State v. Derouselle

769 So. 2d 141, 2000 WL 1486279
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 30, 2000
Docket97-KA-2590
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 769 So. 2d 141 (State v. Derouselle) 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. Derouselle, 769 So. 2d 141, 2000 WL 1486279 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

769 So.2d 141 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Christopher DEROUSELLE.

No. 97-KA-2590.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

August 30, 2000.

*143 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Theresa A. Tamburo, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for Plaintiff.

Pamela S. Moran, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for Defendant.

Court composed of Judge MIRIAM G. WALTZER, Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY and Judge PHILIP C. CIACCIO, Pro Tem.

WALTZER, J.

The Supreme Court has remanded this case with the order to consider all assignments of error originally asserted by appellant. In our original opinion we reversed the trial court judgment and ordered a new trial on the basis of assignment of error No. 4. On remand, we affirm the conviction and sentence for the reasons below.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

By grand jury indictment dated 28 March 1996, defendant was charged with second degree murder; and, he pleaded not guilty. The trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress the identification on 24 October 1996; and, on 18 and 20 February 1997, defendant was tried by a twelve-member jury that found him guilty as charged. The trial court denied defendant's motion for new trial on 10 March 1997; and, on the same day, the trial court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On 21 January 1996, shortly after 8:00 p.m., police responded to a call about a shooting at 2649 Louisa, where they found *144 Sandra Taylor dead from five gunshot wounds. Dr. Paul McGarry, who performed the autopsy, testified that the gun was less than two feet away from the victim when she was shot. He also testified that Ms. Taylor had cocaine in her system.

Dana Duncan, who was Ms. Taylor's friend, testified that she saw defendant riding a white bicycle on the morning of 21 January and that he asked her if she knew Ms. Taylor. Ms. Duncan said that she told him that she did not because she did not trust him. She saw him again later that evening at the corner of Louisa and Dorgenois, and he again asked her if she knew Ms. Taylor. She again told him that she did not, and she then told Ms. Taylor that someone was looking for her. She further testified that as she left Ms. Taylor's home that evening, she saw defendant peeping from around the corner. She told the police that defendant was wearing a black and yellow starter jacket. Ms. Duncan chose defendant's picture out of a photographic lineup.

Charles Craft, who was Ms. Taylor's fiancé, testified that on the afternoon of the shooting, a man named Terry or Kerry came to their house looking for Ms. Taylor. He further testified that he had never seen this person before and that this man said that he was Ms. Taylor's nephew. When Craft told this person that Ms. Taylor was not home, he left with another person. Craft testified that as he was leaving the house later that evening to get a sandwich, he saw the man, who had a white bicycle, standing on the street corner about one hundred feet from the house. Craft said that he was half a block from the house when he heard gunshots coming from his house. He testified that he then saw the young man, who wore either a black and yellow or blue and yellow starter jacket, leave his house, get on the white bicycle, and ride toward the Florida housing project. Craft went back to the house where he found Ms. Taylor lying dead on the floor. He identified defendant in a photographic lineup several days later as the young man he saw leaving Ms. Taylor's house.

Officer Kyle Hinrichs, who was the first officer on the scene, testified that he had to leave when he received a call about a shooting a few blocks away. The police found a green bicycle and a gun near the scene, but ballistic tests showed that the bullets removed from Ms. Taylor did not come from that gun. Officer Norbert Zenon, who arrested defendant at his home, admitted that he did not conduct a search of defendant's home for evidence. He also testified that Officer Beaulieu told him that a person named Kerry or Terry was responsible for the shooting and that the same officer later told him that his confidential informant told him that defendant shot Ms. Taylor. Officer Shelita Butler testified that Ms. Taylor had been a confidential informant who had given her information about various drug dealers, including Carmella Brown, in the area.

DISCUSSION

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals one error patent, namely that the trial court sentenced defendant without observing the twenty-four hour delay after denying defendant's motion for new trial as required by La.C.Cr.P. art. 873; and, the record does not show that defendant waived the delay. The failure to observe the delay is deemed harmless error where the defendant does not challenge his sentence on appeal. State v. Ward, 94-0490 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/29/96), 670 So.2d 562; State v. Collins, 584 So.2d 356 (La.App. 4 Cir.1991). Because defendant is not challenging his sentence in the present, the failure to observe the delay is harmless. There are no other errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In his first assignment of error, defendant complains that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that he was the person shot and killed Sandra *145 Taylor. He points to the lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime and to the fact that no motive was shown.

The standard for reviewing a claim of insufficient evidence is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact could have found all of the essential elements of the offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Rosiere, 488 So.2d 965 (La.1986). The reviewing court is to consider the record as a whole and not just the evidence most favorable to the prosecution; and if rational triers of fact could disagree as to the interpretation of the evidence, the rational decision to convict should be upheld. State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305 (La.1988). Additionally, the reviewing court is not called upon to decide whether it believes the witnesses or whether the conviction is contrary to the weight of the evidence. Id. The trier of fact's determination of credibility is not to be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Cashen, 544 So.2d 1268 (La.App. 4th Cir.1989).

When circumstantial evidence forms the basis for the conviction, such evidence must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. La.R.S. 15:438. The court does not determine whether another possible hypothesis suggested by the defendant could afford an exculpatory explanation of the events; rather, when evaluating the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the court determines whether the possible alternative hypothesis is sufficiently reasonable that a rational juror could not have found proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt under Jackson v. Virginia. State v. Davis, 92-1623 (La.5/23/94), 637 So.2d 1012. This is not a separate test from Jackson v. Virginia, but is instead an evidentiary guideline for the jury when considering circumstantial evidence and facilitates appellate review of whether a rational juror could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v.

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769 So. 2d 141, 2000 WL 1486279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-derouselle-lactapp-2000.