 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Bechtel v. State9/2/1992
Rehearing Denied October 22, 1992.
DONNA LEE BECHTEL, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF OKLAHOMA, APPELLEE.
An appeal from the District Court of Oklahoma County; Richard L. Freeman, District Judge.
Garvin A. Isaacs, Oklahoma City, for appellant.
Robert H. Henry, Atty. Gen., Sandra D. Howard, Asst. Atty. Gen., Stephen C. Dozer, Legal Intern, Oklahoma City, for appellee.
REVERSED
REMANDED
OPINION
The opinion of the court was delivered by: JOHNSON, Judge.
DONNA LEE BECHTEL, Appellant, was retried by jury for the crime of Murder in the First Degree in violation of 21 O.S. 1981 § 701.7 [21-701.7], in Case No. CRF-84-4550 in the District Court of Oklahoma County before the Honorable Richard L. Freeman, District Judge. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and set punishment at life imprisonment, to which she was sentenced. From this Judgment and Sentence, she has perfected her appeal to this Court. Some of her points on appeal include: 1) that the trial court erred in refusing to submit certain instructions; 2) that the court erred in refusing to allow expert testimony on the "batter woman syndrome"; 3) that the court erred in refusing to admit specific instances of the victim's conduct into evidence; and 4) judicial and prosecutorial misconduct.
FACTS
The following facts are primarily from the testimony of the Appellant who met the victim, Ken Bechtel, in June 1981. At that time he was married, but separated, and dating another woman with whom he had been living for seven years. Appellant saw him approximately five times after their first meeting but did not start seeing him on a regular basis until he got his divorce . They were married on August 25, 1982. Although there was great conflict between her testimony and that as presented by the State, most of the balance of the facts are as presented by Appellant. We are presenting her testimony to show facts necessary to meet the first prong of our guidelines under the Battered Woman Syndrome.
She recalled that the first incidence of violence perpetrated by the victim upon her was on July 4, 1982, when around mid-night, he began crying about his deceased son and, in a drunken rage, grabbed her by the head and threw her into the windshield of his boat. As she tried to get to the telephone, he started to throw canned goods out of the closet at her. She left but was caught and put in a car by Ken; while they were stopped at a stop sign, she jumped out of the car. Mr. Bechtel came around the side of the car, threw her back in, and told her not to ever do that again. Inside the car, he grabbed her head by the hair and slammed her into the window and again, told her not to get out of the car. When they arrived at her home, Appellant jumped out of the car, ran into her house and locked the doors. When Ken Bechtel threatened to kick the "m____ f____" door in, Appellant responded by telling him that she had guns in her home. Mr. Bechtel eventually left. This was the first of approximately 23 battering incidents leading to the fatal shooting on September 23, 1984.
Testimony at trial revealed that the deceased committed the batterings when intoxicated and without provocation. The batterings consisted of the deceased grabbing Appellant by either her ears or hair and pounding her head on the ground, wall, door, cabinet or other available object. During many of the episodes he would sob profusely and ramble about his deceased son who was born retarded. During all of the episodes,
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Oklahoma DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|