State v. Haywood

907 So. 2d 168, 2005 WL 1533080
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 15, 2005
Docket2004-KA-2097
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 907 So. 2d 168 (State v. Haywood) 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. Haywood, 907 So. 2d 168, 2005 WL 1533080 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

907 So.2d 168 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Michael HAYWOOD.

No. 2004-KA-2097.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

June 15, 2005.

Eddie J. Jordan, Jr., District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Donna R. Andriew, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Pamela S. Moran, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

(Court composed of Judge JAMES F. McKAY III, Judge DENNIS R. BAGNERIS SR., Judge DAVID S. GORBATY).

*169 JAMES F. MCKAY, III, Judge.

STATEMENT OF CASE

The appellant Michael Haywood was indicted on April 1, 2004, for the second degree murder of Elbert Hart. At his arraignment on April 6, 2004, he pled not guilty. On May 14, 2004, the court heard and denied his motions to suppress the evidence and identification. After trial held on June 24, 2004, a twelve-person jury found him guilty of the responsive verdict of manslaughter. On July 2, 2004, Mr. Haywood filed a motion for new trial and pled not guilty to the multiple bill filed by the State. The court heard the multiple bill on August 20, 2004, and adjudicated Mr. Haywood a second offender. The court also heard argument on the motion for new trial on that date and took the matter under advisement. On September 3, 2004, the court denied the motion for new trial. Mr. Haywood waived all delays, and the court sentenced him to serve twenty years at hard labor as a second offender. The court also granted Mr. Haywood's motion for appeal. The record was lodged in this court on December 7, 2004, and the appellant filed his brief on January 10, 2005. The State responded on February 9, 2005. In response to the appellant's pro se filing, this court sent him the record on February 14, 2005, granting him forty-five days in which to file his own brief. On April 5, 2005, this court again sent him the record and granted him a final thirty days to file a brief. To date, he has filed nothing.

FACTS

At approximately 2:45 p.m. on January 11, 2004, a 991 call was made to the police concerning a shooting in front of 14101 Curran Boulevard. Police officers responding to the call found the body of Elbert Hart, Jr. lying next to a truck in front of Building M in the apartment complex. Mr. Hart sustained a gunshot wound to his chest, and a .9 mm shell was found next to his body. An autopsy performed the next day revealed that Mr. Hart died of a single gunshot wound that entered his left chest, passed through his aorta and his right lung, and exited his side near the back. Because the skin around the wound was seared, the pathologist who performed the autopsy testified that the gun was almost touching Mr. Hart when it fired. The pathologist also testified that the autopsy showed no evidence of pills in Mr. Hart's stomach.

Detective Cathy Reinhardt testified that she investigated the shooting. She stated that a few days after the shooting she met with Randy Mutin, who was an eyewitness to the shooting. Based upon a tip from another source, she compiled a photographic lineup, which included the photo of the defendant Michael Haywood, and she showed the lineup to Mr. Mutin, who by that time was incarcerated in Jefferson Parish on unrelated charges. She testified that Mr. Mutin chose the defendant's photograph as depicting the person who shot Mr. Hart. After the identification, she obtained an arrest warrant for the defendant and a search warrant for his residence, which was in Building M of 14101 Curran, the building in front of which Hart was murdered. Detective Reinhardt testified that although another eyewitness to the shooting, Albert Antoine, called her a few times to set up a meeting, Mr. Antoine never showed up at the meetings, and consequently she never spoke with him. She testified that in February, 2004 she had Mr. Antoine arrested as a suspect in the shooting.

Randy Mutin testified that he was Mr. Hart's friend, had spent the day with Mr. Hart prior to the shooting, and was with Mr. Hart when he was murdered. Mr. Mutin testified that he and Mr. Hart had been together since that morning, driving *170 around in Mr. Mutin's truck. Mr. Mutin admitted that he and Mr. Hart were intending to buy cocaine for resale, and Mr. Hart had $1500 with him to make the purchase. Mr. Mutin testified that sometime around noon they met Mr. Antoine at a gas station at Chef Menteur Highway and Dale Street, and they agreed to give Mr. Antoine a ride uptown. He stated that once uptown Mr. Antoine left the truck briefly to meet with a man, and then he returned and got back in the truck. Mr. Mutin testified that Mr. Antoine then directed them to drive to the Curran Boulevard address.

Mr. Mutin stated that after he parked the truck next to an abandoned car near Building M, Mr. Antoine left the truck and walked into a breezeway between two buildings. Soon thereafter, Mr. Antoine returned, and Mr. Hart opened the truck door for Mr. Antoine. Suddenly, the defendant appeared with an automatic gun, which Mr. Mutin described as possibly a .9 mm, and asked Mr. Antoine for $150 that Mr. Antoine owed him. Mr. Antoine replied that he did not have the money, and the defendant then turned the gun on Mr. Hart, grabbed him, and pulled him from the truck. Mr. Mutin testified he saw the two men struggling for the gun as he exited the driver's side of the truck. He testified that he then saw the defendant shoot Mr. Hart. Mr. Mutin testified that he ducked down, and when he looked up again, the defendant was running away into the breezeway. Mr. Mutin testified that although he did not see the defendant going through Mr. Hart's pockets, he theorized the defendant must have done so because the police later informed Mr. Hart's family that the $1500 was gone.

Mr. Mutin testified that he called the police and Mr. Hart's family, and he waited on the scene until the police arrived. At that point, he went to Mr. Hart's house to pick up the victim's family, and then they returned to the scene. He did not, however, speak with Detective Reinhardt that night, but instead spoke with her two days later. At that time, he gave a statement. He testified that he had never seen the defendant prior to the shooting, but he positively identified the defendant from a photographic lineup Detective Reinhardt later showed him.

On cross-examination, Mr. Mutin admitted having prior convictions for possession of marijuana and crack cocaine, as well as a conviction for simple burglary. He testified that he believed Mr. Antoine was aware that Mr. Hart had $1500 in his possession, and he further testified that he believed that Mr. Antoine knew the defendant. Mr. Mutin admitted that he did not remember at the time of trial what either Mr. Antoine or the defendant were wearing on the day of the murder, nor did he remember if he gave a clothing description to Detective Reinhardt. However, he maintained that the defendant was the person who shot Mr. Hart.

The defense called to the stand Albert Antoine, who testified that he was also present when Mr. Hart was shot. However, he admitted that he was so "loaded" at the time of the shooting from having consumed marijuana, cocaine, and heroin earlier that day that he could not identify the shooter. He also insisted that he did not know the defendant. Mr. Antoine testified that Mr. Mutin and the victim picked him up at a gas station on Chef Menteur at around noon on the day of the shooting, and they gave him a ride to the Calliope Project uptown, where he left the truck and bought some heroin. Mr. Antoine testified that he reentered the truck and used the heroin. He then directed Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
907 So. 2d 168, 2005 WL 1533080, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-haywood-lactapp-2005.