Pink v. State

• Decision Date: 22 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. F-2003-191.,F-2003-191.
• Citation: 104 P.3d 584,2004 OK CR 37
• Parties: D'Angelo James PINK, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

104 P.3d 584

2004 OK CR 37

D'Angelo James PINK, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. F-2003-191.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

December 22, 2004.

William P. Widell, Attorney at Law, Tulsa, OK, attorney for defendant at trial.

Yvonne Glick, Lisa Weintraub, Assistant District Attorneys, Tulsa County District Attorney, Tulsa, OK, attorneys for the State at trial.

Thomas E. Purcell, Appellate Defense Counsel, Norman, OK, attorney for appellant on appeal.

W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma, Keeley L. Harris, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, OK, attorneys for appellee on appeal.

OPINION

CHAPEL, Judge.

¶ 1 D'Angelo James Pink¹ was tried by jury and convicted of Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon AFCF, under 21 O.S.2001, § 801 (Count I), and Conspiracy to Commit Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon AFCF, under 21 O.S.2001, § 421 (Count II), in Tulsa County, Case No. CF-2002-3670.² In accordance with the jury's recommendation, the Honorable Jefferson D. Sellers sentenced Pink to imprisonment for thirty-five (35) years and a fine of $5,000 on Count I and imprisonment for ten (10) years and a fine of $2,500 on Count II. The court ordered the sentences to be served consecutively. Pink appeals his convictions and his sentences.

FACTS

¶ 2 Just after 10:00 p.m., on March 30, 2002, Diana Bowman, an assistant manager at the Dollar General Store on East Admiral Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was robbed at knifepoint by David Lane and Kristifer Hellen, after she exited the store and got into her car.³ Although three other female employees exited the Dollar General along with Bowman that night, and Bowman had hidden the two bags of money that she was carrying under her shirt and store apron, the two robbers went directly to Bowman, demanded the money, and told her that they knew she had it — suggesting that they had inside information about who would be carrying Dollar General's deposits for the day.

¶ 3 The State's theory at trial was that the Dollar General robbery was masterminded by D'Angelo James Pink and that Pink entered into a conspiracy with Lane and Hellen, along with Misty Bryant and Lisa Ann Yahola, to rob the Dollar General.⁴ David Lane testified at Pink's trial, as did Misty Bryant.⁵ Lane, who was sixteen years old at the time of the robbery, testified that he and his friend, Kristifer Hellen,⁶ contacted Earnest Ray Dean, Jr., known as "Uncle Ray," about making some money by committing some kind of crime.⁷ Lane testified that Uncle Ray subsequently took them to the home of Pink, approximately two to three weeks before the robbery of the Dollar General, where they met with Pink and Bryant in the front yard. Lane testified that Pink told them that he had some "licks," meaning robberies, they could do to make some money. In particular, Pink told them that there was a Dollar General that they could rob, and Lane and Hellen indicated their willingness to do so.

¶ 4 Lane testified that although he saw Pink on one other occasion prior to March 30, 2002, it was not until that day that he and Hellen were informed, through Uncle Ray, that the robbery was to take place that very night. Lane testified that they were told to meet Pink at a Family Dollar store and that he and Hellen were picked up there, in a black or green Dodge Intrepid, by Pink and Bryant, with Pink driving. Lane testified that he had already painted his face and that Pink told Hellen to put on face paint as well, since they did not have masks. Lane testified that they drove by a home, which Pink indicated was the home of the person that they were going to rob, as well as the Dollar General store, where Pink pointed out the parked car that belonged to Bowman. Pink told Lane and Hellen that the woman they were to rob had long blond hair, would be wearing a long skirt, and that she would have two money bags. Pink also told them that she was a "church lady" and would be scared and would give the money right up. Lane testified that it was his understanding that Pink had an "inside person," though Lane was not told who the person was.

¶ 5 Lane testified that they dropped Pink off at a home and that Pink gave Hellen a knife to use in the robbery. Bryant then drove Lane and Hellen back toward the Dollar General, but Hellen got nervous and told Bryant that they needed a gun too. Lane testified that Bryant called Pink on her cell phone about getting a gun, and they then went to Pink's house to get one. After Bryant could not find the gun there, however, Hellen and Lane agreed to go ahead with the robbery with just the knife, and Bryant dropped them off at a cemetery near the Dollar General.

