State of Louisiana v. Richard Ordner

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided February 14, 2007·No. KA-0006-1054·Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

06-1054

STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS RICHARD ORDNER

**********

APPEAL FROM THE

THIRTY-THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF ALLEN, DOCKET NO. CR-2004-4851 HONORABLE PATRICIA C. COLE, DISTRICT JUDGE **********

SYLVIA R. COOKS

JUDGE

**********

Court composed of Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Chief Judge, Sylvia R. Cooks, and Elizabeth A. Pickett, Judges.

AFFIRMED, AS AMENDED AND REMANDED.

Dmitrc I. Burnes 711 Washington Street P.O. Box 650 Alexandria, LA 71309-0650 (318) 448-0482 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:

Richard Ordner

Douglas L. Hebert, Jr., District Attorney Sherron Ashworth, Assistant District Attorney P.O. Box 839 Oberlin, LA 70655-0839 (337) 639-2641 COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE:

State of Louisiana

COOKS, Judge.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On the evening of September 3, 2004, the Defendant, Richard Ordner, was at the Uskitchitto River near Mittie, Louisiana for a party. Approximately twenty minutes after arriving at the party with his girlfriend, Jennifer Martin, four males approached his vehicle while he was sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle. When the men were approximately fifteen feet from the vehicle, Defendant fired a shot into the air with his 9 mm pistol and the men turned and ran away. Defendant fired two more shots and one struck the victim, Jody Robinson. Defendant then ran into the woods where he discarded the gun.

On December 22, 2004, Defendant was charged by bill of information in count one with illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities, in violation of La.R.S. 14:94, and in count two with aggravated battery/discharge of firearm, in violation of La.R.S. 14:34. Defendant was arraigned on January 11, 2005 and entered a plea of not guilty.

The State filed a Notice of Intent to Seek Enhancement of Sentence under La.Code Crim.P. art. 893.3. Defendant filed a Motion in Limine and objected to the State’s intent to seek enhancement of the sentence. A hearing was scheduled, but the parties waived the hearing and agreed to have the trial court rule on the motion/objection based on the briefs submitted. In its opinion and ruling dated December 12, 2005, the trial court noted the State did not specify as to which count it sought to enhance and ultimately concluded that the State could enhance only count two (aggravated battery/discharge of firearm), thereby granting the Defendant’s motion as to count one and denying same as to count two.

Defendant waived his right to a jury trial, and following a bench trial, Defendant was found guilty as charged. Defendant was sentenced on count one to serve two years at hard labor with the eligibility for diminution of time, and on count two, ten years at hard labor to run concurrently and without benefit of parole, suspension of sentence and diminution of time. Defendant was also ordered to pay court costs of $994.00. A motion to reconsider sentence was filed wherein the trial court was asked to reconsider Defendant’s ten year sentence. The motion was denied without reasons. Defendant now seeks an appeal, setting forth two assignments of error.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1 In this assignment of error, Defendant argues the trial court erred in finding him guilty because he was acting in self defense. More specifically, Defendant maintains he was in reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery when he was approached by four to six drunken men spoiling for a fight, and he took steps to defend himself, justifiably firing shots into the air. Alleging his actions were justifiable, Defendant concludes they did not provide the basis for criminal intent.

Although Defendant does not specify which conviction should be set aside in setting forth this assignment of error, he requests at the conclusion of his argument that we overturn both of his convictions. Accordingly, we will address each conviction in light of Defendant’s claim of self defense.

The illegal use of a weapon is defined in La.R.S. 14:94 as “. . . the intentional or criminally negligent discharging of any firearm . . . where it is foreseeable that it may result in death or great bodily harm to a human being.” Aggravated battery is defined in La.R.S. 14:34 as “. . . a battery committed with a dangerous weapon.” Self defense is addressed in La.R.S. 14:19 as follows:

The use of force or violence upon the person of another is justifiable, when committed for the purpose of preventing a forcible offense against the person or a forcible offense or trespass against property in a person's lawful possession; provided that the force or violence used must be reasonable and apparently necessary to prevent such offense, and that this article shall not apply where the force or violence results in a homicide.

Defendant testified that he arrived at the river around 11:00 or 12:00 p.m., about twenty minutes before the shooting. He had been drinking beer since about 9:00 p.m. and had consumed approximtely ten beers prior to the shooting. He denied, however, that he was intoxicated.

Defendant testified he had been in a fight with Chris Darbonne, Jonathon Darbonne’s brother, prior to the evening of the shooting. He described the altercation as a “one time thing.” While at the bonfire on the night of the shooting, Defendant spoke with Jonathon Darbonne and apologized to Jonathon about the fight with his brother. According to Defendant, the two shook hands and Jonathon said that it was all right. After speaking to a few more people, Defendant went to his truck, sat down on the passenger side and lit a cigarette.

Next, Defendant testified that out of the corner of his eye, he saw five to six men approaching him. He recalled seeing Justin and Jonathon Darbonne, Roger Gurganus and a man who he originally thought was Jody Robinson, the victim. He was unsure of Jody Robinson’s identity. According to Defendant, the group of men came around the side of his truck and he was hit twice in the head. Next, two of the men grabbed Defendant, pulled him from the truck and then they all began hitting him. Defendant was able to grab his gun that was laying on the seat while they were beating on him and he fired a shot into the air. Defendant stated that the fighting continued. After getting to his feet, he fired a second shot, but the fighting did not stop. Next, Defendant fell to the ground and he fired a third shot. At that time, the

men quit hitting him and he crawled through the bushes and took off running.

Defendant testified he was unaware that he had hit someone. Defendant denied aiming toward any of the men when he fired the gun and stated that he did not intend to strike anyone and was trying to retreat. Lastly, Defendant stated he never saw Jody Robinson that evening, that he did not know that he had shot in an area near Jody, nor did he aim his gun at anyone. Further, the investigators photographed the injuries to Defendant’s face and the bloody T-shirt he was wearing that evening. According to Defendant, the injuries and bloody T-shirt were a result of the fight.

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