State v. Gantt

616 So. 2d 1300, 1993 WL 96470
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 31, 1993
Docket24727-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 616 So. 2d 1300 (State v. Gantt) 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. Gantt, 616 So. 2d 1300, 1993 WL 96470 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

616 So.2d 1300 (1993)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
James Henry GANTT, Appellant.

No. 24727-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

March 31, 1993.

*1303 Indigent Defender Office, by Richard E. Hiller, Shreveport, for appellant.

Paul J. Carmouche, Dist. Atty., Tommy J. Johnson, Mark Perkins, Asst. Dist. Attys., Shreveport, for appellee.

Before MARVIN, BROWN and STEWART, JJ.

STEWART, Judge.

Defendant, James Henry Gantt, was charged by bill of information with two counts of attempted second degree murder in violation of LSA-R.S. 14.27 and 14:30.1. Gantt was tried by jury who returned responsive verdicts of one count of aggravated battery and one count of attempted manslaughter. Gantt was sentenced to serve six years imprisonment at hard labor on each count with the sentences to run concurrently. For the reasons assigned below, we affirm the convictions and sentences.

FACTS

On the afternoon of March 9, 1991, James Gantt was driving home when he was flagged down on David Raines Road in Shreveport, La. by his brother-in-law, Michael Arkansas. At the time, Michael Arkansas and his brother Billy Ray Arkansas and several other members of their family were sitting on the porch in front of the home of their sisters, Barbara and Wanda James. After the defendant pulled over and stopped, Michael walked up to the driver's side door and began talking to him.

An argument ensued in which Michael accused the defendant of owing him money for work done on the home of defendant and defendant's wife, Cynthia, (Michael's sister). At some point during this argument, Michael opened the door of defendant's truck and climbed inside, striking the defendant. Although the defendant argued self defense at trial, Willie Thomas, a witness for the state who was the lone passenger in defendant's truck at the time, testified that Michael struck the defendant after the defendant pulled a gun out from under the seat of his truck.

Billy Ray and another relative, Kenny James, ran to pull Michael away and stop the fight. After Billy and Kenny pulled Michael away, the defendant exited the truck with a .357 revolver. He ordered the other two men to stand clear. When they refused, he shot Billy Arkansas.

After Billy fell as a result of this shot, the defendant shot Michael Arkansas. By this time Kenny James had run back toward *1304 the house. The defendant then walked up to Michael and shot him twice more as he lay on the ground. He then got in his truck and left.

Gantt subsequently turned himself into the authorities and turned over the weapon used in the shooting. He was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted second degree murder in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:27 and 14:30.1.

Gantt was convicted by jury on January 30, 1992, of the responsive charges of one count aggravated battery and one count of attempted manslaughter. On July 7, 1992, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment at hard labor on each count, the sentences to be served concurrently.

Gantt appeals[1] arguing that the trial court erred: (1) in refusing to permit him to introduce evidence of the dangerous and violent character of the alleged victims; (3) in admitting the results of the distance determination test; (5) in sentencing him to an excessive sentence; and (6) insufficiency of the evidence to convict.

DISCUSSION

Assignment of Error No. 1:

The Trial Court erred, after proof of an overt act against the defendant, in refusing to permit him to introduce evidence to establish the dangerous and violent character of the alleged victims.

Evidence of the victim's dangerous character or threats against the accused are relevant to self-defense because such evidence shows that the victim was the aggressor and that the defendant reasonably apprehended the danger. State v. Edwards, 420 So.2d 663 (La.1982); State v. Flowers, 574 So.2d 448 (La.App.2d Cir.1991), writ denied, 580 So.2d 666 (La.1992).

Evidence of the dangerous character of the victim is admissible only if the accused first produces evidence that at the time of the incident the victim made a hostile demonstration or committed an overt act against the accused of such character that would have created in the mind of a reasonable person a belief that he was in immediate danger of losing his life or suffering great bodily harm. State v. Ducre, 596 So.2d 1372 (La.App. 1st Cir.1992), writ denied, 600 So.2d 637 (La.1992); State v. Jones, 451 So.2d 1181 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984).

Once evidence of an overt act by the victim is established, evidence of threats and of the victim's dangerous character is admissible for two distinct purposes: (1) to show the defendant's reasonable apprehension of danger which would justify his conduct; and (2) to help determine who was the aggressor in the conflict. State v. Ducre, supra; State v. Edwards, supra.

In order for evidence to be admissible to show the defendant's reasonable apprehension of danger, it must be shown that the defendant knew of the victim's prior acts of violence or reputation for violence at the time of the incident. If evidence is introduced to help determine who was the aggressor in the conflict, evidence of general reputation, not specific acts or personal opinion is admissible. State v. Anderson, 550 So.2d 797 (La.App. 2d Cir.1989), writ denied, 556 So.2d 1260 (La.1990).

Evidence of the victim's prior hostile conduct may be introduced to show the accused's state of mind, if it is shown that the accused knew of the victim's prior threats or reputation at the time of the offense; evidence used to show the victim's character is not limited to general reputation, but may also include evidence of specific acts. State v. Anderson, supra; State v. Boss, 353 So.2d 241 (La.1977).

In Anderson, 550 So.2d at 800, the court stated:

Upon introducing evidence of the overt act and a hostile demonstration, the truth and validity of which were jury questions, *1305 the defendant was entitled to introduce evidence of the victim's dangerous character, as well as specific acts known to the defendant, which affected his state of mind and which the jury could consider in determining whether the defendant acted in self-defense. State v. Boss, supra.

See also, State v. Johnson, 553 So.2d 865 (La.App. 1st Cir.1989), writ denied, 558 So.2d 600 (La.1992).

Most of the jurisprudence on this issue is located under former LSA-R.S. 15:482. R.S. 15:482 was repealed and reenacted as LSA-C.E. Art 404(A)(2). This article modified the law but does not appear to reject the prior jurisprudence requiring an overt act on the part of the victim in order to introduce evidence of the victim's character. State v. Ducre, supra. In fact, the article contains language to that effect. See LSA-C.E. Art. 404(A)(2) and Comment e to the article. See also, State v. Clark, 558 So.2d 665 (La.App. 1st Cir.1990), writ denied, 564 So.2d 317 (La.1990).

We note however, that in State v. Flowers, supra, this court expressed in dicta an apparently different view. Flowers was decided after the enactment of the Louisiana Code of Evidence. In Flowers, the defendant argued that the trial court erred by not allowing evidence of specific acts by the victim to be introduced into evidence. This court did not directly rule on the issue of character evidence, finding instead that the elicited testimony was irrelevant.

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Bluebook (online)
616 So. 2d 1300, 1993 WL 96470, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gantt-lactapp-1993.