Opinion

DeRonde v. State

  • 715 P.2d 84
  • 1986 OK CR 29
  • 1986 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 211
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
Filed
Feb 25, 1986
Status
Published
Author
Parks
On the bench
Bussey, Brett, Parks
Cited by
9 cases

The opinion

PARKS, Presiding Judge,

specially concurring in results:

Although I have reached the same conclusion as to affirmance of the judgment and sentence, I feel it necessary to comment on the dilemma of the trial court in attempting to ascertain whether the jury had acted in violation of 22 O.S.1981, § 952(4). In its attempt, the trial court appears itself to have violated 12 O.S.1981, § 2606(B), which states a juror shall not testify about the jury’s deliberations. However, it is a well-established principle of statutory construction that when one statute speaks specifically to an issue of controversy, it takes precedence over a statute dealing with the same subject matter in general terms. C. Sands, Statutes and Statutory Construction, § 51.05 (1974). Therefore, in this case, the trial court did not err in admitting the testimony of some of the jurors at the hearing on the motion for a new trial, as there was no other way to determine whether the jury had, indeed, violated the statute against the drawing of lots to reach a verdict.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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