, Charles Wayne Smith, Jr., hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court, Blaine County, Case No. CRF-73-10, for the offense of Robbery in the First Degree. His punishment was fixed at five (5) years imprisonment and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

Monroe Ellis first testified for the State that he had known the. defendant for approximately one year. He stated that on March 24, 1973, he and the defendant went to the home of Mr. Fred Brunson in order for Mr. Ellis to pay a debt he owed Mr. Brunson. He testified that the defendant was in the presence of Mr. Brunson for approximately ten minutes.

Fred Brunson, the complaining witness and apparently a bootlegger, testified that on March 24, 1973, he saw Monroe Ellis and the defendant together at his house when Mr. Ellis came to pay off a debt. He testified that he next saw the defendant on March 31, 1973, at his home. Brun-son testified that the defendant came to his home and asked to buy a pint of whiskey. The defendant came into the house and told Brunson that he was an FBI agent and showed him a badge. The defendant told him to be quiet and that he was not going to hurt him. Brunson then testified that the defendant went throughout the house, turning on all the lights and looking in each room. The defendant then handcuffed Brunson to a roll-away bed in the back bedroom of the house and searched the house. Defendant then returned and released him and took him to a bedroom where the defendant tied him to the bed. Brunson pleaded with the defendant not to tie him to the bed because of his ill health. The defendant complied by taking him into the living room of the house where he seated him in a chair and tied his hands and feet with strips of cloth. Brunson further testified that the defendant took two $20 bills from his person and subsequently, Brunson found that he was missing a small purse, two $5 bills, $5 in quarters, various loose change, and some bottles of whiskey. He did not give anyone permission to take his property and it was taken against his will. He did not resist the defendant because he was physically unable and was afraid of the defendant. After the defendant left the house, Brun-son freed himself and reported the incident to the Sheriff. Brunson further testified that he accompanied the police officers to the home of Monroe Ellis and then to the home of Mrs. Willie Lee Ellis where he identified his property. Brunson identified the defendant at the Sheriff’s Office.

Willie Lee Ellis testified that she was the mother of Monroe Ellis and that the defendant in this case was married to her niece. On March 31, 1973, the defendant came to her house around 10:00 or 10:30 p. m. to watch television. The defendant brought a box into the house and set it *1372 down and she observed the inside of the box which contained bottles of whiskey. At her request, the defendant put the box in the kitchen cabinets so it would be hidden from her grandchildren. At approximately 11:00 or 12:00 p. m. the defendant retired to the rear bedroom of the house to take a nap. Approximately twenty to thirty minutes after the defendant had gone to bed, some police officers arrived at her house and asked for the defendant. She called the defendant to the front room of the house and the officers questioned the defendant in the dining room and then led him from the house. She further testified that Brunson came to her house with the police officers and told them what had been taken from him. After the officers and Brunson left the house, Mrs. Ellis called the Sheriff’s Office and told them to return to her house and pick up the evidence. She further testified that the police officers searched her house with her consent. During the search of her house, the officers found the case of whiskey, a pair of handcuffs, a badge, and some money. She was shown all of the evidence alleged to have belonged to the defendant and stated that none of it belonged to her.

R. A. McLaughlin testified that he was employed as a police officer for the City of Watonga, Oklahoma. On the night of March 31, 1973, he was at the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office when Brunson reported the robbery. McLaughlin, Brunson, and Officer Willis went to the home of Monroe Ellis and determined that Charles Wayne Smith was the individual for whom they were looking. Monroe Ellis informed the officer that the defendant was at the home of Mrs. Willie Lee Ellis. McLaughlin and Willis then returned Brunson to the Sheriff’s Office and asked Trooper Morgan, of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, to accompany them to the home of Mrs. Ellis. Upon arriving at the Ellis residence, they asked Mrs. Ellis if the defendant was there at that time. She then called the defendant from the rear of the house to the front where the officers were, at which time the officers asked the defendant to accompany them to the Sheriff’s Office. Officer McLaughlin further testified that when they arrived at the Sheriff’s Office, Mrs. Ellis telephoned them and at that time they returned to her residence to search for property taken in the robbery. He further testified that they searched the Ellis house with Mrs. Ellis’ consent and found a case of whiskey, a trucker’s wallet, some bills, small change, and a little white purse, a pair of handcuffs, and a folder containing a badge.

James Louis Winters testified that he was employed as the Deputy Sheriff, Blaine County. He testified to the chain of custody in regard to State’s Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7.

Billie Dean Willis testified that on March 31, 1973, he was employed as an officer of the Watonga City Police Department. Willis’ testimony was substantially the same as that offered by Officer McLaughlin.

The defendant testified in his own behalf that on March 24, 1973, he accompanied Monroe Ellis to the home of Mr. Fred Brunson and at that time met Mr. Brun-son. Later on March 31, 1973, he went to the home of Mr. Brunson and stated to Brunson that he wished to purchase twelve half-pints of whiskey and Brunson told him that it would cost $24. The defendant then gave him two $20 bills and he put the money in a coin purse and went into the back room of the house. Brunson returned with a large box and layed it on a table and the defendant asked him for his change. At this time Brunson denied that he owed the defendant any change, at which point the defendant and Brunson became engaged in an argument. The defendant was ordered to leave the house by Brunson. The defendant further testified that at one time he had been employed as a security officer in Los Angeles, California, and he had the badge from that employment with him on the evening of March 31, 1973. He pulled the badge out of his pocket and showed it to Brunson, stating to him that he was an officer and that he *1373 was going to arrest him for bootlegging if he did not return the money. Brunson then walked to the back of the house and the defendant followed him there and ordered him to be seated in a chair. The defendant then got some pieces of string hanging over the door of the bedroom and tied his hands. The defendant testified that Brunson threatened to kill him if he did not leave the house at that time. The defendant picked up the box and left the house. As the defendant was leaving the house, he observed another man, that he did not know, walking toward the house. The defendant then went to his aunt’s home, Mrs.

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State v. Innis
433 A.2d 646 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1981)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1974 OK CR 40, 519 P.2d 1370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-state-oklacrimapp-1974.