Carter v. State
| Decision Date | 15 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. F-83-370,F-83-370 |
| Citation | 1985 OK CR 33,698 P.2d 22 |
| Parties | Carlos Bethel CARTER, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
Carlos Bethel Carter, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was convicted of Murder in the First Degree, in Oklahoma County District Court, Case No. CRF-82-3199, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and he appeals.
Testimony at trial established that on June 27, 1982, the seventeen-year-old victim, Melissa McCauley, after an argument with the defendant's youngest son, Charles Carter, telephoned her stepmother, Mary Lou McCauley, and asked that she be picked up at the defendant's house where she had been living. Upon her arrival at the Carter residence, Mrs. McCauley was informed by the defendant that Melissa had gone "with Charles somewhere." Mrs. McCauley then left the Carter residence and located her husband, Robert McCauley. The pair continued to search for Melissa, eventually locating her, with the assistance of Charles' brother Wes, at an apartment in South Oklahoma City where another brother, Steve Carter, lived.
A loud confrontation occurred between the Carter brothers, mainly Charles, and the elder McCauleys' which seemed to settle the situation. However, as Mr. and Mrs. McCauley turned to leave, Mr. McCauley, who had a .22 revolver strapped to his left hip and a four shot derringer in his back waistline, was met at the top stairs of the 2-story apartment house by the defendant, who had armed himself with a .38 revolver.
According to Mary Lou McCauley, the defendant shouted at her husband, "Hey, fella, why don't you take your slut of a wife, your whore of a daughter and take them home where they belong." She further related that when somebody hollered, "Watch out, he's got a gun," her husband reached for his gun, she heard gunfire and she, Robert and Melissa all fell to the floor. Mrs. McCauley denied that she was carrying a gun at the time of the shootings.
Charles Carter testified that he and his brothers had been threatened by Robert McCauley who had told them that, "... if something don't start straightening up around here, somebody is going to get hauled off in a meat wagon, and it ain't going to be me." Further, he stated that three shots were fired, that Melissa was the last person shot and that there was a pause between the second and third shots.
Additional witnesses testified essentially that Robert McCauley reached for his weapon first, that Mary Lou McCauley was shot in the face and that Melissa McCauley was shot last.
At trial it was stipulated that the shooting death of Robert McCauley was justifiable homicide and that no charges had been filed against the defendant for shooting Mary Lou McCauley. Medical evidence which was introduced established that Robert died from a gunshot wound to the temple inflicted from 6 to 18 inches distance. Mary Lou was wounded in the face (cheek) and Melissa died from a gunshot to the back of the head. Further, Melissa was unarmed during the incident and no gun belonging to Mary Lou was found at the scene.
The defendant testified that he saw a gun in Mary Lou's purse when she was at his home earlier in the day and he had also observed that Mr. McCauley was armed. Fearing that McCauley was going to kill one of his sons, the defendant stated he got his gun and went to the apartment where he saw McCauley shoving his (defendant's) son Charles "brutally." He related that he informed McCauley that it appeared that Melissa and Charles were unable to live together and that it would be better if Melissa moved out; McCauley responded by telling the defendant to "go to hell" and reached for his gun. Carter maintained that he thought he was surrounded and shot Mr. McCauley first and then he "blowed her [Mary Lou's] damn head off" when she reached into her purse. Further, when Melissa ran to the other side of the room, he heard something drop that sounded like a gun and he shot her. He concluded by stating that very few people could outshoot him.
In his first assignment of error, the defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to establish the element of premeditation or malice aforethought and therefore his First Degree Murder conviction cannot stand. This Court has consistently held that it is the exclusive province of the jury to weigh the testimony and circumstances to determine malice aforethought. McFarland v. State, 648 P.2d 1248 (Okl.Cr.1982); Nichols v. State, 564 P.2d 667 (Okl.Cr.1977).
A review of the record discloses that sufficient...
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