Wackerly v. State

2010 OK CR 16, 237 P.3d 795, 2010 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 16, 2010 WL 3025196
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 29, 2010
DocketPCD-2010-530
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2010 OK CR 16 (Wackerly 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
Wackerly v. State, 2010 OK CR 16, 237 P.3d 795, 2010 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 16, 2010 WL 3025196 (Okla. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

237 P.3d 795 (2010)
2010 OK CR 16

Donald Ray WACKERLY, II, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Oklahoma, Respondent.

No. PCD-2010-530.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

July 29, 2010.

*796 James A. Drummond, Attorney at Law, Norman, OK, attorney for petitioner on appeal.

W.A. Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma Attorney General, Seth S. Branham, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, OK, attorneys for state on appeal.

OPINION DENYING SECOND APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF, MOTION FOR DISCOVERY, MOTION FOR EVIDENTIARY HEARING AND MOTION TO DEFER SCHEDULING OF EXECUTION DATE

A. JOHNSON, Vice-Presiding Judge.

¶ 1 Before the Court is Petitioner Donald Ray Wackerly's second application for post-conviction relief, motion for discovery, motion for evidentiary hearing and motion to defer scheduling of an execution date. A jury convicted Wackerly in 1998 in the District Court of Sequoyah County, Case No. CF-96-349, of the first degree murder of Pan Sayakhoummane. The jury assessed a sentence of death.[1] Since then Wackerly has challenged his Judgment and Sentence on direct appeal,[2] in collateral proceedings in this court,[3] and in habeas corpus proceedings in federal court.[4] All of these challenges have proven unsuccessful and the State of Oklahoma has asked this Court to set an execution date.

¶ 2 The Post-Conviction Procedure Act governs post-conviction proceedings in this State. 22 O.S.Supp.2006, §§ 1080-1089. Regarding capital cases, it provides in relevant part:

*797 [I]f a subsequent application for post-conviction relief is filed after filing an original application, the Court of Criminal Appeals may not consider the merits of or grant relief based on the subsequent . . . application unless:
a. the application contains claims and issues that have not been and could not have been presented previously in a timely original application or in a previously considered application filed under this section, because the legal basis for the claim was unavailable, or
b. (1) the application contains sufficient specific facts establishing that the current claims and issues have not and could not have been presented previously in a timely original application or in a previously considered application filed under this section, because the factual basis for the claim was unavailable as it was not ascertainable through the exercise of reasonable diligence on or before that date, and (2) the facts underlying the claim, if proven and viewed in light of the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that, but for the alleged error, no reasonable fact finder would have found the applicant guilty of the underlying offense or would have rendered the penalty of death.

22 O.S.Supp.2006, § 1089(D)(8). Further, this Court's rules provide that "[n]o subsequent application for post-conviction relief shall be considered by this Court unless it is filed within sixty (60) days from the date the previously unavailable legal or factual basis serving as the basis for a new issue is announced or discovered." Rule 9.7(G)(3), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch. 18, App (2010).

¶ 3 Wackerly claims that the State of Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute him for the murder of which he was convicted because the crime occurred on land that was under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. He also claims that prior trial counsel, appellate counsel, post-conviction counsel, and federal habeas counsel were all constitutionally ineffective for not discovering and raising this claim.

¶ 4 Ordinarily, this claim would be barred because the factual and legal bases upon which it is based were available and could have been presented in a timely original application. 22 O.S.Supp.2006, § 1089(D)(8). Furthermore, examination of the evidentiary materials submitted in support of Wackerly's application shows that the legal and factual bases of this claim were available much earlier than sixty days before the filing of the instant application for post-conviction relief.[5] Ordinarily, such an untimely filing would bar the current claim. Rule 9.7(G)(3), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch. 18, App (2010). Nevertheless, we have recognized that "issues of subject matter jurisdiction are never waived and can therefore be raised on collateral appeal." Wallace v. State, 1997 OK CR 18, ¶ 15, 935 P.2d 366, 372. Consequently, we address Wackerly's jurisdictional claim.

¶ 5 Wackerly contends that the murder for which he was convicted occurred on the bank of the Arkansas River, on property purchased by the United States for the W.D. Mayo Lock and Dam Project, which is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Wackerly argues that because the federal government owns the property on which the murder occurred, the murder occurred within the "special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States," as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 7(3). Therefore, according to Wackerly, the United States retains sole jurisdiction to prosecute this case.[6]

*798 ¶ 6 Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the United States Constitution gives Congress the right "to exercise exclusive Legislation" over all places purchased by the United States with the consent of the legislature of the state where the place is located for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and "other needful [b]uildings."[7]State v. Cline, 1958 OK CR 21, ¶¶ 7-10, 322 P.2d 208, 212-13; United States v. Penn, 48 F. 669, 670 (C.C.E.D.Va.1880). The right of exclusive legislation is the same as exclusive jurisdiction. Surplus Trading Co. v. Cook, 281 U.S. 647, 652, 50 S.Ct. 455, 456, 74 L.Ed. 1091 (1930); Underhill v. State, 1925 OK CR 355, 31 Okl.Cr. 149, 237 P. 628 (syllabus); see also, United States v. Goings, 504 F.2d 809, 811 (8th Cir.1974); Curry v. State, 111 Tex. Crim. 264, 12 S.W.2d 796, 798 (Tex.Crim. App.1928); United States v. Wurtzbarger, 276 F. 753, 755 (D.Or.1921). Thus, in order for the United States to exercise exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on property purchased by it, the legislature of the state where the property is located must have given its explicit consent to cede jurisdiction. Cline, 1958 OK CR 21, ¶¶ 8-9, 322 P.2d at 212-13; see also United States v. Tucker, 122 F. 518, 520-21 (W.D.Ky.1903) (finding exclusive federal jurisdiction over land purchased by United States for dam and lock in Green River, but only on showing that Kentucky Legislature passed act ceding jurisdiction); Penn, 48 F. at 669-70 (finding no federal jurisdiction for prosecution of petty larceny at Arlington National Cemetery where United States purchased property for cemetery at tax sale, but Virginia never ceded jurisdiction). Otherwise, the state's jurisdiction remains intact and the United States holds the property as does any other owner. Underhill, 1925 OK CR 355, 31 Okl.Cr. at 153, 237 P. at 629; Penn, 48 F. at 670; see also Ryan v.

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Bluebook (online)
2010 OK CR 16, 237 P.3d 795, 2010 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 16, 2010 WL 3025196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wackerly-v-state-oklacrimapp-2010.