Teague v. State

1935 OK CR 146, 52 P.2d 91, 58 Okla. Crim. 239, 1935 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 143
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 1, 1935
DocketNo. A-8943.
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 1935 OK CR 146 (Teague 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
Teague v. State, 1935 OK CR 146, 52 P.2d 91, 58 Okla. Crim. 239, 1935 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 143 (Okla. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

EDWARDS, J.

Plaintiff in error, hereinafter called defendant, was convicted in the district court of Kingfisher county of robbery with firearms, and was sentenced to serve a term of 20 years in the state penitentiary. At about 9 o’clock, at night, on the date charged, Jim San-dusky, an automobile dealer at Kingfisher, drove into his garage and was there seized by two persons who forced him to drive his car south into Canadian county and to turn off on a side road to a schoolhouse where they tied him, took his money, and then departed with the car. About a week later, defendant and one Mike Gault, who was jointly charged, after some resistance were apprehended with the car at Paducah, Tex. Defendant, under a fictitious name, had just registered the car in Texas. They had in the car two Colts special and an automatic pistol. Questioned by the sheriff, defendant gave a fictitious name and told the sheriff he lived at Amarillo and was a cattle buyer. Further he said that he did not take money from people who needed it. Defendant had $550 in money on his person, and offered the sheriff |500 to' release them. He also requested the sheriff to return to him, or tear up, *241 some car title papers found on bis person. A severance was bad, and only tbe defendant Teague was on trial. Defendant did not take tbe stand, but made tbe defense of alibi by tbe testimony of his wife, fatber-in-law, and sister-in-law of Oklahoma City; by bis codefendant, Gault; and by some other testimony. Defendant’s wife and relatives testified defendant spent tbe night of tbe robbery at bis father-in-law’s home in Oklahoma City, where his wife was staying at tbe time, and that be and Gault left early the next morning for Roger Mills county on business. Gault testified they spent tbe night at Oklahoma City, left early tbe next morning, went to tbe residence of one Hays, near Canute, in Custer county; that they got there about 8:30 o’clock, and spent tbe day. Tbe next day they went to a place owned by defendant in Roger Mills county and found it being burglarized by one “Blackie” Picklesimer and some other person, and, after some negotiations, Pick-lesimer agreed to pay Teague $100 for the damage be bad done, and then gave them tbe title papers to the car with tbe understanding they were to meet him a day or two later in Shamrock, Tex., where be would pay them tbe $100. That they sold defendant’s car at Elk City, and on the day appointed procured some one to drive them to Shamrock, where they met Picklesimer who .informed them be did not have the money, but if they would go with him to Paducah be would procure it. That they did go to Paducah and there were arrested with the stolen car; but at the time of the arrest Picklesimer had gone across the street to a filling station, and he was now in the penitentiary at McAlester. This explanation of the possession of the car, the purported agreement with Picklesimer, the procuring of a Texas tag under a fictitious name, the statements to and the offer to bribe the sheriff to release them, are so fantastic we are not surprised defendant did *242 not take the stand, and are not surprised the jury did not believe it. Upon the facts stated, which omit various details which probably would make it more unreasonable, we have no doubt defendant was either one of the actual robbers of Sandusky, or was in complicity with whoever actually took the car.

Considering the extremely difficult state of facts with which they had to deal, defendant’s counsel have briefed the case well. It is first contended the evidence is insufficient. On this point they argue that since Sandusky could not identify the persons who robbed him, and since two witnesses, one at Hinton and one at Weatherford, testified that about this time some persons attempted to sell them a Chevrolet car answering the general description of the stolen car, considered with the testimony of alibi, the jury could not reasonably and logically find a verdict of guilty. We are not in accord with this conclusion, and without elaborating on the reasons are satisfied an intelligent jury could have no reasonable doubt of the defendant’s connection with the robbery, either as a participant or in complicity with the robbers.

Complaint is made that the court erred in certain instructions. This is directed mainly to instruction 7, which is in the language of section 1808, Okla. Stat. 1931. The argument admits correctness as an abstract proposition of law, but insists there is no evidence which warrants this charge. True, there is no direct testimony that defendant was an accomplice of someone else, who committed the actual robbery. Such deduction, however, may arise from testimony offered by defendant to the effect he met Picklesimer at his place with the stolen car two days after the robbery; that Picklesimer there gave him the title papers; that he again met Picklesimer at Shamrock, Tex., *243 and went with him to Paducah, Tex.; and that Picklesimer was in the immediate vicinity when defendant was ar- . rested. O. E. Findley, a witness for defendant, who resided at Hinton, testified that on the day after the robbery two persons came to his place and attempted to sell him a Chevrolet answering the description of the stolen car, and one of them called the other “Blackie,” the name by which Picklesimer was known. There was no error in the giving of this instruction.

It is further argued under this assignment the court erred in his instruction on the law of alibi, which was as follows:

“You are instructed that one of the defenses interposed by the defendant in this case is what is known, in law, as an ‘alibi’; that is, that the defendant, at the time of the commission of the alleged crime, was at another place, or so far away that he could not have participated in the commission thereof. The defendant is not required to prove this defense beyond a reasonable doubt, but it is sufficient in this respect, if, from a consideration of all the evidence in the case, you have reasonable doubt of the presence of the defendant at the time and place of the commission of the crime charged in the information. But, upon the other hand, you are instructed that if, after a full, fair and impartial consideration of all the evidence in the case, together with all the other facts and circumstances appearing in evidence upon the trial of the case, you feel that you are satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, of the guilt of the defendant, then it would be your duty to return a verdict finding the defendant guilty as charged in the information.”

The objection is that it does not tell the jury that if they entertain a reasonable doubt as to the presence of the defendant at the time and the place of the commission of the crime charged that they should give the defendant the benefit of the doubt and acquit him. When the court *244 told the jury if they should find, beyond a reasonable doubt, the guilt of defendant, it would be their duty to return a verdict of guilty, he should have gone further and have told the jury unless they should so find they should find defendant not guilty. In failing to do so the instruction is condemned. However, the jury must have understood they were required to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, or, if they had a reasonable doubt, they must return a verdict of not guilty.

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1952 OK CR 137 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1952)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1935 OK CR 146, 52 P.2d 91, 58 Okla. Crim. 239, 1935 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teague-v-state-oklacrimapp-1935.