Smith v. State

• Decision Date: 01 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. F-94-1199,F-94-1199
• Citation: 932 P.2d 521,1996 OK CR 50
• Parties: Roderick L. SMITH, Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 521

932 P.2d 521

Roderick L. SMITH, Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. F-94-1199.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

Oct. 1, 1996.

Publication Ordered Jan. 13, 1997 of

Order Granting Rehearing

Dec. 6, 1996.

Kenneth C. Watson, Vernon Smythe, Oklahoma City, for Appellant at trial.

Lee Ann Jones Peters, Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, Norman, for Appellant on appeal.

Robert H. Macy, Fern L. Smith, Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, for the State at trial.

W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General, Robert L. Whittaker, Assistant Attorney General, Oklahoma City, for Appellee on appeal.

STRUBHAR, Judge:

Appellant, Roderick L. Smith, was charged with five counts of First Degree Murder in violation of 21 O.S.1991, § 701.7, in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Case No. CF-93-3968. The case was tried before the Honorable Richard W. Freeman. The State filed a Bill of Particulars alleging five aggravating circumstances. The jury found Appellant guilty of the crimes charged and found all five alleged aggravating circumstances to exist. ¹ Appellant was sentenced to death on all counts. From this Judgment and Sentence Appellant has perfected his appeal.

FACTS

Appellant was married to Jennifer Smith, who had four children from a prior relationship: ten year old Shemeka Carter, nine year old Glen Carter, Jr., seven year old Ladarian Carter, and six year old Kanesha Carter. The children lived with Appellant and Jennifer.

On the morning of June 28, 1993, Jennifer's mother called the police and asked them to check her daughter's house. She had not seen or heard from Jennifer since June 18, 1993. When Officer Peterson arrived at the residence where Jennifer and Appellant lived, the house appeared to be secured and no one answered the doors. Because he noticed an odor of decaying flesh and a large number of flies around the windows, he contacted his supervisor, Lieutenant Wayne Owen, who came to the address. Owen and Peterson entered the house through a window. Inside, they discovered a dead woman in one closet and a dead child in another. They called the homicide division of the Oklahoma City Police Department and secured the house. Once homicide detectives arrived, the rest of the house was searched. The bodies of three more children were found, two in closets and the third under a bed. The bodies were determined to be those of Jennifer Smith and her four children. They were determined to have been dead for at least two to three days and up to as long as two weeks or more.

The afternoon of that same day, June 28, 1993, Appellant walked into the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. He was turned over to the Oklahoma City Police and placed under arrest. During a custodial interrogation, Appellant told Detectives Bemo and Cook that he had been laid off his job as head janitor at Washington Irving Elementary School because the company that he worked for had lost its contract. According to Appellant, when he told his wife this news a fight ensued. At one point Jennifer grabbed a knife and he took the knife from her and stuck her with it. When the boys came to their mother's defense, he stuck them with the knife as well. Although Appellant admitted that he "got" the girls also, he could not remember any details. Appellant told the police where he placed each of the bodies.

PRETRIAL ISSUES

Appellant first contends that the procedures utilized in Oklahoma to determine a person's competency to stand trial are less protective than those accepted as sufficient by the United States Supreme Court and therefore do not meet federal constitutional standards of due process. As Appellant points out, it is well settled that the Due Process Clause prohibits the criminal prosecution of a defendant who is not competent to stand trial. See Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 95 S.Ct. 896, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975); Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966). In making such determination, the Supreme Court has held that "it is not enough for the district judge to find that 'the defendant [is] oriented to time and place and [has] some recollection of events,'...." Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 789, 4 L.Ed.2d 824, 825 (1960). Rather, it is incumbent upon the trial court to determine "whether [the defendant] has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding--and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him." Id.

