Before EBEL, Circuit Judge, BRORBY, Senior Circuit Judge, and MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Larry Kenneth Jackson was convicted by an Oklahoma trial court of the first degree murder of his girlfriend Wendy Cade and sentenced to death. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) affirmed the conviction and sentence. Jackson v. State, 964 P.2d 875 (Okla. Crim. App. 1998) (per curiam), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1008 (1999). That court also denied post-conviction relief. Jackson v. State, No. PC-97-1349 (Okla. Crim. App. Nov. 20, 1998). Thereafter, Jackson filed a federal habeas petition, and the federal district court denied relief.

That court granted a certificate of appealability (COA) on one issue: whether the trial court's refusal to instruct on the defenses of voluntary and involuntary intoxication violated Jackson's constitutional rights. At a case management conference, this court granted a COA on an additional issue: whether the trial court's refusal to allow voir dire concerning the prospective jurors' attitudes toward intoxication defenses violated Jackson's constitutional rights. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 2253(c), we affirm the denial of habeas relief on both issues.

FACTS

Cade died in a room at the Oklahoma City Motel 6 on September 6, 1994, due to a laceration to her neck that severed her jugular veins. It is undisputed that Jackson, an inmate at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center, killed her.

Jackson and Cade had maintained a relationship while Jackson was incarcerated. She visited him at the prison on Sundays, and at least twice outside the prison when he was with a prison work crew. Jackson believed they would marry after his release, but Cade was engaged to and living with Victor Dizer, the father of some of her children, and was attempting to change her relationship with Jackson. Apparently, Jackson and Cade had ongoing arguments about this relationship change.

On September 6, Jackson was assigned to a work crew delivering and installing office/modular furniture at the Jim Thorpe state office building in Oklahoma City. That day, Cade also went to the building, and the two left in her Jeep.

Sometime before going to the motel, Jackson purchased a quart of beer at a convenience store. At the same time, Cade went to a nearby liquor store and purchased a fifth of liquor called Alize, which was a mixed drink of passion fruit juice and cognac.

Jackson drank all of the Alize and half of the quart of beer and had two puffs on a marijuana cigarette before entering the motel room. While in the room, the two had sexual intercourse and fought. Jackson claimed he "blimped out." He remembered leaving the motel in Cade's Jeep, having an accident and abandoning the Jeep. Later that day, a highway patrol trooper found the Jeep.

After abandoning the Jeep, Jackson next remembered waking up in a field and walking until he met two men. He obtained a ride from them to the apartments where his sister worked. He arrived about 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. Dorothy Leffette, the sister of one of the men, let him stay with her until morning.

On September 7, Dizer and Martha Gulley, Cade's mother, went to the area where the Jeep was found. Noticing the nearby Motel 6, they went there and learned Cade had rented a room.

After being notified, the police checked the room and found Cade's body lying against the bed. She had sustained over thirty cuts. The entire bathroom floor, apart from the shower, was covered with blood. It appeared a struggle had occurred in the bathroom, and Cade had been moved from the bathroom to the bedroom.

There was some blood on the bedroom carpet, but little blood on Cade's nude body. The police found a box cutting knife wrapped in a wash cloth and stuck between the mattress and box springs of the bed.

The police located Jackson at Leffette's apartment. In the room where the police arrested Jackson, they found Cade's jewelry, watch, and keys to her Jeep. Jackson admitted to police officers that if Cade was dead, he did it, but he did not intend to kill her, did not want to talk about the details of the killing, and did not remember much about what happened in the motel room.

At trial, Jackson's defense was that he killed Cade without malice aforethought because he had blacked out due to intoxication and being upset. Rejecting the lesser included offense of manslaughter, the jury found Jackson guilty of first degree murder.

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Jackson argues the trial court denied him due process and his Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights by refusing to instruct the jury, as he requested, on voluntary and involuntary intoxication. He claims the jury instructions did not reflect his intoxication defense, despite his offering ample evidence to support the defense.

Jackson fails to cite Supreme Court precedent establishing a constitutional mandate for intoxication instructions.(1) Supreme Court precedent instead suggests there is no such mandate. See generally Montana v. Egelhoff, 518 U.S. 37, 39-40, 43, 51, 56 (1996) (holding Montana statute precluding consideration of voluntary intoxication in determining existence of mental state which is element of criminal offense does not violate Due Process Clause); Taylor v. Withrow, 288 F.3d 846, 851 (6th Cir. 2002) (citing Egelhoff for proposition that states have great latitude in formulating defenses to crimes), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. Aug. 28, 2002) (No. 02-6153).

The judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma is AFFIRMED.

