State v. Fauchetta

738 So. 2d 104, 1999 WL 346205
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 1999
Docket98-KA-1303
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 738 So. 2d 104 (State v. Fauchetta) 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. Fauchetta, 738 So. 2d 104, 1999 WL 346205 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

738 So.2d 104 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Anthony J. FAUCHETTA.

No. 98-KA-1303.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 1, 1999.

*105 Laurie A. White, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Attorney for Appellant, Anthony J. Faucetta.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Thomas J. Butler, Terry M. Boudreaux, Walter G. Amstutz, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Attorneys for Appellee, The State of Louisiana.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, Jr., THOMAS F. DALEY and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

CHEHARDY, Judge.

Anthony Fauchetta appeals his conviction of two counts of attempted first degree murder. We affirm, but remand for correction of a patent error.

On April 18, 1997, Fauchetta was charged by bill of information with two counts of violation of La. R.S. 14:27:30(A)(2), attempted first degree murder of a police officer. A motion to appoint a sanity commission to determine the defendant's competency to stand trial was filed prior to issuance of the bill of information. After a sanity hearing on June 26, 1997, the court found the defendant competent to stand trial. At arraignment on the same date, the defendant pleaded not guilty. On August 20, 1997 the defendant changed his plea from not guilty to not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

On March 30, 1998, the defendant waived his right to a jury and proceeded to a trial by the court over the course of that day and the next. On March 31, 1998, the trial court found the defendant guilty as charged on both counts. On April 15, 1998, the defendant's motion for new trial was denied and the trial court sentenced him to ten years at hard labor on each count, to run concurrently, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The defendant's motion to reconsider sentence was denied on June 17, 1998. The defendant filed a timely appeal.

FACTS

The parties stipulated at trial that the defendant's wife, Stephanie Fauchetta, called 911 in the early morning hours of April 14, 1997.

Deputy David Roddy of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office testified that on April 14, 1997 he responded to three 911 calls made from 7324 Wedmore Court in Marrero. He arrived at the address at the same time as Deputy Pinac, also of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office. They knocked on the door and the defendant answered. He told them that nobody had called the police. Deputy Pinac told the defendant he wanted to see the left side of his body. The defendant replied that he was paralyzed and could not move.

The officers told the defendant they had received a 911 call and it was policy to check everybody in the house to make sure everything was okay. The defendant again replied that nothing was going on, at which point the defendant's wife shouted from the background that she had called the police.

Deputy Roddy opened the screen door in an attempt to enter the house. Deputy Pinac cautioned Roddy to be careful because *106 they still could not see the left side of the defendant's body. Roddy proceeded to open the door. Suddenly the defendant raised a rifle and fired three shots between the officers. The deputies dove out of the way.

The defendant went back into the house, barricading himself inside. Several minutes later Deputy Roddy saw the defendant's wife and son driving out in a van. Mrs. Fauchetta advised the police that the defendant had a "bunch of guns" in the house and that he wanted to "kill the police when they arrived." Roddy told the court that both he and Deputy Pinac were in uniform when the approached the defendant's house.

Deputy Rene Pinac corroborated Deputy Roddy's testimony, adding that he was directly in the path of the bullets fired by the defendant and was cut by glass flying from the glass door through which the defendant shot.

Lieutenant Edith Evans of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office also responded to the emergency call at the Wedmore Court address that evening. Evans testified that she negotiated with the defendant for about eight minutes while he was barricaded in the house. She stated the defendant came out because she told him she would get him some relief for the pain he was feeling in his back.

Dr. Jodie Holloway, an expert in forensic psychiatry, testified on behalf of the defense regarding her psychiatric evaluation of the defendant. The defendant told her that during the evening of the incident, he had taken an excessive amount of prescription medication, including several types of pain medication, Xanax, Soma, and alcohol, in a suicidal attempt to slow down his total body functioning. The defendant told Dr. Holloway that later in the evening, while reaching over to get some water, he experienced an intense pain and accidentally hit his wife, who was next to him.

The defendant then related that his wife called the police and he went to get a gun. He told the doctor he had threatened in the past that if his wife called the police, he would shoot toward them to lure the officers into killing him. Dr. Holloway said the defendant told her that shooting toward the police was a suicidal gesture on his part, but that he had no intention to harm them.

In describing the incident to Dr. Holloway, the defendant said he aimed his gun in the twelve o'clock position to avoid hitting the police. He told Dr. Holloway that he was surprised the police fled, so he shot two more rounds in an effort to get them to shoot back.

Dr. Holloway also interviewed Mrs. Fauchetta, who told her that on the evening in question the defendant beat her with a metal cane. Mrs. Fauchetta told Dr. Holloway that she called the police because the defendant had a gun pointed at her and their 15-year-old son, Gabriel, and she was afraid the defendant was going to kill them.

Mrs. Fauchetta also told Dr. Holloway of past incidents in which the defendant had been violent, physically abusive and paranoid. Mrs. Fauchetta stated that the defendant had threatened to shoot or to act as if he was going to injure the police, in order to get the police to kill him.

In addition Dr. Holloway interviewed Gabriel Fauchetta, who corroborated his mother's version of the incident. He added that the defendant's gun was pointed up and that, before answering the door, the defendant told Gabriel, "Good-bye, this is the last time I'll see you." Gabriel told Dr. Holloway that he believed his father truly wanted the police to kill him. Gabriel also said that for the few weeks prior to the incident, the defendant thought the FBI was tapping the phones and could "see into the house through the TV line, even when the TV was off."

According to Dr. Holloway, at the time of the incident the defendant was suffering *107 from a "major depressive disorder with psychotic features and paranoia, partner and child relational problems," and abuse of alcohol and prescription medications. However, she ultimately concluded that the defendant was capable of telling right from wrong at the time of the incident. Dr. Holloway opined that the defendant did not have the intent to kill a police officer, although he did have the intent for the process to take place.

On cross-examination Dr. Holloway told the court that the defendant had a "problem with credibility" and that three months before the incident, the defendant did not appear to be in distress or to be having any mental problems.

Anthony Fauchetta testified on his own behalf. He told the court he had not been employed from June 1993 until the date of the trial because of a work injury. He regularly suffered excruciating pain and depression as a result of the injury.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
738 So. 2d 104, 1999 WL 346205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fauchetta-lactapp-1999.