Bryson v. State

• Decision Date: 20 May 1994
• Docket Number: No. F-89-278,F-89-278
• Citation: 876 P.2d 240
• Parties: William Clifford BRYSON, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 240

876 P.2d 240

William Clifford BRYSON, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. F-89-278.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

May 20, 1994.

Rehearing Denied July 5, 1994.

An Appeal from the District Court of Oklahoma County, Charles L. Owens, District Judge.

WILLIAM CLIFFORD BRYSON, Jr., Appellant, was tried by jury and convicted for the crime of Murder in the First Degree (Count I) (21 O.S.Supp.1982, § 701.7); Third Degree Arson (Count II) (21 O.S.1981, § 1403(A)); Solicitation to Commit Murder (Count III) (21 O.S.1981, §§ 701.7 & 701.16); and Conspiracy to Commit Murder (Count IV) (21 O.S.1981, §§ 421 & 701.7), Case No. CRF-86-4781 in the District Court of Oklahoma County. The jury recommended as punishment the death penalty for Count I; fifteen (15) years imprisonment and ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine in Count II; one hundred (100) years imprisonment for Count III; and ten (10) years imprisonment on Count IV. The trial court sentenced accordingly and it is from this judgment and sentence that Appellant appeals. AFFIRMED.

Eugenie Baumann and Tim Wilson, Asst. Public Defenders, Oklahoma City, for appellant at trial.

Robert Macy, Dist. Atty., Fern Smith, Asst. Dist. Atty., Oklahoma City, for State at trial.

Melody Brannon, Asst. Public Defender, Oklahoma City, for appellant on appeal.

Susan Brimer Loving, Atty. Gen., A. Diane Blalock, Asst. Atty. Gen., Oklahoma City, for State on appeal.

OPINION

LUMPKIN, Presiding Judge:

Appellant William Clifford Bryson, Jr. was tried by jury and convicted for the crime of Murder in the First Degree (Count I) (21 O.S.Supp.1982, § 701.7); Third Degree Arson (Count II) (21 O.S.1981, § 1403(A)); Solicitation to Commit Murder (Count III) (21 O.S.1981, §§ 701.7 & 701.16); and Conspiracy to Commit Murder (Count IV) (21 O.S.1981, §§ 421 & 701.7), Case No. CRF-86-4781 in the District Court of Oklahoma County. The jury recommended as punishment the death penalty for Count I; fifteen (15) years imprisonment and ten thousand dollar ($10,000) fine in Count II; one hundred (100) years imprisonment for Count III; and ten (10) years imprisonment on Count IV. The trial court sentenced accordingly and it is from this judgment and sentence that Appellant appeals. We affirm.

Appellant and co-defendant Marilyn Plantz were found guilty of the first degree murder of Mrs. Plantz's husband, James Plantz. On August 26, 1988, at approximately 4:00 a.m., Mr. Plantz, a long time employee at the Oklahoma Publishing Company, left his job and headed home. At that time, Mr. Plantz was insured for approximately two hundred ninety-nine thousand dollars ($299,000.00). At approximately 5:15 a.m. that same morning, in the northeast part of Oklahoma City, the decedent's charred body was discovered inside his burned out pickup truck. The drivers side door was open. The decedent's body was slumped behind the steering wheel and his left leg was outside the pickup, resting flat on the ground. Identified by dental records, an autopsy later revealed that the decedent had died from a combination of a blunt force injury to the head and thermal injuries caused by the fire.

The ensuing investigation into the homicide lead to the decedent's wife and Appellant. They had an ongoing personal relationship and had previously attempted to have the decedent killed. Mrs. Plantz had indicated to Appellant the decedent was abusive to her and she wanted to get rid of him and collect on his life insurance policy. Mrs. Plantz had approached Appellant and Clinton McKimble ¹ about killing the decedent and collecting the life insurance proceeds. Mrs. Plantz suggested the two men drive up on the side of his pickup and shoot him, or catch him coming home from work and beat him. McKimble was offered forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000.00) for his part. At that time, McKimble indicated he was not sure he wanted to be a part of the plan. He subsequently changed his mind. With the help of Mrs. Plantz, he and Appellant stole a car and waited for the decedent to get off work. The plan was to drive up behind the decedent, bump his pickup so that the decedent would have to pull over and exit the vehicle, at which time they would kill him with baseball bats provided by Mrs. Plantz. When the men lost the decedent's pickup on the highway, the plan was abandoned. Mrs. Plantz subsequently gave Appellant a gun to shoot the decedent, but he pawned it.

