State v. Barnes

414 So. 2d 711
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 17, 1982
Docket81-KA-2327
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 414 So. 2d 711 (State v. Barnes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barnes, 414 So. 2d 711 (La. 1982).

Opinion

414 So.2d 711 (1982)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
William BARNES.

No. 81-KA-2327.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 17, 1982.
Rehearing Denied June 18, 1982.

*712 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Stephen Little, Abbott J. Reeves, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

Samuel S. Dalton, Jefferson, for defendant-appellant.

FRED S. BOWES, Justice Pro Tem.[*]

The defendant, William Barnes, was convicted by a jury of first degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:30. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor, forty years of which were without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. On appeal, defendant urges twelve assignments of error. Assignment of error number one was neither briefed nor argued, therefore it is considered abandoned.

On May 20, 1979, at approximately 1:00 p. m., Emanuel Phillips, Jr. received a fatal gunshot wound to the chest while he sat in his parked car at the Villa D'ames Apartments in Jefferson Parish. The bullet entered the left side of the victim's chest beneath the arm and passed through the lung into his heart. The window on the driver's side of the victim's car was shattered from the gunshot. Tommy Hollingsworth, a cab driver for Holly Cabs, had pulled into a driveway to the apartment complex when he heard a gunshot. Hollingsworth immediately looked up and saw *713 the defendant thrust his hand inside the window on the driver's side, while another man, subsequently identified as Junior Bazile, stood by the passenger door of the victim's car. Hollingsworth then heard another gunshot. The victim exited the passenger side door and either grabbed Bazile or was grabbed by Bazile. Bazile jerked away and stated, "You done shot the son-of-a-bitch." The defendant and Bazile then got into a Chrysler automobile and drove away, while Hollingsworth gave pursuit. Hollingsworth radioed for help on his dispatch radio as he followed the Chrysler, never losing sight of it.

When Officer Douglas Deauzat received a call over the police radio, relaying Hollingsworth's dispatch, he subsequently spotted the two vehicles heading south on Estalote. The Chrysler being driven by the defendant was stopped approximately five minutes later. Deauzat never lost sight of the cab or the Chrysler. He instructed the two men to get out of the car, place their hands on the roof, and spread their legs. The defendant had a difficult time getting in this position and Deauzat noticed that the defendant's left hand was bleeding. The defendant said that he thought he had been shot, but Deauzat believed that the injury looked more like a cut or a scrape. The murder weapon was never recovered and the witness, Hollingsworth, never actually saw the weapon itself.

Assignment of Error Numbers 2 and 3

By these assignments, defense counsel argues that the trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a new trial based on insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction for first degree murder.

A convicted defendant's attack on the sufficiency of the evidence is determined by whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Harveston, 389 So.2d 63 (La.1980).

The defendant was charged with first degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:30. Under this statute, as in effect at the time of the killing, the State was required to prove that the defendant had specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm when he killed the victim. When the evidence in this case is viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, it appears that the defendant fired one shot at the driver's side of the victim's car and then fired another shot from point-blank range at the victim. Hollingsworth's identification of the defendant, instead of Bazile, as the man who reached through the window on the driver's side, the coroner's opinion that the fatal bullet entered through the left side of the victim's chest, and the injury caused to the defendant's hand, all tend to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant fired the fatal gunshot and, under the circumstances, that he specifically intended to kill the victim.

This assignment is without merit.

Assignments of Error Numbers 3 and 4

By these assignments, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial based on hearsay statements by a State witness which were not properly disclosed to defense counsel in discovery. Defendant submits that Hollingsworth's testimony to the effect that he heard Bazile, immediately after the shooting, tell the defendant "You done shot the son-of-a-bitch" was an impermissible use of hearsay. He also alleges that the testimony was in direct contradiction to the State's answer to the Bill of Particulars.

Defense counsel objected to the testimony and, outside the presence of the jury, motioned for a mistrial, submitting that it was an impermissible use of hearsay and that the State failed to give proper notice that it intended to use the statement. The prosecutor argued that the statement constituted res gestae and that he had informed defense counsel of the existence of the statement. It was additionally argued by the State that the statement was admissible under the co-conspirator's exception to the exclusion of hearsay.

*714 Defense counsel then admitted that he was informed of the existence of the statement, but that a little girl—as opposed to Hollingsworth—was the person who heard Bazile say this.

The trial court denied the defendant's motion, reasoning that any error caused by Hollingsworth's spontaneous hearsay declaration would be harmless given the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt.

In our opinion, Bazile's statement, immediately after the shooting, constituted res gestae as defined in La.R.S. 15:447 and 15:448.[1] The record indicates that Bazile's statement was a spontaneous declaration made in conjunction with the killing. Therefore, the statement was admissible as part of the res gestae, even if testimony in court with regard to it was hearsay. State v. Kimble, 407 So.2d 693 (La.1981).

Additionally, there is no merit in the defendant's contention that he was not given proper notice of the State's intent to use the statement. Notice under La.C.Cr.P. Art. 768[2] is not required when the statement sought to be introduced forms a part of the res gestae. State v. Kimble, supra; State v. Lawson, 393 So.2d 1260 (La.1980); State v. Shelton, 377 So.2d 96 (La.1979). There was also no requirement that the State give notice under La.R.S. 15:455 and La.C.Cr.P. Art. 721[3] because the statements qualified for admission as res gestae under La.R.S. 15:447 and 15:448. Therefore, the State did not have to rely on the co-conspirator's exception to the exclusion of hearsay. Since, in any event, defense counsel conceded that he was informed of the statement, the State did not err in failing to give formal notice of its intent to use the statement.

These assignments lack merit.

Assignments of Error Numbers 5 and 12

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Bluebook (online)
414 So. 2d 711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barnes-la-1982.