Bechtel v. State
| Decision Date | 02 September 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. F-88-887,F-88-887 |
| Citation | 840 P.2d 1,1992 OK CR 55 |
| Parties | Donna Lee BECHTEL, Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
Donna Lee Bechtel, Appellant, was retried by jury for the crime of Murder in the First Degree in Case No. CRF-84-4550 in the District Court of Oklahoma County before the Honorable Richard L. Freeman, District Judge. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and set punishment at life imprisonment, to which she was sentenced. From this Judgment and Sentence, appellant has perfected her appeal to this Court. Judgment and Sentence is REVERSED and REMANDED for a new trial.
Garvin A. Isaacs, Oklahoma City, for appellant.
Robert H. Henry, Atty. Gen., Sandra D. Howard, Asst. Atty. Gen., Stephen C. Dozer, Legal Intern, Oklahoma City, for appellee.
DONNA LEE BECHTEL, Appellant, was retried 1 by jury for the crime of Murder in the First Degree in violation of 21 O.S.1981, § 701.7, in Case No. CRF-84-4550 in the District Court of Oklahoma County before the Honorable Richard L. Freeman, District Judge. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and set punishment at life imprisonment, to which she was sentenced. From this Judgment and Sentence, she has perfected her appeal to this Court. Some of her points on appeal include: 1) that the trial court erred in refusing to submit certain instructions; 2) that the court erred in refusing to allow expert testimony on the "battered woman syndrome"; 3) that the court erred in refusing to admit specific instances of the victim's conduct into evidence; and 4) judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.
The following facts are primarily from the testimony of the Appellant who met the victim, Ken Bechtel, in June 1981. At that time he was married, but separated, and dating another woman with whom he had been living for seven years. Appellant saw him approximately five times after their first meeting but did not start seeing him on a regular basis until he got his divorce. They were married on August 25, 1982. Although there was great conflict between her testimony and that as presented by the State, most of the balance of the facts are as presented by Appellant. We are presenting her testimony to show facts necessary to meet the first prong of our guidelines under the Battered Woman Syndrome.
She recalled that the first incidence of violence perpetrated by the victim upon her was on July 4, 1982, when around midnight, he began crying about his deceased son and, in a drunken rage, grabbed her by the head and threw her into the windshield of his boat. As she tried to get to the telephone, he started to throw canned goods out of the closet at her. She left but was caught and put in a car by Ken; while they were stopped at a stop sign, she jumped out of the car. Mr. Bechtel came around the side of the car, threw her back in, and told her not to ever do that again. Inside the car, he grabbed her head by the hair and slammed her into the window and again, told her not to get out of the car. When they arrived at her home, Appellant jumped out of the car, ran into her house and locked the doors. When Ken Bechtel threatened to kick the "m ... f ..." door in, Appellant responded by telling him that she had guns in her home. Mr. Bechtel eventually left. This was the first of approximately 23 battering incidents leading to the fatal shooting on September 23, 1984.
Testimony at trial revealed that the deceased committed the batterings when intoxicated and without provocation. The batterings consisted of the deceased grabbing Appellant by either her ears or hair and pounding her head on the ground, wall, door, cabinet or other available object. During many of the episodes he would sob profusely and ramble about his deceased son who was born retarded. During all of the episodes, the deceased threatened or otherwise intimidated Appellant. 2
On three occasions, Appellant was treated in the Emergency Room. On each of the occasions, the deceased provided the information as to the cause of the injury. On one occasion, Appellant was treated for neck injury and provided with a neck collar. On the other occasions, she was treated for cuts to her hand and feet. On five occasions, Appellant sought police help. Each time the police arrived at her home, the deceased was made to leave. On one occasion, Appellant stopped at the scene of an accident and asked the policeman at the scene to remove the deceased who, in a drunken rage, was kicking the windshield and beating on the dashboard. The deceased was removed and taken to the residence and was there when Appellant arrived. Appellant was subsequently beaten by the deceased.
On several occasions, Appellant was able to escape her residence and stay overnight at various hotels. Appellant related the incidents to some of her close friends and the deceased's family. However, though some of the abuse occurred on business trips, she never told the deceased's business associates. Appellant also sought help from the deceased's family as to his alcohol problem. She made inquiries of several treatment facilities and made appointments for the deceased, who promised after later incidents to undergo treatment, but never did.
On September 23, 1984, the day of his death, the deceased returned home unexpectedly at approximately 5:30 A.M. from a hunting trip, highly intoxicated. He awakened Appellant and ordered her to get out of the bed so they could have a drink. He ordered her out on the patio where the deceased related to her and her friend, Billy Bender, who was visiting from out of state, that he had been picked up for driving under the influence by the Nichols Hills Police. Ken Bechtel continued to drink coffee with liquor. He became angry when Appellant kept turning down the jukebox whenever he would turn it up.
After about three or four hours, Appellant decided to go back to bed. Once in her bedroom, she could hear Mr. Bechtel crying. She became afraid. Aware that Ms. Bender might be in difficulty, she went to the doors of the patio to try to get Ms. Bender's attention. Finally, Ms. Bender came inside to get some cigarettes. When she tried to return to the patio, Appellant admonished her not to go back but to leave Mr. Bechtel alone to sleep it off and for her to go to bed immediately. The next thing Appellant remembered was hearing the night table drawer opening and seeing the deceased with the .25 gun in his hand. He told Appellant that she would not need that G.. D.. gun anymore.
