Court Opinion

ID: 9632808
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:25:23.519393+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:00:10.681469
License: Public Domain

BRETT, Presiding Judge,
dissenting:
I feel compelled to dissent to this decision because I believe the prosecutrix's testimony should have been properly corroborated, considering the facts of this case.
The prosecutrix admitted that she had lied in the past, and her reputation for not being truthful was testified to by other witnesses at trial. She admitted on the witness stand that she had told some people the person in her room that day was named James, and two of the witnesses testified that she had previously told them she liked a person named James. She testified further that she only reported the incident after her mother forced her to, by threatening that her parents would be put in jail if she did not testify. Case law in Oklahoma has established that where the testimony of the prosecutrix is contradictory, uncertain, improbable or impeached, it should be corroborated in order to warrant a conviction. Holding v. State, 568 P.2d 332 (Okl.Cr.1977).
The State produced the witness, Carrie Bowman, in an effort to corroborate the identification of the appellant. She testified at the preliminary hearing that she lived next door to the prosecutrix and on the day in question she saw a black man slide down the side of the house and pass the front of her house. At the preliminary hearing she identified the appellant as the man she saw climbing out of the window that day. She could not judge his height and she had trouble describing his clothing.
Ms. Bowman testified that, "He had a plaid cap on and a heavy jacket," and that "It was a cap with a bill on it." She was asked, "What kind of heavy jacket?" She replied, "Well, it had different colors in it, but I don't know what color it was anymore." Defense counsel inquired further, "You don't know what color it was?" Ms. *760Bowman replied, "No I don't." Counsel then asked, "Was it some kind of mackinaw type thing?" The witness testified, "I'm not quite sure, but I think it was, cause it was a heavy jacket."
This witness testified further that she had seen the appellant one other time before the preliminary hearing. That time was when she was in the district attorney's office.
An in-court identification is excludable in Oklahoma only if the court finds there was a constitutionally impermissible and suggestive pretrial viewing or confrontation. Grigsby v. State, 496 P.2d 1188 (Okl.Cr.1972); Fortune v. State, 549 P.2d 380 (Okl.Cr.1976). The trial court found, based upon the evidence presented, that Carrie Bowman's in-court identification of the appellant on the date of the alleged crime was not contaminated by any in-court activity or lineup. However, one can argue that Carrie Bowman's in-court identification should have been excluded on the basis of her testimony at the preliminary hearing that she had seen the appellant previously in the district attorney's office; and that she was taken to the preliminary hearing specifically to identify the appellant, who was the only black man in the room. Also, her description of his clothing was contrary to the testimony of the prosecutrix and that of other witnesses who testified as to what the appellant wore, or owned, at the time in question.
Other factors that enter into my dissent are: that no investigation was ever made of the scene of the crime; that no attempt was made to obtain any physical evidence; and the prosecutrix was never given a physical examination. I would reverse and remand this conviction with instructions to dismiss, unless the State is able to provide proper corroboration of the prosecutrix's testimony.