Nolen v. State

Citation485 P.3d 829
Decision Date18 March 2021
Docket NumberCase No. D-2017-1269
Parties Alton Alexander NOLEN, Appellant v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
CourtUnited States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

APPEARANCES AT TRIAL

APPEARANCES ON APPEAL

MIKE HUNTER, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA, CAROLINE E.J. HUNT, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, JENNIFER L. CRABB, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, 313 N.E. 21ST STREET, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105, ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

OPINION

ROWLAND, VICE PRESIDING JUDGE:

¶1 Appellant, Alton Alexander Nolen, was charged in the District Court of Cleveland County, Case No. CF-2014-1792, with First Degree Malice Murder (Count 1) in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.2012, § 701.7(A). He was also charged with Assault and Battery with a Deadly Weapon (Count 2) in violation of 21 O.S.2011, § 652 and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (Counts 3-6) in violation of 21 O.S.2011, § 645, each After Former Conviction of Two or More Felonies. As to Count 1, the State sought the death penalty, and alleged four statutory aggravating circumstances in support thereof: (1) that Nolen was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person;1 (2) that Nolen knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person;2 (3) that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel;3 and (4) that there existed a probability that Nolen would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.4

¶2 The jury imposed the death penalty on Count 1 after finding the existence of each alleged aggravating circumstance. It assessed punishment at life in prison on Counts 2, 4, and 5; fifty-five years imprisonment on Count 3, and seventy-five years imprisonment on Count 6. The Honorable Lori Walkley, District Judge, who presided at trial, sentenced Nolen accordingly and ordered the terms of imprisonment to be served consecutively. From this judgment and sentence Nolen appeals. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶3 On September 25, 2014, Alton Nolen was working the bruschetta line with several other employees at Vaughn Foods in Moore, Oklahoma. One of his co-workers, Traci Johnson, who was new to the job, told him to stir the mixture more thoroughly and to put his back into it. She told him that he was lazy and that he needed to "man up." Nolen became defensive and agitated and said, "I hate white people, I beat white people up." Johnson ran from the line and reported the perceived threat to a supervisor, Timothy Bluford. After having Johnson write out a statement about the incident, Bluford spoke with Nolen and had him write out a statement as well.5 Bluford advised Human Resources about the threat and subsequently delivered Nolen to a security guard who escorted him from the facility. Nolen was suspended pending an investigation.

¶4 After he left work, Nolen went back to his apartment where he retrieved a butcher knife. He returned to Vaughn Foods around 4:00 p.m. with the knife concealed in his boot. Although he no longer was authorized to enter, he gained access to the building by going inside through a door as another employee was leaving. Nolen went to the administrative area of the building where Colleen Hufford had stepped into Gary Hazelrigg's office to discuss a purchase order. As Hazelrigg glanced down to look at the document, he noticed movement in his peripheral vision. When Hazelrigg looked up, he saw Nolen grabbing Hufford from behind.

¶5 Nolen pinned Hufford's head to his body by putting his left forearm across her forehead, fully exposing her neck. Nolen held a knife in his right hand, which he drew across her throat inflicting a deep wound. As Hazelrigg rose from his chair to help Hufford, Nolen spun her around and pushed her out into an open area. When Hufford was on her back on the floor, Nolen straddled her and continued cutting her throat. Hazelrigg started screaming and trying unsuccessfully to pull Nolen off Hufford. Another employee, Sam Thurman, came upon the assault, ran toward Nolen, hit him, and tried to get him off Hufford. This was not successful; Nolen was not fazed and did not stop cutting Hufford's neck. Thurman left the area and yelled for help. He called 911 and then started telling people to leave.

¶6 Mark Vanderpool and Bryan Aylor were outside the building when they heard someone screaming for help and saying that someone was "cutting Colleen." They ran back into the building and came upon Nolen who was on the floor beside Hufford still cutting her neck with a knife. Hazelrigg was trying unsuccessfully to pull Nolen off Hufford. Vanderpool kicked Nolen under the chin as hard as he could with steel-toe boots. Nolen fell back slightly and then slashed toward Vanderpool with the knife. Vanderpool and two other employees ran from the area. Nolen stood up and Aylor grabbed his wrist. Aylor pushed Nolen up against a doorway but Nolen overpowered him causing Aylor to fall on his back to the floor. Aylor held Nolen's wrist and kicked at Nolen as Nolen tried to force the knife down to stab Aylor. Finally, Nolen just stood up and ran back to Hufford. Aylor jumped up and ran from the building.

