State v. Dickerson

751 So. 2d 425, 99 La.App. 5 Cir. 353, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 91, 2000 WL 132667
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 28, 2000
DocketNo. 99-KA-353
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 751 So. 2d 425 (State v. Dickerson) 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. Dickerson, 751 So. 2d 425, 99 La.App. 5 Cir. 353, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 91, 2000 WL 132667 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

hGAUDIN, J.

A unanimous 12-person jury in the 24th Judicial District Court found appellant Joseph Dickerson guilty of the second degree murder of Larry J. London. We affirm, finding no reversible error in Dickerson’s assignments of error. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

London was shot 10 times and killed on February 27, 1996 in Gretna, Louisiana. Two eyewitnesses identified Dickerson, who had left the murder scene in a rented automobile.

On appeal, Dickerson assigned 10 district court errors. He contends the trial judge erred:

(1) when he overruled defense objections to the state’s peremptive strikes of black prospective jurors from the panel without stating a permissible reason for striking them,
(2) when he allowed the state to refer during closing argument to a taped prior inconsistent statement by prosecution witness Corey Watkins,
(3) when he allowed the jury to hear a portion of the defendant’s recorded statement to a detective in response to continued questioning after he had asked to speak to a lawyer,
(4) when he admitted an identification of defendant by prosecution witness Watkins which resulted from a suggestive photographic lineup,
(5) when he admitted an identification of defendant by prosecution witness Adam Hankins which resulted from a suggestive photographic lineup,
| ¡>(6) when he refused to grant the defendant’s motion for a new trial based on the unavailability for trial of witnesses Marlin Dickerson and Calvin Perkins,
(7) when he refused to grant the defendant’s motion for a new trial based on the discovery of evidence, after trial, that prosecution witness Gladys Johnson committed perjury,
(8) when he was rendered ineffective assistance of counsel,
(9) when he did not allow a 24-hour sentencing delay after denying the defendant’s motion for new trial on June 17,1998, and
(10)when he permitted a conviction based on an invalid indictment which failed to charge an offense by omitting the elements.

[428]*428THE CRIME

On February 27, 1996, Detective Grey Thurman was notified at approximately 6:40 p.m. of the shooting death of the victim which occurred at 528 Commerce Street in Gretna. He arrived 10 minutes later. Prior to the detective’s arrival, Deputy Brent Coussou, a patrol deputy, received a 911 telephone call, and responded within two and one-half to three minutes. He secured the scene and saw no weapon in the immediate vicinity of the victim. Detective Thurman testified the victim and casings were located in the middle of the driveway. There were four casings around the body, and four casings near the back of a car. The casings came from a semiautomatic handgun.

Ron Ainsworth, a crime scene technician, photographed the scene and took measurements. He recovered the 9mm casings, one unknown projectile, an unknown copper jacket and unknown fragments. He did not look for any fingerprints. Detective Thurman explained that he did not request the casings be sent off for fingerprint analysis because in his 19 years of experience in law enforcement, he had never been successful in obtaining fingerprints from casings. He also felt the fingerprints were unnecessary since he had two eyewitnesses to the incident.

UMark Bone, a forensic investigator with the Coroner’s Office, testified he was present at the scene and that he was the person responsible for removing the victim’s personal effects. The victim did not possess a firearm.

Dr. Fraser Mackenzie, the pathologist with the Coroner’s Office who performed the autopsy, testified as an expert in the field of forensic pathology. Dr. Mackenzie stated the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the body. The victim had ten entrance wounds to the body, four of which were fatal.

Dr. Mackenzie removed bullet pellets from the body, which he gave to a technician from the Sheriffs Office. He testified that the injuries to the back of the body were consistent with the victim’s back facing the source of the gunfire. A toxicology report on the victim revealed the absence of drugs or alcohol.

Detective Thurman received information that Hankins was present and witnessed the incident. He interviewed Hankins on February 28, 1996. Watkins was also identified as a witness. The detective interviewed Watkins on February 29, 1996. He recorded and transcribed the statements he took from these witnesses. As a result of these statements, Dickerson became the main suspect. Hankins and Watkins provided the detective with a description of the vehicle the suspect was driving. They described the vehicle as a fairly new mid-size blue car, which was either an Altima, or which was similar to an Altima. The detective presented a photographic lineup to Watkins and Hankins, which consisted of six photographs. Both identified Dickerson.

Detective Thurman obtained an arrest warrant for Dickerson. He attempted to locate the defendant at his last known address, 582 Commerce Street, but he was unsuccessful. Dickerson was later arrested and was detained in New Orleans, where Detective Thurman conducted an interview.

| ¿After being advised of his Miranda rights, Dickerson agreed to give a statement. He understood and waived the rights, and signed a waiver form which recited these rights.

Detective Thurman stated that Dickerson said that he owned an older model Cutlass for which he had an unusual blue interior built. The interior featured “Louisiana” in white leather. The car was stolen but never recovered.

A week before the shooting, Dickerson heard that this interior was in a car seen in the Commerce Street neighborhood. He obtained a gun, went to Commerce Street, where he viewed the car and then shot and killed London.

[429]*429Dickerson testified at trial he did not shoot the victim. Although he admitted giving a statement to the detective, he denied its accuracy.

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1

Dickerson contends in this assignment of error that the trial judge failed to demand that the prosecution provide race-neutral reasons before peremptorily challenging jurors Randy Whittington and Catherine Duffard in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986).

Under Batson, a defendant must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination by showing facts and circumstances that raise an inference that the prosecuting attorney uses his peremptory challenge or challenges to exclude potential jurors because of race. If such a showing is made, the burden then shifts to the prosecution to articulate a race-neutral cause for the challenge or challenges.

Dickerson is black, as was the victim in this case. The state had accepted two black jurors before challenging Whitting-ton, a black employed as a security guard. When Whittington was challenged by the state, | .^Dickerson’s attorney stated: “I’m going to lodge a challenge that the prosecution is striking all of the blacks on the panel.”

This was an incorrect statement and did not, as mandated by Batson,

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Related

State v. Mason
782 So. 2d 1093 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Cazenave
772 So. 2d 854 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
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772 So. 2d 772 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
751 So. 2d 425, 99 La.App. 5 Cir. 353, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 91, 2000 WL 132667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dickerson-lactapp-2000.