State v. Biagas

754 So. 2d 1111, 2000 WL 216279
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 16, 2000
Docket99-K-2652
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 754 So. 2d 1111 (State v. Biagas) 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. Biagas, 754 So. 2d 1111, 2000 WL 216279 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

754 So.2d 1111 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ned BIAGAS.

No. 99-K-2652.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

February 16, 2000.

*1112 Lynda A. Torry, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for Relator.

(Court composed of Judge MIRIAM G. WALTZER, Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY and Judge ROBERT A. KATZ).

WALTZER, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Relator was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. His conviction and sentence were affirmed. State v. Biagas, unpub. (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/28/91), 574 So.2d 1312, writ denied, 580 So.2d 377 (La.1991). According to relator's application, the relator filed an application for post conviction relief in the trial court on 8 February 1994 and the trial court denied relief on 17 July 1995. On 16 November 1995 this Court affirmed the trial court's denial of relief. State v. Biagas, unpub. 95-1801 (La.App. 1 Cir. 11/16/95), 662 So.2d 1048, writ denied, 95-3022 (La.2/9/96), 667 So.2d 540. Relator then filed in the trial court a second application for post conviction relief. An evidentiary hearing was held and testimony taken. On 16 September 1999 the trial court denied relief. Relator gave notice of his intent to file for writs and was given a return date of 18 October 1999.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

The following is a summary of facts taken from this Court's opinion, State v. Biagas, unpub., pp. 1-2 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/28/91), 574 So.2d 1312, writ denied, 580 So.2d 377 (La.1991).

Shortly after midnight on July 3, 1988, Leroy Sampson and Monica Cravinas were outside on their porch and relator was across the street on his second story balcony. Sampson called to relator but relator did not reply. Sampson went to relator's balcony and spoke with relator for about fifteen minutes.

Cravinas looked up to see relator and Sampson fighting. Cravinas persuaded a friend, Michael Hayes, to go to relator's balcony to break up the fight. Hayes pulled Sampson off of relator and escorted Sampson home. Relator went inside and Sampson paced on his porch. Sampson gave Cravinas his watch and hat; Cravinas *1113 went inside, but Sampson did not follow. Cravinas looked out and saw relator on his balcony pointing a gun at the alley next to her house. She saw Sampson trying to get back inside the yard through a gate. She heard a round of four to five shots, followed by a round of about twenty shots. Sampson was fatally wounded.

Hayes testified that after the initial blast of gunfire, he saw relator steady the gun on the balcony rail, aim, and fire the second round.

Sampson was dead when police arrived. Officers were told that relator was on the second floor with an Uzi machine gun. They knocked on relator's door, heard a gun clip being loaded, and knocked again. Relator exited with his hands raised and said, "We had a fight so I shot him." Officers found the fully-loaded assault rifle inside and spent casings under relator's balcony.

DISCUSSION

In his application and supplemental brief relator assigns five errors:

1) relator was denied effective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to present evidence and witnesses to establish mitigation to reduce homicide to manslaughter;
2) relator was denied due process because the State withheld evidence favorable to the defense;
3) relator was denied due process through prosecutorial misconduct;
4) evidence was insufficient to prove second degree murder;
5) relator was denied due process by the trial court's erroneous instruction regarding provocation.

It would appear that any application for post conviction relief filed subsequent to State v. Biagas, unpub. 95-1801 (La.App. 4 Cir. 11/16/95, 662 So.2d 1048), writ denied, 95-3022 (La.2/9/96), 667 So.2d 540, would be barred under La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.8. However, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing relating to the second application. In the judgment denying relator's application for post conviction relief, the trial court concluded:

Petitioner Ned Biagas has urged several grounds in support thereof which the court finds to be repetitive and previously litigated. The Court has reviewed the entire record herein and has concluded that petitioner's case was handled in an effective and competent manner, ensuring that Petitioner's constitutional rights were totally and fully protected at each phase of the proceedings.

ASSIGNMENT # 1: INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Relator claims that his counsel did not adequately investigate and present mitigating evidence of: his personal injury, which would have shown heated blood, passion, and provocation; the theft perpetrated on him, which would have negated specific intent; and prior threats made by the deceased victim against him. Relator points to the trial testimony of Officer Rizutto, who mentioned only that the defendant had a scratch on his nose, which could have been contradicted by his medical records and testimony by the emergency medical technicians who treated relator, the witness who saw the relator when he was brought into Central Lockup with a busted nose clogged with blood (according to Ben Smith's 15 August 1997 evidentiary hearing testimony), and the witness who saw and heard Sampson threaten relator for messing with his old lady (according to John Washington's 24 April 1998 evidentiary hearing testimony).

Under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), a relator must show that his counsel's performance was deficient and that the deficient performance prejudiced him. With regard to counsel's performance, the relator must show that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as "counsel" guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. As to prejudice, the *1114 relator must show that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the relator of a fair trial, i.e. a trial whose result is reliable. Id., 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. Both showings must be made before it can be found that relator's conviction resulted from a breakdown in the adversarial process that rendered the trial result unreliable. Id. If an alleged error falls within the ambit of trial strategy, it does not establish ineffective assistance of counsel. State v. Bienemy, 483 So.2d 1105 (La.App. 4 Cir.1986). Hindsight is not the proper perspective for judging the competence of counsel's decisions because opinions may differ as to the advisability of a tactic, and an attorney's level of representation may not be determined by whether a particular strategy is successful. State v. Brooks, 505 So.2d 714 (La.1987), cert. denied Brooks v. Louisiana, 484 U.S. 947, 108 S.Ct. 337, 98 L.Ed.2d 363 (1987). A claim of ineffective assistance may be disposed of on the finding that either one of the two Strickland criteria has not been met. State v. James, 555 So.2d 519 (La. App. 4 Cir.1989), writ denied 559 So.2d 1374 (La.1990). If the claim fails to establish either prong, the reviewing court need not address the other. State v. Meyers, 97-2584 (La.App. 4 Cir. 11/24/99), 748 So.2d 554.

In writ number 95-K-1801 relator raised the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
754 So. 2d 1111, 2000 WL 216279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-biagas-lactapp-2000.