State v. Allen

247 So. 3d 179
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 16, 2018
DocketNO. 17–KA–685
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 247 So. 3d 179 (State v. Allen) 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 v. Allen, 247 So. 3d 179 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

EDWARDS, JUDGE PRO TEMPORE, J.

Defendant, Dexter Allen, appeals his convictions and sentences for two counts of second degree murder and 21 counts of simple burglary. For the reasons that follow, defendant's convictions are affirmed, and his life sentences for his second degree murder convictions, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, are affirmed. We remand this matter to the district court for the imposition of determinate sentences for defendant's simple burglary convictions.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 30, 2015, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant, Dexter Allen, on two counts of second degree murder (counts one and two), violations of La. R.S. 14:30.1, and 21 counts of simple burglary (counts five through 23), in violation *181of La. R.S. 14:62.1 Defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment on September 11, 2015. On October 11, 2016, the matter proceeded to a jury trial, at the conclusion of which on October 17, 2016, defendant was found guilty as charged on all counts. On November 16, 2016, defendant filed a Motion For Funds To Conduct Mitigation Investigation, for the purpose of hiring a juvenile mitigation specialist ahead of defendant's constitutionally mandated sentencing hearing under Miller v. Alabama , 567 U.S. 460, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012). After a hearing on December 5, 2016, the trial court denied defendant's request for funding. Defendant thereafter requested a continuance of his sentencing, which the trial court granted on March 6, 2017. On March 26, 2017, defendant filed a second motion for funds to hire an expert to "develop evidence in mitigation" in advance of his Miller hearing. On April 5, 2017, the trial court denied defendant's second request for funds, and he filed a writ to this Court seeking supervisory review of that ruling, which was denied. State v. Allen , 17-199 (La. App. 5 Cir. 4/18/17) (unpublished writ), writ denied , 17-0640 (La. 6/29/17), 222 So.3d 48. On April 20, 2017, defendant filed a motion for new trial, which was denied on that same date. Also on that date, defendant's Miller hearing was held, and the trial court continued sentencing.

On April 21, 2017, the trial court sentenced defendant to life in prison without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for counts one and two, and two years on each count, five through 23, with each two-year sentence to run concurrently. Defendant's motion for reconsideration of sentence was denied following a hearing on August 22, 2017. This appeal follows.

FACTS

On April 22, 2015, officers from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office were dispatched to 3717 Clifford Drive in Metairie in response to a 9-1-1 call made by Elizabeth Branley Pence reporting that she had found her husband, David Pence, and her son, Nicholas Pence, shot dead in their home. Sergeant David Roddy was the first officer on the scene; he entered the home through the open glass storm door on the side of the house. He described that it was "foggy" inside the house and immediately noticed the smell of gunpowder. He found two deceased victims with apparent gunshot wounds, David Pence seated in a chair and Nicholas Pence on the ground. After he and other officers cleared the house-making sure the suspect was no longer present-he returned to the living room and spoke with Ms. Pence, who was covered in blood as a result of performing C.P.R. on her son. Officers from Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Crime Scene spent several hours recovering physical evidence from the scene, notably, four 12-gauge shotgun shells as well as lead-like projectiles; a gun was not recovered.

While on the scene that night, officers canvassed the neighborhood to speak with people to see if anyone heard or saw anything. As a result, they became aware of several car burglaries in the area. Additionally, officers discovered that one of the vehicles at the Pence home, a black Mustang, had also been burglarized. Deputy Christie Babineaux was one such officer canvassing the neighborhood that evening, and while driving on Ridgeway Drive, a neighboring street, she observed an Audi with its trunk open. She spoke with the *182owner of the vehicle, Shawn Suggs, who indicated that nothing appeared to be missing, but noticed a visible palm print on the driver's side window. Captain Chad Pitfield, who was initially at the crime scene at the Pence home, went to the scene on Ridgeway and was able to successfully lift the print from the Audi. Officers also were able to recover surveillance video from homes in the neighborhood. Detective William Roniger, the lead detective in the homicide case, was informed of the series of vehicle burglaries in the neighborhood surrounding the Pence home and thought the murders and the burglaries were related.

Surveillance video from John Hennessey's home at 3625 Clifford Drive depicts a black male approaching his wife's Porsche Cayenne parked in the driveway, lifting the vehicle's door handle, and then walking away. Later on in the video, a set of feet, that came from the direction of where the subject walked, returned to the view of the camera. At a later point, the video depicts something falling to the ground where the feet were. Later, a purse belonging to one of the victims of the car burglaries was found in that location. The feet come back into camera view later from the direction of the Pence home.

Detective Roniger spoke with Christopher Meyer and Alex Underwood, friends of Nicholas Pence, who were at the Pence house earlier the evening of April 22, 2015. Mr. Meyer and Mr. Underwood were at the Pence home with Nicholas, hanging out in the garage with three other friends after their flag football game; they indicated they left around 11:40 p.m. Mr. Underwood testified that as he was leaving the Pence home, he noticed a white Toyota Highlander coming down the street with no headlights on that "pulled off to the opposite side of the street for a brief moment," then stopped and started traveling back down the street, but then changed directions. Further depicted in the surveillance video was a white Toyota Highlander with no headlights on, driving toward the Pence home around the time of the murders. Other surveillance video from Kathryn Fitzpatrick's home at 4000 Ridgeway Drive depicts the same white Toyota Highlander traveling southbound on Ridgeway Drive toward West Esplanade Avenue, which is near the on-ramp to I-10 East at Bonnabel Boulevard. Detective Roniger testified regarding the likely path of travel from the Pence home to the I-10 East ramp at Bonnabel as the Automated License Plate Recognition System (A.L.P.R.) captured a Toyota Highlander, bearing the license plate YCB-052, getting on I-10 East at 11:56 p.m. After getting this information, he investigated the vehicle and discovered that it had been reported stolen in a carjacking by the owner, Shalacia Leflore, earlier on April 22, 2015.

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Bluebook (online)
247 So. 3d 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-allen-lactapp-2018.