Dennis v. State, F--76--402

Citation561 P.2d 88
Decision Date02 March 1977
Docket NumberNo. F--76--402,F--76--402
PartiesClaude Eugene DENNIS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
CourtUnited States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

Appellant, Claude Eugene Dennis, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was charged in the District Court, Stephens County, Case No. CRF--75--50, with the crime of Murder in the First Degree. The case was tried before a jury. A verdict of guilty of First Degree Manslaughter was returned. Punishment was set at fifty (50) years' imprionment. From said judgment and sentence a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

For the purpose of brevity, we will merely summarize the evidence presented at trial.

On January 31, 1975, the bodies of John Witt and Mary Littrell were discovered in a farm house located near the small village of Doyle, which is 19 miles east of Marlow on Highway 29 in Stephens County. Witt and Littrell had just recently taken up residence there. The discovery of the bodies was made by David Huffman, the 13 year old son of Burl Moody, owner of the farm. The previous owner of the farm had been the defendant. The defendant had purchased the farm from Moody in about January of 1974 on a contract for deed. On December 31, 1974, the defendant moved from the farm, being unable to meet the terms of the contract. Shortly thereafter, Burl Moody permitted the decedents to occupy the dwelling. At that time, Moody gave a shotgun to John Witt. Moody identified the gun at trial, which was then introduced into evidence.

After the initial discovery of the bodies, both the Stephens County Sheriff and Agents of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation were called in to investigate. The initial investigation included the determination that the victims' car, a red Mark I Mustang with California plates, was missing. It was also determined that the victims had been shot with at least two different kinds of weapons, one being a shotgun and the other some sort of rifle. At the trial the crime scene was described in minute detail by several of the State's officers. Photographs taken at the scene were also introduced into evidence.

Two different physicians gave testimony. One had made an initial investigation of the victims while the bodies were still in the farm house. The other had done an autopsy the following day. His testimony included identification of several slugs which he had removed from the bodies. Other slugs and pieces of slugs were recovered from the crime scene. These too, were introduced into evidence. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy stated that each victim had been hit with one shotgun blast, and each had been struck twice by 'high velocity metallic projectiles.' The pathologist further stated that with regards to Henry Witt, any one of three gunshot wounds inflicted would have been fatal in and of itself. The Doctor further stated that the shotgun wound received by the woman would not have been fatal, but that either of the other two shots would have.

On February 7, 1975, the defendant was arrested at his brother-in-law's home in Silo, Bryan County, Oklahoma. Bryan County Sheriff Highfill testified that the defendant's wife had filed a missing person's report on the defendant after he had left home on January 24th and not returned. The defendant's wife mentioned to Sheriff Highfill that when the defendant left he was on foot and was carrying his .6 millimenter rifle. This report was not filed until several days after the defendant had left home. On February 7th, the defendant's wife notified Sheriff Highfill, as requested by him, that the defendant was at his brother-in-law's home. Sheriff Highfill also received information on the 7th that a red Mark I Mustang had been discovered deserted on a county road about one mile from the defendant's brother-in-law's home. Sheriff Highfill was aware that the car was being sought by O.S.B.I., so he notified them. Sheriff Highfill arrested the defendant as a suspect in a murder which had occurred in Bryan County on the day the defendant left home. This fact was not, of course, brought before the jury. When the arrest occurred, Sheriff Highfill seized a rifle which belonged to the defendant. The rifle had a sling which appeared to be constructed of automobile seat belts.

The defendant was brought to the Bryan County Jail at about 2:30 p.m. There he refused to make a statement. At approximately 5:00 p.m., O.S.B.I. Agent Sires arrived. Agent Sires was investigating the Stephens County murders of Witt and Littrell. He had learned that the defendant had formally owned the farm house in which the bodies were discovered, and that the defendant was missing, and had a rifle which was similar to the one which was used to kill Witt and Littrell. Sires spoke with Mrs. Dennis in Bryan County on February 5th, and asked her to call him if the defendant returned. She called him on the 7th, telling him that the defendant was at his brother-in-laws. When Sires arrived at the Bryan County Jail on February 7th, he advised the defendant of his Miranda rights. Sires asked the defendant where he had been since leaving home. The defendant stated in essence that he had been in Texas.

