T. R. M. v. State

1979 OK CR 59, 596 P.2d 902, 1979 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 213
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJune 22, 1979
DocketNo. J-78-287
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 1979 OK CR 59 (T. R. M. 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
T. R. M. v. State, 1979 OK CR 59, 596 P.2d 902, 1979 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 213 (Okla. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION

BUSSEY, Judge:

T. R. M., a juvenile, was charged in the Juvenile Division of the District Court, Texas County, Oklahoma, Case No. JFJ-78-16 with having committed acts which would be Assault With Intent to Commit Rape, if committed by an adult, and Possession of Marihuana, if committed by an adult. The court found T. R. M. to be a delinquent at the conclusion of the adjudicatory hearing, finding the evidence sufficient to support the charge of Assault With Intent to Commit Rape, but insufficient to support the charge of Possession of Marihuana. The juvenile’s attorney filed a motion to vacate the findings, the order and judgment on the ground the judge was biased and prejudiced against the juvenile. The judge overruled the motion and at the disposition hearing ordered the juvenile committed to the care, custody and control of the Oklahoma Department of Institutions, Social and Rehabilitative Services for placement in the State training school for boys at Helena, Oklahoma. From these proceedings the juvenile has perfected this appeal.

At the time of the incident hereinafter described, T. R. M. was 16 years of age and a junior in high school where he was an average student. He played first team defensive tackle on the high school football team and weighed about 195 pounds. T. S. W., the complaining witness, was 18 years of age, valedictorian of her senior class in high school and was employed as a secretary in a law firm during her senior year until March of 1978. She stated she dated L. W.; that she had known him for about a year and a half and had dated him more or less steadily since September, 1977. She testified she had never talked with T. R. M. before but had seen him at school and around town. The juvenile also testified that he had never talked with the complaining witness before but just knew her by name and face.

T. S. W. testified that on April 11, 1978, at approximately 11:00 p. m., she was driving home alone in her car when she determined that she was being followed by another car that was blinking its lights. She pulled over to see if anything was wrong with her car, and the juvenile, who was driving the other vehicle, pulled in back of her. He got out of his car and came to the [904]*904driver’s side of her car. At this time, L. W., the complaining witness’ boyfriend, drove by without stopping.

T. R. M. asked the complaining witness if she wanted to “get high.” She declined and he said that she ought to at least come look at his car stereo before she left. T. S. W. agreed, thinking that this would enable her to terminate the encounter. She left her car running and walked back to T. R. M.’s car. She was standing by the open door on the driver’s side when the juvenile pushed her into his car. T. S. W. testified that she noticed a clear plastic bag and a pipe in his car. She grabbed for the door handle on the passenger side, and T. R. M. grabbed her around the neck and pulled away from the curb at a high rate of speed.

As they were on the way out of town, the complaining witness asked T. R. M. to take her back to her car because it was still running and then to take her back to town because she had to go to the bathroom. T. R. M. refused. She opened the passenger door of the moving vehicle in order to escape, and the juvenile took both hands off the steering wheel, grabbing her around the neck with one arm and around the waist with the other. She ceased to struggle and told T. R. M. to just drive because they were going to have a wreck. In response to her request to be taken someplace where she could get away, the complaining witness testified that T. R. M. made statements such as, “But I want you. I want you, . . . and, “I can’t help it. I want you. I need you.”

The juvenile stopped his car out in the country on a dirt road which was referred to as the “junk yard road.” Shortly after the car stopped, both T. R. M. and the witness observed the lights of an approaching vehicle through the rear window. T. R. M. turned around, put the car in gear and began to drive away. The witness opened the door and started to jump out, and as she did T. R. M. grabbed her. T. R. M. accelerated the car, and the passenger door swung back, knocking her down. T. R. M. continued to hold onto her as she was dragged down the road. The car ran over her right leg and at this point T. R. M. released her and continued down the dirt road at a high rate of speed.

The witness jumped up, waved her arms and yelled at the approaching vehicle to stop. She then saw that it was L. W. He took her back to her car and then both drove to the Guymon police station. They reported the incident to Captain Joe Ferguson, and each made a written statement. Captain Ferguson testified that T. S. W. was in a hysterical state. Her jeans were ripped on the right hip and her blouse was torn in front. He observed abrasions on her right knee and along her right leg about the shin bone area, between the knee and the ankle. T. S. W.’s mother testified that her daughter’s right leg was scratched similar to a burn and that she had a deep laceration on her hip and knee. A day or two after this incident her mother noticed that she had bruises on her arm, buttocks and shoulder. T. S. W.’s father also testified that bruises started showing on her neck.

T. R. M. testified that it was the witness who blinked her ear lights at him and that it was she who drove up beside his car when he stopped. He stated she said, “Follow me, because I have got to talk to you.” Each then proceeded in the respective cars to the location described in the witness’s testimony, where T. R. M. pulled up in back of her car. He testified he asked her what she wanted. She indicated nothing in particular, and then started talking about what a nice car stereo he had. The juvenile stated he did not shove her into his car, but as she was standing near his car door, “She just weaved back a little bit, and I grabbed her arm to stand her straight.” As they were driving out of town, according to T. R. M., T. S. W. stated she had to use the bathroom. In response to his offer to take her to the Pizza Hut for that purpose, she stated that would not be necessary, but out in the country would be all right. In explaining why he left so rapidly from where he was parked on the junk yard road, T. R. M. stated he was fearful for his personal safety when he saw the approaching vehicle becau'se he thought he had been “set up.” [905]*905He stated he had received threats that some men were going to “get him.” T. S. W. was partially out of the car at this point, so he grabbed her to pull her back in because he was afraid to leave her there, as the men might hurt her also. He stated, “I grabbed for her and warned her and she just kept screaming and kicking me, so I just helped her out the door.”

The juvenile’s first assignment of error is that the court erred in overruling his motion to vacate the findings, order and judgment of the adjudicatory hearing. The motion alleged the judge was biased and prejudiced against the juvenile because the State’s complaining witness was a close personal friend of the judge’s daughter and his family. Further, the judge’s daughter was present during the hearing, serving as court reporter, and the complaining witness was scheduled to be maid of honor in her forthcoming wedding. The motion requested a new hearing on the merits, and that the judge disqualify himself.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1979 OK CR 59, 596 P.2d 902, 1979 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/t-r-m-v-state-oklacrimapp-1979.