State v. Bailey

92 So. 3d 606, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1003, 2012 WL 1934437, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 737
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 30, 2012
DocketNo. 11-1003
StatusPublished

This text of 92 So. 3d 606 (State v. Bailey) 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. Bailey, 92 So. 3d 606, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1003, 2012 WL 1934437, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 737 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

GREMILLION, Judge.

11 Defendant, Joel T. Bailey, shot his parents, Eugene and Dorothy Bailey. Defendant fled and was apprehended four days later in Woodville, Mississippi.

Mr. Bailey died at the scene as the result of a shotgun blast to the head fired at contact range. However, Ms. Bailey was transported to the hospital and survived her injuries.

Defendant was charged with first degree murder, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30, and attempted first degree murder, a violation of La.R.S. 14:27 and La.R.S. 14:30. Defense counsel stipulated that Defendant, who was a diagnosed schizophrenic, was competent to stand trial and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The trial court found Defendant incompetent to stand trial.

Three-and-a-half months later, the trial court again found Defendant lacked the capacity to proceed and ordered an assessment at the East Feliciana Forensic Facility to restore him to competency. At a hearing five months later, the trial court found Defendant competent to proceed to trial.

After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty as charged on both counts. A Motion for New Trial was denied. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for first degree murder. For the offense of attempted first degree murder, Defendant was sentenced to forty years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The trial court ordered the sentences to be served concurrently.

Defendant is now before this court asserting two assignments of error: First, he contends the trial court erred in finding him guilty of the crimes charged. |2Second, he argues the trial court erred in denying his Motion for New Trial. We find the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant’s convictions.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In his first assignment of error, Defendant contends the trial court erred in finding him guilty of the crimes charged. Defendant does not allege that he did not shoot his parents on September 9, 2007, but contends he should have been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Under La.Rev.Stat. 14:14:

If the circumstances indicate that because of a mental disease or mental defect the offender was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to the conduct in question, the offender shall be exempt from criminal responsibility.
However, in Louisiana there is a legal presumption that the defendant is sane and responsible for his actions. La.Rev. Stat. 15:432; State v. Poree, 386 So.2d 1331 (La.1979). Therefore, to overcome this presumption of sanity, the defendant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that he suffered a mental disease or a mental defect which prevented him from distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to the conduct in question. La.Code Crim. Pro. art. 652; State v. Armstrong, 94-2950, pp. 4-5 (La.4/8/96), 671 So.2d 307, 309; State v. Silman, 95-0154, p. 7 (La.11/27/95), 663 So.2d 27, 32; State v. Peters, 94-0283, pp. 8-9 (La.10/17/94), 643 So.2d 1222, 1225-26. Sanity is a factual matter for the jury, to be determined from all of the evidence, both lay and expert, along with circumstances surrounding the events and testimony relating to the defendant’s behavior before, during, and after the crime. State v. Price, 403 So.2d 660, [608]*608663-64 (La.1981); State v. Claibon, 395 So.2d 770, 772 (La.1981); State v. Roy, 395 So.2d 664, 668-69 (La.1981). A determination of the weight of the evidence is a question of fact that rests solely with the trier of fact, who may accept or reject, in whole or in part, the testimony of any witness, and if rational triers of fact could disagree as to the interpretation of the evidence, the rational trier’s view of all of the evidence most favorable to the prosecution must be adopted. State v. Silman, 95-0154, p. 12, 663 So.2d at 35.
In reviewing a claim for insufficiency of evidence in an action where the affirmative defense of insanity is raised, the appellate court, applying the standard set forth in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), must determine whether under the facts and circumstances of the case, any rational fact finder, viewing the evidence most favorably to the prosecution, could Isconclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was insane at the time of the offense. State v. Peters, 94-0283, p. 8, 643 So.2d at 1225; State v. Armstrong, p. 4, 671 So.2d at 309; State v. Nealy, 450 So.2d 634, 639 (La.1984).

State v. Williams, 07-1407, pp. 7-8 (La.10/20/09), 22 So.3d 867, 875-76, cert. denied, — U.S. —, 130 S.Ct. 3278, 176 L.Ed.2d 1184 (2010).

There is no dispute that Defendant is mentally ill and has been for many years. The law, though, requires that Defendant show that he was not only mentally ill, but also that the nature of his illness was of such a kind and quality that it “prevented him from distinguishing between right and wrong” at the moment he shot his parents.

If the standard was that we consider this record in a light most favorable to Defendant, we would be hard-pressed to affirm the conviction. Every single witness, be they lay or expert, called Defendant’s sanity into serious question. In fact, it took three hearings and the better part of a year to “restore” Defendant’s competency to stand trial. Furthermore, only one of three doctors believed that he knew right from wrong, and even that doctor believed Defendant was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

We must consider the evidence in the light that most favors the State, which the jury found convincing. We accord great weight to the jury’s verdict, and we may not alter it unless it there is no reasonable factual basis for its finding. We must affirm Defendant’s convictions because there is a rational basis for the jury’s finding that Defendant was not legally insane at the time he shot his parents.

Fact Witnesses

Detective Mark Herford testified that Defendant was not present when police arrived at the Bailey residence on the date of the offenses. Defendant left the scene without his wallet, drove until he ran out of gas, and left his vehicle on 14the side of the road. He was subsequently located under a bridge in Woodville, Mississippi. When Defendant was found, he was only wearing boxer shorts.

The report of Officer Adam Speeg, the officer who found Defendant on September 13, 2007, recounted Defendant’s interaction with him and was read to the jury as follows:

When I first made eye contact with Mr. Bailey he was walking underneath the southbound side of the Homochitto River Bridge wearing nothing but boxer shorts. After walking to and making physical contact with Mr. Bailey, he [609]*609seemed to be nervous at first but got more relaxed as we started to converse.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
State v. Poree
386 So. 2d 1331 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Armstrong
671 So. 2d 307 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1996)
State v. Price
403 So. 2d 660 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
State v. Giles
884 So. 2d 1233 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Sharp
418 So. 2d 1344 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Silman
663 So. 2d 27 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1995)
State v. Roy
395 So. 2d 664 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
State v. Claibon
395 So. 2d 770 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
State v. Nealy
450 So. 2d 634 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1984)
State v. Peters
643 So. 2d 1222 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 So. 3d 606, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1003, 2012 WL 1934437, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 737, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bailey-lactapp-2012.