State v. Ducksworth

496 So. 2d 624
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 15, 1986
Docket86 KA 0007
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 496 So. 2d 624 (State v. Ducksworth) 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. Ducksworth, 496 So. 2d 624 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

496 So.2d 624 (1986)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Clifton C. DUCKSWORTH.

No. 86 KA 0007.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

October 15, 1986.

*627 David J. Knight, Joseph Tosterud, Covington, William Campbell, Jr., New Orleans, for the State.

Ronald J. Rakosky, John Craft, New Orleans, for appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, SHORTESS and CARTER, JJ.

*628 SHORTESS, Judge.

Clifton C. Ducksworth (defendant) was charged by grand jury indictment with the second degree murder of Daniel R. Viner (Viner), in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1. Defendant pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Following trial by jury, he was convicted as charged. The trial court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Defendant appeals and urges twelve assignments of error. Assignments of error numbers eleven and twelve were not argued or briefed and are thereby considered abandoned. Uniform Rules— Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-12.4.

FACTS:

During the afternoon of July 1, 1984, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Deputy Joe Landry was dispatched to a Lacombe ball park to investigate a shooting. On arrival, he discovered a seriously injured black male, later identified as Viner, lying on the ground. Viner was transported to a local hospital where he died without regaining consciousness. An autopsy performed by Dr. Charles Crumpler revealed that Viner's death was caused by internal bleeding occasioned by three gunshot wounds to his chest, left hand and left thigh. Dr. Crumpler felt that the wounds, all with points of entry from the anterior aspect of defendant's body, could have been caused by only two bullets.

At the site of the incident, Deputy Landry retrieved the weapon used to kill Viner. When recovered, the gun had three spent shells and two live rounds. Events leading to Viner's death were reconstructed by interviewing various individuals who were present at the park for a softball game between the Lacombe A's and the Slidell Dodgers. Many people witnessed at least a portion of the incident.

Jules Jones, the assistant manager of the Slidell Dodgers, testified that he knew both Viner and defendant; that Viner was the manager of the Dodgers; that he and Viner were seated next to each other on their team bench working on the team lineup; that defendant approached and shouted, "I'm going to kill you"; that after the first shot was fired, he observed a spot of blood on Viner's chest; that as Viner got up from the bench and tried to run, defendant said, "run, nigger run" and fired "a couple more" times.

Will Jones, III, the thirteen-year-old nephew of Jules Jones and Eric Jones, testified that he noticed that defendant had a gun in his pocket before the shooting; that he proceeded to tell Eric Jones about defendant's weapon; that while talking with Eric, he heard the first shot fired; that he and Eric turned and saw Viner running, at first in a backwards manner, from his team dugout and that Viner was unarmed.

Eric Jones corroborated Will's testimony and added that he had observed defendant seated on the Slidell team bench shortly before the shooting incident.

Alvin Charles Trullier, another Slidell player, testified that Viner and defendant were both seated on the Slidell team bench, with other individuals seated between them, prior to the shooting; that he heard defendant yell, "run"; that two shots were then fired; that Viner, unarmed, backed away and then fell to the ground past third base.

Two other Slidell Dodgers, Irving Vance and Malcolm Paul Pichon, also testified. They both saw defendant fire at Viner. When Vance heard the first shot, he looked up and saw defendant standing in front of the Slidell team bench; then, as Viner jumped up and ran, defendant aimed his gun and shot again.

Tommy Lee Jones, one of the Lacombe A's, testified that he did not witness the actual shooting; that he did converse with defendant a short time before the shooting; that he asked defendant if he had come to watch his team get beat by Lacombe; that defendant responded by saying he had come to kill someone; that when he asked defendant to identify the intended victim, defendant responded, "[H]e knows"; then defendant asked him if he had ever killed *629 anyone during his tour of duty in Viet Nam and, if so, if he would describe how it felt to take a human life.

Sarolo Palmer, also one of the Lacombe A's, testified that he was acquainted with both Viner and defendant; that after hearing the first shot fired, he observed Viner run from the opposing team's dugout and "back pedal" away as he faced defendant; that after the shooting, he saw defendant in the parking lot adjacent to the ball park; that defendant calmly placed the weapon used to kill Viner on the ground and remarked: "When the sheriff comes tell him Clifton Ducksworth did it; I'll be at my father-in-law's house."

Defendant was arrested at the home of his father-in-law, Poleite Baham, shortly after the incident. Baham testified that, when defendant arrived, he acknowledged that he had just shot someone and remarked: "Well, everything is going to be all right now. He can mess with me, but don't mess with my family."

Defendant took the stand in his own behalf, admitting that he fired the shots which killed Viner. Defendant maintained that he had not spoken with Viner or with Tommy Lee Jones on the day of the shooting. His justification for the shooting was that Viner "gave him the bird" and then reached his hand back, leading him to believe that Viner was going for his gun.

After defendant testified about the perceived hostile act by Viner, the trial court allowed defendant and various defense witnesses to describe in detail prior occasions when Viner displayed a propensity for hostile, threatening, and aggressive behavior toward defendant.

Defendant and Viner grew up in the same Slidell neighborhood. In January of 1984, defendant's wife, Lillian, gave birth to a child. After being present at the birth of his daughter, defendant went to a sweet shop in his old neighborhood to celebrate. While there, defendant and Viner argued over a pool game, and a physical altercation took place. Before it was over, Viner armed himself and pistol-whipped defendant.

After the encounter at the sweet shop, defendant testified that he heard others say that Viner was going to get him. Defendant also testified that Viner bragged about having an affair with his wife, saying that he was the father of defendant's infant daughter.

The evening before the shooting, defendant, his wife, and infant daughter attended a wedding reception. As defendant was engaged in conversation in another part of the room, Viner approached Lillian Ducksworth and kissed her. Defendant confronted Viner, pushed him, and ordered him not to touch "me or anything that's mine." As Viner started back toward him, defendant turned and ran because he was holding his daughter and did not want her to get hurt. Despite reassurances from his wife that she did not know Viner and that she was not involved in a relationship with him, defendant was troubled by the incident at the party and brooded over it for the rest of the night.

We will deal with defendant's assignments of error in the order they were briefed.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER NINE:

Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal filed pursuant to Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 821.

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Bluebook (online)
496 So. 2d 624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ducksworth-lactapp-1986.