State v. Critton

251 So. 3d 1281
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 22, 2018
DocketNo. 52,058-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 251 So. 3d 1281 (State v. Critton) 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. Critton, 251 So. 3d 1281 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

The defendant, Andrew Critton, was charged by bill of indictment with second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. Following a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant appeals his conviction. For the following reasons, we affirm defendant's conviction and sentence and remand for correction of the commitment order.

FACTS

The record shows that on the evening of January 10, 2016, the victim, Sulyn Prince, was attacked and bludgeoned to death after she had returned home from work. The victim's body was then buried in a nearby wooded lot. The next day, the victim's daughter called police when she was unable to contact her mother. In responding to the scene, police officers discovered that Prince was missing and found her house in disarray. Through a window, the officer saw garbage bags and cleaning supplies strewn on the kitchen floor. He then walked behind the house and saw drops of blood leading to the apartment out back. In the apartment, there was blood, water, and broken glass from a wine bottle on the floor, blood spatter on the wall, and smears of blood on a barstool. Outside, there was a drag pattern and wheel marks in the frost on the grass and a blood trail leading from the apartment to a wooded area behind the house.

In a creek under a bridge nearby, officers found numerous items that came from the victim's house, including the victim's uniform, a fire extinguisher, and a broken wine bottle. Two latex gloves, a wheelbarrow, and a shovel were also found near the creek in a wooded area. The victim's DNA was found on the fire extinguisher, the wheelbarrow, and the shovel.

The Shreveport Fire Department K-9 search team was contacted and a cadaver dog alerted to an area of disturbed dirt under several tree limbs in the wooded area behind the victim's house. The state police crime scene unit then began digging in that area and discovered the victim's body.

When Prince's body was removed from the ground, police photographed the body and placed paper bags on the victim's hands to preserve any evidence present. On the back of her head, Prince had a 12 by 10 centimeter laceration with an underlying skull fracture, which was likely caused by the fire extinguisher. The forensic pathologist stated that it was one of the worst skull fractures he had seen that did not involve a car crash. Prince also had several lacerations to her face, bruises around her eye and forehead, a rib fracture, bruises on her arms, and defensive *1286wounds on her hands consisting of bruises and skin flaps.

Jermaine Johnson, who lived next door to the victim, was the first suspect in this case. Among other evidence, officers found documents containing the victim's name and blood in a trashcan behind Johnson's house. Johnson was charged with second degree murder. However, through the course of the investigation, defendant was developed as another suspect in the case based on DNA evidence. Defendant's DNA was found on one of the latex gloves recovered from the crime scene, on fingernail clippings from the victim, and in the sperm fraction of an oral swab obtained from the victim.

Defendant was arrested and officers searched his residence, which was a basement apartment in his sister's house. In his bedroom, officers located a newspaper containing a story related to the victim's death along with two notes handwritten by defendant. One of the notes contained a poem in which he refers to himself having just been released from jail against all odds and compares himself to a great white shark on the streets that needs to eat. The other note was a list, which read: (1) ski-mask; (2) gloves; (3) straps; (4) tape and rope; and the words "dress in all black." In a burn pile behind the house, police recovered part of a t-shirt, a shoe with the sole removed, and a paper sack with unused condoms. At trial, defendant's sister, Lashelle Holyfield, testified that on the night of the murder, defendant had come home around 9:00 p.m., wearing all black, but left again around 10:30 p.m. The next morning, around 7:00-8:00 a.m., she saw defendant burning something behind the house and he was not wearing a shirt despite the cold weather.

The victim was a correctional officer at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center, where defendant had been incarcerated prior to his release in December 2015. Two of his cellmates from Bayou Dorcheat testified that before his release, defendant had talked about hiding evidence of a crime and asked questions about where Prince lived, if she was married or had a dog, and even stated that he "had to get him some of that."

Defendant was charged with second degree murder. Following a jury trial, he was found guilty as charged. Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

Defendant contends his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to request a Daubert hearing regarding the DNA evidence. Defendant argues that defense counsel was put on notice that a Daubert hearing should be conducted because of the clerical error in the lab report and the need for a second test of evidence to implicate defendant.

As a general rule, a claim of ineffective assistance is more properly raised in an application for post-conviction relief in the trial court than by appeal. This is because post-conviction relief creates the opportunity for a full evidentiary hearing under La. C.Cr.P. art. 930. State v. Winzer , 49,316 (La. App. 2 Cir. 10/8/14), 151 So.3d 135, writ denied , 2014-2373 (La. 4/22/16), 191 So.3d 1044. However, when the record is sufficient, this issue may be resolved on direct appeal in the interest of judicial economy. State v. Winzer, supra .

The right of a defendant in a criminal proceeding to the effective assistance of counsel is mandated by U.S. Constitution Amendment VI. State v. Wry , 591 So.2d 774 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1991). A claim of ineffectiveness of counsel is analyzed under *1287the two-prong test developed in Strickland v. Washington , 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

First, to establish that his attorney was ineffective, the defendant must show that counsel's performance was deficient. This requires a showing that counsel made errors so serious that he was not functioning as the counsel guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
251 So. 3d 1281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-critton-lactapp-2018.