Court Opinion

ID: 9575377
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:13:23.284263+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:09.614243
License: Public Domain

LUMPKIN, Presiding Judge,
concurring in part/dissenting in part:
I concur in the Court’s determination that the confession given by Appellant on August 2, 1987, was not admissible and should have been suppressed at trial. Initially, I found merit in the State’s brief and argument that the Appellant’s response “I would rather talk to a lawyer first”, could have been taken as an equivocal, ambiguous statement which could warrant further inquiry to clear up the ambiguity. However, a reading of the transcript of proceedings on the Motion to Suppress (Vol. III, Pgs. 446-523) makes it very clear the officers accepted Appellant’s response as a clear, unequivocal request for an attorney. The Appellant and the officers were getting up to leave the room after the request for counsel when Mr. Moore then made the statement which caused the Appellant to respond and admit the crime. When read in context, it is apparent the conduct was the type of action which was prohibited in Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-301, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 1689, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980), and addressed by this Court in *549White v. State, 674 P.2d 31, 36 (Okl.Cr.1983). The Court has appropriately set forth the legal standards which must be applied in this type of case, and the record dictates the result reached. However, I must dissent to the Court’s decision that the admission was not harmless error in accordance with the analysis pursuant to Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). When the testimony of Gary Dean is reviewed in conjunction with the circumstantial evidence presented to the jury, it is readily apparent the admission of the testimony is harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, I would affirm the conviction of Murder, First Degree.
I also agree with the Court that the evidence submitted to the jury does not support the aggravating circumstance of especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. The record reveals the victim died from a single shotgun wound to the chest. The medical examiners testimony does not support any theory other than instantaneous death. This fact situation cannot support a finding of torture or serious physical abuse. Therefore, I agree the case must be remanded, but only for resentencing.