Wall v. State

• Decision Date: 21 May 2020
• Docket Number: Case No. F-2018-567
• Citation: 465 P.3d 227
• Parties: Christopher Allen WALL, Appellant v. STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

465 P.3d 227

Christopher Allen WALL, Appellant

v.STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

Case No. F-2018-567

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

FILED MAY 21, 2020

SUMMARY OPINION

LUMPKIN, JUDGE:

¶1 Appellant Christopher Allen Wall was tried by jury and found guilty of Endeavoring to Manufacture a Controlled Drug (Count I) ( 63 O.S.2011, § 2-408 ) and Possession of a Controlled Drug (Count II) ( 63 O.S.Supp.2012, § 2-402 ) both counts After Former Conviction of Two or More Felonies, in the District Court of Tulsa County, Case No. CF-2016-3548. The jury recommended as punishment forty (40) years in prison in Count I and twelve (12) years in prison in Count II, with a $10,000.00 fine in each count. The trial court sentenced accordingly, ordering the sentences to be served consecutively. It is from this judgment and sentence that Appellant appeals.

¶2 Appellant raises the following propositions of error in support of his appeal:

I. The trial judge erred by allowing evidence of a prior conviction to be used as "identity" evidence and common scheme or plan evidence.

II. The evidence was insufficient to convict Appellant of the charge of Endeavoring to Manufacture.

III. The evidence was insufficient to prove that Appellant possessed methamphetamine.

IV. Evidentiary Harpoons deprived Appellant of a fair trial and due process of law.

V. The officer rendered an improper expert opinion.

VI. The trial court erred by admitting evidence about red phosphorous when no red phosphorous was found in this case.

VII. Prosecutorial misconduct deprived Appellant of a fair trial.

VIII. Ineffective assistance of counsel deprived Appellant of a fair trial and due process of law.

IX. The sentences were excessive.

X. Cumulative error deprived Appellant of a fair trial.

¶3 After thorough consideration of these propositions and the entire record before us on appeal including the original record, transcripts, and briefs of the parties, we have determined that under the law and the evidence no relief is warranted.

¶4 In Proposition I, Appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting evidence that in 2000 he operated a methamphetamine lab out of his home. The trial court admitted the evidence under the identity exception to the rule against admission of other crimes evidence under 12 O.S.2011, § 2404(B). Appellant argues on appeal that the evidence was improperly admitted as it does not prove his identity as the operator of the methamphetamine lab in the present case.

¶5 In admitting the evidence, the trial judge explained that he determined the identity exception was the most appropriate exception because of defense counsel's argument that Appellant had no knowledge of the working methamphetamine lab found in the detached garage of the home he shared with his parents, and that it was others who were coming and going from the garage who were actually manufacturing the methamphetamine. In light of Appellant's timely objection, our review of the trial court's admission of the evidence is for an abuse of discretion. Marshall v. State, 2010 OK CR 8, ¶ 24, 232 P.3d 467, 474. An abuse of discretion is a clearly erroneous conclusion and judgment, one that is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts presented. Id.

¶6 "The general rule is that, when an accused is placed on trial, he is to be convicted by evidence that shows him guilty of the offense charged and not of other offenses not connected with the charged offenses." Williams v. State , 2008 OK CR 19, ¶ 36, 188 P.3d 208, 218-219. "Evidence that a defendant committed other crimes, however, is admissible to show motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident." Id. Title 12 O.S.2011, § 2404(B) provides:

Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.

¶7 "Identity can be proven by a highly peculiar method of committing a crime." Williams, 2008 OK CR 19, ¶ 37, 188 P.3d at 218-219, citing Driskell v. State , 1983 OK CR 22, ¶ 25, 659 P.2d 343, 349. "[T]he identity exception ... 'requires unique similarities between the crimes amounting to a ‘signature’ ". Neloms v. State, 2012 OK CR 7, ¶ 14, 274 P.3d 161, 164. "Identity is the more appropriate label for ... signature evidence because distinctive methods of operation are indicative of who perpetrated the crime." Williams , 2008 OK CR 19, ¶ 37, 188 P.3d at 219, quoting Welch v. State, 2000 OK CR 8, ¶ 11, 2 P.3d 356, 366.

