Battee v. State

Summary

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Trymel Keith Battee's conviction and sentence for conjoint robbery. The court held that the trial judge's undisclosed pursuit of employment with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation did not establish an unconstitutional potential for judicial bias. It also held that due process did not require exclusion of in-court identifications based on the witnesses' own pretrial research because the identification procedures were not arranged or sponsored by state actors.

Holdings

1. A trial judge's effort to obtain employment as general counsel for an investigative agency, without more, did not establish an unconstitutional potential for actual bias or a direct pecuniary interest in the defendant's case.
2. The Due Process Clause does not require a preliminary reliability inquiry into an allegedly suggestive identification unless the identification procedure was arranged or sponsored by law enforcement or another state actor.
3. The admission of the Taylors' in-court identifications did not constitute plain error.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial judge's undisclosed effort to obtain employment as OSBI general counsel created an unconstitutional potential for actual bias requiring reversal under the Due Process Clause.
2. Whether admission of the Taylors' in-court identifications violated due process when the witnesses' allegedly suggestive pretrial identification activity was independently undertaken and not arranged or sponsored by state actors.
3. Whether the admission of the challenged identifications constituted plain error.

Disposition

affirmed