State v. Evans

463 So. 2d 673, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 8180
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 11, 1985
DocketNo. KA 2375
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 463 So. 2d 673 (State v. Evans) 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. Evans, 463 So. 2d 673, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 8180 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

GARRISON, Judge.

The defendant, Darryl Evans, was charged by grand jury indictment with the first degree murder of Travis Youmans in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30. This indictment was later amended to charge the defendant with second degree murder in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:3o.!.1 After the defendant was found guilty as charged, he was sentenced to serve life in prison with[675]*675out benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant appeals.

On March 30, 1983 at approximately 2:50 a.m., the body of Travis Youmans was found in an elevator at the French Market Inn at 501 Decatur Street. Youmans, the night auditor/desk clerk of the hotel, died as a result of gunshot wounds to the head. His pants had been pulled down to his knees and his pockets had been turned inside out. Youman’s keys were missing but his wallet had not been taken.

Richard Coleman, the night bellman at the French Market Inn, testified that he and Youmans were on duty on the morning of March 30, 1983. He stated that the defendant, Darryl Evans, came into the hotel lobby between 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the morning in question. Coleman knew Evans because Evans had been a security guard at the Jackson Brewing Company across the street from the French Market Inn and had come over to the hotel several times before to chat and have a cup of coffee. After Coleman pressed a buzzer to let Evans into the lobby, Evans and Youmans visited in the lobby for awhile and then went to the back of the hotel into a courtyard which connected the two buildings of the hotel. Approximately twenty-five minutes later, Evans returned to the lobby alone. He stepped behind the front desk and started going through the drawers. Coleman noticed that Evans had money in one hand and that his other hand was in his pocket. When Coleman asked Evans what he was doing, Evans replied by asking Coleman if it was worth his life to know. Coleman answered that it was not and was then told by Evans to say nothing to the police about what he had seen. Evans told Coleman that Youmans was in the other part of the hotel talking to a hotel guest. Evans then instructed Coleman to get on the elevator. Coleman got on the elevator and rode to the fourth floor where he go off and went down the back steps to the courtyard in search of Youmans. Coleman continued through the courtyard to the other building of the hotel where he found Youman’s body in the elevator.

Coleman immediately notified the hotel’s resident manager, Robert Ridley. After the police arrived, Ridley discovered that the cash drawer at the front desk was unlocked and open and that approximately $500.00 had been taken. Ridley and a former desk clerk from the hotel testified that Youmans always kept the cash drawer key in his pocket and that he never left it in the drawer.

During an interview with police later that morning, Coleman told a detective that a man named “Dale Evans” was the person who entered the hotel lobby that morning, walked away with Travis Youmans and returned alone to the lobby where he took the money from the cash drawer at the front desk. Because Darryl Evans had been a security guard and therefore, had a special permit to carry a gun, the police had a photograph of Evans available in their files. When shown this photograph, Mr. Coleman confirmed that this was the man who entered the hotel lobby on the morning of March 30, 1983. At that time, an arrest warrant was issued for Darryl Evans. However, Evans was not arrested until October 21, 1983.

At trial, the defense presented several witnesses who attested to Evans’ good character. The defendant testified that he occasionally went to the French Market Inn while he was employed as a security guard at the Jackson Brewing Company across the street. However, he claims that he quit this job in February, 1983 and that he never again went to that hotel. The defendant claimed that Richard Coleman often slept on the job and that the hotel lobby door was frequently unlocked. Coleman contradicted the defendant’s testimony on rebuttal.

A review of the record reveals that there are no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR # 1 and 2

The defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his request for either a copy or an in-camera inspection of the report of the coroner’s investigator. This request was made pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 [676]*676L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), which states that the prosecution must disclose to the defense evidence favorable to the defendant if such evidence is material to his guilt or punishment. Defendant was furnished with a copy of this report but the back page was partially obscured by an attached sheet which had been photocopied with this page. The defendant made a specific request for a copy or an in-camera inspection of the back page of this report in order to determine if the description given of the assailant differed from the defendant’s actual appearance.

The State contends that this report was the undiscoverable work product of the State. According to the State, the copy with the obscured back page was inadvertently given to the defense because the defense was not entitled to a copy of this report.

We find no merit in the State’s argument. Because the defense made a specific request for this allegedly exculpatory material, we conclude that the trial judge erred by not at least conducting an in-camera inspection of this portion of the report. Therefore, we remand this case to the trial court in order for the trial judge to conduct an in-camera inspection of the back page of the coroner’s investigator’s report in order to determine if it contains exculpatory Brady material as alleged by the defendant. If such evidence is found, a new trial should be ordered. If not, the defendant’s conviction should be reinstated.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR # 3

In this assignment, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s pre-trial motion to order the State to furnish the defense with rapsheets on the State’s witnesses. A review of the record indicates that the State made no response to this pre-trial motion. The defendant admitted that he did not know whether or not any rapsheets existed for these witnesses. However, the defendant argues that if these rapsheets existed and were in the possession of the state, he should have been allowed access to this information prior to trial in order to impeach the State’s witnesses at trial. He claims that the State has an unfair advantage because it has access to the Police Department computer system.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has held that prior criminal records of prospective State witnesses are exculpatory evidence under Brady v. Maryland, supra, only when these witnesses were involved with the defendant in the commission of the crime. State v. Williams, 389 So.2d 60 (La.1980). See also State v. Whitlock, 454 So.2d 871 (La.App. 4th Cir.1984). The court in Williams held that even if State witnesses (who were not co-defendants or co-conspirators) had criminal convictions, that evidence would not be relevant to the question of the defendant’s guilt. Additionally, a review of the record in this case indicates that the outcome of this trial would not have been affected even if this information had been given to the defendant. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
463 So. 2d 673, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 8180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-evans-lactapp-1985.