¶ 6 Lane testified that he and Hellen waited outside the Dollar General until a group of six women came out and that they had no trouble picking out the one described by Pink (i.e., Bowman). They confronted her just as she got inside her car, with Hellen holding the knife and Lane demanding that she give them "the f____ing money." Lane testified that at first the woman handed him a bag with cleaning supplies in it, but then gave him a money bag when he told her the first bag wasn't the money. Lane testified that he and Hellen fled the scene without getting the second money bag, after one of the other Dollar General employees attempted to run over Hellen with her car. They ran to the cemetery, but after seeing that Bryant was not there, they burned their shirts, along with the plastic Dollar General money bag that had contained the money, and ran to a friend's home in the area.

¶ 7 Lane testified that Hellen then called Pink and that after waiting a while, due to all the police and helicopters in the area, Pink drove up in the Intrepid to pick them up. Lane testified that Bryant was in the passenger's seat and that three other people, including Uncle Ray, were in the back seat. Pink told Hellen and Lane to get in the trunk, because there wasn't enough room in the car, and they did so. Lane testified that after about twenty minutes the car stopped, and Pink opened the trunk and told them that they were then going to walk to his house, which the three of them then did. At Pink's home they went into Pink's bedroom, where the money was divided up three ways, between Pink, Hellen, and Lane, with a separate share for "someone else" being set aside. Lane further testified that after the money was divided, they bought some guns from Pink.⁸ In particular, Lane bought a .380 and Hellen bought a 12 gauge and a .22 rifle.⁹ Afterwards Hellen and Lane were picked up by Uncle Ray.¹⁰

¶ 8 Diana Bowman's description of the robbery was largely consistent with that of Lane. Bowman testified that she was an assistant manager at the Dollar General at the time and that one of her responsibilities was to make deposits after her shift, when she was the manager on duty, as she was on the night of the robbery. She testified that although the store closed at 8:00 p.m., she and cashiers Joanne Deronmanis and Marcheri Smith, as well as manager Clara Dearman, were there until after 10:00 p.m. working and talking.¹¹ Bowman testified that they all went out together, but that as she reached her car and sat down, two white "boys" with painted faces appeared from near the side of the building, one of whom was holding a knife, cursed her, told her that they knew she had the money and that they had a gun, and to hurry up and give them the money.¹² Bowman testified that she had hidden the two money bags under her shirt and work smock, in the top of her skirt, but that when she reached her car she threw the bags on the floorboard. Initially, in her confusion, Bowman handed one of the boys a Dollar General bag containing candy. After he got upset, she found one of the money bags and threw it at him, just before Clara Dearman, in her car, came at the boys and attempted to hit one of them.¹³ At that point the boys ran off toward the cemetery across the street. Bowman testified that after the police came and she called her husband, she also called her friend, Lisa Yahola, to tell her what had happened.¹⁴ ¶ 9 Misty Bryant's testimony was likewise largely consistent with Lane's account of the conspiracy to rob the Dollar General and the carrying out of the robbery.¹⁵ Bryant testified that she was living in Pink's home at the time of the robbery planning and actual robbery, along with Pink's "girlfriend" Mona Welch.¹⁶ Bryant described the meeting in the front yard at Pink's home during March of 2002, at which Lane and Hellen and initially Uncle Ray were also present.¹⁷ Bryant testified that Pink told Lane and Hellen about a "job" that he wanted them to do, namely, to rob a Dollar General. Bryant testified that Pink indicated that he had selected the Dollar General on Admiral because he had "inside information" from "somebody who worked there" about who would have the money bags, where they would be, etc.¹⁸

¶ 10 Bryant substantiated Lane's testimony about she and Pink picking up Lane and Hellen, on the night of the Dollar General robbery. Bryant testified that Pink was driving a green 2000 Dodge Stratus, which was owned by Mona Welch and regularly driven by Pink, and that Welch's two-year-old son was also in the car with them, because Welch was working. Bryant testified that one of "the boys" had on face paint and that the other one put on face paint in the car. Bryant described driving by Bowman's house and Pink telling the boys that Bowman would have the money under her shirt and wouldn't resist. Bryant testified that they dropped Pink and the baby off at Yahola's home and that Pink gave the boys a knife to use in the robbery. She noted that the boys did not feel comfortable with just one weapon and that they attempted to obtain a gun, a .380, from Pink's home, but that she was unable to find it. Bryant testified that she dropped the boys off at a cemetery near Dollar General, where she was supposed to meet them afterward, but that she did not end up meeting them there.

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