Oklahoma State Bureau Investigator Lovett and Stephens County Sheriff Landis, having been notified on February 7th, that the victims' car had been located in Bryan County, proceeded to Durant, arriving at the Bryan County Sheriff's Office shortly after Agent Sires arrived. Agent Lovett asked the defendant several questions, but received no positive statement. The O.S.B.I. Agents, Sheriff Landis and Sheriff Highfill left the Bryan County Sheriff's Office at approximately 6:00 p.m. and proceeded to the location where the victims' car was located. There, they made a brief inspection, noting that the seat belts were missing. They then called for a wrecker to have it towed into Durant. The officers then proceeded to the defendant's brother-in-law's home, located approximately one mile distant. There, they examined numerous articles which the defendant had brought with him when he arrived there that morning of the 7th. Included were a pair of Arctic pants, in the pocket of which were several articles, including pieces of seat belt webbing, and two spent .16 gauge Federal shotgun shells. These articles and others were seized.

The officers then went back to Durant. While eating in a cafe there, they were told by a man named Tom Burge that he had seen a man who resembled the defendant in the Mark I Mustang with California license plates the night before in Denison, Texas, and that he had talked to this man for several hours.

Upon returning to the Bryan County Courthouse at approximately 10:00 p.m., the defendant was rearrested for the murders in Stephens County. Sheriff Landis and Agent Lovett transported the defendant back to Duncan. Before entering the car, the defendant was advised of his rights again, and of the charge. On the way back to Duncan, the defendant confessed to Lovett and Landis. Lovett repeated this confession at the trial, after an appropriate hearing to determine its admissibility.

The State also introduced into evidence through an O.S.B.I. Agent that the two .16 gauge shotgun shells recovered from the Arctic pants had been fired from the shotgun which was identified by Burl Moody, the owner of the farm, as being the one which he gave to the victims. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Firearms Examiner was unable to conclusively state that the rifle slugs recovered from the scene had been fired from the .6 millimeter rifle which the defendant was carrying. By the same token, he was unable to state that they had not been fired from that gun.

Several of the State's witnesses testified that they saw the defendant walking in the area of the killing carrying a rifle on the day prior to when the bodies were discovered. Tom Burge, the man who claimed to have seen the defendant in the victims' car in Denison, Texas on February 6th, also testified.

The confession which the defendant gave to Sheriff Landis and Agent Lovett was repeated by Lovett from the witness stand. It related that the defendant left his home on January 24th, intending to walk to his brother-in-law's. There, he had hoped to borrow the car to drive to Oklahoma City in order to investigate the possibility of getting back his own car which had been recently repossessed. However, while walking toward his brother-in-law's, he decided to forego the ride, and walk to Oklahoma City. The defendant related to Lovett and Landis how he walked in a generally northwesterly direction after leaving his home near Mead, Oklahoma. He passed through or near to the towns of Fort Washita, Madill, Mill Creek, Sulphur, Wynnewood, Elmore City, and Foster. It was around Wynnewood that the defendant decided to forego his trip into Oklahoma City. Instead he proceeded west toward Doyle, in order to check on some personal items which he had left with a neighbor when he moved from the farm house. Agent Lovett testified that the defendant said he had spent the night of January 30th in an abandoned farm house. On January 31st the defendant walked to the Witt/Littrell farm house arriving at about 11:30 a.m. When he arrived he knocked upon a rear door, and receiving no answer, walked in. He leaned his rifle up against a wall, and picked up a shotgun, looking to see if it was loaded. While the defendant was checking out some rear rooms, the occupants arrived. The defendant told Lovett that he panicked, and shot each once with a shotgun. He then shot them with his own rifle. Running outside, the defendant saw the victims' car. He got in and drove southeast, taking a varied route. The defendant admitted to Lovett that he had met Tom Burge in Denison, Texas. The defendant related to Lovett how on February 6th, he drove...

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    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
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