¶8 However, the terms "signature crimes" or "signature evidence" do not require that the crimes be identical in all respects but merely that they share unique or unusual aspects from which one might reasonably infer that both were committed by the same person. See U.S. v. Porter , 881 F.2d 878, 887 (10th Cir. 1989) ("evidence of another crime need not be identical to the crime charged, but need only be similar and share with it ‘elements that possess ‘signature quality’ "). In Pickens v. State, 1988 OK CR 35, 751 P.2d 742, without using the term "signature crime", this Court found sufficient similarities where both robberies were committed just across the county line, using the same weapon and mask, stating:

We find that the evidence of the Tulsa County robbery was admissible to prove the identity of the perpetrator or a common scheme or plan which embraces the commission of two or more crimes so related to each other that proof of one tends to establish the other.

1988 OK CR 35, ¶ 3, 751 P.2d at 743.

¶9 Similarly, where evidence from one crime shows up at another scene, proof of the former might be probative in proving identity as to the latter crime, even though no highly peculiar method of carrying out the crimes is present. Williams , 2008 OK CR 19, ¶ 39, 188 P.3d at 219.

¶10 This proposition presents a unique legal challenge to our ability to interpret the identity exception set out in § 2404(B) in such a manner that the exception does not swallow the rule. In an in-camera hearing, the trial judge compared the 2000 offense to the current case, reviewing a long list of similarities in the implements and ingredients between the 2016 lab and the 2000 lab before determining the evidence was admissible under the identity exception.

¶11 During its case-in-chief, the State presented testimony from Forrest Smith, a member of the Narcotics Team of the Sand Springs Police Department in 2000. He testified that he assisted in the execution of a search warrant at Appellant's residence in January 2000. Smith said that ingredients and materials were found which showed an operational methamphetamine lab using the red phosphorous method of cooking. He gave a partial listing of the items found in the operating lab.

¶12 Smith testified that he had no involvement in the investigation into the 2016 lab, but he could state that based upon his review of the evidence, it did not involve the red phosphorous method but was a "one-pot shake-and-bake method" of cooking the methamphetamine. He said that technology in methamphetamine production had changed over time and the red phosphorous method was no longer commonly seen. He said there were currently at least 20 different methods of manufacturing methamphetamine and that the "one-pot" method was now the most commonly seen.

¶13 Also testifying for the State was Detective Kimura of the Sand Springs Police Department. He testified that during his investigation into the lab found in 2016, all the ingredients and materials necessary for an operational methamphetamine lab were present. Det. Kimura explained that the ingredients and materials showed that the "one-pot shake-and-bake method" was being used to make the methamphetamine, and not the red phosphorous method.

¶14 The use of the identity exception must be narrowly construed to conform to the rule set out in § 2404(B) and our case law. Here, the similarities between the 2000 lab and the 2016 lab were not sufficient to establish a signature or distinctive method of committing the crime of manufacturing methamphetamine. The evidence merely showed two different instances of clandestinely making methamphetamine, each using the recipe and method in common use at that particular point in history. Therefore, the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of the 2000 offense under the identity exception.

¶15 However, we find the evidence of the 2000 lab was properly admissible under the knowledge exception to the other crimes prohibition. Appellant claimed he had no knowledge that the tools and materials discovered in the garage where he operated his granite business could be used to manufacture methamphetamine. Evidence that he operated a methamphetamine lab in the past was relevant to prove his knowledge of the use and purposes of the tools and materials found in his garage in 2016. See 12 O.S.2011, § 2401 (relevant evidence is any evidence "having any tendency to make the existence of a fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence").

¶16 Additionally, the error in this case was harmless as the evidence of the 2000 lab did not have a substantial influence on the outcome, or leave this Court with grave doubts as to whether it had such an effect. See Simpson v. State, 1994 OK CR 40, ¶ 37, 876 P.2d 690, 702. As discussed in Proposition II, sufficient evidence, apart from the 2000 offense, was presented to show that Appellant was the person operating the methamphetamine lab. Regarding evidence of the 2000 offense, Appellant admitted on the witness stand that in 2000 he pled guilty to the offense of manufacturing methamphetamine. He also admitted that he knew how to make methamphetamine.

¶17 We take this opportunity to emphasize that the focus is on the...