Court Opinion

ID: 9544289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:54:09.548062+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:12:34.393013
License: Public Domain

BRETT, Judge
(specially concurring).
While we feel that our decision to affirm defendant’s conviction is correct and just as per the legal issues raised on appeal, we are not insensitive to the circumstances which led to this tragic incident. Defendant and his victim were by all account close friends of long standing. The horseplay which led to the shooting was mutual, and evidence of premeditation or malice on the part of the defendant was extremely weak. When defendant took the stand in his own behalf, the State did not •impeach his testimony with evidence of prior felony convictions. We assume, therefore, that there were none, but note that this assumption is rebuttable. Also relevant, if verifiable, would be the fact that defendant suffered from diabetes and a severe heart condition, and his life expectancy is, by his own words, short.
Under such circumstances, we would recommend to defense counsel that he make application to the trial court for suspension of sentence in accord with the provisions of 22 O.S.1971, § 994, which reads:
“After appeal, when any criminal conviction is affirmed either in whole or in part, the court in which the defendant was originally convicted may suspend the judgment and sentence as otherwise provided by law. Jurisdiction for such suspension shall be vested in said trial court *1123by a request by the defendant within ten days of the final order of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Any order granting or denying suspension made under the provisions of this section is a nonappealable order.”