State v. Peyton

493 P.2d 1393, 8 Or. App. 479, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 1117
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedFebruary 25, 1972
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 493 P.2d 1393 (State v. Peyton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Peyton, 493 P.2d 1393, 8 Or. App. 479, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 1117 (Or. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

PORT, J.

Defendant and one Johnny Lee Cannon were jointly indicted for the crime of armed robbery. ORS 163.280. They were tried separately. The defendant *481 was convicted. He appeals, urging four assignments of error.

At approximately 9:25 p.m. on July 3, 1970, while working in the back portion of his grocery store in Medford, Oregon, Raymond Gould was confronted by a man with a .45 caliber revolver. Mr. Gould was told to turn around and walk to the front of the store where he saw another man, Johnny Lee Cannon, with a gun, and Mrs. Pike, a store employe. At Cannon’s direction, Mr. Gould and Mrs. Pike took the money from the cash register drawers and handed it to Cannon.

During the course of the robbery, Mrs. Davis, a customer, walked into the store to do some shopping, and, according to appellant’s brief, she “walked by the check stand and the defendant [Peyton], who was crouched behind a counter to avoid detection.” Mr. Gould then went over to Mrs. Davis and, after informing her that a holdup was in progress, asked her to go to the back of the room. The three, Mr. Gould, Mrs. Pike and Mrs. Davis, were then forced inside a walk-in beverage cooler located at the rear of the store. A padlock was placed on the door, but the robbers were unable to fasten the hasp on the lock.

Just before 10 p.m., Louis Knudsen, another customer, walked into the store and, seeing no one up front, proceeded to look for Mr. Gould. Mr. Knudsen soon saw another man who, holding a gun, motioned for him to move to the rear of the store. Mr. Knudsen was then forced into the cooler with the others. Within a few minutes the four were discovered by Mrs. Jeannie Ann Duncan, a former employe, who entered the store and noticed no one around and the cooler light on.

*482 Defendant was subsequently arrested in Modoc County, California, for an armed robbery committed in that state.

About a week after tbe robbery of Mr. Gould’s grocery store, Medford Police Detective Robert Stedman, who had been investigating the crime, visited Mr. Gould and showed him various photographs, some of which Detective Stedman had received from authorities in California. Two of the pictures were of Johnny Lee Cannon and the defendant. Mr. Gould identified the two men as the robbers saying, “You’ve got your boys right here.” There is some conflict as to precisely when Mr. Gould made his identification and how many times he was shown pictures of the defendant. In any case, it is clear that the first time Mr. Gould was shown a picture of defendant he identified him as one of the robbers. Mr. Gould also testified that it was not necessary for him to see the photographs after the first time in order to make an identification.

Sometime after seeing the photographs and identifying Cannon and Peyton therefrom, Mr. Gould saw defendant at a lineup held in Modoc County, California. Mr. Gould immediately identified Cannon from the lineup. He also pointed the defendant out, but apparently did not definitely identify him. Pursuant to defendant’s motion, all evidence pertaining to this identification in the Modoc County lineup was suppressed. Subsequently, Mr. Gould again saw the defendant briefly in the courthouse hallway during the trial of Johnny Lee Cannon. Mr. Gould was not asked to make an identification of the defendant at that trial.

At defendant’s trial, Mr. Gould testified that he had “a very good opportunity” to observe the defendant during the robbery, that defendant was then *483 standing only about three feet away from him, and that he looked defendant “right in the face.” Mr. Gould also testified that his identification of defendant as one of the holdup men was based upon “looking at him right in the eye when he had a gun on me,” and that he did not need any later view of defendant to reinforce his identification.

Defendant’s first assignment of error asserts that “the court erred in allowing an in-court identification of defendant [by Mr. Gould] that resulted from an illegal line-up and the state failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that the in-court identification was independent of the illegal line-up.” We disagree.

Mr. Gould’s in-court identification of defendant was proper since, by clear and convincing evidence, it was established that the identification was independent and untainted by the challenged line-up procedure. State v. Moore, 1 Or App 394, 397-98, 460 P2d 866 (1969), 463 P2d 373, Sup Ct review denied (1970); State v. Mershon, 1 Or App 305, 309, 459 P2d 551 (1969), Sup Ct review denied (1970); United States v. Wade, 388 US 218, 87 S Ct 1926, 18 L Ed 2d 1149 (1967). Defendant’s further assertion that the court was required by the Wade decision to specifically find that the state established that the in-court identification was independent and untainted is also without merit. United States v. Wade, supra.

Defendant’s second assignment of error challenges a portion of the court’s instructions to the jury. At trial defendant specifically stated he had no objections to the instructions. The contention will not now be considered on appeal. State v. Leos, 7 Or App 211, 490 P2d 521 (1971).

*484 Defendant asserts in Ms tMrd assignment of error that the court erred in denying his motion for a continuance until his co-indictee, Johnny Lee Cannon, could be subpoenaed to testify at defendant’s trial.

Cannon, whose trial was before this defendant’s, did not testify on his own behalf. Cannon was found guilty and Ms conviction was affirmed on appeal to this court subsequent to the trial of the case at bar. 8 Or App 247, 492 P2d 831 Sup Ct review denied (1972). He had been transported to California sometime before defendant first informed the court at the beginning of his trial that he wanted Cannon subpoenaed. Defendant’s request for Cannon to appear was made without participation of his counsel and, in fact, against the advice of counsel. After defendant’s request, the following took place:

“THE COURT: * * * Mr. Fliegel [defendant’s attorney], it was your — do you care to disclose to me — this was your desire, you desired not to have Mr. Cannon subpoenaed, is that correct?
“MR. FLIEGEL: Nothing was ever disclosed to me as to what Mr. Cannon would say, Your Honor. In my evaluation of the case I could see no purpose of having Mr. Cannon here. And Mr. Peyton would not inform me why he wanted him here. He just stated ‘You get Mm here.’ That’s as far as it went. He speaks of this blowup he had. That’s correct. He lost Ms temper. Went stomping out of the room up there just yelling ‘You get Mm here.’ So I had no information to determine why he wanted him here. He never disclosed it to me.
& * $ *
“At any rate, in regard to Mr. Cannon’s testimony that’s the status and I had nothing to base my judgment on. I wasn’t willing to subpoena Mr. Cannon in here just because Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
493 P.2d 1393, 8 Or. App. 479, 1972 Ore. App. LEXIS 1117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-peyton-orctapp-1972.