Broadway v. State

• Decision Date: 16 February 1972
• Docket Number: No. A--16144,A--16144
• Citation: 494 P.2d 331
• Parties: Oliver Joy BROADWAY, Plaintiff in Error, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Defendant in Error.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 331

494 P.2d 331

Oliver Joy BROADWAY, Plaintiff in Error, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Defendant in Error.

No. A--16144.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

Feb. 16, 1972.

Rehearing Denied March 16, 1972.

Charles W. Stubbs, Oklahoma City, for plaintiff in error.

Larry Derryberry, Atty. Gen., Raymond Naifeh, Asst. Atty. Gen., for defendant in error.

OPINION

SIMMS, Judge.

Plaintiff in error, Oliver Joy Broadway, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was convicted in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, by jury verdict of the crime of Murder and his punishment fixed at Life. Judgment and sentence was imposed on the 28th day of April, 1970, and this appeal perfected therefrom.

The evidence of the state was wholly circumstantial in nature; therefore, a recitation of the evidence presented at trial is necessary for the determination of this appeal.

The transcript shows that defendant received a telephone call from his divorced wife, Rhetta Broadway, the victim of the homicide, at approximately 2:30 p.m. on April 24, 1969, concerning the payment by defendant to deceased of child support. According to the testimony of a witness, defendant was observed standing near the trunk of his 1967 Mustang automobile, parked in the driveway of deceased's home at 4:45 p.m., the day of the killing. Defendant was observed carrying a screwdriver in his rear pocket and had a small trickle of blood on his right forearm. He told the witness that he was waiting for the deceased to give her a check. It should also be noted that at the time, the defendant had dust on the front of his trousers.

Harry William 'Rusty' Minick, age fifteen (15), natural son of the deceased and former stepson of the defendant, testified he left school at 3:30 on the afternoon in question, went to his grandmother's home, and called his mother at 4:00 p.m. Arrangements were made during the telephone conversation for his mother to go to her home, the scene of the homicide, after she had left work, change clothes, and pick up the witness at his grandmother's home at 5:30 p.m. The deceased was to take her sister to the airport in Oklahoma City for the sister's return flight to California.

Evidence further shows that near 6:00 in the evening, Rhetta Broadway had not arrived at her mother's as per previous arrangements, and her mother and daughter drove to the home of deceased where they observed Rhetta's car in the driveway and discovered the front door to the house to be locked. They thereafter went to the back of the house, found the back door locked, and observed a broken window glass. The grandmother and daughter returned to the grandmother's home, informed deceased's fifteen-year-old son of the situation and the boy immediately notified the Oklahoma City Police Department. Harry William Minick had a friend drive him to the home of his mother and they met the police outside the home. He also found the front door to be locked, the back storm door locked, and a window to the right of the back door broken. The officers subsequently removed the front screen while Harry Minick unlocked the front door with a key and started into the house with the officers.

Harry Minick observed his mother lying face down in the hallway of the house. The hallway walls were covered with blood.

Officer Ronald G. Calvery of the Oklahoma City Police Department testified he met Harry William Minick at the location of the homicide, talked with him, then went to the rear of the house. He observed holes had been punched into the screen, the screen pried loose, and the window, covered by an unlatched screen was broken in the lower left hand corner. Officer Calvery returned to the front of the house and removed the front storm door. The boy unlocked the front door and they entered the house.

It was the further testimony of Officer Calvery that upon entering the home, he observed the hallway covered with blood and body matter, and observed a body lying face down with the upper portion of the head removed. The officer heard a groan, went down the hallway and saw the defendant lying with his head in the doorway of the kitchen, face down. Officer Calvery turned the defendant over and observed a red substance and body matter on the right shoulder of his shirt. The officer observed an icebox placed in front of the kitchen door and broken glass on the kitchen floor.

A search of the defendant for identification by the officer revealed five (5) live .12-gauge shotgun shells in defendant's right front pocket, and two (2) more unexpended .12-gauge shotgun shells in defendant's left front pants pocket. Observation disclosed the telephone wires inside the house had been severed, and an empty .12-gauge shotgun shell was lying on the floor near the right foot of the deceased.

