Wright v. State

1972 OK CR 196, 500 P.2d 582, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 593
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma·Decided August 2, 1972·No. A-16224·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

BRETT, Judge.

Appellant, Hubert Ray (Jiggs) Wright, in case number CRF 69-314, was tried and convicted by a jury in the District Court of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, for the crime of Murder. On June 10, 1969, the *585 jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of the charge and assessed his punishment at life imprisonment. Appellant will hereafter he referred to as defendant, as he appeared in the trial court. Defendant was found to be indigent and was represented throughout his trial by court appointed counsel, who perfected defendant’s appeal to this Court. After reviewing the record and briefs submitted herein, the judgment and sentence is affirmed.

A summary of facts which led to this conviction is as follows: In the early morning of November 20, 1965, W. T. “Tobe” Switzer, was shot to death in his home by an unknown intruder. Two spent bullets were found at the scene, and a third one was removed from the deceased man’s body. The three spent bullets were sent to the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation for examination. The Bureau concluded that the spent bullets were fired from a weapon similar to an old model .38 caliber break-open type ‘Tver Johnson Owl Head” revolver. Their subsequent investigation revealed that Robert Paul Doyal had given such a weapon to the defendant early in November, 1965; and that Doyal had purchased the weapon from Willis Bates. Doyal identified two other persons who were with the defendant at the time he gave the gun to defendant. During the trial the state attempted to prove that a souvenir money clip was missing, in which the deceased man usually carried a thousand dollar bill. The record is not entirely clear whether or not the money clip was ever found, but Mrs. Switzer testified on cross-examination that the deceased’s billfold containing $900.00 was later found in a drawer. One witness testified that he saw the defendant with a large number of bills hidden under the front seat cover of defendant’s car; and other testimony attempted to show that defendant made an effort to cash a thousand dollar bill.

Subsequent to the Switzer murder, defendant was convicted in Texas for the crime of shooting with intent to kill; and during the investigation he was serving a ten-year sentence at the Coffield Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections.

When defendant was interviewed at the Texas Penal Institution, he admitted that Doyal gave him a gun, but he said that he had given it to Jerry Hathcock, who used it to shoot “Tobe” Switzer, after burglarizing the Switzer residence. 1 Defendant related to the investigators that he stayed outside and watched Hathcock enter the Switzer residence; that he heard shots and saw him leave the house by a window.

Defendant was first returned to Oklahoma on August 13, 1969, under the “Uniform Act to Secure Attendance of Witnesses from Without a State in Criminal Proceedings,” 22 O.S.1961, § 721, et seq., to help locate the missing gun. At that time the murder information was styled, “State v. John Doe.” The gun was not found and defendant was returned to the Texas Penal Institution. Later the information was amended charging Jerry Hathcock with the murder of Mr. Switzer.

On December 18, 1969, after defendant was afforded a proper hearing in Texas, with court appointed counsel, he was returned to Oklahoma a second time under the Uniform Witness Act, to appear as a material witness at the preliminary examination for Jerry Hathcock. Prior to the preliminary hearing the state offered to give defendant a lie-detector test, which he agreed to take. As the result of that test the district attorney advised defendant that he believed defendant was not telling the truth; and therefore he would not recommend to the court that defendant be granted immunity for his testimony. Consequently, when defendant was called to testify at the preliminary examination he refused to testify asserting his rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. At the conclusion of the hearing the information against Hathcock was dismissed for insufficiency of evi *586 dence, and on December 23, 1969, while defendant was still in Oklahoma under the Uniform Witness Act, a new information was filed charging the defendant with the murder of Mr. Switzer. An arrest warrant was issued, but it was returned “No Return.” On December 30, 1969, while still in Oklahoma under the Uniform Witness Act, defendant was taken before the Honorable George Van Wagner, Special Judge of the District Court, for his initial appearance. The information was read; defendant’s rights were explained to him; and his preliminary examination was set for February 3, 1970. The court appointed Mr. J. Rex Spurr to serve as defendant’s attorney. 2

On February 17, 1970, the court conducted a hearing on defendant’s special motions: Motion to Dismiss, Demurrer, and Demand for Transcript of Proceedings. Both the motion and demurrer were denied, and the demand for transcript was denied because it demanded the record of the preliminary examination of Jerry Hathcock, at which defendant did not testify. At that hearing the Sheriff of Pottawatomie County testified that the reason he had not returned defendant to Texas was because the information had been filed against him, and those charges were still pending. It was defendant’s contention that his rights were being violated because he was still in Oklahoma under the Uniform Witness Act; that the charges were illegal; and that he was not subject to arrest under the provisions of the Uniform Act. It should be noted, however’, that defendant was in custody of the Pottawatomie County Sheriff under the provisions of the Uniform Act, whether he was arrested or not.

On March 4, 1970, defendant was returned to the Texas Penal Institution in compliance with the Uniform Witness Act. On the following March 30th, the district attorney filed an application for extradition proceedings to return defendant to Oklahoma for the purpose of standing trial on the murder charge. The Oklahoma Governor executed the extradition request on April 1st; on April 8, 1970, the Governor of Texas authorized defendant’s return to Oklahoma; and on May 7th defendant was returned to Oklahoma.

On the following day, May 8th, defendant was again taken before Judge Van Wagner, sitting as a magistrate. The magistrate specifically stated that he was again treating the proceedings as defendant’s “initial appearance” on the charges, advised defendant of his constitutional rights, and again appointed Mr. J. Rex Spurr to serve as defendant’s attorney. Defendant’s preliminary examination was had on May 19th and 20th, when he was ordered to stand trial.

Defendant’s trial was held on June 8th, 9th, and 10th, 1970, at the conclusion of which the jury found defendant guilty and assessed his punishment at life imprisonment. The record of defendant’s trial consists of three volumes, the first of which contains the proceedings on defendant’s preliminary motions and his preliminary examination.

Defendant’s brief argues five propositions of error, which are summarized as follows :

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Wright v. State, 1972 OK CR 196, 500 P.2d 582, 1972 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 593 (Okla. Ct. App. 1972).

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