## Facts

- Roger Dale Stafford, Sr., his wife (Verna Stafford), and his brother (Harold Stafford) drove from Tulsa to Oklahoma City to rob the Sirloin Stockade restaurant on July 16, 1978.
- After customers left, they approached a side door; the manager opened it and was confronted by Roger and Harold with guns.
- The manager was forced to assist in opening the cash register and office safe; approximately $1,290 was taken.
- Employees were ordered into a walk-in freezer; despite Harold’s reminder that no one was to be hurt, Roger stated they would “get what they deserve.”
- Roger shot one employee and, with Harold, fired on the remaining employees; all six employees died.
- Verna testified that Roger compelled her to participate by placing a gun in her hand and helping her pull the trigger.
- At trial, the court excluded Verna’s testimony about purely private husband-wife conversations but admitted her testimony about conversations that occurred in the presence of a third person.
- The court also admitted testimony from Linda Lewis, a third party who overheard a conversation between Roger and Verna without their awareness.

## Issues

1. Whether Oklahoma’s capital-sentencing statute, 21 O.S. § 701.11, unconstitutionally shifted the burden to the defendant by requiring him to present mitigating evidence.
2. Whether the marital communications privilege barred a spouse’s testimony about spousal conversations occurring in the presence of a third party.
3. Whether the marital communications privilege barred testimony by a third person who overheard spousal statements, even if the spouses were unaware the third person could hear them.

## Decision

- The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Stafford’s six first-degree murder convictions and six death sentences.
- The court held that 21 O.S. § 701.11 did not shift the burden of proof to the defendant; the State must prove aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt.
- The court held the marital communications privilege protects only confidential spousal communications and did not exclude spousal statements made in the presence of others.
- The court held the privilege did not exclude testimony from a third party who overheard spousal statements, because the statements were not confidential.

## Legal Principles

- In Oklahoma capital sentencing under 21 O.S. § 701.11, the State bears the burden to prove at least one aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt as a prerequisite to a death sentence.
- A defendant may present mitigating evidence, but the statute’s structure does not impose an unconstitutional burden on the defendant to disprove death eligibility.
- The marital communications privilege applies only to confidential communications between spouses.
- Spousal statements made in the presence of a third person, or overheard by a third person, are not confidential and are not protected by the marital communications privilege.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the death sentences by concluding that Oklahoma’s penalty-phase scheme places the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt burden on the State to prove aggravating circumstances and that the marital communications privilege does not bar admission of spousal statements made in the presence of, or overheard by, third parties.


Stafford v. State, 665 P.2d 1205 (Okla. Crim. App. 1983)