These same principles are reflected in Oklahoma's law. Title 22 O.S.1991, § 1175.1 defines competency as "the present ability of a person arrested for or charged with a crime to understand the nature of the charges and proceedings brought against him, and to ... effectively and rationally assist in his defense." This language has been interpreted to proffer a two-part test requiring first that an accused have sufficient ability to consult with his or her attorney and second, that an accused have a "rational and actual understanding of the proceedings against him." Middaugh v. State, 767 P.2d 432, 434 (Okl.Cr.1988). This Court has found little or no difference between the effective meaning of Oklahoma's law and the language used by the Supreme Court in Dusky. "In both cases, the accused is required to understand the charges against him, the implications of the charges against him and be able As part of his first proposition, Appellant contends that 22 O.S.1991, § 1175.4 is unconstitutional insofar as it presumes every defendant competent and requires the person whose competency is at issue to prove incompetence by clear and convincing evidence at the post-examination competency hearing. The United States Supreme Court recently addressed this issue in Cooper v. Oklahoma, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 1373, 134 L.Ed.2d 498 (1996), wherein it held that the clear and convincing burden of proof does violate due process. "Oklahoma's practice of requiring the defendant to prove incompetence by clear and convincing evidence imposes a significant risk of an erroneous determination that the defendant is incompetent." Id. --- U.S. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1381.

to effectively assist his attorney in defense of the charges against him." Lambert v. State, 888 P.2d 494, 498 (Okl.Cr.1994). See also Perry v. State, 893 P.2d 521, 526-27 (Okl.Cr.1995). Appellant has not persuaded us otherwise.

On July 20, 1993, when defense counsel argued his motion for a competency examination, he advised the trial court that during their first few meetings, Appellant had not seemed to understand his questions about what had happened and had not known how to respond. Based upon this, defense counsel stated that he had serious questions about Appellant's ability to aid in his defense. The trial court granted the request for a competency examination. Subsequently, on September 3, 1993, at the post-examination competency hearing, neither the defense nor the State called any witnesses to testify. Rather, both parties stipulated to the admission of a letter from Dr. King, the expert who had performed Appellant's psychiatric evaluation. Dr. King concluded in the letter that, "Mr. Smith is able to communicate rationally with his attorney and to deal adequately with his defense." ² Defense counsel stated that while he did not necessarily agree with Dr. King's findings, he was not prepared to contest any of her findings because no funds were available for him to secure a second opinion from another expert. Significantly, defense counsel did not advise the trial court that he was still having problems communicating with Appellant.

Based upon the evidence presented at the post-examination competency hearing, the trial court found Appellant competent to stand trial. After making this ruling, the trial court indicated that if evidence came to light demonstrating that Appellant was incompetent to stand trial such would be considered at that time. There is no indication from the record that such evidence was ever presented. Indeed, there is evidence to the contrary. Prior to the commencement of voir dire on October 18, 1994, Appellant, himself, argued two motions to the trial court. Appellant first stated that he was concerned about facial expressions the prosecutors would make to the jury. Second, Appellant had previously filed a motion to have his attorney removed from the case because he felt that defense counsel was not doing his job. At the motion hearing Appellant stated that he had subsequently changed his mind. Again, on October 20, 1994, Appellant argued another motion to the trial court regarding racial disparity of the jury. He was concerned because eleven of the twelve jurors were white. While these motions were not argued with the skill of a trial attorney, they were communicated clearly enough for the trial court to understand Appellant's concerns. Further, although these motions were without merit, they were not so preposterous as to have been inappropriately raised. These instances show that Appellant not only understood the proceedings against him, but he also was a very active participant in his own defense.

Appellant argues that the record reflects he did not display a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings because he could not distinguish reality from fantasy. This is based upon the notation of Dr. King, that Appellant was "largely concerned with having his mother visit him and with 'getting the truth' so he can get out of jail." ³ That Appellant could have thought it possible that he would be able to go home after having confessed to the crime is said to demonstrate Despite Appellant's assertion to the contrary, we find the record supports a finding that he knew the nature of the proceedings and possessed a rational understanding of them. The defense failed to prove, even by a preponderance of the evidence, that Appellant was incompetent to stand trial. Because the evidence in...