Bills v. State, F-76-940
| Decision Date | 23 October 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. F-76-940,F-76-940 |
| Citation | 585 P.2d 1366 |
| Parties | Robert Vincent BILLS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
The appellant, Robert Vincent Bills, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried before a jury and convicted in the District Court, Osage County, Case No. CRF-76-117, of the crime of Murder in the Second Degree in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1976, § 701.8. Punishment was assessed at a term not less than ten (10) years nor more than life under the direction and control of the Department of Corrections of the State of Oklahoma. From a judgment and sentence in accordance with the verdict the defendant has perfected his timely appeal.
Briefly stated the evidence adduced at the trial is as follows, to-wit: Doris Boggs testified that she lived in Pawhuska and that she had two brothers, Paul Woods, hereafter referred to as the victim and Ira Woods. On February 17, 1976, Ira Woods and Henry Campbell came by her house about 9:00 a. m., and as soon as the liquor store opened they all began drinking. At about noon she went to sleep and her visitors left. At 2:30 p. m. she was awakened by the defendant, who was crying and who told her that the victim was at his trailer and would she please come get him. He also showed her where the victim had hit him in the mouth causing him to spit blood. The two then walked to the defendant's trailer home and drank wine with Henry Campbell and the victim for two or three hours. Ira Woods was present and had been drinking, but felt badly and was lying on the defendant's bed when the witness and the victim left the trailer to return to her house.
Mrs. Boggs further testified that while she was at the defendant's trailer the victim and the defendant were talking and laughing. She stated that she did not hear any kind of argument between the victim and the defendant, and that although the defendant was drunk, the victim was not. After she and the victim returned to her house she asked him to go to the liquor store and get some wine, and he left, but did not return. She was later informed by Ira Woods that her brother was dead.
On cross-examination Mrs. Boggs stated that when the victim was drinking he did not get violent and she had never seen him strike anybody. She did state that he was "high-strung" and would sometimes get mad. She further related that she had never seen the victim carrying a weapon or knife and that she had been arrested numerous times for public drunkenness.
Henry Campbell then testified that he had known the defendant and Doris Boggs and her brothers for some time, and that on the day in question he drank wine at Doris' house and then went to the defendant's trailer. Later that afternoon Doris Boggs came to the trailer and drank more wine. He did not notice whether the victim and Mrs. Boggs left together. Later that evening he saw the victim lying outside the trailer and thought at first that he had passed out. But noticing blood he asked the defendant what was going on and the defendant cursed him and told him to leave. The witness then noticed that the defendant was holding a knife with a nine-inch blade, similar to a bayonet. He tried to stab the witness and the witness then went to the fire station to get help.
On cross-examination Campbell admitted that he had been arrested on numerous occasions for resisting arrest, assault and battery and public drunkenness, and stated that he had trouble remembering incidents on the day in question, because he had been drunk. However, he said that he saw no knife on or about the victim and had never seen him carry any type of weapon. He described the victim as being belligerent, especially when drinking, but did not recall overhearing any argument between the defendant and the victim on the day in question.
Ira Woods then testified that he was the victim's brother and that he was an alcoholic and had been arrested on numerous occasions for public drunkenness and related offenses. On the morning of the 17th he and Henry Campbell were at Doris Boggs' house where they drank wine until approximately 1:30 p. m., when he and Campbell left, they purchased more wine and went to the defendant's trailer. At about 3:00 p. m. the witness got sleepy and laid down inside the trailer. Later he heard his sister's voice but did not hear the victim. Later still he heard the defendant and Campbell arguing outside. At about 5:40 p. m. the defendant came into the trailer and the witness got up and joined him. He could hear Campbell talking loud and using profanity outside. The defendant then told the witness that he was mad at Campbell and the victim and that the victim had hit him earlier. The defendant further told the witness that he was getting "tired of guys come down there and jumpin' on him." The witness then saw the victim coming up to the trailer and told the defendant, "There comes Paul with another jug." The victim had only a bottle of wine in his hand as he approached the trailer, and as he attempted to step through the partially opened door, he was smiling and offering the defendant the bottle. But the defendant jumped up, ran to the victim, pushed the bottle aside and hit at the victim twice. The witness did not see if anything was in the defendant's hand. The victim fell outside the trailer and did not make a sound. Henry Campbell then came up to help and the defendant told him to leave. Woods further stated that the victim fell before Campbell came up and that he saw nothing in Campbell's hand.
On cross-examination Woods stated that when his brother had been drinking he would sometimes become belligerent and want to argue. He further stated that he saw the defendant make two thrusting motions up under the side of the victim and that he was absolutely certain that the victim was carrying nothing but a "jug." He added that his brother did not carry a knife.
Dr. Bryce Bliss, a practicing pathologist, testified that he performed an autopsy on the body of the victim on February 18, 1976. He described the nature of five separate cutting or stab wounds. He stated that the cause of death was blood loss due to the multiple lacerations and that any one of the separate wounds could have caused death from bleeding. On redirect examination he said that it was possible that the wounds in the victim's back were exit wounds caused by a knife that had gone through the body.
Al Lowe of the Pawhuska Police Department then testified that on the evening of the 17th he received a regular dispatch and proceeded to the defendant's trailer, arriving after other officers. When he went in he observed the defendant sitting in a chair with a half-bottle of liquor in a paper sack and a long knife lying on a stool within reach of the defendant. The knife, which the witness identified in court, appeared to be a long bread knife with blood all over the blade.
Forensic chemist Ann Reed testified that she performed various tests upon the knife and determined that the stains on the blade were human blood, type "O" and were found to contain .28 per cent alcohol.
Bill Mitchell, Chief Criminal Investigator for the Sheriff of Osage County, identified numerous photographs of the victim's body and the long knife he had taken from the trailer. He also testified that he saw the defendant later that night at the Osage County Jail and that he was intoxicated and somewhat belligerent. The next morning he interviewed the defendant and took a statement from him, after advising him of his Miranda rights. The witness identified State's Exhibit No. 10 as a transcript of all the questions and answers asked and given during the interview. The transcript had been signed by the defendant was was admitted into evidence. In his statement the defendant related as follows: That during the day in question he saw Ira Woods and Henry Campbell downtown and that when he returned home they were there and they drank wine together; that the victim came to the defendant's trailer for the first time at about 5:00 p. m.; that the victim wanted him to go get a bottle and the defendant refused; that the victim got mad and hit the defendant in the mouth; and that the defendant did not ask the victim to leave but continued to drink wine. The statement further related that on his way to get another bottle he stopped by Doris Boggs' house and asked her to come get the victim since he did not want any trouble. The statement further related as follows:
"Q. She went back to your house with you, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Who all was there when she got back there with you?
A. As well as I can remember, it was Beaver and Paul, I guess. We went out back there and opened that bottle I had got, sat outside there in the chair, she was kidding about me saying, 'Oh, Paul hit me, Oh Paul hit me'.
Q. She was kidding you about your telling her that Paul had hit you?
A. Making fun of me telling about Paul hitting me.
Q. Did she say anything to Paul with regards to leaving you alone?
A. I don't know if she did or not, she might have said something, I don't know.
Q. When Doris left, did she take Paul with her?
A. I don't know, I don't even remember when she left, whether she did or not.
Q. Had you had more to drink after you came back and talked to Doris and Paul together?
A. Yes, we sat back there drinking on that bottle.
Q. Sometime after this occurred,...
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