State v. Claibon

395 So. 2d 770
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMarch 2, 1981
Docket80-KA-2081
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 395 So. 2d 770 (State v. Claibon) 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. Claibon, 395 So. 2d 770 (La. 1981).

Opinion

395 So.2d 770 (1981)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Charles CLAIBON.

No. 80-KA-2081.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

March 2, 1981.
Rehearing Denied April 6, 1981.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty., Kay Kirkpatrick, William Weatherford, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

M. Michele Fournet, Asst. Public Defender, for defendant-appellant.

*771 CALOGERO, Justice.[1]

On July 6, 1979, defendant Charles Claibon was a member of a parish work crew assigned to clean drainage ditches in Baton Rouge. On that date defendant killed Tyrone Converse, first stabbing him with a butcher knife and later cutting him across the neck with a swing blade, a tool used in cutting weeds. The grand jury indicted defendant for first degree murder, which indictment the district attorney later amended to charge second degree murder in violation of R.S. 14:30.1. Defendant entered a plea of "not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity." The jury trial resulted in a ten to two verdict of guilty as charged. The trial judge denied defendant's motion for a new trial and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation or parole. On appeal to this Court, defendant argues that he proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he was legally insane at the time of the crime.

Both defendant and the victim were members of the ditch cleaning crew. Other members of the crew testified at trial regarding the events which occurred that morning. The entire group had ridden to the work area on a truck owned by the city-parish government. During the ride, several people observed that defendant had two butcher knives hidden in his work boots. One person testified that defendant said he had the knives because "he didn't want nobody fooling with him." Defendant had been involved in a fight with another crew member the day before the homicide.

No one saw the original stabbing, but several people heard the victim scream and saw him bleeding profusely from wounds in his chest. Defendant, who had been behind the work truck with the victim, returned to the drainage ditch. A short time later, defendant left the ditch and joined the group standing around the victim waiting for medical assistance and for the police to arrive. Defendant mumbled something and picked up a swing blade which was leaning against a nearby tree. Defendant approached the victim and cut him across the neck with the swing blade, nearly decapitating him, and then returned the blade to its resting place against the tree. Defendant looked at another crew member, told him that he was "next" and began to chase him down the street. After running a short distance, defendant removed his work boots and continued the chase for a few blocks. Crew members testified that in their opinion defendant removed his boots because it was too difficult to run in the boots, which were loose and quite heavy. Defendant returned to the group near the victim and asked whether anyone had money he could have. About this time, the group heard sirens approaching, and defendant, in his stocking feet, left in the direction opposite that from which the sirens were coming. Defendant asked a long-time friend to "get his slippers out of the truck and take them home." Defendant, however, did not go home when he left the scene of the crime.

The police located defendant shortly after the crime, arrested him and transported him to the police station. The arresting officers variously described defendant as one of the most cold-blooded individuals, or the most cold-blooded individual they had ever arrested. All witnesses testified that defendant appeared rather emotionless during the events of the day, but also noted that he looked much the same that day as he did during the trial.

*772 In Louisiana a defendant is presumed sane and the state is not required to prove sanity. R.S. 15:432.[2] A defendant who wishes to negate the presumption must put forth an affirmative defense of insanity and prove his insanity by a preponderance of the evidence. C.Cr.P. art. 652; State v. Roy, 395 So.2d 664 (La.1981). Legal insanity in Louisiana means that a defendant has a mental disease or defect which prevents him from distinguishing right from wrong with reference to the conduct which forms the basis for the criminal charge against him. R.S. 14:14. The determination of sanity is a factual matter reserved to the jury or other fact finder. Therefore, this Court traditionally did not review the rejection of an insanity defense where there was "some evidence" supporting the finding that defendant was not insane, because the Court is limited by the Constitution to review of questions of law. La.Const. of 1974, Art. 5, § 5(C).

Recently, however, the United States Supreme Court decided Moore v. Duckworth, 443 U.S. 713, 99 S.Ct. 3088, 61 L.Ed.2d 865 (1979), and rejected the "no evidence" standard of review when a state prisoner asserts a habeas corpus claim that the state convicted him with insufficient evidence after he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. According to the United States Supreme Court the proper standard for reviewing the conviction is that of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Following the dictates of Moore, this Court decided State v. Roy, supra, in which we adopted the Jackson standard of review when a defendant pleads the affirmative defense of insanity and claims that the record evidence does not support a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Using the Jackson standard we must determine whether under the facts and circumstances of the case, any rational fact finder, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, could conclude that defendant had not proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he was insane at the time of the offense.

Defendant moved for the appointment of a sanity commission to determine his competency to stand trial and his mental capacity at the time of the offense. The two members of the commission reported that defendant was able to assist his attorney and competent to stand trial,[3] although defendant did suffer from schizophrenia of the paranoid type. The commission members and another psychiatrist testified at trial as witnesses for the defense.

Dr. George Bishop first examined defendant at the parish prison two weeks after the crime. At this time, Dr. Bishop related, defendant was hearing voices. Dr. Bishop administered a major antipsychotic drug, Haldol, during the interview, and ordered that the medication be repeated on a regular basis. Three days later Dr. Bishop again saw defendant. Defendant was responding to the medication but Dr. Bishop increased the dosage because defendant was still hearing voices. During this interview, defendant told Dr. Bishop that the voices of the prior week (two weeks after the homicide) had told him to "kill that man." Dr. Bishop saw defendant several more times, but made no attempt at any time to determine whether he knew right from wrong at the time of the crime—the legal test for insanity in Louisiana.

Dr. Francisco A. Silva examined defendant on October 18, 1979, in his capacity as a member of the sanity commission. This examination lasted less than one hour. At trial, Dr. Silva testified that he concluded that defendant was legally insane at the time of the crime. Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
395 So. 2d 770, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-claibon-la-1981.