State v. Hicks

258 So. 3d 1039
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 17, 2018·No. NO. 17-KA-696·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

CHEHARDY, C.J.

*1042On appeal, defendant challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendants and the trial court's denial of his motion for mistrial. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Procedural History

On January 23, 2014, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant, Kevin Hicks, with the second degree murder of Deshon Evans, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1 (count one), and the attempted second degree murder of Jonquell Neal, in violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:30.1 (count two). Further, in that same indictment, the grand jury indicted Kevin Hicks for the attempted second degree murder of a known juvenile (hereinafter "J.") and the attempted second degree murder of his mother, J.A., in violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:30.1 (counts three and four respectively).1

On May 22, 2017, trial commenced before a twelve-person jury.2 After a six-day trial, the jury found defendant guilty as charged for the second degree murder of Deshon Evans and the attempted second degree murder of Jonquell Neal, but acquitted defendant on the remaining charges of attempted second degree murder of J. and J.A. On June 26, 2017, the trial judge sentenced defendant for second degree murder to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and, for attempted second degree murder, to imprisonment at hard labor for fifty years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, to run concurrently. Thereafter, defendant filed a timely notice of appeal, which was granted.

Facts

In this case, Kevin Hicks, defendant-herein, and his brothers, Kevias Hicks and *1043Kedrick Anderson, were indicted on two counts of attempted second degree murder for their involvement in a shooting incident that occurred on July 13, 2013, at 2800 Mount Kennedy. In that same indictment, defendant-herein, Kevias, and Tommie Molette were charged with second degree murder and attempted second degree murder for their involvement in a subsequent shooting incident that occurred on October 8, 2013, at 5923 Becker Street.

For clarity and completeness in addressing defendant's assignments of error, this opinion includes all of the germane testimony elicited at trial regarding five shooting incidents connected by ballistics and/or testimony to two groups of people. The first incident occurred on June 22, 2013, when A.P. was fired on while driving his girlfriend, J.A.'s, vehicle. Testimony reflected that A.P. was targeted because he had been deemed a "rat."3 Ballistics were not recovered from that event.

The second incident occurred on July 13, 2013, at approximately 9:45 p.m. at the Ridgefield Apartments on Mount Kennedy Drive in Marrero. During the Mount Kennedy incident, J., the two-year-old son of A.P. and J.A., was shot in the chest. J.A., the child's mother, testified that, "Kevias [Hicks'] face was the face in the front that I saw" shooting at her son and her that night. J.A. also saw Kedrick Anderson with a "big gun" that night. J.A. stated that she did not see Kevin Hicks that night.4 Ballistics matched spent 9-mm shell casings recovered from the Mount Kennedy scene to two later shootings: the Bridge shooting and the Becker Street shooting.5

The third incident was a shooting that occurred on the Crescent City Connection on July 16, 2013. During that incident, Kevias Hicks was shot by someone riding in a nearby vehicle. Neither Kevias nor Kedrick Anderson, who was also in the car, would identify the assailant. However, J.A. testified that, at some point, A.P. told her that he and Kevias were shooting at each other on the "bridge." A spent 9-mm shell casing found inside the Hicks' vehicle matched the ballistics of casings found at the Mount Kennedy and Becker Street shootings.

In the fourth incident, which occurred on August 12, 2013, at the Beechgrove Apartments in Westwego, Aubrieon Davis, who is the mother of Kedrick Anderson's son, was fired upon by A.P. while she was driving. Subsequently, A.P. pled guilty to aggravated assault with a firearm on Aubrieon Davis for that incident. Ballistics from the .40 caliber casing recovered at Beechgrove matched a casing found in the roadway after the Bridge shooting on July 16, 2013.

Finally, the fifth shooting event occurred on October 8, 2013, at 5923 Becker Street in Marrero. The surviving victim, Jonquell Neal, testified that he and his friend, Deshon Evans, were recording rap music in a studio at Deshon's house, when they heard a knock at the front door.

*1044Evans opened the door to Kevias Hicks, Tommie Molette, and defendant-herein. Neal remembered that when Kevias came to the door, he said something about running from another shooting where a child had been shot. After the men talked for a little while, they decided to record a song in Deshon's studio.

After they had been rapping and recording for a while in the studio, Neal heard Kevias say that he was a "god" and that "your life is in my hands." Neal was concerned but continued writing his song. When he heard a loud sound, Neal thought it was the music at first. But when Neal looked up, Evans' blood was all over him, and Evans was dead. Neal saw Kevias, Molette, and defendant-herein shooting in Evans' direction.

Neal testified that, after he was shot, he picked up Evans' firearm from the floor, and put it in his lap. When defendant-herein tried to shoot him, Neal raised Evans' weapon, "let off a shot," and defendant-herein left. Neal stated that more than twenty-five or thirty shots were fired.

That night, Neal received four gunshot wounds in his shoulder, thigh, and "feet." Immediately after the shooting, Neal positively identified Kevias, Molette, and defendant-herein as the shooters from photographic lineups. Neal further reported in his statement at the hospital to Sergeant Gary Barteet of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office ("JPSO") that Kevias was shooting a 9-mm Smith and Wesson, that defendant-herein was using a 9-mm Beretta, and that Molette was using a .40 caliber Colt. At trial, Neal testified that he was "100% sure" that Kevias, Molette, and defendant-herein were the individuals who shot Evans and him that night.

Dr. Susan Garcia of the Jefferson Parish Forensic Center, who was accepted as an expert in the field of forensic pathology, conducted the autopsy on Deshon Evans. She explained that Deshon Evans' cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds,6 including a lethal wound to the head, and that his manner of death was homicide.

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State v. Hicks, 258 So. 3d 1039 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

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