Tilley v. State

• Decision Date: 07 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. F-96-441,F-96-441
• Citation: 1998 OK CR 43,963 P.2d 607
• Parties: 1998 OK CR 43 Joe Vance TILLEY, Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 607

963 P.2d 607

1998 OK CR 43

Joe Vance TILLEY, Appellant, v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. F-96-441.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

July 7, 1998.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 5, 1998.

Joseph O. Minter IV, Madill, for Defendant at trial.

Gary Henry, District Attorney, Charles Migliorino, Assistant District Attorney, Tishomingo, for the State at trial.

Jamie D. Pybas, Appellate Indigent Defense, Norman, for Appellant on appeal.

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

OPINION

JOHNSON, Judge:

¶1 Joe Vance Tilley was tried by a jury in the District Court of Johnston County, Case No. CRF-90-71, before the Honorable Thomas S. Walker. Tilley was convicted of First Degree Malice Aforethought Murder. After finding the existence of one aggravating circumstance--Tilley posed a continuing threat to society--the jury set punishment at death. The trial court sentenced Appellant accordingly. Tilley now appeals.

¶2 During the early morning hours of September 14, 1990, fifteen-year-old Kimberly Ann James sneaked out of her house to meet sixteen-year-old Joe Vance Tilley. The two teenagers attended high school together in Madill. Tilley then took James riding around in his car. Tilley eventually pulled off the roadway and stopped the car. After directing James to get out of the car, Tilley asked James whether she believed he was crazy or would kill her. Tilley then proceeded to strangle James until he could no longer feel a pulse. Thereafter, Tilley placed James' body in his car and drove her to a bridge over the Washita River, where he threw her body into the water. Two fisherman discovered James' body floating face down in the river on the afternoon of Monday, September 17, 1990.

¶3 Prior to his arrest, Tilley made statements to Wilma Rushing Bentley and Gregg Maddox about the murder. During these conversations, Tilley stated he had killed James and gave specific details about the murder. Tilley also confessed to law enforcement after his arrest.

Pretrial Issues

¶4 Tilley submits in his sixth proposition of error that the Information was insufficient as it failed to allege all the elements of malice murder. Tilley specifically contends the trial court never acquired subject matter jurisdiction over this case because the indispensable "malice aforethought" element was not alleged in the Information filed against him. As Tilley did not object to the Information at trial, we review only for plain, reversible error. Conover v. State, 1997 OK CR 6, 933 P.2d 904, 909.

¶5 In Parker v. State, 1996 OK CR 19, 917 P.2d 980, cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 777, 136 L.Ed.2d 721 (1997), this Court rejected Miller v. State, 1992 OK CR 8, 827 P.2d 875, and concluded that any failure to allege facts constituting an offense raises due process questions but does not automatically affect the trial court's jurisdiction. Parker, 917 P.2d at 985. Thus, review of this issue focuses on whether the Information gave the defendant notice of the charges against him and apprised him of what he must defend against at trial. Id. at 986. This determination is to be made on a case-by-case basis. "[T]his Court will look to the 'four corners' of the Information together with all material that was made available to a defendant at preliminary hearing or through discovery to determine whether a defendant received notice to satisfy due process requirements." Conover, 933 P.2d at 909.

¶6 The Information in the instant case set forth sufficient facts to give Tilley notice of the charge against him. The use of the phrase "with premeditated design" was sufficient to advise Appellant that he was charged with malice aforethought murder. Conover, 933 P.2d at 910. See also Holloway v. State, 1979 OK CR 113, 602 P.2d 218, 220. It is also clear from the trial record that Tilley understood he was charged with malice aforethought murder. Consequently, we find no due process violation occurred.

¶7 Tilley contends, however, that retroactive application of Parker to his case violates Oklahoma case law and is fundamentally unfair under federal and state constitutional provisions for due process and equal protection of the laws. This issue was specifically addressed and rejected by this Court in Conover, 933 P.2d at 910. See also Miles v. State, 1996 OK CR 24, 922 P.2d 629, 631 (application of Parker does not deny a defendant of a substantial personal right nor does it violate the prohibition against ex post facto laws). We need not revisit this issue at this time.

¶8 The Information in the present case was not ambiguous and set forth the requisite mens rea to place Tilley on notice that he was charged with malice murder. This proposition of error is denied.

