Terrill v. State

1969 OK CR 94, 451 P.2d 392
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 26, 1969
DocketNo. A-14825
StatusPublished

This text of 1969 OK CR 94 (Terrill 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
Terrill v. State, 1969 OK CR 94, 451 P.2d 392 (Okla. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

NIX, Judge:

Plaintiff in error, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was charged by information in the District Court of Oklahoma County with the crime of Operating A Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor, After Former Conviction of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor. On November IS, 1967, defendant withdrew his former plea of not guilty to the information, and entered his plea of guilty. On January 2, 1968, the trial judge sentenced defendant to three years in the penitenitary, the last two of which to be suspended'. Defendant then gave notice of intent to appeal said judgment and sentence, and filed his timely appeal in this Court.

Defendant’s first proposition of error alleges that at the time of his plea of guilty, he was not a competent person. This Court has thoroughly searched the record filed herein, and find no indication that the learned counsel for the defendant, at any time, felt that the defendant was not competent to enter a plea, or that he did not know right from wrong.

The conclusion now urged by counsel that the defendant is or was insane has no basis in fact, but is an erroneous inference drawn by him after the pre-sentence investigation report was filed.

This report, made by the Department of Corrections, states:

“In 1954, the subject was committed by the Court to Central State Hospital, Norman, Oklahoma, and was confined there for approximately one year and then discharged. He has never been restored to mental competency by the County Court and no information can be obtained in regard to this committment.”

This Court does not believe that the courts of our state do not keep accurate records, with the exception of human error. We presume they are diligent in maintaining accurate accounts of their proceedings; and with such a presumption, this Court [394]*394finds it hard to believe that if the commitment of the defendant to a mental institution were actually for insanity, after proper examination and hearing there would be little or no record of such.

Further, the pre-sentence report does not indicate that the defendant was insane or incompetent at the present time.

The report quotes from the records of the hospital, wherein the psychiatric impression of the defendant was described as “passive aggressive,” and his personality characteristic as “passive-dependent type with addiction to alcohol.” The passive-dependency reaction is described in Davidson, Forensic Psychiatry, at pages 329 and 330, as set forth in the Attorney General’s brief, as follows:

“A personality disorder (not amounting to a psychosis or neurosis) characterized by general inadequacy, tendency to lean on others, and indecisiveness. The patient’s inadequacies are reflected by his own lack of 'self-confidence and tendency to cling to others. When this reaction is to become stubborn, to pout, to procrastinate, or to obstruct, the condition is aggressive reaction.” (Emphasis supplied.)
“In the same work, the aggressive reaction to which reference is made in the records of the hospital and which the Department of Corrections quoted in its report is defined as follows:
‘A personality disorder (not neurosis or psychosis) characterized by resentment, irritability, or temper tantrums as a result of inability to cope with frustration.’ (Emphasis added.)
“Personality disorders may develop into, but are not of themselves, insanity; they are emotional disorders characterized by difficulty in relating to others or to the society. It is the unusual person who has no personality disorder, so much so that it could be said that the normal state of human existance involves some emotional variance or instability. That condition is a creature of our times, and normality is no longer described in terms of the absence of disorder, but of the lesser degree.”
“We realize that the courts are not bound by medical terms defining sanity, but of necessity must resort to their own definitions. Yet frequently the conclusions reached by the two professions are not dissimilar, and we have included this portion of the discussion to show that from a medical standpoint, the defendant, while plagued by emotional problems more severe than those considered ‘normal’, has difficulties falling far short of insanity.”

Nowhere in the record is the issue of insanity raised, and from the “Plea of Guilty: Summary of Facts” filed in the case as a part of the minutes, it is quite apparent that the defendant and his attorney thought him quite capable of withdrawing his plea of not guilty and entering his plea of guilty. Further evidence of this is to be found at the hearing prior to' the passing of judgment and sentence, wherein the following was recorded:

“THE COURT: There is some question as to whether Mr. Terrill’s plea was taken before a court reporter on November 14th. Of course, Mr. Sokolosky, his attorney, was present and okeyed and approved the Summary of Facts taken upon Mr. Terrill’s plea of guilty on that date. For the record, and we have a court reporter present at this time, was the defendant’s plea of guilty freely and voluntarily entered and had he been advised of his rights at that time?
MR. SOKOLOSKY: It is my opinion that his rights were fully explained to him and he entered his plea freely and voluntarily.”

The reasonable inference is that the counsel for the defendant had no doubt of the sanity of the defendant until well after the pre-sentence report was submitted to the trial court, and then counsel drew the inference, erroneous though it may be, that the defendant was insane at the time of his pleadings.

[395]*395Further, the trial court had opportunity to observe the actions and demeanor of the defendant on each of the occasions on which the defendant appeared before the court. There was nothing to indicate to the court that the defendant could not defend himself or that he did not understand the nature of the proceedings. No motions were made nor was any evidence presented to the court before judgment and sentence were entered to raise a doubt in the mind of the court. In the case of Grayson v. State, 85 Okl.Cr. 266, 188 P.2d 696, the Court said in the second paragraph of the syllabus:

“The plea of present insanity, going to the accused’s inability to defend or the court’s right to impose sentence, under the provisions of Title 22, O.S.A. § 1162, must be raised either at the beginning of the trial or before judgment and sentence is pronounced.”

To that effect are Mitts v. State, Okl.Cr., 345 P.2d 913 (1959); Maass v. Phillips, 10 Okl. 302, 61 P. 1057 (1900); Tuggle v. State, 73 Okl.Cr. 208, 119 P.2d 857 (1944); Ex parte Gilbert, 71 Okl.Cr. 268, 111 P.2d 205 (1941); Ex parte Sisson, 90 Okl.Cr. 47, 210 P.2d 185 (1949); Hanger v. Raines, Okl.Cr., 357 P.2d 251 (1960).

In the fourth paragraph of the syllabus in Grayson, supra, the court stated:

“Before the trial court empanels a separate jury to try the issue of the defendant’s present insanity, under the statute, a doubt must arise in the mind of the court, from the facts and circumstances which facts and circumstances should be of a substantial character.”

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Related

Hanger v. Raines
1960 OK CR 96 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1960)
Galbraith v. Lackey
1959 OK CR 65 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1959)
Mitts v. State
1959 OK CR 94 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1959)
Fetterley v. Randall
268 P. 434 (California Court of Appeal, 1928)
State v. Douglas
278 S.W. 1016 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1926)
State v. . Jones
133 S.E. 81 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1926)
Yankulov v. Bushong
77 N.E.2d 88 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1945)
Adams v. State
1930 OK CR 419 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1930)
Ex Parte Sisson
1949 OK CR 96 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1949)
Grayson v. State
1947 OK CR 143 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)
Bingham v. State
1946 OK CR 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1946)
Ex Parte Gilbert
1941 OK CR 35 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1941)
Wallin v. State
1947 OK CR 28 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1947)
Tuggle v. State
1941 OK CR 164 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1941)
In Re Maas
61 P. 1057 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1900)
Yantis v. State
255 S.W. 180 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1923)
Hunt v. State
26 S.W. 206 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1894)
Armstrong v. State
30 Fla. 170 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1892)
Morris v. State
1960 OK CR 84 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1960)
State v. Jones
191 N.C. 753 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1926)

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Bluebook (online)
1969 OK CR 94, 451 P.2d 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/terrill-v-state-oklacrimapp-1969.