Vanderpool v. State

• Decision Date: 13 December 2018
• Docket Number: Case No. F-2017-532
• Citation: 434 P.3d 318
• Parties: Shane Allen VANDERPOOL, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

434 P.3d 318

Shane Allen VANDERPOOL, Appellant,

v.The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

Case No. F-2017-532

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

FILED December 13, 2018

APPEARANCES AT TRIAL, BRIAN MARTIN, ATTORNEY AT LAW, 131 S. DENVER AVE., TULSA, OK 74119, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT

KEVIN GRAY, ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEY, 500 SOUTH DENVER, STE 900, TULSA, OKLAHOMA 74103, COUNSEL FOR THE STATE

APPEARANCES ON APPEAL, JAMES H. LOCKARD, DEPUTY DIVISION CHIEF, OKLA. INDIGENT DEFENSE, P.O. BOX 926, NORMAN, OK 73070, COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT

MIKE HUNTER, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLA., ASHLEY L. WILLIS, ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL, 313 N.E. 21ST ST., OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105, COUNSEL FOR THE STATE

OPINION

LUMPKIN, PRESIDING JUDGE:

¶1 Appellant, Shane Allen Vanderpool, was tried by jury and convicted of First Degree Murder (Count 1) ( 21 O.S.Supp.2012, § 701.7 ); Possession of a Firearm After Former Conviction (Count 2) ( 21 O.S.Supp.2014, § 1283 ) After Two or More Felony Convictions; and Eluding a Police Officer (misdemeanor) (Count 3) ( 21 O.S.2011, § 540A ) in District Court of Tulsa County Case Number CF-2016-1376.¹ The jury recommended as punishment imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole in Count 1, imprisonment for life in Count 2 and incarceration in the county jail for one (1) year and a $2,000.00 fine in Count 3. The trial court sentenced Appellant accordingly, ordered the sentences to run consecutively and granted Appellant credit for time served. It is from these judgments and sentences that Appellant appeals.

FACTS

¶2 Appellant shot and killed Blaine Wells shortly after sunrise on February 21, 2016. The two men did not know one another. They had not interacted with each other prior to Wells' death. Instead, the shooting appeared to be an instance of mistaken identity.

¶3 Jimmy Turpin, Kayla Stites, Blaine Wells and their friend Trey had spent the night of February 20th gambling at the Osage Casino. Early the next morning the group left the casino in Stites' car. They took Trey home and returned to Stites' home in the Hampton Hills Apartments in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, they did not remain there.

¶4 Turpin gathered some additional money he had left at the apartment and along with the remaining members of the group decided to continue gambling at the River Spirit Casino on South Riverside Drive. The trio took Stites' car. Turpin drove while Stites rode in the passenger seat. Wells was seated in the rear seat behind Turpin. As they reached the front of the apartment complex they encountered an oncoming sedan. The car was a dirty white color and had damage to the nose of the vehicle.

¶5 Turpin mistakenly believed that the oncoming vehicle contained their mutual friend, "Matt," and attempted to get a look at the driver. As Turpin navigated Stites' car out of the complex, the white car turned and followed the trio. Turpin continued to attempt to ascertain who was in the other car. He was so focused on looking at the driver in the rear view mirror that he missed the entrance ramp to Interstate 44. Turpin was forced to drive near the local Ford dealership to circle back to the ramp. The white sedan continued to follow Stites' vehicle. When Turpin came up to the stop sign at 51st and Indian Avenue, Turpin rolled his window down. The driver of the white car stopped his vehicle behind the trio's car and exited the sedan. He took three or four steps towards their direction.

¶6 Turpin and Stites easily observed the driver with the aid of the lights from the nearby dealership and the dawn of the sun. The driver had on a green t-shirt, he had facial hair, and was stocky. The driver's shoulder length hair was parted down the middle.

¶7 Turpin and the driver of the white car attempted to make out each other's identity, however, neither man recognized the other. Stites observed a handgun in the other man's hand and screamed for Turpin to drive away. Turpin took his foot off of the brake and started to let the car roll forward. Turpin declared: "Hey man, you got us confused with somebody else."² As Turpin pressed down on the accelerator, the other man fired one shot through the back window of Stites' car and into Well's head.

¶8 Turpin sped away from the intersection but stopped at a nearby QuickTrip store when Stites observed that Wells had been shot. Once Turpin stopped at the store, Stites ran inside and had the employees call 911. Although emergency workers quickly arrived, Wells succumbed to his injury at the scene. The Medical Examiner's office determined that Wells died from a single gunshot wound to his head.

