State v. Green

505 So. 2d 265, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 9291
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 8, 1987
DocketNo. CR86-275
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 505 So. 2d 265 (State v. Green) 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. Green, 505 So. 2d 265, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 9291 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

STOKER, Judge.

The defendant, Austin James Green, was convicted, after trial by jury, of second degree murder in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1 and armed robbery in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64. The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the murder conviction, and 40 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the armed robbery, the sentences to run concurrently. The defendant has appealed these convictions and has raised eight assignments of error. Assignment of error number 6 was not briefed and is therefore considered abandoned.

FACTS

On March 7, 1985 the victim, George Carter, returned from his offshore job to his home in Opelousas. He was dropped off at his home by his neighbor and coworker, J.C. Ned, at approximately 1:45 p.m. After depositing his belongings in the house and calling his wife, who was out of town, Carter got into his blue and white Ford pickup truck and left. Carter apparently went directly to a nearby lounge, the Sherrelle, where he played pool and drank some beer. The defendant was at the Sherrelle with a friend, Earl King. King and Carter played pool together until King decided to turn his stick over to the defendant. King prepared to leave the lounge a short time later and offered the defendant a ride home. Defendant declined because Carter said that he would take him home. The defendant and Carter left the bar together later that afternoon. Carter’s body was discovered in a bayou near Grand Co-teau the next day, Friday, March 8, 1985. The body had no identification on it when recovered.

Carter’s body revealed multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, abdomen and back. His body was released to the Iber-ville Parish coroner’s office for an autopsy The following day, Lafayette police discovered Carter’s pickup truck in the parking lot of the University Medical Center. The truck had blood on the inside and outside.

The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Department began its investigation of the crime. Sherry Ned, J.C. Ned’s wife, told deputies that on the afternoon of March 7, 1985 she had seen Carter with a tall black man without bushy hair traveling in his truck on the Airport Road in Opelousas. She did not see the passenger’s face. Carter and the [268]*268defendant were seen next at the home of Carter’s neighbor, Clayton Thomas, at approximately 4:15 p.m. The Thomases had been collecting the Carters’ mail while Mr. and Mrs. Carter were out of town. Carter stopped by to pick up his mail and conversed briefly with some of the Thomas children. These children told deputies that a tall black -man wearing a “bee-bop” cap was with Carter, but he did not get out of the truck or speak to anyone. David Thomas told deputies that he was passing Guidry’s grocery and carwash at 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. on March 7 when he noticed Carter’s pickup truck parked at the carwash. He recognized it as the victim’s truck because of a dent in the front fender. Thomas turned into the carwash and noticed two men near the truck, neither of whom was Carter. He approached the two men, one of whom he knew only as “Poopie,” and inquired about Carter. Thomas was told by “Poopie” that Carter was “taking care of business.” Thomas then left.

Detective Scott Perry went to the Opel-ousas Police Department to try to ascertain the identity of “Poopie.” The department’s alias files revealed that the name was used by Austin James Green. Perry obtained a file photo of the defendant and took it to David Thomas. Thomas identified the man in the photo as the person who he spoke to at the carwash. Later in the evening of March 10, 1985, Perry and Detective Mona Deville went to the defendant’s home to pick him up for questioning. The defendant agreed to accompany Perry and Deville to the sheriff’s department. He was read his rights by Perry and Deville at that time. The defendant was read his rights again at the station and signed the form signifying that he understood his rights. The defendant told the deputies that he had nothing to do with Carter’s murder. The deputies then booked the defendant as a material witness.

On March 11, 1985 the defendant was released upon the order of Detective Mallet who felt there was a lack of probable cause to hold him. However, the defendant was asked to accompany Mallet, Perry and De-ville to the Sherrelle and Earl King’s home to verify his story. The deputies questioned Earl Hanchett, the bartender, René Coleman, the waitress, and King concerning the events of Thursday, March 7. All three said they saw the defendant and Carter together at the Sherrelle that afternoon. King left before Carter and the defendant, but Hanchett and Coleman said that Carter and the defendant left together.

The defendant was asked to return to take a polygraph test the following day. On Tuesday afternoon a polygraph test was administered, the results of which were unfavorable to the defendant. Upon returning to the sheriff’s office in Opelou-sas, the defendant was arrested for the first degree murder of George Carter and read his rights at that time. The following day, March 13, 1985, the defendant was again questioned after having been read his rights. At that time he told the deputies that he had some information about the murder, but wanted assurance that he would not be charged if he gave the information. A phone call was made to the District Attorney, Morgan Goudeau, to secure an understanding that the defendant would not be charged if he was not personally involved. When these assurances were made, the defendant told the deputies that René Coleman and a man named Shorty killed Carter and that they paid him to help them dispose of the body and the truck. After the statement was recorded and signed by the defendant, he took them to the bridge that the body was dumped from and to the parking lot where the truck had been abandoned.

The sheriff’s office had discovered, prior to March 14, that the defendant had spent the evening and early morning hours of March 7 playing cards at Laura’s Hangout. He had with him a substantial amount of money which he claimed were funds from his Social Security disability check. It was also discovered that Carter had cashed his payroll check on the afternoon of the March 7. The check was in excess of $800.

On Thursday, March 14, Deputy Mallet asked the defendant’s mother to come to the sheriff’s office, after a member of the [269]*269sheriff’s posse overheard the defendant talking to his mother about money in her possession. He instructed her not to give it to anyone. Mallet told Mrs. Green that the defendant wanted his money and requested that she turn it over to them. Mrs. Green agreed and two deputies accompanied her to her home to retrieve the money. Mrs. Green gave the money to the deputies and accepted a receipt for it.

Later on the evening of March 14, the defendant, when confronted with the inconsistencies in his statement, told Mallet that he wanted to tell them the truth. He asked that his mother be allowed to join them when he gave his statement. In the presence of his mother and the deputies, the defendant confessed that he had killed Carter, but that it was in self-defense. The defendant denied taking any money from Carter. He said that after he stabbed Carter, he took the body to the area where it was discovered, dumped it, stopped at K-Mart in Lafayette to buy a new cap, abandoned the truck at the University Medical Center, then took a cab home.

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Related

State v. Sartain
2 So. 3d 1132 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Batiste
947 So. 2d 810 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
505 So. 2d 265, 1987 La. App. LEXIS 9291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-green-lactapp-1987.