State v. Hebert

676 So. 2d 692, 1996 WL 293156
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided June 5, 1996·No. K95-1645·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

676 So.2d 692 (1996)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Mitchell HEBERT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. K95-1645.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 5, 1996.

*694 Michael Harson, Lafayette, Keith A. Stutes Asst. Dist. Atty., for State of Louisiana.

G. Paul Marx, Lafayette, for Mitchell Hebert.

Before DOUCET, C.J., and YELVERTON and PETERS, JJ.

YELVERTON, Judge.

This supervisory writ application by the defendant, Mitchell Hebert, has been remanded to this court by order of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Mitchell Hebert and his codefendant, Shawn Gaspard, are charged with first degree murder. Both defendants originally filed pretrial writ applications with this court of appeal, seeking review of trial court rulings denying several motions including a motion to suppress, a motion to exclude other crimes evidence, and a motion to quash. We denied the writ applications. Defendant Hebert applied for a writ of certiorari with the Louisiana Supreme Court. The supreme court granted a stay and remanded the matter for briefing, argument, and issuance of an opinion concerning the motion to suppress the confession. State v. Herbert, 96-0352 (La. 3/22/96); 669 So.2d 1228. We are now at the opinion stage of the remand.

FACTS:

The Lafayette Police Department received a call at 9:00 a.m. on October 2, 1992, that there had been a homicide at the Green Oaks Lounge on Guilbeau Road in Lafayette. Inside the lounge, the police found the body of Gerald Green, the manager of the lounge, behind the bar; the victim had been beaten, and his throat slashed from ear to ear. Money and receipts from a money box were on the floor. There were two separate sets of bloody footprints at the scene. An investigation proceeded on the assumption that two men had committed the crime.

That same lounge had been burglarized eleven days earlier, on September 21, 1992, but no suspects had been found. A residential burglary had been committed just one week earlier at the Bell Downs Townhomes and Condominiums located directly behind the Green Oaks Lounge. A fingerprint from *695 Shawn Gaspard had been found at the scene of the residential burglary, and an arrest warrant for Gaspard was outstanding. As of October 2, 1992, Gaspard had not been located and arrested on the burglary warrant. When the lead detective, Detective Ted Vincent, learned about the recent criminal activity in the locale and the discovery of Gaspard's fingerprint, he directed Detective Kelly Gibson and Detective Hundley to find Gaspard and bring him in for questioning.

Detective Gibson learned from Gaspard's mother that he was living on Guilbeau Road in the Gallery Apartments, about one block from the Green Oaks Lounge. While searching for Gaspard at the Gallery Apartments, the detectives found out that Gaspard and Hebert were keeping company and living with others at that apartment complex.

When the detectives spoke with Heather Findley and Crystal Fontenot, the women that Hebert and Gaspard were living with in the Gallery Apartments, one of the women said that both men had been out the night before, and that they had come in at 3:50 a.m. that morning. She related that when she asked them why they came in so late, both men insisted that they came home at 1:30 a.m. This, according to the informing roommate, made her suspicious; she was certain about the time when the men came home.

At the time the police talked to these women, they were in the apartment; neither Gaspard nor Hebert were home; it was explained that they had left at 9:00 a.m. telling their roommates they were going to Penrod Drilling to apply for jobs. The detectives checked at Penrod Drilling later and discovered that neither Gaspard nor Hebert had been there.

Detective Vincent joined the other detectives around noon at the Gallery Apartments, and together they continued to look for Gaspard and Hebert. A few minutes before 1:00 p.m. that afternoon, Detective Vincent saw two men in the complex and asked them their names; they were Mitchell Hebert and Shawn Gaspard. Gaspard was immediately arrested on the outstanding burglary warrant. Mitchell Hebert was asked to come down to the police station for questioning.

As the detectives were going to their cars to leave the Gallery Apartments, Evelyn Everett, a woman from the apartment complex next door, hollered for them. Detective Vincent responded. She wanted to know if Shawn Gaspard had been arrested. When Detective Vincent said he had, she handed them a shopping bag, saying that Gaspard had left it with her, and that she wanted nothing to do with what Gaspard may have done. Inside the shopping bag the detectives found newly purchased clothing with receipts indicating that the clothes were purchased at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, that very day. The defendants had already left for the police station, and they were not aware that the police knew about this shopping bag.

At the police station, the police first took the written statements of Heather Findley and Crystal Fontenot. Then Detective Gibson began to speak with Mitchell Hebert. His questioning began at 2:30 p.m., with the detective going over the rights form with him. After this, Hebert signed the rights form, and he began to talk with the detective: Hebert claimed he had returned to his apartment at 1:30 a.m., and that he had gone to Penrod Drilling at 9:00 a.m. to apply for a job. Detective Gibson had found a gold chain in a jacket when Gaspard was arrested. When the detective showed the chain to Hebert, he said he received it from either Heather Findley or Crystal Fontenot. When the detective asked Hebert about the shopping bag full of new clothes left with Evelyn Everett, Hebert became visibly shaken and nervous and said, "I don't want to talk about it." The detective stopped the interview and left Hebert in the room.

Detective Vincent, meanwhile, was attending the autopsy. While waiting for him, Detective Gibson more closely examined the shopping bag of clothes and found over $600 in cash in the pockets. When Detective Vincent arrived at 4:00 p.m., Detective Gibson told him what had happened and what he had found in the shopping bag of clothes. Later, around 5:00 p.m., Detective Gibson found out from Heather Findley that the gold chain belonged to her; she said Mitchell Hebert *696 had stolen it. Detective Gibson did not have a chance to tell Detective Vincent about Hebert stealing the jewelry from Heather Findley because by then Detective Vincent was talking to Hebert.

Detective Vincent had gone in to talk with Hebert a little after 4:00 p.m. The detective thanked Hebert for staying and talking to him. He went over the advice of rights form Hebert had signed with Detective Gibson; when he was finished, Hebert told Detective Vincent he had no problems talking with him. Detective Vincent outlined the evidence the police had obtained concerning the murder and the suspicious activities. The two men continued to talk, taking breaks to eat, drink, or smoke, until Mitchell Hebert began to confess at 6:45 p.m. Mitchell Hebert's full confession was videotaped shortly after 7:00 p.m.

At the conclusion of the hearing on the motion to suppress, the trial judge denied the motion, finding that the police did not violate Hebert's Miranda rights and that his statement was free and voluntary and not the product of fear, coercion, duress, or inducements. Hebert did not testify at the suppression hearing.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1:

Hebert has divided his writ application into two issues: pro

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Hebert, 676 So. 2d 692, 1996 WL 293156 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

676 So. 2d 692 (State v. Hebert) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Hebert v. Cain
121 F. App'x 43 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)
State v. Singleton
828 So. 2d 1185 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Diaz
800 So. 2d 1090 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Creecy
742 So. 2d 615 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Shelvin
720 So. 2d 124 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Hebert
716 So. 2d 63 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Downing
710 So. 2d 1116 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Williams
693 So. 2d 204 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)