State v. Gaines

247 So. 3d 1061
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 11, 2018
DocketNo. 51,985–KA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 247 So. 3d 1061 (State v. Gaines) 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. Gaines, 247 So. 3d 1061 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

BROWN, C.J.

*1063Defendant, Troy Donell Gaines, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years at hard labor. Defendant now appeals, arguing that his sentence is excessive. We affirm defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

On December 6, 2011, Chandrikia "Drika" Green was found shot to death in the closet of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Troy Gaines. Drika, who was 21 years old, and defendant, who was 29 years old, had dated for around six years, had two children together, and lived in the Glenwood Townhomes in West Monroe, Louisiana. However, Drika and defendant had been having problems, and several weeks before her death, Drika had begun staying with her sister, Chandra Green, in the Westbrook Apartments, also in West Monroe.

Defendant suspected that Drika was cheating on him and that she wanted to leave him. Before her death, Drika had told several people that she was scared of defendant, who had destroyed their furniture by cutting holes in the couch and chair and breaking the mirror on the dresser. On December 5, 2011, Drika had gone to the apartment manager and inquired about changing the locks on the door. Because defendant was also on the lease, the manager called him to see if he would remove himself from the lease in order for Drika to have the locks changed, but he refused. According to the manager, Drika was visibly upset upon learning she couldn't have the locks changed.

On the evening of December 5, 2011, Drika and Chandra and their kids went to Drika's apartment for the kids to get a haircut. They then went back to Chandra's apartment. After Drika fed the kids and got them ready for bed, she drove Chandra's car back to her own apartment to get ready for work around 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. Drika had been working at Glenwood Hospital in the housekeeping department for about six months on the graveyard shift, which was 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. However, Drika never made it to work that night.

Defendant arrived in Tallulah, Louisiana, at the house of his uncle, Ernest Robinson, Sr., around 3:00 to 4:00 a.m. on December 6, 2011. Defendant was crying and "just wasn't himself." He had a gun and told his uncle that Drika was dead, but that "he couldn't catch the other guy." Robinson could not make sense of what his nephew was telling him, but he told defendant to put the gun down on a barstool, and he called defendant's father, Troy Donell Gaines, Sr., to let him know what was going on. Robinson then told defendant that he was calling the police, and defendant left. Robinson put the gun in a bag, called 911, told them his nephew was there with a gun saying that his "friend girl" was dead, and turned the gun over to the police when they got to his house.

Around 4:00 a.m., defendant called his sister, Kamonica Buckley, and told her to take care of his kids. When Kamonica asked defendant what he meant, defendant's response was that he told Drika if he caught her cheating, he would kill her. Kamonica, who also lived in Glenwood Townhomes with her husband Keyatta and their children, went to get Pam Brown, the apartment manager, to let her into defendant's apartment to check on Drika and the kids. When they went inside, Keyatta *1064told her to stay downstairs but he was unable to see anything when he went upstairs to look because it was dark. The Buckleys and Ms. Brown left the building and walked outside; that's when the police and Gaines, Sr., arrived on the scene.

Gaines, Sr. had called the police earlier and told them that his son had shot his girlfriend in their apartment. The police initially searched the apartment, but could not find Drika. When the police asked Gaines, Sr., (who according to one witness was on the phone with defendant at the time) where Drika was, he told them to look in the closet. After officers moved two large dressers that were barricaded in front of the closet doors, Drika was found dead, slumped over in the corner of the closet. Drika had two gunshot wounds, one to the head and one to the chest. Ms. Buckley and her husband Keyatta went over to Chandra's house to tell her that Drika was dead. Defendant was arrested later that day in Tallulah.

Firearms testing confirmed that the bullets recovered from Drika's body were fired from the gun that defendant left at his uncle's house. The investigation revealed no evidence supporting defendant's statement to his uncle about another man in the apartment with Drika. Although Alonzo Green, a co-worker of the victim, admitted that he had been in a sexual relationship with Drika for approximately two months, he had not been at her apartment on the night of the shooting.

Defendant was charged by bill of indictment with second degree murder. Following a trial, on March 27, 2017, the jury found defendant guilty of the responsive verdict of manslaughter. On May 15, 2017, the sentencing hearing was held. Finding that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to convict defendant of second degree murder rather than the lesser offense of manslaughter, the trial court imposed the maximum sentence of 40 years at hard labor.

Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, arguing that the trial court failed to adequately consider the fact that he had acted under strong provocation, as shown by evidence that the victim was cheating on defendant, as a mitigating factor in sentencing. The trial court denied the motion without providing reasons. This appeal followed.1

DISCUSSION

Defense counsel contends that defendant's 40-year sentence is excessive, and that the trial court failed to consider any mitigating factors. Noting that the evidence suggested that the victim had sexual relations with at least one other person during her relationship with defendant, and that there were no facts presented which indicated exactly what happened before the victim was shot, defense counsel claims that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to believe that this incident was manslaughter, not murder. Defendant argues that although he was only convicted of manslaughter, the trial court's imposition of the maximum sentence for that offense was based on its belief that defendant should have been found guilty of second degree murder. Defendant points out that at the sentencing hearing, the trial court did not mention any factors contained in the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report, such as defendant's social history, work experience, education, to what extent this sentence would entail a *1065hardship upon defendant and his family, or any other information mitigating in defendant's favor.

An appellate court utilizes a two-pronged test in reviewing a sentence for excessiveness. First, the record must show that the trial court took cognizance of the criteria set forth in La. C. Cr. P. art. 894.1. The articulation of the factual basis for a sentence is the goal of La. C. Cr. P. art. 894.1, not rigid or mechanical compliance with its provisions. Where the record clearly shows an adequate factual basis for the sentence imposed, remand is unnecessary even where there has not been full compliance with La. C. Cr. P. art. 894.1. State v. Lanclos , 419 So.2d 475 (La. 1982) ; State v. DeBerry , 50,501 (La. App. 2 Cir.

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Related

State v. Gaines
266 So. 3d 948 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019)

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Bluebook (online)
247 So. 3d 1061, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gaines-lactapp-2018.