Jackson v. State 964 P.2d 875 (Okla. Crim. App. 1998) (Direct Appeal)

Defendant was convicted in the District Court, Oklahoma County, Dan Owens, J., of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to death. He appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that: (1) prospective juror who was a convicted felon was subject to challenge for cause; (2) there was sufficient evidence of malice aforethought; (3) police properly obtained consent to search apartment at which defendant had been sleeping; (4) test for determining whether instruction on voluntary intoxication should be given is no different from test used for any other defense; and (5) evidence supported imposition of death penalty.

Affirmed. Lumpkin, J., concurred in results and filed opinion. Lane, J., dissented and filed opinion in which Strubhar, V.P.J., joined.

PER CURIAM:

1 Appellant, Larry Kenneth Jackson, was charged with first degree malice murder in violation of 21 O.S.1991, § 701.7 , in the District Court of Oklahoma County, Case No. CF-94-6070. The State filed a Bill of Particulars alleging three aggravating circumstances. A jury trial was held before the Honorable Daniel L. Owens, District Judge.

The jury found Jackson guilty of first degree murder and found the existence of two aggravating circumstances that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel and that Jackson was previously convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. The State also alleged that Jackson posed a continuing threat. Jackson was sentenced to death. From this Judgment and Sentence Jackson has perfected his appeal.

FACTS

2 Jackson and Wendy Cade had an ongoing relationship while Jackson was incarcerated at Joseph Harp Correctional Institution. Jackson believed that they would be married when he was released from prison. Cade was engaged to Victor Dizer and was attempting to change the relationship she had with Jackson.

3 Jackson was assigned on a work detail installing furniture for Oklahoma State Industries at the Jim Thorpe building in Oklahoma City. Cade went to the Jim Thorpe building where Jackson was working on September 6, 1994. They left together in Cade's Jeep Cherokee at about 10:00 a.m. According to Jackson, they were arguing about their relationship. Jackson left with the tools he was using, which included a utility knife. (A knife that uses disposable razor sharp blades, also called a box knife.) Shortly thereafter, Jackson was discovered missing and the Department of Corrections placed Jackson on escape status.

4 Jackson and Cade first stopped at a convenience store at 23rd and Broadway where Jackson purchased a quart of beer and cigarettes. Jackson said that Cade went across the street to a liquor store and bought a "fifth" of some type of alcoholic beverage. They then drove to Martha Gulley's house (Cade's mother) where Cade dropped off her 4 year old daughter.

5 After that, they drove around for some time north of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Around noon they stopped and bought chicken at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. They then went to a Motel 6 at N.E. 122nd and I-35.

6 At the motel, they checked into a room, ate their chicken and had intercourse. After that, according to Jackson they began fighting and he "blimped" out due to being either intoxicated or angry. Jackson left the motel in Cade's Jeep and got as far as the entrance ramp to the Turner Turnpike, just north of 122nd and I-35, where he had an accident, disabling the Jeep. Later that day, at about 3:30 p.m., the Jeep was found by a highway patrol trooper.

7 Jackson next remembered waking up in a field. Jackson hitched a ride to the Ambassador Court apartments at 1634 South Phillips where he believed his sister worked. Arriving there at about 6:00 to 6:30 p.m., he was unable to find his sister, but he did find a woman, Dorothy Leffette, who allowed him to stay at her apartment.

8 On September 7, 1994, at around 9:00 a.m. Victor Dizer and Martha Gulley, Cade's fiance and mother, went to the area where the Jeep was found in order to search for Cade. They went to the Motel 6 at N.E. 122 *883 and I-35 and learned that Cade had rented a room. The police were notified and upon checking the room, they found Cade's nude body lying against the bed. Cade's throat had been slashed and the entire bathroom floor was covered with blood; however, very little blood was on Cade's body. Cade had over thirty slash/stab wounds. Cause of death was determined to be the deep incised wound to her throat which severed both jugular veins. The utility knife, wrapped in a wash cloth, was found stuck between the mattress and box springs of the bed.

9 Jackson was located by police at Leffette's apartment at about noon on September 7, 1994. He was taken into custody. In the room where Jackson was arrested the police found Cade's jewelry, watch, and keys to the Jeep. Jackson admitted to police that if Cade was dead, he did it, but he did not want to talk about the details of the killing.

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106 When we independently weigh the mitigating evidence against the aggravating circumstances which were each proven beyond a reasonable doubt, we find the jury's determination that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances is amply supported by the record.

107 Finding no error warranting reversal or modification, Judgment and Sentence of the District Court of Oklahoma County is AFFIRMED.