State v. Hamilton

103 So. 3d 705, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 204, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1375, 2012 WL 5416979
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 2012
DocketNo. 12-204
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 103 So. 3d 705 (State v. Hamilton) 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. Hamilton, 103 So. 3d 705, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 204, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1375, 2012 WL 5416979 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

KEATY, Judge.

| defendant appeals his convictions of second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. The State answers the appeal. For the following reasons, we vacate and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant, Jody D. Hamilton, entered into a plan with Demarcus Law and Edward Paige to steal drugs from someone else. On December 12, 2009, Defendant and Law went to the residence where the drugs were located, and Law kicked in the door. Defendant then shot Dakaria Williams, who was in the living room, in the leg. Law proceeded to the kitchen where Paige and Shamichael Berryman were and began shooting. Defendant shot Williams several more times but did not enter the residence. When leaving the residence, Law noticed Williams was still moving and shot him in the face. Berry-man was shot six times and died as a result of his injuries. Williams, who had been shot at least nine times, survived.

Defendant was charged in an indictment with one count of second degree murder, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1, and one count of attempted second degree murder, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1 and La.R.S. 14:27. Defendant entered a plea of not guilty, and this matter proceeded to trial by jury on September 19, 2011. The jury found Defendant guilty as charged, and the trial court later sentenced him as follows: life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, for second degree murder; fifty years at hard labor for attempted second [707]*707degree murder, with eighty percent of that sentence to be served without benefit of parole. The trial court ordered the sentences to run consecutively. A motion for appeal was filed on the same date Defendant was sentenced and was subsequently granted.

12Pefendant is now before this court asserting four assignments of error. Therein, he contends that the trial court erred in denying challenges for cause of potential jurors; he was denied the right to full review on appeal because the record was incomplete; the jury instructions incorrectly included the phrase “or to inflict great bodily harm” within the attempted second degree murder charge; and the trial court erred in admitting two firearms into evidence because the weapons were not connected to him. For the following reasons, we find that Defendant’s assignment of error regarding an incomplete record has merit which warrants his convictions and sentences be vacated.

DISCUSSION

In his second assignment of error, Defendant contends that he was denied the right to full review on appeal as the record was incomplete. Defendant asserts that during jury selection, the judge and attorneys discussed the challenges raised by both sides in chambers, but those discussions were not recorded. He argues that the off-the-record discussions with regard to the use of all challenges, both peremptory and for cause, would add additional support to the arguments raised in his first assignment of error regarding challenges for cause.1

The State asserts that, despite Defendant’s argument that there may have been other prospective jurors the trial court should have excused for cause, Defendant objected to only four prospective jurors. The State argues that the only conclusion that can be derived from Defendant’s failure to object to the trial court’s rulings on other prospective jurors is that Defendant had no objections to the trial court’s rulings regarding any other prospective jurors. The State further argues that the failure to record the conferences held in chambers in no way | .(¡prejudiced Defendant. In a footnote, the State asserts that jury strike sheets are normally made a part of the record. However, according to the State, the strike sheet in the case at bar remains in the judge’s possession. The State contends that defense counsel and counsel for the State agreed that any objections to the jury selection process would be put on the record, out of the presence of the jury, at the conclusion of jury selection.2

The State relies on La.Code Crim.P. art. 800, which states, in pertinent part: “A defendant may not assign as error a ruling refusing to sustain a challenge for cause made by him, unless an objection thereto is made at the time of the ruling. The nature of the objection and grounds therefor shall be stated at the time of objection.” The State contends that the trial court complied with this article, with the exception that objections were placed on the record, by agreement of the parties, after the jury was selected. The State also contends that, unless a defendant objects to the overall selection process, that process is not required to be recorded. The State further contends that Defendant [708]*708has not provided any authority mandating that the information at issue be recorded.

In his reply brief, Defendant asserts the State has attempted to shift the burden to the defense to insure a proper recording of the proceedings. However, in accordance with State v. Pinion, 06-2346 (La.10/26/07), 968 So.2d 131, it is the responsibility of the trial court to insure an adequate recording of the proceedings. Additionally, Defendant argues that the State’s assertion that because he objected to only four prospective jurors he cannot raise argument as to any other prospective jurors ignores Defendant’s assertion that it is necessary to know the peremptory and cause challenges raised by each side in order to determine whether the failure to record the in-chambers conferences was harmless.

|4In Pinion, the supreme court noted that the questioning of all jury panels by the State, defense, and the trial court appeared to have been completely recorded and transcribed. However, the State and defense exercised their cause and peremptory challenges during bench conferences, and the recordings of those conferences were garbled. As a result, many of the challenges by the parties were “lost in a haze of ‘inaudible’ responses.” Pinion, 968 So.2d at 132. Further, the minute entries regarding jury selection identified by name all of the prospective jurors called for examination and recorded which jurors had been selected on the panel. However, the minutes failed to record which side excused the remaining jurors.

In Pinion, the first circuit found the defendant claimed he was unable to show prejudice because of an inadequate transcript. However, because the defendant did not object to the general composition of the jury, he failed to make the required showing of prejudice based on the missing portion of the transcript. The supreme court granted the defendant’s writ application and reversed the decision of the first circuit because it was possible to reconstruct portions of what transpired during the bench conferences and to determine with a reasonable degree of certainty that defendant’s appeal was in fact prejudiced by the inadequate record.

In its opinion, the supreme court stated: This Court has never articulated a per se rule either requiring the recording of bench conferences or exempting them from the scope of La.C.Cr.P. art. 843, which requires in felony cases the recording not only of the evidentiary portions of trial but also of “the examination of prospective jurors ... and objections, questions, statements, and arguments of counsel.” State v. Hoffman, 98-3118, p. 50 (La.4/11/00), 768 So.2d 542, 586. The Court has instead conducted a case-specific inquiry to determine whether the failure to record the conferences results in actual prejudice to the defendant’s appeal.

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Related

State v. Hamilton
127 So. 3d 76 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State v. Hamilton
117 So. 3d 95 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2013)
State v. Law
110 So. 3d 1271 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State of Louisiana v. Demarcus W. Law
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 So. 3d 705, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 204, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1375, 2012 WL 5416979, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hamilton-lactapp-2012.