Officer Bill L. Hooten, with the homicide division of the Oklahoma City Police Department, testified as to observing pill bottles on the dining room table, and a sawed-off Winchester .12-gauge shotgun lying on a bed in one of the bedrooms. The gun barrel had a red substance on it resembling blood. Officer Hooten lifted a sample of carpet from the area where Mrs. Broadway's body had been lying and found buckshot in the carpet padding. He also discovered buckshot in the ceiling directly above the location of the body of the deceased. He found a second expended .12-gauge shotgun shell behind a trash can located in the southeast bedroom of the structure. An empty Scotch whiskey bottle was found in the same bedroom, setting on the dresser. The officer located defendant's automobile one block west of the scene of the homicide. Hooten testified the deceased was found with her shoes on, while defendant was wearing no shoes at the time Hooten arrived. Blood stains were observed by the officer on the bottom of the trousers worn by defendant and there were spots of blood on the defendant's shirt.

An autopsy was performed on Rhetta Broadway on April 25, 1969, and it revealed two shotgun wounds in the left side of the head. One wound, in the opinion of the pathologist, was a 'contact' wound. Blood was analyzed for alcohol and found to be negative.

Further evidence adduced by the state shows two un-fired shells remained in the shotgun found at the scene. No fingerprints could be found on the weapon because of an oily substance adhering to the shotgun, and because the shotgun shells were ridged or corrugated, no latent prints could be obtained therefrom.

Defendant interposed the defense of insanity and in support of his theory of defense, called as witnesses, a number of hospital employees from Baptist Memorial Hospital, where defendant was taken from the scene. They all testified that at the times they observed the defendant, following the shooting, defendant was incoherent and had to be restrained. Defendant was later, pursuant to order of court, taken to Central State Hospital at Norman, Oklahoma, for observation; and employees at that facility testified that when defendant was first admitted, he was incoherent, confused, had no control over himself, and was not oriented for a period of five to six days.

Moorman Prosser, M.D., specializing in psychiatry and neurology, testified in behalf of the defendant. Dr. Prosser related that he first saw defendant on November 18, 1968, and was of the professional opinion that defendant was suffering from a schizophrenic type of disorder with paranoiac features and had been for a period of time. Dr. Prosser commenced treatment but did not achieve the desired progress and had defendant hospitalized in January, 1969. Defendant later checked into a Veteran's Administration Hospital, stayed four days, and left against medical advice.

Dr. Prosser saw defendant on April 26, 1969, or, two days following the shooting, at the hospital in Oklahoma City, and found defendant to be in a semi-comatose condition, suffering also from convulsions. The expert witness was of the opinion, and so testified, that at the time of the alleged offense, the defendant did not know right from wrong and was insane. He also testified the defendant's physical and mental condition at the time he was found in the home of the deceased resulted from an overdose of drugs and alcoholic intoxication.

Several witnesses were called by defense to attest as to the good character of defendant.

The defendant took the stand to testify in his own defense. Oliver Joy Broadway related that on the day of the homicide, he did go to the home of deceased a little after 4:00 on the afternoon in question in response to a call he had received from his former wife, Rhetta. He pulled into the driveway at Rhetta's house, obtained a screwdriver from the trunk of his Mustang and attempted to adjust the idler on the carburetor. Rhetta later arrived in her Chevrolet and parked it behind defendant's car in the driveway. They entered the house together, and he intended to give her a check for $200.00 for child support. (It should be noted that this check was found in the billfold of defendant.) Rhetta fixed him a drink of Scotch and it tasted funny. He finished the first drink and asked her to fix him another. He, however, fixed his own second drink, and this was the last he remembered. Defendant testified to ingesting ten tranquilizers on the day of the shooting, and denied ever having seen or having the Winchester shotgun or shotgun shells. He testified he 'believed' he didn't shoot his ex-wife.

On cross-examination, defendant testified he didn't know if he had killed his former wife or not.

As their principal rebuttal witness, the state called Loraine Schmidt, M.D., and Psychiatrist at Central State Hospital. Dr. Schmidt first saw defendant on May 13, 1969, and observed him frequently for a period of ninety days. This expert witness related that defendant, while at Central State Hospital, underwent psychological testing, physical examination, and x-ray examination. Dr. Schmidt related to the jury that in the opinion of the...