State v. Eames

714 So. 2d 210, 1998 WL 248305
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 15, 1998
Docket97 KA 0767
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 714 So. 2d 210 (State v. Eames) 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. Eames, 714 So. 2d 210, 1998 WL 248305 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

714 So.2d 210 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Dewitt EAMES.

No. 97 KA 0767.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 15, 1998.

*212 Tracey Ewing, Asst. Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, for State.

Robert J. Hildum, Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, C.J., and SHORTESS and FOGG, JJ.

SHORTESS, Judge.

Dewitt Eames (defendant) was charged by grand jury indictment with second degree murder, La. R.S. 14:30.1. He pled not guilty and, after a jury trial, was found guilty as charged. On the day of sentencing, the trial court denied defendant's motion for new trial. Defendant waived the legal delays, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.[1] He now appeals, arguing four assignments of error.

FACTS

On September 14, 1994, Kevin Evans, his wife, and two young children were at their Baton Rouge home. Shortly after midnight, Mrs. Evans and her ten-year-old son, Kevin Evans, Jr. (Kevin Jr.), were watching a movie in her bedroom; her six-year-old daughter was asleep on the bed. Mr. Evans was in the dining room listening to music. Mrs. Evans heard an automobile horn blow outside, and then Mr. Evans went outside. A short time later, Mr. Evans reentered the *213 home with three other men. From where he was lying on the bed, Kevin Jr. could see that each man held a gun pointed toward his father. Each man also wore latex gloves and a baseball cap. One man came into the bedroom and cursed at Mrs. Evans. Her daughter awoke, and the man threatened to shoot the child if she moved. This man then forced them into Kevin Jr.'s bedroom. A short while later, he forced Mrs. Evans and her children into the bathroom. While they were there, they heard fighting, gunshots, something fall on the floor, and the sound of the men running out of the home. Mrs. Evans ran out of the bathroom and saw her husband laying on the floor of her bedroom. She told her son to go to a neighbor's house for help. Mr. Evans (the victim) received three gunshot wounds and died as a result of a gunshot wound to his head.

Kevin Jr. (age 12 at the time of trial) testified he could see the faces of the men who entered the home from where he was sitting on his mother's bed. Although he could not remember details about the men's clothing, he positively identified defendant as one of the perpetrators. On cross-examination, he admitted he had seen defendant once before with his father, but denied that was the reason for his identification. Kevin Jr. further testified that during the police investigation he positively identified two of the perpetrators, defendant and another man, Brian Berry,[2] from photographic lineups.

Baton Rouge City Police officer Devin Washington testified he was dispatched to the home after the shooting. Upon arrival, he found the victim's body in a ransacked bedroom. The officer secured the scene and talked with a neighbor, who stated she saw a Jeep parked at a nearby stop sign shortly before she heard gunshots and Mrs. Evans screaming. Later, while on patrol, Washington discovered a stolen Jeep that fit the description of the Jeep seen leaving the area of the Evans home.

Detective Michael Verrett testified that at the murder scene he found a pager belonging to the victim. It was still active, and the last entry was at 11:34 p.m. Verrett discovered that the number of the last entry was to a pay phone located at the corner of North and Fourth Streets, near the location from which the Jeep was stolen. When the recovered Jeep was dusted for fingerprints, it appeared the vehicle had been wiped down, and a towel was found inside the vehicle. Verrett also testified that latex gloves were found a half block away from where the Jeep was recovered.

Subsequently, during their investigation, the police received a tip that a "Dee Witt" was involved with the murder. While discussing this tip with other officers, Verrett was given the name of Dewitt Eames. The detective discovered that defendant's residence was in an apartment complex at 439 North Fifth Street, the same apartment complex of the Jeep's owner and the area from which the Jeep was stolen. Verrett also noted the Jeep had been recovered only a few blocks away from this complex.

Verrett testified he went to defendant's apartment and located Burnell Richardson, defendant's roommate. Defendant was not there, but Richardson subsequently gave the police a statement that defendant had admitted to being involved in the homicide. Richardson also identified Berry in a photographic lineup as another man he heard talking about the crime. Acting on this information, the police created a photographic lineup containing defendant's picture. The victim's son identified defendant as one of the perpetrators. Mrs. Evans could not positively identify defendant as one of the men.

During a search of defendant's apartment, officers retrieved a portable cellular telephone with a power pack belonging to the victim. Family members told Verrett the telephone was missing after the shooting. Officers also seized a nine-millimeter handgun, baseball caps, and a note containing the victim's pager and home numbers.

Richardson testified that defendant had driven him down to his grandmother's house *214 in New Orleans on September 13. Defendant was supposed to pick him up that night for the trip home to Baton Rouge, but did not come until 4:00 a.m. on September 14. There were two other men[3] in the vehicle. When the men arrived at the apartment in Baton Rouge, defendant and another man talked about whether the television news would include a report of a Baton Rouge man murdered in his home. While they watched a local news broadcast, they heard a report of a murder in which the perpetrators escaped in a Jeep. Berry noted the color of the Jeep was wrong. Defendant stated that they had stolen the Jeep and that he had "bucked the n_____," a term meaning he had killed a black man. During this conversation, Richardson realized the men had committed the murder.

Richardson further testified that when he returned home from work on September 14, he was contacted by Detectives Verrett and Keith Bates. Defendant gave the detectives a statement regarding the conversation about the murder. On cross-examination, Richardson admitted he had testified for the State at Berry's trial, but after the trial, recanted his testimony. However, Richardson explained that he recanted because he feared for his physical safety. He stated his probation on unrelated charges had been revoked and he was incarcerated in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison with defendant and Berry. Fearing he would be labeled a "rat" and killed by other inmates, Richardson told Berry's attorneys that he had lied during Berry's trial. To support this explanation, Richardson acknowledged that in prison he received two notes from Berry. Richardson denied he was lying or had been promised anything for his testimony against defendant.

Bates testified he was present when Richardson made the statement about his knowledge of the murder. Concerned about whether Richardson was actually involved in the crime, he included Richardson's photo in a lineup shown to Mrs. Evans. She did not identify Richardson as one of the suspects. Bates corroborated Verrett's testimony about the physical evidence seized from defendant's apartment and the tip about the name "Dee Witt." He also stated that in an interview with defendant after his arrest, defendant named Berry and another man, Eric Hudson, as being involved in the crime.

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Related

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
714 So. 2d 210, 1998 WL 248305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-eames-lactapp-1998.