Swift v. State

1950 OK CR 88, 220 P.2d 300, 92 Okla. Crim. 43, 1950 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 238
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 5, 1950
DocketA-11215
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1950 OK CR 88 (Swift 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
Swift v. State, 1950 OK CR 88, 220 P.2d 300, 92 Okla. Crim. 43, 1950 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 238 (Okla. Ct. App. 1950).

Opinion

POWELL, J.

The defendant, Bert Swift, was charged in the court of common pleas of Tulsa county, with the crime of driving an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. A jury was waived, and the defendant was by the court found guilty and sentenced to serve a term of five days in the county jail, and to pay a fine of $75.

The offense was alleged to have been committed in Tulsa county, Okla., on the 11th day of September, 1948, by then and there driving, and operating a motor vehicle upon a public highway at a point six miles west of Sand Springs, in Tulsa county, while said defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor.

The following specifications of error were presented in the brief of the defendant:

“(1) That the decision is contrary to the evidence.
“(2) That the decision and judgment is not sustained by the evidence.
“(3) That the decision and judgment of the court is contrary to law.
“(4) That the evidence fails to establish venue of the offense, if any, and that by reason thereof the court had no jurisdiction over the offense as charged or the person of this defendant.
*45 “(5) That the court erred in overruling defendant’s demurrer to the evidence.
“(6) That the court erred in overruling defendant’s motion for new trial.”

We shall consider the specifications in order as presented in defendant’s brief.

Considering the fourth assignment of error, the record does not disclose in the evidence presented on behalf of the state any direct proof of venue; only circumstantial evidence is present from which venue may be inferred. At the close of the evidence of the state, counsel for defendant did not demur to the evidence of the state and did not raise the issue of venue during the progress of the trial. The only mention made of the alleged failure to prove venue is set forth in paragraph 4 of the motion for a new trial. In the case of Edwards v. State, 25 Okla. Cr. 167, 219 P. 427, 428, wherein the question of venue was involved, the court said in the body of the opinion:

“We do not mean to hold that, as to the defendant, there is a presumption that the offense proved was committed within the county where the case was tried, but only that where it is apparent that the court and the jurors have personal knowledge of the places named by the different witnesses, tending to show that the offense was committed within the county, and the defendant desires to challenge the venue, he should do so by a request for an instructed verdict because of insufficient proof of venue, and also as a ground for a new trial, in order that the trial court might determine this issue.”

This rule has been affirmed by this court in the recent case of Kilpatrick v. State, 90 Okla. Cr. 276, 213 P. 2d 584.

Of course, it is the duty of the prosecution to prove venue, but if the defense has reason to question venue, *46 then counsel should not sit by and avoid the issue, for if he has evidence that the alleged offense was in fact committed without the boundaries of the county where the offense is being tried and without the jurisdiction of the court, the trial court should have an opportunity to pass on the matter. This does not mean that if there is a total lack of evidence, both positive and circumstantial, to prove venue, that this court would uphold the jurisdiction of the trial court, but unless defense counsel raises such question during the course of the trial, this court, will seek to uphold the jurisdiction of the court, because to do otherwise might encourage invited error. As stated by this court in Edwards v. State, supra:

“It has been decided by this and other courts that it is not necessary in a criminal case to prove venue by direct testimony, but that the venue may be established by circumstantial evidence. It has also been held that the venue need not be shown beyond a reasonable doubt.”

A number of early cases are cited in support of this rule. See also Kilpatrick v. State, supra, and Fannin v. State, 65 Okla. Cr. 447, 88 P. 2d 671, 673, and Wheaton v. State, 85 Okla. Cr. 132, 185 P. 2d 931.

In Fannin v. State, supra, this, court held:

“Courts of the state'take judicial notice of the boundaries of the state and the counties of the state, and also the geographical location of cities and towns within the state.”

In the instant case, prosecuting witness O. B. Patterson, a state highway patrolman, testified:

“Q. Where did you first observe him? [defendant]. A. At a point about six miles west of Sand Springs, on Highway 33. Q. What was he doing? A.- When I first observed him, he had either just stopped or was stopping. His car had turned south on a country road off the high *47 way and when I passed he was slumped over the wheel. When I first observed the car, I thought it was going to turn, and when I saw him I backed up and came back to see what the trouble was. I knew he was either asleep or passed out. Q. Did you see him stop the car? A. I wouldn’t swear it was perfectly still — it was off the highway, and was either stopped or almost stopped when I observed it. * * * Q. Had you noticed the car before? A. Not until I saw it in the intersection — turned off there in the road. * * * Q. Did you have any conversation with the defendant? A. I talked to him and asked him to wait there in his car until I went to my car and radioed, and when I went to my car to use the radio he drove off. Q. Where did he drive to? A. He headed south on that country road. Q. Did you follow him? A. I pursued him to the turn, between a half and a quarter of a mile. * * *”

On cross-examination witness Patterson further testified :

“Q. He was off the slab? A. He was, off like he intended to turn around. Q. But was he off? A. Off 33. * * * Q. Drove up that road south? A. Yes. Q. How far? A. A quarter or half a mile.”

Witness further testified that defendant ran into the bar ditch and that he backed his car out and thereafter drove it up the road probably 50 yards to the corner and left it in front of a house there and asked a couple of men living there to look after it until he could send out for the car.

Charles Reece, witness for the state, was not present when the arrest was made but testified as to location of the defendant’s car and the road intersection with Highway 33 substantially as witness Patterson.

Charles McCalip, witness for the defense, testified that he lived out of Sand Springs on Route No. 4, and on the highway going to Keystone, but on the Mud Creek *48 road about a half mile off the highway and six miles west of Sand Springs; that returning to his home from Sand Springs about 5 o’clock on the afternoon in question, he first saw defendant parked in his car on the Mud Creek road about 30 or 40 feet off the highway; that later officer Patterson pushed defendant’s car to his home down the Mud Creek road.

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Related

Harrison v. State
1973 OK CR 97 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1973)
Dixon v. State
424 P.2d 100 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1967)
Pierce v. State
1961 OK CR 2 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1961)
Pettigrew v. State
1959 OK CR 116 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1959)
Slater v. State
1956 OK CR 43 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1956)
Turner v. State
1955 OK CR 60 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1955)
Payne v. State
1954 OK CR 123 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1954)
Seals v. State
1950 OK CR 121 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1950)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1950 OK CR 88, 220 P.2d 300, 92 Okla. Crim. 43, 1950 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swift-v-state-oklacrimapp-1950.