Rawlings v. State

• Decision Date: 29 June 1987
• Docket Number: No. F-84-12,F-84-12
• Citation: 1987 OK CR 135,740 P.2d 153
• Parties: Gary Lee RAWLINGS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 153

740 P.2d 153

Gary Lee RAWLINGS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. F-84-12.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

June 29, 1987.

T. Hurley Jordan, Public Defender of Okla. County, Oklahoma City, for appellant.

Michael C. Turpen, Atty. Gen., and Susan Stewart Dickerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Oklahoma City, for appellee.

OPINION

BRETT, Presiding Judge:

Appellant, Gary Lee Rawlings, was tried and convicted for the crime of Murder in the First Degree, in violation of 21 O.S.1981, § 701.7, in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Case No. CRF-82-2697. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and set punishment at life imprisonment. The trial court sentenced the appellant in accordance with the jury's verdict. Appellant appeals to this Court. A detailed statement of facts is required.

Sally Brown and Gary Rawlings met one another in Pennsylvania in 1976. They were married at his parent's home in Denver, Colorado, in 1977. Sally maintained no contact with her family after this point. A daughter, Kimberly Ann Rawlings, was born to the couple in 1980. The appellant, Sally and Kimberly moved to Oklahoma City in late 1981. The marriage had been under quite a strain during this time. The appellant had a bad temper and occasionally beat Sally. In January 1982, Sally and Kimberly moved into the Passageway, a Y.W.C.A. Shelter for battered women. While there, Sally engaged in counseling sessions. Sally had a previous history of mental health problems. The counselors diagnosed Sally to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. At trial, the counselor explained that psychotic behavior was symptomatic of this disorder.

On January 12, 1982, Sally filed for divorce, and on February 24, 1982, a waiver Decree of Divorce was entered, granting Sally custody of Kimberly.

Sally and Kimberly moved into the Kirkpatrick Hotel, located in downtown Oklahoma City, in February 1982. At trial, the owner of the hotel indicated that Sally desired to reside there because the doors were kept secure.

On the evening of March 21, 1982, the police were summoned to the Kirkpatrick Hotel. The appellant had been late in returning Kimberly after his scheduled visitation. At approximately 9:00 p.m., when appellant returned without Kimberly, an argument ensued and appellant struck Sally on the head, cutting her and leaving a large gash. Sally was taken to St. Anthony Hospital for treatment. Sally informed the police that appellant had taken some papers from her, including Kimberly's birth certificate. He had also told Sally upon his departure "that the next time she was to see him, she would be dead." Pursuant to negotiations by Sally's attorney, appellant returned Kimberly and agreed to refrain from exercising his visitation rights for six months.

Sally began a job with Kerr-McGee Corporation in late March. During the course of her two months employment, Sally proved herself to be a good employee. Her supervisors did notice that she stayed to herself. In fact, Sally was often overheard talking to herself, saying "Good-bye Gary." Another secretary testified that she once walked into the company bathroom and saw Sally speaking to herself in the mirror, as if she were two different persons.

In February, Sally enrolled Kimberly in a day care center. Every day Sally would take Kimberly to the center at 8:00 a.m. and return for her after work between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. This daily routine was verified at trial by Sally's neighbors.

In early May, Sally sought to determine whether she qualified for a rent subsidy program operated by the Oklahoma City Housing Authority. Sally made an appointment for May 27, 1982. Sally also contacted a private firm offering assistance in locating rental properties. She paid a $45.00 fee and signed a policy agreement.

On Wednesday, May 26, 1982, Sally commenced her daily work routine. She and Kimberly ate breakfast at the cafe in the Kirkpatrick Hotel. Sally then dropped Kimberly off at the day care center at the usual time. Sally Rawlings has never been seen since.

Sally never returned to pick Kimberly up. She never returned to the Hotel or made any arrangements for her personal belongings. She never picked up her mail or requested that it be forwarded. She never arrived for work that day or any day since. She never contacted Kerr-McGee to receive her wages due. She never withdrew any of her money in the bank. She did not keep her appointment with the Oklahoma City Housing Authority, nor did she ever contact the private firm she had paid to help her locate a home.

It was then documented at trial that the appellant had traveled to Oklahoma City and stayed at the Bel Aire Motel around May 4, 1982. On May 11, 1982, while at his parents' home in Lakewood, Colorado, he called the same motel to make reservations for the two nights of May 24 and 25, 1982. He, in fact, stayed at the motel on those two nights.

