Court Opinion

ID: 9851807
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:20:03.238002+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:15.741456
License: Public Domain

BUSSEY, Judge,
dissenting:
I am of the opinion that the judgment and sentence in this case should be affirmed.
At trial, the State presented overwhelming evidence of appellant’s guilt, and the record is devoid of any evidence that appellant acted in self defense when he shot Mr. Craft. Therefore, I believe that the trial court acted properly in denying appellant’s written requested instruction on self defense.
As the majority points out, the facts are not disputed. On the evening of June 10, 1981, appellant accompanied by Paula Oates, went to see Craft, who was residing in Paula’s apartment in the Osage Apartment Complex. After Paula lured Craft out of the apartment, appellant ordered him to walk to the side of the building. Craft began walking toward the street instead. Suddenly, Craft raised his hands and turned around. The appellant shot him six times with a .38 caliber revolver, resulting in his death.
The law is well settled in Oklahoma that if there is no evidence in the record to support an instruction it should not be given. See, Nauni v. State, 670 P.2d 126 (Okl.Cr.1983). In the instant case, there is not a scintilla of evidence that appellant acted in self defense. When an unarmed person raises his hands and turns around and is shot six times by an armed person who has come to his residence, lured him outside, and pointed a loaded firearm at him, I am of the opinion that it is inconceivable that the trial court should give a self defense instruction. I am aware of the fact that Craft made threats on appellant’s life and that he was known to carry weapons. However, if we interpret Craft’s actions, raising his hands and turning around, as an “overt act or demonstration designed to execute the threats which furnished the defendant some reason to believe that he was in danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury at the hands of the deceased,” then a self defense instruction would be required under every imaginable circumstance.
In Allison v. State, where the Supreme Court stated, “What is or is not an overt demonstration of violence varies with the circumstances. Under some circumstances a slight movement may justify instant action because of reasonable apprehension of danger; under other circumstances this would not be so,” the evidence was that the deceased who had threatened the defendant and who carried a gun constantly, made a sudden movement with his hand toward his pocket. Obviously, the sudden hand movement could cause a reasonable apprehension of danger under the circumstances of Allison. However, in the instant case, Craft raised his hands and turned around while appellant had a gun pointed at him. Certainly, this movement could not have produced any reasonable apprehension on the part of appellant.
Therefore, I am of the opinion that the trial court acted properly in denying appellant’s written requested instruction on self defense, and I would affirm the judgment and sentence.