Cartwright v. State

Citation695 P.2d 548
Decision Date07 January 1985
Docket NumberNo. F-82-758,F-82-758
PartiesWilliam Thomas CARTWRIGHT, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
CourtUnited States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
OPINION

BUSSEY, Presiding Judge:

William Thomas Cartwright was charged in the District Court of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, for the crimes of Murder in the First Degree, and Shooting with Intent to Kill, Case No. CRF-82-192. He was granted a change of venue to Cherokee County, Oklahoma. The jury before which he was tried returned verdicts of guilt on both counts, sentenced him to death for the murder, and to a term of seventy-five years' imprisonment for the shooting. He was sentenced accordingly.

The appellant began working for the victims in this case, Hugh and Charma Riddle, in their Muskogee remodeling business in July of 1981. His employment was terminated in December of that year. According to the appellant, he was fired because he demanded the Riddles pay for an injury he allegedly received on the job. According to Charma Riddle, he was laid off because of lack of business.

The appellant moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in January of 1982. He returned to Muskogee in late April, supposedly believing his claim against the Riddles for injury would be settled. He told a Muskogee acquaintance that he intended to "get even" with the Riddles.

On May 3, 1982, Hugh and Charma Riddle spent the night with Charma's father in Muskogee. They did not return to their rural Muskogee home until the early evening hours of May 4. They ate their evening meal and retired to watch television. As Charma made her way to the bathroom from the living room, she was confronted by a man in her hallway with a shotgun. She grabbed the gun, and the man fired it into her leg. After she fell, she saw her assailant and recognized him as the appellant. He shot her again.

Charma then saw the appellant walk into the living room where Hugh was. She saw the appellant fire two blasts from the shotgun, and heard her husband scream.

The appellant disappeared into the living room, and Charma dragged herself down the hall into a bedroom. She tried to use the telephone, but it was dead. She then began to write her assailant's name on the bedsheet in her blood. She managed to spell the letters TOM CAR.

The appellant entered the bedroom. Charma asked him why he had shot them, and he replied that they should not have fired him. Charma then asked the appellant to help her. The appellant slit her throat and stabbed her with the hunting knife the Riddles had given him for Christmas.

Miraculously still alive, Charma heard the telephone ring in another room. She deduced that the telephone she had tried to use earlier was only unplugged. She plugged it in and called an operator, who contacted the Muskogee police department. She told the police dispatcher that Tom Cartwright had shot her, and that he was still in the house.

Pursuant to the directions Charma gave, Muskogee County Sheriff's officers and Muskogee police officers arrived at the house. The first officer who arrived observed a man standing outside the Riddle home. The man dodged between trees before disappearing into the darkness. A subsequent search for him was fruitless.

Clothing, weapons and other possessions belonging to the Riddles were found inside their vehicle. Found along with those articles was a silver jacket which was identified as being similar or identical to one the appellant owned.

The officers found the body of Hugh Riddle lying face down in the living room inside the Riddle home. Charma was still in the bedroom. She was taken by ambulance to the Muskogee Hospital. She lived to testify against the appellant at trial.

Two days after the murder/shooting (May 6, 1982), the appellant called his sister from a pay telephone in Muskogee. The sister picked him up, fed him, gave him a change of clothes and called the Muskogee County District Attorney. The District Attorney came to the sister's house, and got the appellant. The appellant was taken to jail, but then was taken to the hospital, because he complained of a headache and a leg injury. After a doctor had seen him and prescribed aspirin, the appellant was taken to the courthouse for interrogation. He confessed to the crimes during the interrogation.

The Riddles' telephone bill for the month of May, 1982 was introduced into evidence to demonstrate that at 11:13 a.m. on May 4, a telephone call was placed to a Las Vegas, Nevada telephone number. It was established that the number belonged to the appellant's fiancee.

A note which was found tacked to the door of the Riddle residence by Charma's father on May 6 was introduced into evidence. The note contained several misspellings, and stated that the Riddles had made an emergency trip to Tennessee. Charma testified that although she and Hugh had planned a trip to Tennessee at some point in the coming year, they were not about to make such a trip, and neither of them had written the note. The appellant was requested to write the same words that the note contained at trial. He misspelled several words, including the identical misspelling of the word "such," which was spelled "sutch" in both notes.

The appellant testified that he spoke with Hugh Riddle in the late afternoon of May 4, concerning his alleged injury. Hugh ordered him off his property, and as he turned to leave, he was struck on the head. He stated that he remembered nothing until May 6, when he called his sister.

Upon cross examination, the prosecutor read several excerpts of the appellant's confession for the purpose of impeaching his testimony concerning the two day "blackout." The appellant stated he did not remember making any of the statements.

The appellant presented lay testimony that, due to a childhood injury, he had a "soft spot" on his head, which, when touched, caused him to "black out." Also, several relatives, employees, supervisors and co-workers testified that he was a good worker, and that he was not a violent person.

