1971-07-24

The complained of statement came during the testimony of Carol Lou Harris when she testified that appellant, while seated in a police car after the shooting, "yelled out, yes, I shot the M.F.I shot him." The events leading up to this point were related by the witness Harris as follows: Mrs. Harris was standing in front of the Elks Club on North Third Street in Amarillo during the early morning hours of July 24, 1971, when she saw appellant "shooting"; that she then saw the deceased, Ramese Faleafine, run down an alley with appellant running after him, and that appellant continued to shoot while he was running after the deceased. Shortly thereafter, appellant returned with a gun in his hand. The testimony of Mrs. Harris reflects the following occurred at this time:

"Q What happened next? What did you see next after that?

"A After that Ram's wife was crying.... and they started looking for Ram, searching down the alleys for a while, started looking for Ram. We decided to go check out the hospitals to see if he went to a hospital. So we came back in front of the Elk's Club and I noticed Charles was in the police car." . . . . . .

"Q All right, Carol, about how many minutes had elapsed since you left and came back and Charles had been in the back seat of the car?

"A It couldn't have been more than five minutes."