Walker v. State, A--18145
| Decision Date | 30 August 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. A--18145,A--18145 |
| Citation | 512 P.2d 208 |
| Parties | Thomas WALKER, Jr., Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
Thomas Walker, Jr., appellant, was convicted for the offense of Unlawful Possession of Marijuana. He was sentenced to serve a term of one year in the county jail. From said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.
Floyd Henson, Shawnee, for appellant.
Larry Derryberry, Atty. Gen., Charles R. Lane, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.
Appellant, Thomas Walker, Jr., hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged, tried and convicted in the District Court of Pottawatomie County, Case No. CRM--72--796, for the offense of Unlawful Possession of Marijuana. He was sentenced to serve a term of one (1) year in the county jail. From said judgment and sentence, a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.
At the trial Deputy Sheriff James Brooks testified that on September 11, 1972, he was serving papers in an area north of Dale, Oklahoma, when a white 1962 Chevrolet with four subjects in it passed his car at a high rate of speed. He followed the car, which pulled off the side of the road into a field. Upon approaching the car, he observed one subject out of the car walking toward a wooded area. Deputy Brooks asked the driver of the car for his driver's license and to step from the car. As the driver stepped out of the car, Deputy Brooks observed a 'water pipe.' He reached inside the car and picked up the pipe and smelled of the pipe and in his opinion, marijuana had been used in it. He then placed all four occupants under arrest.
Deputy Brooks further testified that he detected an odor of marijuana inside the car. He then observed a silver object sticking out under the front seat of the car. He then reached in and removed the object, finding the object to be another pipe which is in his opinion normally used for smoking marijuana.
Deputy Brooks then obtained a search warrant and the subsequent search revealed six ounces of marijuana in the glove compartment and a small plastic bottle containing marijuana found in an old shoe located behind the driver's seat on the floorboard.
Ronald Clodfelter, forensic chemist for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, testified that he examined State's Exhibits 1 through 6 and all contained marijuana.
Defendant took the stand in his own behalf after being advised not to by his attorney. The trial court, being very liberal with the defendant, allowed him to give a dissertation before the jury which constituted forty-two pages of the transcript concerning his life history. Briefly stated, the pertinent part of his testimony is as follows: that on September 11, 1972, he had processed both State's Exhibits 4 and 5, those being a plastic bag containing a green, leafy substance and a small foil package containing a dry, leafy substance; that both of these items were marijuana that he had himself grown and processed the marijuana into cubicles for his own smoking benefit and that he intended to share with other people and not market; that he had placed the marijuana in the aluminum package in the glove compartment in the car and that he had knowledge that they were there.
The defendant's first proposition of error asserts that none of the evidence of the State of Oklahoma was admissible because the initial arrest was unlawful. We do not agree. Deputy Brooks observed the vehicle in question pass him at a high rate of speed. He then proceeded after the vehicle, which subsequently stopped in a field. Deputy Brooks testified it was his intention to issue the driver a citation for careless driving. In the case of Lloyd v. State, Okl.Cr., 505 P.2d 1364, this Court, in quoting from the case of Hargus v. State, 58...
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Hill v. State
...P.2d 643, 645 (Okl.Cr.1977) (holding insufficient evidence that joint was in plain view at defendant's feet in car) and Walker v. State, 512 P.2d 208, 210 (Okl.Cr.1973) (holding presence of bong, pipe and odor of marijuana insufficient absent defendant's testimony admitting ownership)18 In ......
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Staples v. State, M--74--439
...in which an illicit drug is found does not, of itself, constitute sufficient proof of his possession of that drug. In Walker v. State, Okl.Cr., 512 P.2d 208 (1973), the State's evidence showed that the defendant was one of three passengers in an automobile which had been stopped for speedin......
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Gilreath v. State, M-79-460
...that the appellant exercised full dominion and control over the marijuana found in the vehicle, the appellant relies on Walker v. State, 512 P.2d 208 (Okl.Cr.1973). That case reflects that being a mere passenger in an automobile does not constitute sufficient proof of the passenger's posses......
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Maynard v. State
...from the overruling of his motion for directed verdict, the Court of Criminal Appeals will look to the entire record. Walker v. State, 512 P.2d 208 (Okl.Cr.1973). After a review of the record, we find there was substantial evidence presented from which the jury could conclude the appellant,......