Appellant offered Roderick Farris ($40,000.00) to kill the decedent. Terry Norman overheard Appellant say he had just talked to Mrs. Plantz. She was upset because the decedent had physically assaulted her. When Farris asked why she just did not divorce him, Appellant answered that she wanted to collect some money. Appellant indicated that if he had to kill the decedent by himself, he was going to catch the decedent coming home from work one morning, beat him with a baseball bat and set him on fire in his truck. A week later, Farris again encountered Appellant and Mrs. Plantz at a local grocery store. Appellant offered Farris ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) to kill the decedent. He then introduced Farris to Plantz as "the one I was telling you about that would kill your husband." Plantz told Farris it would have to look like an accident. Later that night Appellant, Farris, and McKimble met at the Plantz home where they ate hamburgers and listened to music while waiting for the decedent to come home from work. When Farris heard someone at the front door, Mrs. Plantz told them if it was the decedent to "take him out now". Appellant picked up a hammer and McKimble a knife, but it was not the decedent. Later that night Farris was arrested and jailed on an unrelated charge.

Two days later, Appellant and McKimble were again with Mrs. Plantz. Appellant picked Mrs. Plantz up from work, where she had just quit her job. Waiting for the decedent to go to work at 6:00 p.m., they drove to a bank where Mrs. Plantz withdrew money she subsequently spent on cocaine and beer. Arriving at the Plantz home later that evening, Mrs. Plantz retired to her bedroom at approximately 10:30 p.m. Appellant and McKimble remained in the living room drinking beer and smoking cocaine until approximately 11:30 p.m., when they fell asleep. Hours later, hearing a key in the front door, they hid on opposite sides of the house. The decedent entered the house whistling, a bag of groceries in his arms. Appellant struck first, hitting the decedent with the baseball bat. The decedent cried out for his wife, but Appellant hit him again, with McKimble soon joining in. The men repeatedly struck the decedent because "he would not stay down". Finally, the decedent crumpled to the floor. As he lay moaning, Appellant and McKimble picked him up and took him outside, setting him beside his pickup truck. Mrs. Plantz emerged from the house, handed the pickup keys to the Appellant and commented that the decedent's "head was busted open" and that it was not going to look much like an accident. She told the men "to burn him." They placed him in the bed of pickup and Appellant drove to a deserted location on the route the decedent would have taken to work. McKimble followed in Mrs. Plantz's car. The decedent was placed in the cab of the pickup, behind the steering wheel. His body slumped over to the side. McKimble placed a rag in the gas tank and lit it. It failed to catch on fire. Appellant then poured gasoline on the decedent and in the cab of the pickup. He lit it and the pickup caught on fire. As the men drove away, they turned around and saw the decedent raise up.

Appellant and McKimble returned to the Plantz home where Mrs. Plantz was cleaning up the blood. She gave the men clothes of the decedent to put on and placed their bloody clothes in a sack. The men left Mrs. Plantz, threw their bloody clothes in the river and went to a convenience store. With money from the decedent's trousers, the men purchased sandwiches and drinks. After their meal, McKimble went home to bath, saying he was smelling the blood. Appellant went to the home of his friend, Michael Kendrick. Appellant told him he had killed the decedent and explained the details. Kendrick noticed that Appellant had spots of blood on the backs of his hands and on his shoes. Appellant phoned Mrs. Plantz, asking if she was all right. Kendrick overheard Appellant to say that they must stay close. McKimble arrived later and Kendrick overheard the two men talking about the killing and laughing at the decedent calling out for Mrs. Plantz. A short time later, Terry Norman saw Appellant on the street and drove him to McKimble's house. Appellant told Norman he had killed the decedent. Two days later, Appellant told Norman they had beaten the decedent with baseball bats. Appellant said he was going to have some money and he and Mrs. Plantz were moving out of town. Appellant also told another friend, Derrick Jones, that he and McKimble had killed the decedent. Appellant was arrested for the murder shortly thereafter. While in the county jail, inmate Ricky Dunn overheard Appellant tell how he had killed a man about 4:00 a.m. by waiting for him to come home from work, that he beat him to death and that he put him in a truck and "took him out."

PRE-TRIAL ISSUES

A.

Appellant asserts in his first assignment of error that the trial court erred in denying his repeated requests for a trial separate from that of his co-defendant. Appellant argues that the defenses presented by himself and co-defendant Plantz were mutually antagonistic. Therefore, under recent rulings from this Court, he and his co-defendant were entitled to separate trials. The State disputes this argument claiming that the joint trial was proper as the defenses were not mutually antagonistic.

The record reflects that in pre-trial hearings, Appellant indicated to the court his defense would be one of "heat of passion", that he participated in the murder of the decedent out of love and concern for co-defend...