Stinson v. State

1974 OK CR 200, 528 P.2d 735
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 14, 1974
DocketNo. F-74-285
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1974 OK CR 200 (Stinson 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
Stinson v. State, 1974 OK CR 200, 528 P.2d 735 (Okla. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

The appellant, Charles Allen Stinson, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried before a jury and convicted in the District Court of Dewey 'County, Oklahoma, for the crime of Murder. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and assessed his punishment at a term of life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. From a judgment and sentence in conformance with said verdict the defendant has perfected his timely appeal.

The evidence adduced at trial is as follows : Kiowa County Deputy Sheriff Robert Higgins testified that on the 2nd day of May, 1973, the defendant, accompanied by his mother and grandmother, came to Hobart and voluntarily committed himself to Western State Hospital at Ft. Supply. When Higgins last saw the defendant he was on the passenger side of Deputy Max Straub’s car conversing with his relatives. Straub and the defendant then left for the hospital in a white on green Ford. At the time they left Straub was wearing a new 357 magnum pistol.

Oscar Hickey then testified that on May 2 he was working at a fruit stand at the intersection of two highways some two miles West of Seiling. At approximately 4:00 p. m. a white over green automobile approached the intersection and Hickey noticed that the two occupants were scuffling. Both occupants then disappeared from sight and Hickey heard several shots. The car then started rolling across the intersection, hitting an embankment and coming to a stop. A black man got out of the passenger side of the vehicle and proceeded around to the driver’s side, got in, pushed something towards the passenger side and drove off.

Paul Turner then testified that at approximately 4:00 p. m. on the date in question, he approached the aforementioned intersection to observe a white over green Ford with two occupants inside. He observed the occupants wrestling in the front seat and the vehicle come rolling across the road towards him. One of the occupants, a black man, was the defendant. The vehicle proceeded to roll into a bar ditch and stop at which time the defendant, wearing lavender pants and jacket and a black t-shirt, got out of the car and then got in the driver’s side. Turner then drove to Seiling and called the highway patrol. He subsequently saw the defendant walking on the outskirts of Seiling and again advised the patrol. He again saw the automobile approximately J^ths of a mile east of the aforementioned intersection. It had run off the road, through a fence, and onto the edge of a wheat field.

Patrol Trooper Dave Dvorak then testified that he and his partner were advised of the incident and proceeded to the intersection and then to a wheat field where a white on green vehicle was found. The patrolmen approached the vehicle and found an officer lying in the front seat dead. He was then advised that an individual had been seen walking along the highway just northwest of the Seiling city limits and proceeded to investigate. They subsequently apprehended the defendant who was unarmed and wearing light purple pants, a purple jacket and a black t-shirt. The patrolman stated that the defendant was very quiet, but followed all instructions given him. No murder weapon was found.

Louis Louthan and Leslie Paris subsequently testified that on the day in question they were at the Broomfield Cemetery near Seiling when they saw a car plunge through a fence at the edge of a wheat field. A slim black male got out and started walking down the highway.

Dewey County Sheriff Lindsey Salisbury then testified concerning certain pictures he had taken of the car and its contents and further stated that no revolver had been found. The leather strap on Officer [737]*737Straub’s holster used to secure the gun and hammer had been broken.

Dr. Robert A. Bush, County Medical Examiner in Seiling, related that when he arrived at the scene he examined the body and found no sign of life. He found three wounds, including one near the left ear with powder burns and one in the left chest with powder burns. Straub’s body was then sent to Oklahoma City for an autopsy.

State Medical Examiner Dr. A. J. Chapman testified that on the 3rd day of May he examined the body of Max Straub and found two gunshot wounds, one in the head and one in the chest. The head wound was surrounded by powder burns which indicated that the firearm had been discharged in close proximity to the head. He further stated that either wound could have caused death.

Ray Lambert, Firearms Examiner for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, testified that in May, 1973, he received a .38 caliber bullet taken from Straub’s body. Lambert stated that a .38 caliber bullet may be used in 357 revolver. Raymond Homer, identification officer, then testified that he ran tests on the defendant’s hands for gunshot residue some nine hours after the incident. The tests were inconclusive. Homer further stated that the residue is water soluble and could be removed with ordinary washing. The State then rested.

The defendant called Perry Town who testified that on May 2 he was an agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and that he subsequently talked to Paul Turner with reference to the Straub homicide. Town related Turner’s statement which reflected minor variations from Turner’s in-court statement. Town further testified with reference to the location of several pools of blood in the back seat of the vehicle and on the back floorboard. He also related that he took part in the gunshot residue tests upon the defendant’s hands and that there was water standing in the bar ditches around the vehicle.

Mrs. Ellie B. Littles, grandmother of the defendant, related that she had raised him, that he was a good youth, although he had spent two years in the state penitentiary for burglary, and that the defendant began acting strangely after he quit school at Okmulgee Tech. She stated that “he was scared to death all the time” and thought that somebody was after him. She took the defendant to a physician in Hobart who advised that he be sent to Ft. Supply. Shortly thereafter she took the defendant to the county jail to secure court approval for his voluntary commitment. She further stated that after the incident he never said a word to her.

Benjamin Marshall, defendant’s cousin, then testified that the defendant spent the night in his home in the latter part of April, 1973, and that the defendant acted scared and wouldn’t eat or sleep. He just looked at the wall and kept saying “someone is after me”. The testimony of Jo Ann Gilbert, the defendant’s aunt, was essentially the same as Mrs. Littles’ and Marshall’s.

Gerald Gunkel, a rehabilitation counselor for the State of Oklahoma in Altus, then related that he first met the defendant in April, 1972. After testing the defendant, the witness sent him to Okmulgee for a commercial art course. Although the defendant was doing well, Gunkel was subsequently notified that in April of 1973, he had dropped out of school. He then contacted the defendant and noted that he was no longer motivated. Kenneth Hodge, a supervising counselor at Okmulgee Tech, stated that he had counseled the defendant at the time of his enrollment. The defendant was quite normal, but finished only one term at school. The defendant subsequently dropped out in April, 1973. Allan Shaw, a teacher at Okmulgee State Tech, testified that the defendant was a good student and had no disciplinary problems, but dropped out after the second term.

[738]*738Dr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hain v. State
1993 OK CR 22 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1974 OK CR 200, 528 P.2d 735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stinson-v-state-oklacrimapp-1974.