As he walked towards the door leading to the backyard, she jumped up and ran to the closet where she frantically looked for her purse and keys. After retrieving her purse, she turned to go to the kitchen when a naked Ken Bechtel pulled her by the hair and threw her back on the bed. He was rambling and crying about his son Kenny and questioning her about why she was not at home when he tried to call her earlier. He held his arm against her throat. Appellant raised her leg to free herself when they both fell onto the floor. The deceased threatened to "f--k you and kill your ass." He began pounding her head into the floor. He picked her up by the head and pulled her back on the bed. He pulled her gown off and rammed his fingers into her vagina. He then climbed on top of her, held her down by placing his knees on her arms and banged her head against the headboard. He ejaculated on her face and stomach, after which he slumped on top of her. She eased from under him and went to the bathroom to wash herself.
While in the bathroom, the deceased came up behind her, grabbed the back of her head, threw her down on the floor, bit her on the left breast and finally lay his head on her lower body. During this time, Appellant tried to calm him down by repeating it's okay, it's all right. Then the telephone rang. It was a friend inquiring about his luggage. During this time, Appellant vomited. As she was trying to put on some clothes, Ken returned, accusing her of taking the friend's luggage and betting that she thought it was her "G.D." kids. He put her arm behind her back and his arm against her throat and forced her back onto the bed. At this point his eyes were glazed over and he was crying and rambling as he continued to beat her head against the headboard. He slumped on top of her.
Appellant tried to get from under him, but he would mumble whenever she made an effort. Finally, she eased herself from under him. As she sat on her knees on the floor beside the bed, she lit a cigarette, held it in one hand and her head with the other hand. As she got ready to smoke the cigarette, she heard a gurgling sound, looked up and saw the contorted look and glazed eyes of the deceased with his arms raised. Appellant reached for the gun under the bed and shot the deceased as she tried to get up and run.
Appellant defended this case on the theory of self-defense. In Oklahoma, self-defense is the subject of statutory and case law. The relevant portions of 21 O.S.1981, § 733 state:
Homicide is also justifiable when committed by any person in either of the following cases: ..................
2. When committed in the lawful defense of such person, ........, when there is a reasonable ground to apprehend a design to commit a felony, or to do some great personal injury, and imminent danger of such design being accomplished; ....
This Court has held that the bare belief that one is about to suffer death or great personal injury will not, in itself, justify taking the life of his adversary. There must exist reasonable grounds for such belief at the time of the killing. (Emphasis added). Further, the right to take another's life in self-defense is not to be tested by the honesty or good faith of the defendant's belief in the necessity of the killing, but by the fact whether he had...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Whittaker
...88 Wash.2d 221, 559 P.2d 548, 556 (1977) (quoting State v. Lewis, 6 Wash.App. 38, 491 P.2d 1062, 1064 (1971)); accord Bechtel v. State, 840 P.2d 1, 12 (Okla.Crim.App.1992) (stating that "the meaning of imminent must necessarily envelope [sic] the battered woman's perceptions based on all th......
-
Taylor v. State
...relates to expert testimony. Both of these in-depth analyses are done with astute logic and legal reasoning. This Court in Bechtel v. State, 840 P.2d 1 (Okl.Cr.1992) and Davenport v. State, 806 P.2d 655 (Okl.Cr.1991), (both opinions of this writer) discussed Frye and also Section 2702 of th......
-
State v. Stewart
...People v. Seeley, 186 Misc.2d 715, 720 N.Y.S.2d 315 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.2000); State v. Leidholm, 334 N.W.2d 811 (N.D.1983); Bechtel v. State, 840 P.2d 1 (Okla.Crim.App.1992); Commonwealth v. Miller, 430 Pa.Super. 297, 634 A.2d 614 (1993); State v. Urena, 899 A.2d 1281 (R.I.2006); State v. Grubbs, ......
-
State v. Mott
...Ex Parte Haney, 603 So.2d 412, 414 (Ala.1992); State v. Koss, 49 Ohio St.3d 213, 551 N.E.2d 970, 973 (Oh.1990); Bechtel v. State, 840 P.2d 1, 9 (Okla.Crim.App.1992). In this case, however, defendant did not offer the evidence for these purposes and we need not address the admissibility of b......
-
Christine M. Belew, Killing One's Abuser: Premeditation, Pathology, or Provocation?
...to rely on self-defense, see Leidholm, 334 N.W.2d at 819-20; State v. Thomas, 673 N.E.2d 1339, 1345-46 (Ohio 1997); and Bechtel v. State, 840 P.2d 1, 6 (Okla. Crim. App. 1992). 20 For examples of cases in which courts barred a battered woman from successfully claiming self- defense, see Sta......
-
Killing One's Abuser: Premeditation, Pathology, or Provocation?
...to rely on self-defense, see Leidholm, 334 N.W.2d at 819-20; State v. Thomas, 673 N.E.2d 1339, 1345-46 (Ohio 1997); and Bechtel v. State, 840 P.2d 1, 6 (Okla. Crim. App. 1992).20. For examples of cases in which courts barred a battered woman from successfully claiming self-defense, see Stat......