On May 24, 1982, prior to leaving Colorado, the appellant purchased twenty-five $20.00 traveler's checks. Upon arrival in Oklahoma City that same afternoon, he rented a yellow car from a car rental agency.

A car rental employee, who picked up the appellant when he arrived in Oklahoma City, testified that the appellant was carrying with him a blue suitcase and a fold-over bag. The appellant's mother testified that when she drove the appellant to the Denver airport on May 24, 1982, he left with a blue suitcase and a sleeping bag. He told his mother that he needed the sleeping bag to stay over at a friend's house while in Oklahoma City. He indicated to his mother that he was coming to Oklahoma City to visit Kimberly.

On May 24 or 25, 1982, a man identifying himself as Kimberly's father called the day care center to inquire about what would happen if Sally were not able to pick up Kimberly in the evening. He was informed that the director of the center would take Kimberly home. One employee of the day care center testified that within this same week in May, she observed an empty yellow car parked near the center.

During the week of May 24, 1982, the appellant responded to an Oklahoma City newspaper ad and purchased a .44 Magnum handgun. The seller of the gun testified that the appellant indicated he wanted the gun for squirrel hunting. He also testified that during the course of the sale, the two men discussed an episode of the television program "Quincy" in which a murder had been disguised to seem accidental. The owner sold the gun and nine rounds of ammunition for some cash and three traveler's checks.

The appellant, a commercial airline pilot, arranged to rent a plane from Charter Air, Incorporated, in Oklahoma City, upon six occasions during the month of May 1982. On all but the last occasion, May 26th, those rentals were cancelled. On that day, the appellant drove to the airport in the yellow rental car. He parked and left the car where the airplane had been parked rather than in the designated automobile parking lot. The airplane was not returned by the appellant until early the next morning. The appellant claimed only 2.4 flying hours; however, an employee at the air lines discovered an 8 hour discrepancy between the tack time and the Hobbs meter time on the airplane. Subsequently, the Hobbs meter was discovered to be disconnected. Additionally, the airplane's gas cap and some inside carpeting were missing.

The appellant's itinerary of May 26 and 27 was established at trial through employees of various airports. On May 26th between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m., the appellant refueled the rented airplane at Redbird Airport in Dallas, Texas. He purchased 20.3 gallons of fuel and some velour cleaner. He also made two phone calls while he was there, each verified by telephone company records. One of the calls was to his employer in Denver. The second call was to the day care center. During this call, he identified himself as Gary Rawlings, Kimberly's father, and asked the worker to have the director take Kimberly home for the night, because Sally would not be able to pick her up that evening.

Later, the same afternoon, the appellant purchased fuel at Andrau Airpark in Houston, Texas. This time he purchased 18 gallons. An attendant there noticed a large cloth bundle in the rear baggage compartment of the airplane.

Later, that evening, the appellant purchased 19 gallons of fuel at Lakeside Airport near Houston. Subsequently, attendants there found an unclaimed gas cap. Around 11:00 p.m. on May 26, 1982, the appellant purchased 18.4 gallons of fuel at Meacham Field in Fort Worth, Texas. The attendant who serviced the appellant's plane noticed that the fuel cap was missing. Payment for all the fuel was made by traveler's checks.

On the morning of the 27th, the appellant returned the yellow car complaining that he had had trouble starting it and requested a different car. The agency rented him a blue car. A couple of employees of the company drove the yellow car over the weekend, but they were unable to discover any problem with the car. Another employee of the company testified that a mat in the bed of the trunk of the yellow car was missing after the appellant rented it. A subsequent search of the yellow car uncovered a receipt which had an itinerary of things to be done. Experts testified the handwriting as the appellant's. The last thing to do on the list was to put the suitcase in a locker.

The appellant then went to ABC Moving Company, where he obtained an order for service to move Sally's furniture to Denver, where he indicated Sally had moved. Some days later, the company received an envelope postmarked June 1, 1982, allegedly from Sally Rawlings. Inside the envelope were two money orders, a letter authorizing the movers to retrieve Sally's items from the Kirkpatrick Hotel, a letter to the hotel authorizing entry by the movers and the completed order for service, previously given to the appellant.

Around lunchtime on May 27, 1982, appellant arrived at the day care center in the blue...