The appellant first complains that the confession he made on May 7 was involuntary, and therefore inadmissible for any purpose, because he was not aware he was talking to law enforcement authorities. He contends that he consented to interrogation by the District Attorney because he was convinced by his sister that the District Attorney was an attorney who wanted to help him. 1

From a review of the testimony had at trial and on the motion to suppress the confession, we are convinced that the circumstances surrounding the appellant's interrogation indicate that he was coherent, and doubtless knew that he was dealing with law enforcement officials. 2

The portions of the confession were therefore properly utilized for purposes of impeachment. No objection was made to the trial court's instructions concerning the substantive use of the confession, or to the prosecutor's remarks concerning such use. Thus, any error was waived. Jetton v. State, 632 P.2d 432 (Okl.Cr.1981). Moreover, in view of both the direct and circumstantial evidence of the appellant's guilt independent of the portions of the confession used at trial, we are convinced that any possible error which may have occurred was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); Coleman v. State, 668 P.2d 1126 (Okl.Cr.1983).

The appellant's third assignment of error is that the failure to file a bill of particulars by the time of the preliminary hearing, or to present evidence in support thereof at the preliminary hearing, deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to sentence him to death. We have previously held that defendants in capital cases are not entitled to preliminary hearings on bills of particular. Stafford v. State, 669 P.2d 285 (Okl.Cr.1983), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 467 U.S. 1212, 104 S.Ct. 2652, 81 L.Ed.2d 359 (1984); Coleman, supra; Johnson v. State, 665 P.2d 815 (Okl.Cr.1983); Brewer v. State, 650 P.2d 54 (Okl.Cr.1982). The bill of particulars, filed on October 4, 1982, complied with the requirements of 21 O.S.1981, § 701.10. 3 The allegations contained therein consisted of the facts of the case, and inferences permissibly drawn therefrom. Further, we do not believe there was any surprise or prejudice to the appellant, since trial counsel neither raised an objection concerning the matter prior to trial or in the motion for new trial. The allegation is without merit.

The appellant's second assignment of error is that the trial court erroneously failed to instruct the jury that the trial court would impose a life sentence if a unanimous verdict were not reached on the issue of punishment.

The instructions given by the trial court accurately and adequately addressed the matter. The instructions stated, in pertinent part:

Should you unanimously find that one or more aggravating circumstances existed beyond a reasonable doubt, you would be authorized to consider imposing a sentence of death.

If you do not unanimously find beyond a reasonable doubt that one or more of the aggravating circumstances existed, you are prohibited from considering the penalty of death. In that event, the sentence must be imprisonment for life. (Instr. No. 15, Tr. 620).

* * *

* * *

If you unanimously find that one or more of the aggravating circumstances existed beyond a reasonable doubt, unless you also unanimously find that any such aggravating circumstance or circumstances outweigh the finding of one or more mitigating circumstances, the death penalty shall not be imposed. (Instr. No. 17(a), Tr. 621).

This assignment of error has no merit.

The appellant's ninth allegation of error proceeds upon the following two premises: first, in the guilt stage, the trial court ruled certain testimony...

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  • Cartwright v. Maynard
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • September 29, 1986
    ...trial by jury in the District Court of Muskogee County, Oklahoma. The convictions and sentences were affirmed on appeal, Cartwright v. State, 695 P.2d 548 (Okl.Cr.1985), and the Supreme Court of the United States denied the petition for writ of certiorari. Cartwright v. Oklahoma, --- U.S. -......
  • Malone v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
    • June 17, 1994
    ...v. State, 817 P.2d 1275, 1278 (Okl.Cr.1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 965, 112 S.Ct. 1573, 118 L.Ed.2d 217 (1992); Cartwright v. State, 695 P.2d 548 (Okl.Cr.1985) and Cartwright v. Maynard, 802 F.2d 1203 (10th Cir.1986), on rehearing, 822 F.2d 1477 (1987), affirmed, 486 U.S. 356, 108 S.Ct. 18......
  • Turner v. Williams
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    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
    • September 15, 1994
    ...construction to the facts of Cartwright's case, focusing on the "manner" in which the murder was committed. See Cartwright v. Oklahoma, 695 P.2d 548, 554 (Okla.Crim.App.1985). That court previously had approved jury instructions similar to those given to Cartwright's jury. Cartwright, 822 F......
  • Williamson v. State
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    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
    • May 15, 1991
    ...Fox v. State, 779 P.2d at 573; Walker v. State, 723 P.2d at 284, Brogie v. State, 695 P.2d 538, 544 (Okl.Cr.1985); Cartwright v. State, 695 P.2d 548, 555 (Okl.Cr.1985); Jones v. State, 610 P.2d 818, 820 (Okl.Cr.1980). Federal constitutional considerations do not require a different result. ......
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