NEWMAN v. STATE
466 P.3d 574
| Okla. Crim. App. | 2020Background
- Early morning May 24, 2017, Newman stole an Oklahoma Natural Gas utility truck from a Sapulpa lot after casing vehicles; the owner had called 911 about suspicious activity.
- Officers pursued the truck for ~30 minutes; Newman drove the wrong way on a highway at high speed and a head-on collision with a white car killed its driver.
- Newman was later arrested, recorded admitting he drove the stolen truck, and DriveCam video showed him driving; Watkins (the caller) identified him.
- Newman was tried by jury on counts including first-degree felony murder (predicate: eluding an officer), larceny of an automobile, obstructing an officer, leaving the scene causing death, driving with suspended license, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
- Jury convicted on Counts 1–5 (acquitted Count 6); life with parole on Count 1 and additional terms on other counts; Newman appealed raising multiple issues including sufficiency, jury instructions, evidentiary rulings, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective assistance.
Issues
| Issue | Newman (appellant) argument | State (respondent) argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for 1st-degree felony murder (eluding) | Officer pursuit had been terminated before crash; therefore Newman was not "in the commission of" eluding at the time of the death. | Officers had backed off for safety but continued efforts to follow and keep him in sight; actions and causal chain support felony murder. | Conviction affirmed; evidence, viewed favorably to State, supported felony murder beyond a reasonable doubt. |
| Failure to instruct on lesser offense (2nd-degree felony murder based on larceny) | Court should have sua sponte instructed on second-degree felony murder with larceny underlying. | No prima facie evidence to support verdict of larceny-only; lesser instruction not warranted. | No plain error; trial court properly declined instruction. |
| Admission of photographs (gruesome images) | Photographs were unduly prejudicial and deprived Newman of fair trial/sentencing. | Photos were relevant to injuries, corroborated medical testimony, and not overly repulsive. | Admission not plain error; probative value outweighed prejudice. |
| Admission of other-crimes evidence (fake gun found on Newman) | Evidence of a fake gun and attempt to destroy it was inadmissible other-crimes evidence. | Conduct was part of the res gestae of the larceny and was central to the chain of events; probative. | Admission proper; evidence was res gestae and not unfairly prejudicial. |
| Whether eluding may be predicate felony for felony murder | Eluding can be a misdemeanor in some contexts, so it cannot constitutionally support felony-murder conviction. | Legislature explicitly listed eluding in §701.7(B); statute applies regardless of misdemeanor/felony label and reflects legislative intent. | Rejected; eluding is an acceptable statutory predicate for first-degree felony murder. |
| Prosecutorial misconduct (cross-exam, closing) | Prosecutor badgered Newman, referenced other crimes, misstated facts, and injected opinion. | Cross-exam and argument were within permissible bounds; minor misstatements/inferences did not prejudice trial. | No plain error; remarks did not render trial fundamentally unfair. |
| Ineffective assistance of counsel | Trial counsel failed to request instructions, object to instructions/evidence/prosecutor conduct, present witnesses, and made other strategic errors. | Alleged failures were either meritless or not shown to have prejudiced Newman; extra-record materials did not show clear and convincing need for evidentiary hearing. | Denied; record-based claims lacked prejudice; no evidentiary hearing warranted on extra-record claims. |
| Cumulative error | Even if individual errors are harmless, their cumulative effect requires reversal. | Individual rulings were legally correct or harmless; cumulative effect does not undermine outcome. | Denied; no cumulative error requiring relief. |
Key Cases Cited
- Brown v. State, 743 P.2d 133 (Okla. Crim. App. 1987) (statute authorizes felony-murder conviction where death results from eluding irrespective of misdemeanor/felony label)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-part standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
- Hogan v. State, 139 P.3d 907 (Okla. Crim. App. 2006) (plain-error test for unpreserved instructional errors)
- Bosse v. State, 400 P.3d 834 (Okla. Crim. App. 2017) (photograph admissibility: relevance vs. unfair prejudice)
- Eizember v. State, 164 P.3d 208 (Okla. Crim. App. 2007) (tests for res gestae and when other-act evidence is part of the transaction)
- Simpson v. State, 230 P.3d 888 (Okla. Crim. App. 2010) (standards for granting evidentiary hearing on extra-record ineffective-assistance claims)