Wright v. State

• Decision Date: 10 January 1973
• Docket Number: No. A--16446,A--16446
• Citation: 505 P.2d 507
• Parties: Charlie B. WRIGHT et al., Appellants, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 507

505 P.2d 507

Charlie B. WRIGHT et al., Appellants, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. A--16446.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

Jan. 10, 1973.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 2, 1973.

H. A. Leatherman, Oklahoma City, for appellants.

Larry Derryberry, Atty. Gen., Michael D. Tinney, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

OPINION

BLISS, Judge:

Appellants, and each of them were charged, tried, and convicted by a jury in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma with the offense of Riot. Wright and Clark were convicted after former conviction of a felony and sentenced to serve terms of twenty-five (25) years in the state penitentiary, while Houseley was convicted as a first offender. From those judgments and sentences, this timely conjoint appeal has been perfected.

At the trial, Floyd Wallis testified he was 19, and that on the evening in question, April 17, 1970, he had just pulled up in front of his brother-in-law's house at 1512 South Pettee in Oklahoma City shortly before midnight. In the car with him at the time were his wife, Betty, and a friend, Roger Lineman.

He testified that while they were sitting in the car, a carload of boys pulled up behind him, exited their car, and came to his vehicle and asked him if he knew a person by the name of Rich Ward. He testified he left his vehicle, stating he did not know a Rich Ward, and at that point, he was jumped by an estimated seven assailants, and a fight started. He testified he hollered to his brother-in-law for help, that during the melee he was struck on the left arm by a piece of angle iron, and that he remembered being on the ground several times. He testified he was cut on his arm and had knots on his head, kick marks on his legs, and one on his back. He testified that while he was lying on the ground he saw several of his assailants get into what he told officers was a 1955 or 1956 red and white Chevrolet, that he was not certain of the color, and that he had kicked out the driver's side window in the fight. He testified his brother-in-law, James Ronnie Wagoner, was lying in the street with a big gash on his neck, and part of his ear torn off. Wallis said Lineman helped him get Ronnie into the house, and that the assailants then came back, attempted to get into their house, and kicked out the windows in Wallis's automobile.

After first stating he could not make a definite statement, Wallis identified Wright as one of his assailants, indicating that he had met Wright two and one-half years earlier, and stated the other two defendants in the courtroom had the same description and same size, but indicated there were more assailants than were present in the courtroom. Cross-examination did nothing to reinforce Wallis's testimony, and he did state that he would not say under oath that he had ever seen the two defendants, Houseley and Clark before that day in the courtroom.

The brother-in-law, Wagoner, stated he was at home at approximately 11:45 p.m. on the date in question at 1512 Southwest Pettee when he heard a car honk outside, looked out the window, and saw it was his brother-in-law. He stated he saw a car pull up behind his brother-in-law's car and he saw six or seven people alight from the car carrying 'pop bottles and stuff' behind their backs. He testified he looked for something with which to help his brother-in-law and then ran out toward the fight empty-handed. He testified he did not know who or what hit him, but that when he regained consciousness, part of one ear was missing, he had several head gashes which required 75 stitches to close, and a skull fracture.

Betty Wallis's testimony was substantially the same as that given by her husband, but she also was unable to identify any of the assailants, and she could not say for certain how many assailants there were. She testified she recalled seeing more than three people, and that they all jumped on her husband after asking him if he knew a person by the name of Richard Ward. She testified she saw Ronnie Wagoner come out of the house, run across the street, and that they all jumped on him. She described the vehicle used by the assailants as a two-tone 1955 or 1956 Chevrolet. She testified on cross-examination that she knew Charlie B. Wright, but did not recall seeing him there the night of the fight. She did state she recognized the individual in the blue shirt who came up to the auto and talked to her husband, but the transcript does not reflect whether it was Houseley or Clark.

