holding that the commission of child abuse and the permitting of child abuse were alternative means of committing first-degree murder by child abuse, and that jury unanimity on the means was not required
How later courts described this case
- holding that the commission of child abuse and the permitting of child abuse were alternative means of committing first-degree murder by child abuse, and that jury unanimity on the means was not required
- holding that defendant is not entitled to lesser-included instruction unless he can show evidence at trial negated extra elements of overlying crime
- the determination of which instructions shall be given to the jury is a matter within the discretion of the trial court. Absent an abuse of that discretion, this Court will not interfere with the trial court's judgment if the instructions as a whole accurately state the applicable law
- finding legislative action that protects vulnerable children legally justified
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
STRUBHAR, Presiding Judge,
concurs in result:
1 1 Based on the doctrine of stare decisis, I concur in the results reached by the Court in *930 this case. I continue to believe that First Degree Murder By Child Abuse is and should be a specific intent crime as I expressed in Fairchild v. State, 1998 OK CR 47 , 965 P.2d 391, 403 (Lane, J. dissenting joined by Strubhar, V.P.J.), opinion withdrawn and rehearing granted, 1999 OK CR 30 , 992 P.2d 349 , followed by opinion on rehearing, 1999 OK CR 49 , 998 P2d 611 (Strubhar, P.J. dissenting). I further maintain that a culpability assessment, ie. a finding of intentional harm, must be made at some point in the process for the death penalty to be constitutionally sound in capital child abuse murder cases even if the defendant is the actual killer. See Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137 , 107 S.Ct. 1676 , 95 L.Ed.2d 127 (1987); Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782 , 102 S.Ct. 3368 , 73 LEd.2d 1140 (1982). However, I yield to the majority here and agree that Gilson's death sentence is valid based on the culpability assessment performed by the Court regardless of whether he committed or permitted the child abuse that led to Coffman's death.
2 As the majority concludes, I, too, agree the modified verdict forms in this case were harmless. Again this Court must stress the importance of using the uniform instructions and verdict forms.