State v. Chevalier

458 So. 2d 507
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 26, 1984
DocketKA-1741
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 458 So. 2d 507 (State v. Chevalier) 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. Chevalier, 458 So. 2d 507 (La. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

458 So.2d 507 (1984)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
William CHEVALIER.

No. KA-1741.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

September 26, 1984.

*509 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Joanne C. Marier, Asst. Dist. Atty., New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.

Noland & Boasso, Gary W. Bizal, William Noland, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Before GULOTTA, LOBRANO and ARMSTRONG, JJ.

ARMSTRONG, Judge.

On February 22, 1983, defendant William Chevalier was indicted for first degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of Elmore Caliste. The defendant *510 pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Following trial by a jury of twelve, Chevalier was convicted of second degree murder. Accordingly, he was sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Corrections without probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

The defendant now brings this appeal, seeking reversal of his conviction on ten assignments of error.[1] We affirm.

For convenience of discussion, we shall immediately treat the last assignment.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 13

By this assignment, appellant contends that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to support a conviction for second degree murder.

In reviewing the sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction, the appellate court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Fuller, 414 So.2d 306 (La. 1982).

Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, these are the salient facts:

It is not disputed that William Chevalier killed Elmore Caliste by stabbing him repeatedly on the morning of January 10, 1983.

At one time, Chevalier and Caliste had been good friends. They first became acquainted at Lafayette General Hospital in the mid-1970s. Caliste was recovering from an amputation of his left leg, and Chevalier was employed as an orderly. Sometime after discharge from the hospital, Caliste moved to New Orleans, and later, so did Chevalier. Their friendship continued, and in fact, they saw each other on a regular basis.

In April 1982, Caliste attended a small gathering at Chevalier's house, accompanied by a young friend named Leward Marshall. Chevalier was introduced to Marshall and immediately "felt a very strong attraction" to him. Apparently the attraction was mutual because when Marshall returned to the house the next day, he asked Chevalier if he could live with him.

It is not clear from the record whether Marshall actually did move in with Chevalier; it suffices to say that despite the difference in their ages—Marshall was fourteen; Chevalier was thirty-seven—they soon developed an extraordinarily close friendship. Chevalier professed a great interest in Marshall's education, and when the boy blamed his perpetual truancy on the lack of clothes to wear to school, Chevalier either bought the clothes or supplied the money for them.

In late December 1982, Chevalier broke the relationship and moved to Houston. His motive, so he explained at trial, was to spare Marshall the emotional hardship of being labelled a homosexual, a hardship which Chevalier himself knew well, having been in and out of psychiatric institutions since the early 1960s because of (as he put it) inability to deal with his sexual orientation. Chevalier was aware that the boy's schoolmates had already tagged him as a "sissy", and he thought the continuation of his relationship with Marshall would only further that perception among the boy's peers.

Before leaving for Houston on December 19, 1982, Chevalier extracted Marshall's promise to attend school regularly and to avoid Caliste, whom the defendant believed to be homosexual.

Late in the evening on January 9, 1982, Chevalier telephoned the home of a friend in New Orleans, expecting to find Marshall there. Upon being told that Marshall had been seen riding around town with Caliste, *511 Chevalier went into a rage. In his words, "it was just like somebody struck me with a knife or a gun or something. It looked like my whole life drained out of me." Tr. 172.

Shortly afterward, Chevalier penned this suicide note:

"Dear Momme:

Please find it in your heart to understand why I did this. I just couldn't go on living and being hurt anymore. Right now while writing this letter I feel like my whole world is ended. I tried hard to be happy and still I couldn't find it. All my life it's been one hurt after another. I just can't take it anymore. I know I hurt all of you by doing this but it was my only way out. I just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe you can understand.
Why I had to do that lil boy the way I did, well, I just couldn't let him get away with all the changes he put me through after all what I did for him and he let a stupid silly Bitch like Caliste tell him what to do. Well, if he lives through this He'll always remember not to hurt anyone again. He will also never be able to have sex again. I'll make sure of that.
Please bury me with my wig on. Pray for me for maybe I'm going to a better place.
Your mixed up son, Lee
I love you Millie and all my brothers and sisters."

Chevalier boarded a late-night bus from Houston and arrived in New Orleans around 11:00 a.m. He went immediately to a dime store on Canal Street and bought a long kitchen knife, then travelled by public service bus to New Orleans East, where Caliste lived and where he hoped Marshall would be. Chevalier got off the bus at a transfer point and went into a Time-Saver, where he bought a half pint of vodka. At the next transfer point, he bought another.

The door to Caliste's residence was open when Chevalier arrived. He entered and drew the knife. Seizing Marshall by the arm, the defendant put the knife to the boy's neck and cut him. When Marshall struggled to get away, the defendant pushed him onto a pool table, stabbed him, then threw him across the sofa and stabbed him again. In all, Marshall was stabbed five times before he managed to escape from the house.

Marshall ran into the street, bleeding from the face and several other parts of his body. Briefly, he turned back toward the house. The defendant, however, was in the doorway yelling that he was going to kill Caliste, and in the next moments, Marshall heard the victim's screams for help.

Marshall ran toward a neighbor and told her to call the police. Within a short time, Officer Roy D'Arcangelo arrived in a New Orleans Police squad car. He spoke to Marshall briefly, then approached the door of Caliste's residence and knocked. After a minute or so, Chevalier appeared at the door and said, "Please come in, I just stabbed him." Chevalier was immediately ordered out of the house and arrested; he was then advised of his rights and placed in the back of the squad car.

When the New Orleans Police homicide team arrived, they found Caliste's body just inside the door.

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Bluebook (online)
458 So. 2d 507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chevalier-lactapp-1984.