¶9 In his fourteenth proposition of error, Tilley submits that Oklahoma's reverse certification statutes are inadequate to insure that a sixteen-year-old offender is sufficiently mature and morally responsible to be subjected to the death penalty. Tilley appealed the denial of his reverse certification motion in Tilley v. State, J-92-114 (not for publication opinion decided on October 1, 1992). All challenges to the reverse certification procedure should have been presented and decided in that matter. This allegation of error is not properly before us at this time. ¹

Issues Relating to Guilt/Innocence

¶10 On August 28, 1991, defense counsel filed a motion to quash the Information in this case based on the State's failure to prove the corpus delicti of the crime. A hearing was held on December 22, 1992, at which time argument was presented. The court reserved ruling on the motion and ordered both parties to submit briefs on the issue. On January 13, 1993, relying on Thornburgh v. State, 1991 OK CR 65, 815 P.2d 186, ² the district court sustained Tilley's motion to quash finding the State had failed to sufficiently prove the corpus delicti of the crime. The district court also ordered the charge dismissed and bond exonerated, and stayed the order of dismissal and exoneration of the bond pending the State's appeal.

¶11 On December 5, 1994, in an unpublished opinion (State v. Tilley, Case No. F-93-660), this Court reversed the district court's order finding that the corpus delicti rule set forth in Thornburgh had been overruled by Fontenot v. State, 1994 OK CR 42, 881 P.2d 69. ³ Thereafter, Tilley filed a Petition for Rehearing arguing, in part, that the Court's decision improperly subjected him to an ex post facto application of substantive law. On October 11, 1995, this Court denied Tilley's rehearing motion. Citing Mitchell v. State, 1994 OK CR 70, 884 P.2d 1186, 1204, cert. denied, 516 U.S. 827, 116 S.Ct. 95, 133 L.Ed.2d 50 (1995), the Court reasoned that the application of a new evidentiary rule in a trial for a crime committed prior to the evidentiary change is not prohibited by the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto law.

¶12 In his first assignment of error, Tilley again contends the retroactive application of this Court's decision in Fontenot violated judicial ex post facto principles. Review of this claim is barred by the doctrine of res judicata. This issue was fully addressed by this Court in its October 11, 1995, order denying Tilley's motion for rehearing.

¶13 Tilley asserts in his second assignment of error that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for first degree murder. Tilley maintains his conviction cannot stand as it was based solely upon his uncorroborated confession. He contends that even under the Opper standard ⁴ adopted in Fontenot, the State completely failed to corroborate his confessions with substantial independent evidence. We disagree.

¶14 "A confession may be considered trustworthy if it is corroborated by substantial independent evidence." Rogers v. State, 1995 OK CR 8, 890 P.2d 959, 975, cert. denied, 516 U.S. 919, 116 S.Ct. 312, 133 L.Ed.2d 215 (1995). See also Fontenot, 881 P.2d at 80-1. However, each material element does not have to be corroborated by facts independent of the confession. Rogers, 890 P.2d at 975. In fact, inconsistencies between the facts proven and the facts related in the confession may exist, so long as the inconsistencies do not overwhelm the similarities. Id.

¶15 The State in the instant case provided sufficient corroborative evidence independent of Tilley's confession to show its trustworthiness and thus its competence. First, in addition to confessing to law enforcement, Tilley made several post-crime statements in which he admitted killing the victim. See Johnson v. State, 1995 OK CR 62, 911 P.2d 918, 925, cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 116, 136 L.Ed.2d 67 (1996). During two separate conversations with Wilma Rushing Bentley, Tilley stated that he had killed Kimberly James. During the second conversation, Tilley described in detail the events leading up to the victim's murder and the actual murder. Tilley also spoke with Gregg Maddox in detail about the murder. Tilley's post-crime statements to Maddox were consistent with his statements to Bentley.

¶16 Second, although the autopsy was inconclusive as to the victim's cause of death, Dr. Chai Choi testified that the left part of the victim's head had a purplish to green coloring which indicated some traumatic bruises in that area. This evidence of bruising was consistent with Tilley's statements that he had dropped the victim on her head when he was attempting to throw her over the bridge.

¶17 Third, the victim's body was found in the Washita River four or five miles north of Dickson approximately 75 to 100 yards east of the River Bridge. The location of the victim's body is consistent with Tilley's post-crime statements to Gregg Maddox.

¶18 Finally, Tilley's voluntary confession to the Herman Deagon murder in Carter County, which occurred just four days prior to the James murder, corroborates the trustworthiness of Tilley's confession to the James...