State v. Henry

119 So. 3d 713, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 545, 2013 WL 2350448, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1057
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 30, 2013
DocketNo. 12-KA-545
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 119 So. 3d 713 (State v. Henry) 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. Henry, 119 So. 3d 713, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 545, 2013 WL 2350448, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1057 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

MARC E. JOHNSON, Judge.

| gDefendant, Kendrick K. Henry, appeals his conviction for conspiracy to commit second degree murder from the 24th Judicial District Court, Division “I”. For the following reasons, we affirm Defendant’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In July 2009, Tremika Lang gave Marvin Hudson approximately $7,200.00 to purchase a car for her at an auction. Marvin Hudson did not deliver a car to Ms. Lang. Thereafter, Ms. Lang’s attempts to contact Marvin Hudson were unsuccessful. Mr. Hudson’s live-in girlfriend, Rose Grace, received calls and text messages from Ms. Lang looking for him and seeking her car or the return of her money.

Ms. Lang and Defendant, her boyfriend at the time, began text messaging each other regarding Mr. Hudson. These text messages revealed Defendant’s desire to seek revenge on Mr. Hudson for his failure to deliver the vehicle to Ms. Lang or return her money. On July 29, 2009, a shooting occurred at 3601 Tulane |3Prive in Kenner, Louisiana, the residence of Mr. Hudson and Ms. Grace. Mr. Hudson was not injured; however, his brother, Jonathan Hudson, was killed, and Michael Cau-ley was injured. Athough witnesses described seeing two male gunmen, no one was ever identified as the shooters.

On November 24, 2009, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging Defendant along with his co-defendant, Tremika D. Lang, with conspiracy to commit second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:26:30.1. Defendant was arraigned on November 25, 2009 and pleaded not guilty. Defendant filed an omnibus motion and an order for pre-trial motions. The trial court heard and denied Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence on May 13, 2010. The trial court heard and denied Defendant’s motion to suppress statements on August 19, 2010. On August 23, 2011, the State orally moved to sever the defendants, and the trial court granted the motion.

Defendant proceeded to a jury trial on August 23-26, 2011. A 12-person jury found Defendant guilty as charged on August 26, 2011. On September 6, 2011, Defendant filed a motion for new trial, which was denied on that same date. Defendant was sentenced on September 6, 2011 to 13 years imprisonment at hard labor with credit for time served. On September 15, 2011, the trial court granted Defendant’s timely motion for appeal. Defendant now appeals his conviction.

Based on the text messages and communications between Defendant and Ms. Lang, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit second degree murder of Mr. Hudson. The following testimony was presented at trial.

Sergeant Brian McGregor with the Ken-ner Police Department participated in the investigation of the shooting death of Jonathan Hudson on July 29, 2009, at 3601 Tulane Drive in Kenner, Louisiana. Witnesses at the scene reported several vehicles leaving the location following the shooting. Sergeant McGregor testified |4that when he arrived on the scene, there was a white SUV parked in the street and a U-Haul parked in the driveway of the house. Twenty-five bullet casings were recovered, indicating that at least 25 [715]*715rounds had been fired across an entire residential lot, and projectiles were recovered from the neighboring home. Detectives went to Kenner Regional Medical Center and reported that two individuals had been shot. Jonathan Hudson died at the hospital of his gunshot injuries. Michael Cauley was also shot, but he survived. Marvin Hudson and Claude Samu-els were also at 3610 Tulane Drive in Kenner at the time of the shooting, but they were not injured.

Witnesses described seeing two male gunmen. Four individuals were developed as suspects during the investigation based on interviews conducted: Brian Harris, Arzia Harris, Eric Anderson, and Defendant. Mr. Cauley, Marvin Hudson and Mr. Samuels were shown photographic lineups but were unable to identify either of the shooters. Sergeant McGregor testified that the vehicle used in the shooting was described as a dark colored vehicle and was identified as having a temporary tag in the back window.

At the scene of the shooting, Sergeant McGregor interviewed Rose Grace, Marvin Hudson’s live-in girlfriend. She told him there were two ladies who had been to her door complaining about things on two different occasions. Ms. Grace described one female that appeared at her door as slim build, 5'5", with dark skin. Ms. Grace told Sergeant McGregor that she recognized the voice of that female as the same woman who had been calling and texting her in reference to a failed vehicle purchase involving Marvin Hudson. Sergeant McGre-gor identified the female as Tremika Lang.

Based on the calls and text messages Ms. Grace had been receiving, Sergeant McGregor sought and obtained subscriber information and telephone | ¡^information from a number of different cellular telephones. Sergeant McGregor ultimately obtained subpoenas for the cellular telephone records of Ms. Grace, Ms. Lang, Defendant, Arzia Harris, and someone named “Reginald.1

In response to the subpoenas, the police department received the cellular telephone information of those individuals, including call logs, voicemails, and text messages. Sergeant McGregor sorted through the material produced and prepared a summary of the calls and text messages between Defendant, Ms. Lang, and Ms. Grace, as well as between Defendant, Ar-zia Harris and someone named “Reginald.” Between July 23, 2009, and shortly after the crime occurred on July 29, 2009, there were 117 texts and 144 calls from Defendant to Ms. Lang, and 233 texts and 246 calls from Ms. Lang to Defendant. There were nine texts, one call, and four voice-mails from Defendant to Ms. Grace, and ten texts from Ms. Grace to Ms. Lang. There were two texts and 21 calls from Defendant to Arzia Harris, and 12 calls from Mr. Harris to Defendant. Finally, there were 28 texts and 63 calls from Defendant to “Reginald,” and 66 texts and 88 calls from “Reginald” to Defendant.

Sergeant McGregor testified that he considered the texts between Ms. Lang and Defendant to be noteworthy communication. He testified Ms. Lang tells Defendant in the text messages how she met a man who was selling auction vehicles, and that she had paid him “7 stacks,” which was determined to be over $7,000.00, but was then unable to get in contact with the individual. She conveyed to Defendant that she wanted to get either the car or her money back. Sergeant McGregor de[716]*716termined from the series of texts that Defendant was upset with the deal and asked Ms. Lang if she had a receipt showing that she paid the individual for the vehicle. Ms. Lang asked Defendant not to worry about it and not to bring it | nup because it was a surprise for a birthday, so she did not want to tell him; however, she was getting worried.

Sergeant McGregor testified that these text messages indicated that “somebody’s going to die if they’re playing games.” At trial, Sergeant McGregor read the pertinent text messages aloud, and the State presented the printed text messages to the jury.2 Sergeant McGregor testified that he considered each of these text messages to be significant in his investigation of this case.3

On July 29, 2009, Defendant, Ms. Lang, and “Reginald” placed telephone calls to each other. Sergeant McGregor testified that it was significant that they moved from text messaging to telephone calls on July 29, 2009, the date of the homicide. On that date, Ms. Lang placed 14 calls to Defendant throughout the day.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
119 So. 3d 713, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 545, 2013 WL 2350448, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1057, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-henry-lactapp-2013.