State v. Cager

732 So. 2d 97, 1999 WL 173598
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 24, 1999
Docket97-KA-1877
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 732 So. 2d 97 (State v. Cager) 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. Cager, 732 So. 2d 97, 1999 WL 173598 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

732 So.2d 97 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Quantrell CAGER.

No. 97-KA-1877.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

March 24, 1999.

*99 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Susan Erlanger Talbot, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana, Attorneys for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Sherry Watters, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, Attorney for Defendant/Appellant.

Court composed of Judge MIRIAM G. WALTZER, Judge JAMES F. McKAY III, Judge Pro Tempore JAMES C. GULOTTA.

McKAY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

By grand jury indictment dated January 25, 1996, defendant was charged with one count of second degree murder; and, he pleaded not guilty. On May 5-7, 1997, a twelve-member jury that found the defendant guilty as charged. On May 21, 1997, the trial court denied defendant's motion for new trial and sentenced him to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of *100 sentence. The defendant now appeals this conviction.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On December 18, 1995 at 11:00 a.m., the body of Brian Blaire was found in front of 3623 St. Bernard Avenue. He had been shot once in the face and once in the neck. A .38 caliber revolver was underneath his body, and the gun's cylinder contained two live cartridges and no spent cartridges. No spent casings were found at the scene. Bullet fragments removed from his body were determined to have been .38 caliber bullets, but the bullets were not fired from Blaire's gun.

Corey Mercadel testified that the victim was his nephew and that at 7:00 or 8:00 on the morning of the shooting, defendant, who lived at 3621 St. Bernard, threatened to "get them" for breaking into his house. Mercadel admitted to several prior convictions and that he was in jail at the time of trial. He denied receiving any favors in exchange for his testimony.

Tamara Anderson testified that she lived at 3627 St. Bernard Avenue and that she saw defendant and Blaire outside in the courtyard talking to each other. She further testified that she saw defendant shoot Blaire once and that when Blaire reached for his gun, defendant shot him again. She stated that defendant was dressed all in black and that she saw defendant's face as he walked away. Ms. Anderson admitted that about a week after the shooting, she had to be hospitalized for two months because she was hearing voices and was depressed. She also admitted that Blaire was a friend and had lived with her and her family.

Kay Kimble, who lived at 3619 St. Bernard Avenue, testified that she knew defendant and that when she was returning home from shopping, she saw defendant shoot Blaire. She later met with detectives from the Homicide Division and chose defendant's picture out of a photographic lineup. She also stated that she told the police that she knew it was defendant who shot Blaire because she saw defendant's wife get out of their car and go over to defendant after the shooting. She admitted that the reason she had previously stated that she had not actually seen the shooter's face is because she was afraid. She testified that she did see the shooter's face and that defendant was the shooter. Ms. Kimble further testified that defendant was dressed all in black. She admitted that she received five hundred dollars from Crime Stoppers about a month after the shooting, and she stated that she would not receive any additional money for testifying at trial.

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In his first assignment of error, defendant complains that the trial court erred in not allowing him to introduce certain evidence to impeach the credibility of three prosecution witnesses, Corey Mercadel, Tamara Anderson, and Kay Kimble. He argues that this violated his right to confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him.

With regard to the testimony of Mercadel, defendant asserts that he was prevented from questioning Mercadel about any deals he received from the State in exchange for his testimony and that the trial judge admonished the jury to disregard any testimony about deals. However, a review of the trial transcript shows that defendant was not prohibited from asking Mercadel about any deals. Mercadel admitted that he was in jail, and he replied no when asked by defense counsel if he received any favors from the prosecution in return for his testimony. When he was asked about his pending charges for which trial had apparently been continued, the State objected, which was sustained by the court stating that lots of cases were continued and that the jury was to disregard the question to the extent that it involved continuances. Defense counsel *101 was still allowed to ask Mercadel if he had asked the prosecutor for help on the pending charges, and Mercadel denied asking for any help. Hence, there is no merit to defendant's argument that his cross-examination of Mercadel was improperly restricted or that the trial judge ordered the jury to disregard testimony about deals.

Defendant also argues that his right to cross-examine Tamara Anderson was violated when the trial court held that her psychiatric records were inadmissible. He asserts that the records were admissible because it was likely that the records contained both inconsistent statements that she made about the incident and evidence concerning her inability to perceive and recall. He further argues that he was entitled to use extrinsic evidence, in the form of the psychiatric records, to prove that Ms. Anderson's mental illness created a defect in her capacity to perceive the facts that she purported to have observed. He also states that it appeared that the trial judge did not make an in camera inspection of the records.

La. C.E. art. 607(D)(1) provides that extrinsic evidence to show a witness' bias, interest, corruption, or defect of capacity is admissible to attack the credibility of the witness. La. C.E. art. 608 provides that a witness' credibility may be attacked by evidence relating to their general reputation for truthfulness, but not by extrinsic evidence of particular acts, vices, or courses of conduct. In State v. Morris, 429 So.2d 111 (La.1983), the Supreme Court stated that mental abnormality either at the time of observing the facts or at the time of testifying will be provable on cross-examination or by extrinsic evidence as bearing on credibility. See also La. C.E. art. 607(B).

La. C.E. art. 510(C)(1) provides that in a criminal proceeding, a patient has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent another from disclosing a confidential communication made for the purpose of advice, diagnosis, or treatment of his health condition between or among himself, his representative, and his physician or psychotherapist and their representatives. Article 510(C)(2) sets forth six instances in which the privilege does not apply, but none of these instances apply to Ms. Anderson's psychiatric records.

In State v. Baker, 582 So.2d 1320 (La. App. 4th Cir.1991), writ denied 590 So.2d 1197 (La.1992), cert. denied 506 U.S. 818, 113 S.Ct. 62, 121 L.Ed.2d 30 (1992), this court held that a witness' psychiatric records were not admissible as impeachment evidence because they were privileged and did not constitute evidence of her general reputation for truthfulness.

The psychiatric records defendant sought to introduce into evidence were privileged, and they did not bear on Ms.

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732 So. 2d 97, 1999 WL 173598, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cager-lactapp-1999.