State of Louisiana v. David Billy Parker, Jr.

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 30, 2018
DocketKA-0017-0726
StatusUnknown

This text of State of Louisiana v. David Billy Parker, Jr. (State of Louisiana v. David Billy Parker, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Louisiana v. David Billy Parker, Jr., (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

17-726

STATE OF LOUISIANA

VERSUS

DAVID BILLY PARKER, JR.

**********

APPEAL FROM THE FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF CALCASIEU, NO. 26188-14 HONORABLE GUY BRADBERRY, DISTRICT JUDGE

MARC T. AMY JUDGE

Court composed of Marc T. Amy, Van H. Kyzar, and Candyce G. Perret, Judges.

AFFIRMED.

John F. DeRosier District Attorney Karen C. McLellan Jacob L. Johnson Cynthia Killingsworth Assistant District Attorneys Post Office Box 3206 Lake Charles, LA 70602-3206 (337) 437-3400 COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana

Mary Constance Hanes Post Office Box 4015 New Orleans, LA 70178-4015 (504) 866-6652 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT: David Billy Parker, Jr. AMY, Judge.

The State charged the defendant with one count of manufacture and

possession of a bomb, and the jury ultimately found the defendant guilty of

attempted manufacture and possession of a bomb. The trial court sentenced the

defendant to seven years at hard labor, with credit for time served, and a fine of

$5,000.00. The defendant appeals his conviction and sentence. For the following

reasons, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

After being dispatched to a residence to serve a warrant, Deputy Chris

Miller, of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, submitted, in pertinent part, the

following narrative in an affidavit:

During the execution of a felony warrant . . . [David Billy Parker, Jr.] was located in the attic. A search and seizure form was signed for the residence due to loose ammunition being seen while searching for the subject in the residence and the combination of the fact that the subject is a convicted felon. During the search of the residence, two pipe bombs were located in the attic w[h]ere the subject had been originally located.

Thereafter, by bill of information, the State charged the defendant, David Billy

Parker, Jr., with one count of manufacture and possession of a bomb, a violation of

La.R.S. 14:54.3. The defendant pled not guilty, and the matter proceeded to a jury

trial.

At trial, Deputy Miller testified that, on September 28, 2014, he arrived at

the defendant’s residence to serve a warrant on the defendant. He stated that the

defendant’s wife told him that the defendant was not there but that she granted

Deputy Miller permission to enter the residence to search for the defendant.

Deputy Miller explained that he located the defendant in the attic; verbally

commanded the defendant to come down from the attic; and, after the defendant complied with the command and the defendant’s wife signed a search and seizure

form, searched the attic. Deputy Miller testified that, when “[he] entered the attic,

[he] noticed two PVC pipes that were capped on both ends that had wires coming

out of the ends[,]” which “looked like electrical wire.” He stated that, upon seeing

the devices, he removed himself, the defendant, the defendant’s wife, and two

children from the residence. Deputy Miller explained that he subsequently blocked

off the residence and called for assistance because “through [his] training, [he]

recognized it to be an IED [improvised explosive device] or a possible IED.”

Deputy Miller stated that the defendant told him that he had assembled the devices.

The jury also heard testimony from State Trooper Sean LaFleur, who

explained that he is a technician supervisor for the Louisiana State Police,

Emergency Services Unit, and that the unit he supervises is a “full-time HAZMAT

and explosive response unit,” which serves as “the bomb squad for the State

Police.” Trooper LaFleur testified that he and Investigator Hopkins were the bomb

technicians that responded to Deputy Miller’s call for assistance at the defendant’s

residence. According to his testimony, upon initially seeing the devices in the

attic, Trooper LaFleur observed: “Two PVC pipes. They were capped on both

ends. And on one end of each device, there was bare wire coming out. And on

one device, the bare wire coming out had a coding that was red in color, and on the

other device, it was - - I believe it was green in color.”

Trooper LaFleur explained that the technique used to remove the devices

from the residence is called a “hook and line kit[,]” which he described as a rope

and pulley system that can be operated remotely for safety. He stated that during

this process, one device came apart, specifically an endcap came off, and “then the

pyrotechnic or firework charge that was inside the pipe actually came out from that

2 one device.” Trooper LaFleur noted that, on the charge, he could see part of a

label and believed the charge to be a consumer firework based on the label

remnant, as well as the size. He classified they pyrotechnic charge as a “low

explosive.”1 Trooper LaFleur testified that, after they removed the devices from

the residence, they moved the devices with an extended pole to a sandbag area that

had been set up to “disrupt them or render them safe.” 2 At that point, Trooper

LaFleur stated that they deployed a PAN (Percussion Activated Non-Electronic)

disruptor, specifically “a disintegrating projectile . . . that is designed to . . . break

that pipe apart without it letting the pipe detonate on us, and that’s what happened

in this case.”

Regarding the devices, Trooper LaFleur testified that they fit the criteria he

looks for in identifying a “pipe bomb.” In this regard, the following colloquy

occurred:

Q. Okay. And what do you look for when you say the term “pipe bomb”? What do you look for when you’re determining if that’s what something is?

A. Container. We look at the type of container. And pipe bombs can generally either be PVC or metal pipe bombs. We look to see whether or not they are capped on both ends and potentially if there are any other things coming out, wire, fuse, things of that nature. Commonly, people will use hobby or cannon fuse. Other times, they will use wire. Sometimes they are capped on both ends, and everything is internal. So when we see a pipe and see it capped on both ends, we treat it as an actual IED or pipe bomb until we can prove otherwise.

1 Trooper LaFleur stated that low explosives are those that “generally travel at a detonation velocity less than 3300 feet per second.” He also testified that “[l]ow explosives are things such as propellant, such as black powder, which can be used in hunting and other various things, different reenactments; smokeless powder, which goes in a handgun or a rifle; ammunition; or flash powder, which goes into fireworks.” 2 Trooper LaFleur explained the process of disruption as follows: “[W]hen we disrupt it, we take it apart and we open it up so we can gain access to what’s inside without it - - try to do it without it detonating.” He noted that disruption is safer than detonation.

3 Q. And did these devices fit those criteria?

A. That’s correct.

Q. And how did they fit those criteria?

A. You had approximately a 10 to 12 inch long piece of PVC pipe capped on both ends, and you had bare wire coming out from one of the endcaps on each device.

Q. Going back to the one that came apart within the home, is it my understanding that there was a pyrotechnic charge within that pipe?

A. Yes.
Q. And electric wire was connected to that?
A. There was.

Trooper LaFleur further explained that detonating these devices “would be

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