State v. Arnold

533 So. 2d 1311, 1988 WL 118989
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 9, 1988·No. K88-461·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

533 So.2d 1311 (1988)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Charles F. ARNOLD, Defendant-Appellant.

No. K88-461.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

November 9, 1988.
Writ Denied December 9, 1989.

Ronald E. Dauterive, Lafayette, for defendant-appellant.

Bernard E. Boudreaux, Jr., Dist. Atty., New Iberia, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before GUIDRY, STOKER and KING, JJ.

KING, Judge.

This court granted supervisory writs in this case to review the trial court's denial of defendant's pre-trial "Motion To Permit Introduction Of Results Of Voice Stress Analysis Test" at the time of the trial of this matter.

The sole issue presented for review is whether or not the defendant should be permitted to introduce the results of a voice stress analysis test and the circumstances surrounding the test at the time of the trial of this matter.

Charles Arnold (hereinafter defendant) was indicted by a grand jury with two counts of first degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:30. Defendant filed numerous pre-trial motions including a pre-trial motion to permit introduction at trial of results of a voice stress analysis test performed on defendant and the circumstances surrounding the tests. This motion also *1312 mentioned two video-taped statements taken from the defendant, one the night of the homicides and one three days after the homicides, and also sought their introduction at the time of trial. Defendant also filed a pre-trial motion to suppress evidence. After a hearing on the motions, the trial court denied defendant's motion to introduce the results of the voice stress analysis test and the circumstances surrounding the test and also denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence. Defendant sought review of the trial court's rulings by supervisory writs to this court. We granted the writ in part to review the trial court's ruling on the admissibility at trial of the results of the voice stress analysis test and the circumstances surrounding the test and denied the writ insofar as it sought review of the trial court's ruling denying defendant's motion to suppress. State v. Arnold, (La.App. 3 Cir.1988), an unreported decision rendered on May 2, 1988 in case Number K88-461 on the Docket of this court. Defendant then sought review by supervisory writs to the Louisiana Supreme Court of this court's denial of that portion of his supervisory writ application which sought to have this court review the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied defendant's writ application. State v. Arnold, 526 So.2d 805 (La.1988). The issue of whether or not the trial court correctly denied defendant's pre-trial motion to suppress is not presently before this court. Only the issue of the admissibility at the time of trial of the voice stress analysis test result and the circumstances surrounding the test is now before this court.

FACTS

On December 10, 1987, Betty Arnold, defendant's wife, and Leonard St. Julien were found shot to death in the Arnold home in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. After receiving a telephone call from defendant, Iberia Sheriff's deputies went to defendant's home. There they discovered the bodies with four gunshot wounds in Mrs. Arnold and five gunshot wounds in St. Julien.

Defendant gave a tape recorded oral statement to a Deputy Sheriff at the scene. Defendant stated that he had brought St. Julien to his home that afternoon to perform yard work and that he intended to assist St. Julien. Defendant then allegedly went into the bathroom to change his clothes. From his position in the bathroom, he recalled hearing gunshots in the den, just minutes after St. Julien was brought into the house. Defendant stated that he ran into the den and observed St. Julien holding his .22 caliber rifle and Mrs. Arnold's body lying on the floor. At this point, St. Julien saw him and attempted to flee. A struggle ensued in a hallway, in which defendant successfully wrestled the rifle from St. Julien and shot him several times. After examining his wife's body and discovering she was dead, defendant returned to St. Julien's body and, in a fit of anger, emptied the rifle into him.

Defendant was then taken to the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office and questioned again. At about 8:00 P.M. on the night of December 10, 1987, defendant made a video-taped oral statement. During this first video-taped statement, Captain Kelly Davis told defendant that the matter would be submitted to a grand jury. He asked defendant, since there were no witnesses to the homicides, if he would take a psychological stress evaluation test (hereinafter PSE test). Davis told defendant that the PSE test was "like a polygraph" and asked defendant if he was opposed to the idea. Defendant said, "No, okay." This was the only reference to a lie detector test in the first video-tape. The PSE test was administered by Linda Boudreaux, an Iberia Parish Sheriff's Deputy, and defendant was advised that the results indicated he had tested truthfully about the homicides and he was allowed to leave.

On December 13, 1987, at the request of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Department, defendant made a second video-taped statement. During the statement, defendant was accused of lying about the events surrounding the homicides. The only reference to a lie detector test on this second video-tape came when Davis accused defendant *1313 of picking up St. Julien in his car at 9:00 A.M. on the morning of the murders. Defendant stated that this was not true and that he would "swear to this on a polygraph test." Defendant was then placed under arrest for the murder of his wife and St. Julien. After his arrest, defendant offered to take a second lie detector test, but the request was denied.

Defendant filed a pre-trial "Motion To Permit Introduction Of Results Of Voice Stress Analysis Test" and the circumstances surrounding the test. Defendant alleged in his motion that his counsel had been advised by the District Attorney's Office that the two video-taped oral statements of defendant would be introduced into evidence at the trial by the State. Defendant further alleged he was entitled to have the jury see and hear the entirety of the two video-taped statements given by him and to be made aware of the results of the voice stress analysis test given to him by the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office which were referred to in the video-taped statements.

In its written answer to defendant's "Motion To Permit Introduction Of Results Of Voice Stress Analysis Test," the State admitted that it had no objection to defendant playing his video-taped statements of December 10, 1987 and December 13, 1987 in their entirety to the jury during the trial. The State's answer affirmed that the State also intended to use these video-taped statements in their entirety in its case-in-chief at trial. The State objected to defendant's motion seeking to permit the introduction of the PSE test results and circumstances surrounding the test into evidence and their presentation to the jury at the trial. The State also filed a pre-trial motion in limine seeking to prohibit defendant from referring to any lie detector tests during the trial.

After a hearing of the motions the trial court denied the defendant's motion to permit introduction of the PSE test results at the time of the trial, finding that such tests and results are legally inadmissable. The trial court permitted defendant to make a proffer of evidence on this motion for the record. Since the State did not object to defendant's motion to allow the jury to see and hear the two video-taped statements th

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State v. Arnold, 533 So. 2d 1311, 1988 WL 118989 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

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