¶7 When Nolen was interacting with the others, Hazelrigg made a quick phone call to 911. While Hazelrigg was on the phone, Nolen returned and continued to slice Hufford's neck with his knife. After Hufford's head was completely detached from her body, Nolen stood up and approached Hazelrigg before he became distracted and left the area.

¶8 Traci Johnson had just changed her clothes preparing to go home when she stepped out of the locker room and saw Nolen in the hall close to the administrative offices. She froze and was unable to move when she saw the bloody knife in his hand. Nolen rushed toward her and pushed her up against a wall. He held her with his forearm and started slicing her neck. Johnson tried pushing him away as she screamed for help.

¶9 As this was happening, Mark Vaughn, the chief operating officer of Vaughn Foods, who was aware of the situation and had retrieved an AR-15 from his vehicle, arrived at the hallway where the assault was occurring. Vaughn yelled at Nolen to stop. Nolen stopped and took a few steps toward Vaughn before turning around as if to run back to Johnson. Vaughn moved eight to ten feet closer to Nolen and as he did, Nolen turned and started running toward Vaughn holding the bloody knife over his head. When Nolen was about fifteen feet from him, Vaughn yelled at Nolen to stop and then fired three rounds at him in rapid succession. Nolen did not fall but leaned against the wall of the hallway and lowered himself to the ground still clutching the knife. Nolen had been hit by the gunshots and was in obvious distress. The police and EMTs arrived shortly and transported Nolen to the hospital. Johnson was also treated by the medics and taken to the hospital for wounds to her neck. She subsequently had surgery to repair damaged veins in her neck.

¶10 Nolen was interviewed at the hospital that same day by two Moore Police detectives and two FBI agents. Nolen advised them that he was a Muslim and that he had beheaded someone because he felt oppressed. Nolen explained that he worked at Vaughn Foods and a woman with whom he was working called him an immature brat and criticized the way he was doing his job. The woman got him into trouble and he was sent to Human Resources where he was told to go home for a couple of days. At home he retrieved a knife which he took back to work. When he went back into the building he assaulted the first woman and cut off her head because he felt oppressed. He explained that this was condoned by the Koran and that he intended to cut her head all the way off. The other woman he assaulted was the one who had disrespected him by calling him an immature brat.

¶11 Nolen was interviewed a second time a few days later on September 28, 2014. His account of what happened was substantially the same in the second interview. Nolen added, however, that he told the woman who called him an immature brat that he "beat on Caucasians." Nolen explained that up until the day of the assaults he had worked at Vaughn Foods for two years without incident; he went to work on time, had only missed one day, he prayed five times a day, did not steal, and had not fought with anyone. When he was pulled from the line and sent to Human Resources he felt discriminated against and oppressed. Nolen stated in the interview that he did not regret what he had done because it would probably make Vaughn Foods a better place for Muslims to work at in the future.

¶12 Prior to trial Nolen sought to enter a guilty plea and indicated that he wanted the death penalty. Defense counsel argued that Nolen was not competent to enter a plea first based upon intellectual disability and then based upon mental illness. Extensive competency hearings were held on both of these issues. While the trial court found that Nolen was not precluded from entering a guilty plea based upon intellectual disability or mental illness, by the time these issues had been litigated, Nolen was no longer speaking to defense counsel or the trial court. Although the trial court gave Nolen the opportunity to plead guilty prior to voir dire, Nolen sat mute with his fingers over his ears and did not respond. Accordingly, the defense entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and the case proceeded to jury trial.

1. Ineligibility for Death Penalty

¶13 The United States Supreme Court has held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of intellectually disabled offenders. Atkins v. Virginia , 536...

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1 cases
  • Bench v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
    • 22 Diciembre 2021
    ... ... He advised the trial court he would have excused jurors L.W. and A.R. if he had received the additional peremptories. We find trial counsel preserved this issue for appeal, but appellate counsel did not raise it. In Nolen v. State , 2021 OK CR 5, 97, 485 P.3d 829, 853, we held as follows regarding preservation of this issue on appeal: Nolen preserved the issue as he used his peremptory challenges to strike the three prospective jurors he asked to remove for cause. He also advised the trial court of four other ... ...

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