State v. Baylis

388 So. 2d 713
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedSeptember 3, 1980
Docket65327
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 388 So. 2d 713 (State v. Baylis) 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. Baylis, 388 So. 2d 713 (La. 1980).

Opinion

388 So.2d 713 (1980)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Terry BAYLIS.

No. 65327.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

September 3, 1980.
Rehearing Denied October 6, 1980.

*715 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Leon H. Whitten, Dist. Atty., H. Russell Davis, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

Emmons, Reeves & Henry, Joseph A. Reeves, Jr., Jonesboro, for defendant-appellant.

DIXON, Chief Justice.

The defendant was convicted of second degree murder (R.S. 14:30.1) and sentenced to serve life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for a period of forty years.

In this appeal the defendant submits for our consideration twenty-nine assignments of error, grouped into eight arguments.

The evidence at trial indicates that the defendant and his estranged wife Lydia paid a visit to an attorney in Arcadia, Louisiana on May 20, 1978 to discuss the terms of their separation. The couple then went to Shreveport to try to dispose of their mobile home. After leaving Shreveport they drove to a secluded spot near Ringgold, Louisiana where they apparently had sexual intercourse. Before leaving the area, however, the couple began to argue, resulting in defendant pulling out a pistol, striking his wife, and then shooting her *716 several times. Her body was discovered some three weeks later, and the defendant was arrested along with his father, who was implicated as an accessory for having helped the defendant dispose of the victims's car.

Assignments of Error Nos. 2, 15, 16, 18-22, 24-26

By these assignments the defendant challenges the admission of statements he made to law enforcement officials, and the admission of evidence allegedly obtained as a result of those statements.

The day after defendant and his father were arrested, they were visited in their cell by Arvis Whitman, who asked for permission to search their house for the gun. As the sheriff left, defendant said, "Sheriff, I need to talk to you in private." The sheriff agreed, and took the defendant into his private office, where the defendant made an oral statement. Later that same day the defendent made another statement to the sheriff's deputies and an assistant district attorney. The second statement was recorded.

Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress both statements, which was denied. At trial only the first, unrecorded, statement was admitted. The defendant now contends that that statement was invalidly obtained because certain statements made by the sheriff on the subject of the defendant's father amounted to psychological coercion, and because the sheriff misled him into believing any statement he made would not be used against him.

We find the defendant's first contention to be without merit.

In State v. Weinberg, 364 So.2d 964 (La. 1978), this court held that certain statements made by a defendant in an effort to protect his father from disturbance in the course of a search of his house were admissible. In that case the defendant, on learning that a search was about to occur, offered to show the officer where certain contraband was located if the officers promised not to arrest or upset his father, who was suffering from a heart condition. In ruling that statements made after the police made such a promise were admissible, the court noted that the mere fact that a statement is motivated by a desire to protect a loved one does not render the statement inadmissible. We held that since the proposal for consideration of the defendant's father originated with the defendant, and was not suggested by the police to induce cooperation the statements were not coerced so as to render them inadmissible.

In the instant case the defendant testified that the sheriff told him, before he made the statement, that he ought to "get (his) dad off the hook," and continued to exhort him to do so until he confessed. The sheriff, on the other hand, stated that the defendant had initiated the discussion of the elder Baylis, and that he had simply agreed with the defendant when he stated that he had gotten his father into trouble. The sheriff did not recall telling the defendant that he ought to get his father "off the hook." Therefore, the testimony of the defendant and of the sheriff was essentially in conflict as to whether the sheriff used the defendant's father's incarceration in an effort to get a confession, or whether the defendant simply decided to make a confession out of concern for his father.

It is true that when it seeks to introduce a confession, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was made freely and voluntarily, and must show affirmatively that it was not made under the influence of fear, duress, intimidation, menaces, inducements or promises. State v. Morvant, 384 So.2d 765 (La.1980); State v. Jackson, 381 So.2d 485 (La.1980); R.S. 15:451; C.Cr.P. 703(C). Nevertheless, conclusions of a trial court as to credibility of witnesses and the weight of testimony relating to voluntariness should not be overturned on appeal unless they are not supported by the evidence. State v. Morvant, supra; State v. Jackson, supra; State v. Gaines, 354 So.2d 548 (La.1978). The record in the instant case contains ample testimony by the sheriff supporting the trial court's conclusion that the statement was made freely and voluntarily, and that the *717 defendant's will was not overborne by police tactics designed to prey on the defendant's concern for his father.

Nor is there merit in the defendant's contention that he was misled into believing that anything he said would not be used against him. The basis of that contention is that, prior to taking the statement, the sheriff told the defendant that the statement was not being recorded, and that the room was not bugged. The defendant was unable to say, however, that he was under the impression that only recorded statements could be used. The sheriff testified that before the statement was made, he informed the defendant of his Miranda rights, including his right to remain silent, and that he had warned the defendant that anything he said could be used against him. Since the record reveals that the defendant was fully informed that his statements could be used against him, and does not reveal any action by the sheriff from which the defendant could have reasonably made a contrary inference, there is no merit in the contention that the defendant was misled into believing his statement would not be used.

The defendant's second statement, which was recorded, was made to various police officers and an assistant district attorney later that same day. The assistant district attorney was summoned at the defendant's request to explain the law relating to first and second degree murder and manslaughter. When he arrived, the defendant offered to make a statement if the state would agree not to prosecute his father or a third person whose identity was not disclosed, and to charge the defendant with a lesser offense than first degree murder.

As noted above, this recorded statement was not introduced into evidence at trial, so the defendant was not prejudiced by the trial court denial of the motion to suppress it. The defendant argues, however, that evidence seized as a result of his statements (in particular the murder weapon) should have been suppressed. The murder weapon was in fact introduced at trial, after the court denied a motion to suppress.

As noted in the discussion above, the defendant's first statement made to the sheriff was not improperly obtained.

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388 So. 2d 713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baylis-la-1980.