Castleberry v. State

• Decision Date: 18 April 1974
• Docket Number: No. F--73--345,F--73--345
• Citation: 522 P.2d 257
• Parties: Kenneth Ray CASTLEBERRY, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 257

522 P.2d 257

Kenneth Ray CASTLEBERRY, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. F--73--345.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

April 18, 1974.

Rehearing Denied May 23, 1974.

Paul D. Brunton, Chief Public Defender, Tulsa, for appellant.

Larry Derryberry, Atty. Gen., Kenneth L. Delashaw, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

OPINION

BLISS, Presiding Judge:

The appellant, Kenneth Ray Castleberry, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged by Information with the crime of Murder in Case Nos. CRF--72--359, CRF--72--360, and CRF--72--361 in the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma. All three cases were consolidated and tried before a jury with said trial commencing on March 12, 1973. On March 22, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged and penalty was assessed at three (3) concurrent life sentences, and from said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

The State first called Barbara Biles, a next door neighbor of the Castleberrys. Mrs. Biles testified that she had had a conversation with Mrs. Castleberry on the 14th day of February, 1972, wherein they discussed money and sex, Mrs. Castleberry complaining that her husband would not seek a better paying job or part-time employment and that her husband did not enjoy sex as much as she did. Mrs. Biles stated that neither she nor her husband had seen or heard anything unusual from the Castleberry home on the evening of the 15th of February. On the 16th day of February, 1972, she first observed the defendant sitting on his front porch. Approximately 15 to 20 minutes later she saw the defendant at her front door. When she opened the door the defendant, appearing white and shaken, staggered in and stated that his family was dead. She and the defendant then went to a neighbor's home to call an ambulance. While they were walking the defendant was mumbling that the family was happy and that he didn't know who could have killed her. Mrs. Biles and Leona Wilson subsequently went over to the defendant's house where she saw blood in the hallway and Mrs. Castleberry's body in the kitchen. She did not touch anything and noticed that the furniture in the front room did not seem to be disturbed.

The State next called Mrs. Grace Stearman who stated that at approximately 6:00 p.m. Mrs. Biles and a man came to her home to use the telephone to call an ambulance. She could not identify the man because he kept his face covered with his hands and made no sounds. When they left, she called her sister, Leona Wilson.

Leona Wilson then testified that upon receiving the call she went to the defendant's house. She and Mrs. Biles entered and saw Mrs. Castleberry's body lying on the floor of the kitchen. Nothing was touched and upon the arrival of the police she and Mrs. Biles left.

Patrol Officer Kenneth Mosier of the Tulsa City Police then testified that at approximately 6:15 p.m. on the 16th he arrived at the Castleberry house where he discovered the body of a female lying on the floor in the kitchen and a body lying on the bed in each of two bedrooms. The back door was kicked in and the screens and windows of the home were secure. He later had a conversation with the defendant in his patrol car, describing his demeanor to be calm, emotionless and cool, or, as he noted on cross-examination, possibly in shock. The defendant stated that he left home on the 16th at about 7:05 to 7:10 a.m., worked all day, had no calls, returned at about 5:15 p.m. and found the house locked. His wife had mentioned that she might go visiting that afternoon so he didn't think anything about it at the time. About 6:00 p.m. he became upset, went to the back and kicked in the back door to gain entrance.

Officer James Brown testified that he saw the defendant in the detective division on the 17th of February, 1972, at approximately 5:30 p.m. where he obtained the defendant's fingernail scrapings. No injury was done to the defendant's hands during the process.

Detective Sgt. Roy Hunt then testified that he arrived at the scene at approximately 6:35 p.m. and found the scene properly preserved. Three bodies were found in the house, Mrs. Castleberry lying in the kitchen on her back, Richard Castleberry, age 2, on a bed in the southwest bedroom and Brenda Castleberry, age 5, on a bed in the middle bedroom. He touched each of the victims at the chin and noticed that they were all set and fixed. He then identified numerous photographs and slides depicting the condition of the home, the positions of the bodies and some pools and apparent trails of blood. He stated that it was apparent that Mrs. Castleberry's legs had been separated after the blood had started to dry on her body. One slide depicted what Sgt. Hunt described as a small palm print and an outline of an ear on the floor. He testified that from the pattern he could determine it was compatible with the blood located on Brenda's right cheek and right ear area. Other pictures depicted a trail of blood toward the bed where Richard's body was found. On cross-examination Hunt stated that a purse had been found which contained no money and that a photograph of the master bedroom depicted that the pillows had certain indentations, with one pillow having a greater indentation than the other. It appeared to him that Mrs. Castleberry had been moved after the attack.

