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Bland v. State5/16/2000
tate's charge that the aggravating circumstance existed." Romano, 847 P.2d at 387. "In making this determination, this Court should view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State." Id. To prove the "prior violent felony" aggravator, the State is required to go beyond simple proof that a defendant in a capital case had a prior felony conviction to establish the aggravating circumstance. Brewer, 650 P.2d at 62. The State must additionally prove that the prior felonies involved the use or threat of violence to the person. Id. Here, the judgment and sentence and the evidence surrounding the commission of the prior homicide indicating the use of violence were sufficient to support the aggravator. See Smith, 819 P.2d at 279.
To support the aggravator of continuing threat, the State must present evidence showing the defendant's behavior demonstrated a threat to society and a probability that threat would continue to exist in the future. Hain v. State, 919 P.2d 1130, 1147 (Okl.Cr.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1031, 117 S.Ct. 588, 136 L.Ed.2d 517 (1996). A finding that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society is appropriate when the evidence establishes the defendant participated in other unrelated criminal acts and the nature of the crime exhibited the calloused nature of the defendant. Battenfield v. State, 816 P.2d 555, 566 (Okl.Cr.1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 943, 112 S.Ct. 1491, 117 L.Ed.2d 632 (1992). To prove this aggravating circumstance, this Court has held "the State may present any relevant evidence, in conformance with the rules of evidence, ... including evidence from the crime itself, evidence of other crimes, admissions by the defendant of unadjudicated offenses or any other relevant evidence." Id.
In the present case, evidence of Appellant's criminal history, which included a prior homicide, and the callousness in which he committed the murder in this case before taking the victim's keys from his pants pockets and spending the night in the victim's home, after disposing of the body, is sufficient to support this aggravator. See Hain, 919 P.2d at 1147-48 (in determining the callousness of the crime, the defendant's attitude is critical to the determination of whether he poses a continuing threat to society.) This evidence shows Appellant has a propensity toward violence which makes him a continuing threat to society.
Turning to the mitigating evidence. Appellant presented six (6) witnesses: his mother, the jailer at the Tillman County Jail, a counselor from Lilly Correctional Center, the coordinator of sentence administration for the Department of Corrections, Dr. Church, and by stipulation, Frances Lewis, Connie Lord's sister. These witnesses testified that Appellant has suffered from mental disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, schizoid personality disorder, attention deficit disorder and drug dependency; he has a learning disability which impairs his ability to focus on the big picture; he has expressed great remorse over the killing of the victim; he accepts responsibility for the killing; the circumstances of the homicide indicate Appellant was not cruel or vicious; Appellant has been helpful to those who have had difficulty in life; he has adapted well to incarceration in the past and is not likely to cause problems in prison; his abilities are affected by his below normal intelligence; Appellant was profoundly and traumatically affected by his father's injury, mental impairment and subsequent separation from the family; he has been a good worker and a loving family member; Appellant will not be released if his sentence is life without parole; and the homicide was committed at a tim
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