Jefferson v. State, F-82-603
| Decision Date | 23 January 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. F-82-603,F-82-603 |
| Citation | 675 P.2d 443 |
| Parties | William Melvin JEFFERSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
The appellant, William Melvin Jefferson, was convicted in Carter County District Court, Case No. CRF-81-270, of Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon, Third Offense, and Murder in the First Degree, he was sentenced to twenty (20) years' and life imprisonment, respectively, and he appeals.
Succinctly stated, testimony was received at trial that the appellant, acting in concert with James Earl Cleaver, journeyed from Dallas, Texas, on October 20, 1981, and robbed Luke's Music Store in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Cleaver had entered the store on the pretext of desiring to purchase a .12 gauge "Coach" shotgun on a "lay away" plan. Cleaver left the establishment, having secreted two shotgun shells, and returned shortly thereafter. While Cleaver talked with Haskell E. Cox, a seventy-five (75) year old employee, the appellant entered and distracted Edward A. Luke, the seventy-two (72) year old proprietor. Mr. Luke testified that he saw Cleaver scuffling with Cox and the appellant hit him [Mr. Luke] with something on the back of the head. Appellant testified that Cleaver beat both Cox and Luke on their heads with the shotgun but that he did not hit either of the victims, although he did restrain Mr. Luke from assisting Mr. Cox when Cleaver initially attacked him.
Additionally, several witnesses testified that they observed the appellant acting suspiciously in front of the store immediately prior to the incident and also saw him leave the premises. Jefferson, who was shot in his right thigh during the attack, was captured by law enforcement personnel near Wynnewood, approximately forty-five (45) minutes after the crime, and Cleaver was found at a rest area of Interstate 35 where the appellant had left him.
In his first assignment of error, the appellant claims that the information as amended was insufficient for him to be tried for Felony-Murder, because it alleged, in alternative Count II, that the homicide occurred "while engaged in the commission of the crime of Robbery First Degree," not "Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon" as specified in 21 O.S.1981, § 701.7.
This Court has previously held that a statement of the acts constituting the offense, in ordinary concise language, and in such manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is intended, is all that is required by 22 O.S.1981, § 701. The test of the sufficiency of an information is whether the defendant was in fact misled by it and whether a conviction under it would expose the defendant to the possibility of subsequently being put in jeopardy a second time for the same offense. Campbell v. State, 640 P.2d 1364 (Okl.Cr.1982), citing Holloway v. State, 602 P.2d 218 (Okl.Cr.1979).
In the instant case, the appellant and his co-defendant, Cleaver, were charged in separate amended informations with Robbery in the First Degree (21 O.S.1981, § 801), and Murder in the First Degree (21 O.S.1981, § 701.7), said informations reading in pertinent part as follows:
[ROBBERY FIRST DEGREE]
... [S]aid robbery being accomplished by said defendants with the use of a certain firearm, to-wit: 12 gauge shotgun, and which they used to menace and threaten the said Edward A. Luke and Haskell E. Cox with harm if they resisted, and by said assault, threats menace and beating and bludgeoning, did then and there put the said Edward A. Luke and Haskell E. Cox in fear of immediate and unlawful injury to their person and overcame all their resistance, and while so intimidating them did then and there wrongfully take and obtain from them the property aforesaid.
* * *
* * *
[MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE]
... [W]hile engaged in the commission of the crime of Robbery First Degree in the manner and form as follows, to-wit: by beating and bludgeoning with a 12 gauge shotgun about the head and body and inflicting mortal wounds to the said Haskell E. Cox and from which mortal wounds the same Haskell E. Cox did languish and die on the 21st day of October, 1981.
The information complained of meets the aforementioned test; accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.
Next, in his second assignment of error, the appellant maintains that the trial court's failure to sustain his motion for change of venue was error. However, trial counsel for the appellant failed to follow the proper procedure as set forth in our statutes to apply for a change of venue. See, 22 O.S.1981, § 561. The motion was not verified by affidavit, and was not supported by the requisite affidavits of at least three credible persons residing within the county. Thus, the motion was not properly before the trial court, and is not properly before this Court. Stafford v. State, 669 P.2d 285 (Okl.Cr.1983); and Ake v. State, 663 P.2d 1 (Okl.Cr.1983), and cases cited therein.
Furthermore, as we stated in Johnson v. State, 556 P.2d 1285 (Okl.Cr.1976):
Even if the defense had produced the required affidavits, this Court held as early as 1916, and consistently since, that the affidavits raise a question just as any other question of fact that might be submitted to the trial judge, and unless it is clear that he has abused his discretion, or committed error in his judgment, his finding and judgment will not be disturbed by this Court.
Moreover, the record reveals that potential jurors were extensively questioned about their pretrial exposure to media accounts of the incident; those who had preconceived opinions of the appellant's guilt or innocence, or had doubts about their ability to be impartial, were dismissed for cause; and only those who indicated that they could render a verdict based on the evidence presented at trial and not from what they had heard or had read regarding the case were seated as jurors. The trial court did not abuse its discretion; this assignment of error is without merit.
Additionally, the appellant argues, in his third assignment of error, that reversible error occurred when the trial court failed to quash the jury panel after a prospective juror remarked, "It seems to me...
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Walker v. State
...finding and judgment will not be disturbed by this Court." Johnson v. State, 556 P.2d 1285, 1289 (Okl.Cr.1976). See also Jefferson v. State, 675 P.2d 443 (Okl.Cr.1984). Turning to the merits of the appellant's due process claim, we find that it must be disallowed. The United States Supreme ......
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Castro v. State
...with the robbery serving as the underlying felony, violated the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment. In Jefferson v. State, 675 P.2d 443, 447 (Okl.Cr.1984), this Court vacated a twenty (20) year sentence for Robbery With a Dangerous Weapon, where it served as the predicate for a f......
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Miller v. State
...the defendant to the possibility of subsequently being put in jeopardy a second time for the same offense. See also Jefferson v. State, 675 P.2d 443 (Okl.Cr.1984); Campbell v. State, 640 P.2d 1364 (Okl.Cr.1982); Holloway v. State, 602 P.2d 218 (Okl.Cr.1979); Williams v. State, 579 P.2d 194 ......
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Munson v. State, F-85-479
...U.S. 161, 165, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 2225, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977); Castro v. State, 745 P.2d 394, 405 (Okla.Crim.App.1987); Jefferson v. State, 675 P.2d 443, 447 (Okla.Crim.App.1984). See also Walker v. State, 254 Ga. 149, 327 S.E.2d 475, 479 (1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 865, 106 S.Ct. 185, 88 L.......