State v. Hall

750 So. 2d 1105, 1999 WL 1257269
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 22, 1999
Docket98-KA-0667
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 750 So. 2d 1105 (State v. Hall) 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. Hall, 750 So. 2d 1105, 1999 WL 1257269 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

750 So.2d 1105 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Mark HALL.

No. 98-KA-0667.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

December 22, 1999.

*1106 Yvonne Chalker, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant.

Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Nicloe Barron, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Court composed of Chief Judge ROBERT J. KLEES, Judge JOAN BERNARD ARMSTRONG, Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY.

KIRBY, Judge.

The defendant was charged by grand jury indictment, along with a co-defendant Larry Henry[1] April 6, 1995, with second degree murder. La. R.S. 14:30.1. He was arraigned April 10, 1995, and pled not guilty. He filed a motion to suppress a confession which was denied September 29, 1995. He filed a motion for appointment of a sanity commission. On February 15, 1996, the defendant was found unable to stand trial. On May 22, 1997, he was found able to stand trial. On September 8, 1997, a twelve member jury found the defendant guilty as charged. He was sentenced September 18, 1997, to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

Mary Ann Rogers, aunt of the victim Cleon Rogers, said she was standing outside cleaning the yard on the morning of the crime, February 7, 1995, and saw a blue car pull up with two people inside. "Larry" jumped out and started shooting her nephew, who ran and hid under a truck. "Larry" pulled him out from underneath the truck and continued shooting him with a sawed off shotgun. The driver sat in the car in the middle of the street waiting. Rogers had never seen the driver before, but she saw a wheelchair in the backseat. On cross, she said she did not know Henry or the defendant, but she learned their names from her nephew Alexander Williams, who had been on the other side of the street stopped at a red light in his car when the crime occurred.

Williams, first cousin of the victim, said he was stopped at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Baronne Street when he saw Henry get out of the car and start shooting. He saw the defendant driving the blue Oldsmobile Cutlass. He said he had known the defendant for three or four years and had seen him drive the car before.

Dr. Alvaro Hunt said the victim suffered three gunshot wounds, all fired at close range.

Detective Norman McCord testified he responded to the call. He found the victim had already been pronounced dead. On the scene, he found three spent Remington M-1 Winchester 12-guage, empty shotgun shells. Later, he learned the defendant's name from Williams. He went to the defendant's house where he found the defendant, his mother, and several small children. *1107 He informed the defendant that he was a suspect in the murder of Cleon Rogers. The defendant said that he did not know Rogers or Henry. At that point, his mother entered the room, and McCord told her that the defendant was a suspect in the murder. His mother told the defendant that he had better tell the truth. He then said that he had been driving the blue Cutlass, which belonged to his sister, and that it was parked in the back of the apartment. McCord impounded the car and obtained a search warrant for it. Protruding from under the front driver's seat was an empty box of Winchester 12-guage shotgun shells. In the trunk was a Mossberg box containing a box of empty Remington 12-guage shotgun shells. McCord took a formal statement from the defendant at the Homicide Office after advising him of his rights and obtaining a signed copy of a waiver of rights of arrestee form. He said prior to the signing he had read the defendant his rights twice, and that he did not force him to sign the form, and did not promise him anything in return for signing the document. He said that the defendant seemed to understand and was not confused. The defendant's confession was taped. The tape was played for the jury.

During the statement, the defendant said that he could read and write, he understood that he was under arrest, he understood the rights that had been read to him, he understood that he need not make any statement, that he had a right to remain silent, that anything he said could be used against him at trial, that he had right to consult with and obtain the advise of an attorney before answering any questions, that if he could not afford an attorney, one would be appointed, and that he had the right to have the attorney present at the time of any questions or giving of any statements. He said that he waived his rights with full knowledge. He then said that he and Henry were driving by the intersection, and that he did not know what Henry was going to do. Henry told him to stop the car. Henry had a gun and pointed it toward the defendant. The defendant did not know what to do, so he stopped. He heard shots, and blanked out. Henry got back in the car, pointed the gun at him, and told him to drive. The defendant asked him why he had shot the victim. The defendant said that he did not know the victim and did not know why Henry killed him. After the shooting, the defendant drove Henry home. He spoke to Henry the next day, and he told him to keep his mouth shut. The defendant told his mother, and she told him to turn himself in, but he was scared. At the end of the statement, the defendant said that no one had threatened or forced him, that he had given the statement of his own free will, that no one had promised him anything, and that the statement was true and correct to the best of his knowledge.

On cross, McCord said that he knew the defendant had a limp, that he had only a six grade education, and that he could read "a little bit." (Tr. p. 62.)

Patricia Hebert, owner of Elliot's Small Arms, identified a form stating that the defendant had purchased a Mossberg 12-guage shotgun on December 16, 1994. She remembered the defendant buying the gun because he had "messed up" the first form she had given him to fill out and had to fill out a second.

The defendant's mother, Angela Hall, said that the defendant had a sixth grade education, and that he had to attend special education classes because he had comprehension problems. She said the defendant did not have a driver's license, had never driven a car, and was very susceptible to suggestion. He was paralyzed in his left leg in one of several shootings. He formerly used a wheelchair, but could maneuver on crutches with a brace. She said Larry Henry is her nephew, and that when the police first came to her house, they were looking for him. They then asked for the defendant. She said that they did not tell the defendant that he was under arrest, and that he left the house under the impression that he would be returning. She said that on the morning of the crime, *1108 Henry had come to her house, had asked to borrow her daughter's car, and had left by himself.

Tawana Hall, the defendant's sister, said that she owned the blue Cutlass. She lent the car to Henry on the morning of the crime, and the defendant did not leave with him. She said the defendant did not have a driver's license and that she had never seen him drive.

Crystal Young, fiancee of the defendant, said the defendant took care of their son during the day, and that she had dropped the child off the morning of the crime, and left him in the bed with the defendant.

The defendant testified that he is unable to walk without a brace, and is unable to drive a car. He said that he had only a sixth grade education, was "slow" and could not understand everything that he reads.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
750 So. 2d 1105, 1999 WL 1257269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hall-lactapp-1999.