¶9 The Tulsa Police Department investigated Wells' death. Detectives Joe Campbell and Matt Frazier recovered a credit card and a spent .40 Smith & Wesson casing from the intersection at 51st and Indian Avenue. When the officers cleared the owner of the credit card they learned of a feud between members of the Irish Mob and Kevin Pilon, a member of the United Aryan Brotherhood ("UAB"). After speaking with Pilon and his known female associate, "Malibu," they began investigating whether Appellant had been involved in Wells' death.

¶10 The detectives discovered that members of the Irish Mob hung out and sold drugs out of Lynsi Mayfield's apartment. Mayfield lived with two other women in the Rivera West complex which was adjacent to Stites' apartment complex. Appellant was known to frequent Mayfield's apartment. He drove a white Nissan Altima that matched Turpin's and Stites' descriptions of the suspect's vehicle. Frazier secured a search warrant for Appellant's cell phone records and discovered that Appellant's cell phone was in the vicinity of 51st and Indian Avenue at the time of the shooting. He had placed and received phone calls from Lynsi Mayfield's number prior to the shooting of Wells.

¶11 The detectives conducted surveillance on Mayfield's apartment. On March 3, 2016, Detective Justin Ritter saw Appellant enter a car and drive off. Patrol Officer Cole Butler moved to take Appellant into custody on outstanding warrants. Butler maneuvered his marked patrol unit behind Appellant's vehicle but did not engage the lights or the siren. Appellant drove into a nearby parking lot, stopped and opened his door. After Butler stopped his unit, Appellant took off in the car. Butler engaged his lights and siren but Appellant refused to stop. Traveling at excessive speeds through neighborhood areas, Appellant lost Butler. The officers saturated the area. Detective Frazier located Appellant walking in a nearby neighborhood talking on his cell phone. Appellant fled from the officers into the backyard of a residence but was taken into custody with his phone.

¶12 Frazier secured a search warrant for Appellant's phone. Detective Nate Schilling performed a forensic examination of the device. He found numerous photographs depicting Appellant. Several of the photos documented Appellant undergoing a haircut in a green t-shirt the night before the shooting. The photos also showed that Appellant had shoulder length hair parted in the middle and facial hair after the haircut. Other photographs showed Appellant holding firearms including a handgun. Some of the photographs depicted Appellant displaying gang signs, posing with other individuals, and exhibiting cash, firearms, and articles of green clothing.

¶13 The officers also found several different screen shots saved to Appellant's phone. One screen shot contained the link to the News On 6 story about the shooting of Blaine Wells. Another screen shot depicted Pilon's Facebook Profile photographs. A third screen shot contained Pilon's mug shot from the county jail.

¶14 The phone also contained several text messages to Mayfield about Pilon. Early in the morning on February 21st, Appellant had exchanged texts with Mayfield about Pilon's location.

¶15 Detective Frazier prepared photographic lineups for both Turpin's and Stites' review. Both identified Appellant as the individual who had shot Blaine Wells.

¶16 Detective Ritter executed a search warrant on Mayfield's apartment. Ritter found a green t-shirt matching the shirt that Appellant was wearing in the haircut photos discovered on his cell phone. Ritter also found Kendra Fisher staying at Mayfield's apartment.

¶17 Both Stites and Turpin identified Appellant at trial as the individual who shot Wells. Fisher also testified against Appellant and indicated that she had met Appellant through the Irish Mob. Fisher had spent the weekend of February 20th in a hotel room which Appellant had secured for her. Appellant spent the night with Fisher on the 19th. He left her alone on the 20th while he went to a gun range. Appellant woke Fisher very early in the morning on the 21st and demanded that she come with him. Before they left, Appellant received a phone call and stepped into the bathroom to speak with the caller. Afterwards, Appellant declared "I got shit to do. I'm leaving."³ Appellant left and did not return to the hotel. Fisher called Appellant on his cell phone later that morning. Appellant stated that he needed to figure out something to do with his car. When Fisher asked Appellant what was wrong with the car, he advised her he would call her back. Appellant then sent Fisher a text message containing a link to the News On 6 article relating that Blaine Wells had been shot.

¶18 Fisher met up with Appellant a few days later and travelled with him to Oklahoma City. During this trip, Appellant confessed to his involvement in the shooting. He related that he drove his car around the car lot as their car was pulling out of the apartments. Appellant advised Fisher that when the car stopped at a stop sign he got out of his car with the gun. He walked up to the back of the car, shot through the back window, got back in his car and drove off. Appellant explained to Fisher that some of the UAB members had gone to Mayfield's apartment and ran in on them and that he was trying to defend the girls in the apartment.

DISCUSSION

I.

¶19 In his first proposition of error, Appellant...