Amy Lee Taylor testified that she was living at 1511 South Pettee on the date in question and was awakened by her son about 11:45 p.m., who told her that there was a fight occurring in the alley behind their house. She testified that she walked to the window, looked out, and saw Mr. Wagoner come running out of his apartment, and at the same time, saw a 'whole bunch of boys out in the alley fighting with another man.' She testified that just as Mr. Wagoner came out the door, one of them hit him with a bottle of some kind, and that the bottle shattered and knocked him down. She testified that every time he tried to get up, four or five boys kept hitting him with bottles, and that one had something that looked like a piece of iron or a long piece of metal.

She testified that she went down the stairs and out the back door and got a good look at all of the participants in the fight. She testified she tried to help Mr. Wagoner and that once they got him into his apartment, all of the boys came back to the door and started to smash it in. She identified all three of the defendants as having participated in the fight. She testified on cross-examination that she had seen the same group of boys in her front yard before dark, a little after 6:00 o'clock on the night in question. She stated they were riding around in a car, and that they got out several times, and they were talking to neighborhood children. She also stated there appeared to be seven or eight persons involved in the fight, besides Mr. Wagoner and his brother-in-law. She testified that the area where the fight took place was well lighted.

Mrs. Taylor's son, Keith, testified that he was a thirteen-year-old seventh grader, and that he was watching television at approximately 11:45 p.m., when he heard a car honk and went to look out the window. His testimony concerning the fight was substantially similar to that of the other prosecution witnesses. He testified further that he could identify Charlie Wright as one of the participants in the fight, having seen him at other occasions around the area, and also, that he called the police. He testified, as did his mother, that he could identify two other participants in the fight, but that they were not present in the courtroom at the trial.

Officer Harold Behrens testified that he and his patrol partner received a radio assignment to a gang fight at approximately 12:15 a.m. in the 1500 Block of South Pettee. The officer described the fight scene, the automobile with the windows broken out, and the two victims who had been beaten up. He testified to summoning an ambulance, observing the damage to the door of the Wagoner residence apparently where the attempt to gain entry had been made. The officer testified approximately 45 minutes later they were patrolling the 1500 Block of South Pennsylvania and observed two vehicles, one a 1956 two-tone Chevrolet, and the other a 1957 Oldsmobile, and that there was a large group of boys in and around the two vehicles. The officer testified the Chevrolet was green and white, and the Oldsmobile was red and white.

The officer testified that they stopped, talked to some of the subjects and placed seven of the boys under arrest for loitering. He also stated that at that time he noticed the 1956 Chevrolet had the driver's side window broken out of it, that there were glass splinters in the floorboard and on the seat of the vehicle, and that lying on the back seat of the vehicle he found a long piece of pipe or an I-beam of some sort which appeared to have blood on it. He testified the pipe was impounded as evidence, and stated that the Chevrolet was the car normally driven by one of the defendants, Bobby Clark. He identified Clark as being one of the three defendants in the courtroom. He also stated that the defendants Charlie Wright and Rex Houseley were present and that Wright had what appeared to be blood stains on his clothing and scratch marks on his hands. The officer stated all three of the defendants had blood on their clothes and scratch marks on their arms and hands.

On cross-examination the officer testified that no effort was made to lift any fingerprints from the metal bar and that no attempt was made to determine whether or not the substance on the bar and on the clothing was, in fact, blood. The officer stated on cross-examination that most of the witnesses at the scene were fairly certain they had seen either a blue and white or a green and white vehicle leave the scene.

Officer Gene Christian testified that he was assigned to the detective division and that he made an investigation the day following the incident. He testified he interviewed the three defendants in the city jail, and that at that time the defendant Clark had on a dark blue shirt. He stated that Clark had a small cut on his right arm and minor scratches and bruises on his right arm. He identified Clark in the courtroom. He testified the defendant Wright also had blood on the sleeve in front of his shirt, and that Houseley appeared to have a minor bruise on his face.

The defense called as its only witness Robert Settle, who testified that he is the manager of the C & J Auto Parts at 2521 South May, and that he employed Charlie Wright as a driver and delivery man at his place of business, and that Wright was employed in his place of business on the day in question. He testified that Wright's hours were from 8:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening.

The defense stipulated that...