William Caveny, a forensic chemist with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation testified that he examined and analyzed certain exhibits including the fingernail scrapings taken from the defendant and that the scrapings appeared to contain blood. He was unable to determine whether the blood was animal or human or its age and origin. He conducted an examination of fluid taken from the kitchen sink, and it contained blood and what appeared to be epithelial cells, identical to those found on the outer layer of skin. He further identified and typed certain human blood samples found in the home.

Thereafter, Caveny was called as a witness for the defendant and stated that he analyzed eleven knives recovered from the Castleberry kitchen. His analysis of each was negative for blood. It was then stipulated that the work clothes the defendant said he wore on the 16th and the lunch pail which was recovered on the front steps were submitted for analysis, the results being negative for blood or skin.

Detective James Carr then testified that he took a statement from the defendant at approximately 7:15 p.m. on the 16th at the police station. Said statement concerned what the defendant had found at his home when he returned from work. Prior to taking the statement the defendant said that the person who had committed the crimes was possibly sick and in need of hospital treatment. The defendant read and signed a printed rights waiver.

Officer Dale Michael Cheever then testified that he first saw the defendant at approximately 12:50 a.m. on the 17th. The defendant was briefly interviewed and related that when he awoke on the morning of the 16th his wife and two children were asleep, with his son Richard sleeping in the master bedroom with his mother. At approximately 7:00 o'clock a.m. his ride arrived and he went to work. He returned home at approximately 5:00 p.m. on the evening of the 16th and found all doors locked. The defendant waited in front for about an hour before he went to the back and forced the rear door open. Officer Cheever observed that throughout the interview the defendant's 'responses were collected, he was rational, he knew where he was at, he knew who I was, fairly collected in every response to me.'

Thereafter, Dr. Robert Fogel testified as an expert on behalf of the State. Dr. Fogel related that on the 16th day of February, 1972, he was serving as a Deputy Medical Examiner for Tulsa County, Oklahoma, and had occasion to go to the Castleberry home at approximately 2:00 p.m. He found the body of Marie Castleberry in the kitchen, the body of Richard Castleberry in the southwest bedroom, and the body of Brenda Castleberry in the middle bedroom. He then explained to the jury the phenomena of rigor mortis and postmortem lividity and stated that in all three bodies rigor mortis was complete and postmortem lividity fixed. The bodies were removed at approximately 1:15 a.m. on the 17th to the Oklahoma Osteopathic Hospital where autopsies were performed and blood types determined.

With regard to Marie Castleberry, he found twelve stab wounds on the entirety of her body including four stab wounds in the back. No food material was found in the stomach. Cause of death was the direct result of multiple stab wounds.

During the course of his autopsy, Dr. Fogel took swabs tests for the presence of sperm and seminal fluid. Only one of the swabs from the vagina was positive for sperm. He stated sperm would remain detectable within the vaginal cavity for perhaps 72 hours; however, that he had no way of knowing when she last had intercourse.

With reference to Brenda Castleberry he found numerous stab wounds, one of which extended across the major portion of her neck and another that proceeded directly into the vaginal area. No food content was found in the stomach. He stated that the cause of death was related to the asphyxiation which occurred as a result of the slash wound across the windpipe.

With respect to Richard Castleberry, he observed five stab wounds including a large one across the neck. In his opinion the cause of death was a combination of asphyxiation due to the slash of the wind-pipe as well as exsanguination. It was his opinion that the instrument used in the killings was a knife with a single cutting edge, and that the blade was at least 3 3/4ths inches in length and 3/4ths of an inch in width.

Concerning the probable time of death, Dr. Fogel stated that he used a number of factors in trying to project the time or probable time of death. These factors included the degree and the presence of rigor mortis; the degree...