State v. Humphreys

114 So. 3d 1184, 2013 WL 1984366, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 922
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 15, 2013
DocketNo. 47,945-KA
StatusPublished

This text of 114 So. 3d 1184 (State v. Humphreys) 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. Humphreys, 114 So. 3d 1184, 2013 WL 1984366, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 922 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

STEWART, J.

liThe defendant, Stacy Humphreys, was convicted of obstruction of justice, in violation of La. R.S. 14:130.1. He was adjudicated a third-felony offender, and sentenced to serve 10 years’ imprisonment, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The defendant now appeals. Based on the following reasons, we affirm the defendant’s conviction, amend his sentence, and affirm his sentence as amended.

FACTS

In the late evening of October 5, 2010, the defendant’s girlfriend at the time, Lea Ann McMurray Humphreys (“Lea Ann”), stabbed Kalina “Sherry” Beach (“Kalina”) with a knife, puncturing her lung. Lea Ann was charged with aggravated battery.

The knife was never recovered.

During the course of the investigation, the police determined that the defendant took the knife in an attempt to conceal the evidence against Lea Ann. On October 21, 2010, the defendant was charged via bill of information with one count of obstruction of justice, in violation of La. R.S. 14:130.1.

Kalina testified that she was living at the home of Jarret Buxton and Ashley Humphreys when the incident occurred. She alleged that Lea Ann was angry with her because she wouldn’t participate in a threesome with her and the defendant. On the day the incident occurred, Lea Ann, along with Rebecca Williamson, Courtney Ezell, and the defendant, drove to Jarret and Ashley’s home. Kalina stated that Lea Ann found her in the kitchen and attacked her. During the altercation, Lea Ann stabbed Kalina in her side, |2puncturing her lung. The scuffle transferred from the kitchen to the outside of the house, at which time the knife dislodged from Sherry’s body. Jarret grabbed the knife and placed it on a barbeque pit that was under the carport. Ka-lina stated that when Lea Ann went back towards the knife, the defendant, who was initially standing behind a car door during the stabbing, ran and grabbed it. The defendant and Lea Ann then got in their car and left.

Ashley, the defendant and Lea Ann’s cousin, testified that on the night of the stabbing, she received a phone call from Lea Ann. Ashley stated that Lea Ann told her that “her and the [defendant] was (sic) going to come down there and do all kinds of crazy stuff.” Ashley instructed Lea Ann not to come and hung up the phone. Ashley further testified:

Next thing I knew they was (sic) pulling in the driveway, me and Jarret walked out, told them they needed to leave. Lea Ann gets out of the car, comes running up there, run in the house with [1188]*1188a knife. Stacy was standing behind the car.

Ashley testified that she witnessed the defendant step from behind the car and walk under the carport. Shortly thereafter, she went into the house to get a towel for Sherry. She did not witness the defendant pick up anything from under the carport, but the knife was gone when she came back outside.

Jarret testified that he did not witness the stabbing. However, he overheard Ka-lina state that she had been stabbed, and he saw the knife on the ground. He immediately kicked it out of the way of the altercation. Once Jarret broke the fight up, he placed the knife on the barbeque pit under the carport. Jarret did not see who took the knife, nor did he notice the | ¡¡defendant walking under the carport. Jarret did note that the defendant was standing near his Jeep, which was parked “close to the carport.”

Sergeant Mike Gilmore, of the Franklin Parish Sheriffs Office, interviewed the defendant as a witness to the crime. He testified that the defendant initially told him that there was no knife involved. However, Sergeant Gilmore related that the defendant recanted this original statement and stated,

I believe she stabbed — she stabbed her. I didn’t see her stab her, but I believe she did stab her and there was a knife. I picked the knife up and I don’t remember what I did with it.

On cross-examination, Sergeant Gilmore stated that he did not have any notes or recordings from his interview with the defendant.

Rebecca Williamson, Lea Ann’s sister and the defendant’s stepsister, testified that she witnessed Lea Ann and Kalina fighting outside, but she did not see Lea Ann stab her.

Several witnesses alleged that the defendant disclosed to them information regarding the knife. Sarah Beaube, who has a four-year-old child with the defendant, testified that the defendant called her the night of the stabbing and told her what happened, but he didn’t mention anything about the knife. In a subsequent conversation, Sarah stated that the defendant told her that “he wasn’t stupid and that they got rid of it and that if they — the cops wanted to find it they had to go to Big Creek.”

David Williamson, Lea Ann’s brother-in-law and Rebecca Williamson’s husband, testified that sometime after the incident occurred, the defendant told him that “it wasn’t no evidence to be found because he |,igot rid of it.” Williamson admitted that the defendant had been drinking when he made that statement, and that he and the defendant recently had a disagreement.

Taylor Box, a former friend of Lea Ann and the defendant, testified that the defendant told her that “he’s [the defendant] the one that actually hid the knife because they hid it behind a house in the bushes and once Lea Ann was gone or whatever he went back and got it and had actually threw it into Big Creek.”

To the contrary, the defendant, who was the only witness who testified on his behalf, testified that he never told anyone that he took the knife, or that he threw it into Big Creek. He further stated that the testimony of David Williamson, Sarah Beaube, and Taylor Box were not reliable, since “they did not like him.”

The defendant relayed his version of the October 5, 2010, incident. He stated that Rebecca Williamson drove to Jarret Bux-ton’s home and initiated a verbal altercation with Sherry. He, Lea Ann, and Courtney drove in a separate car to Jar-ret’s home because they were worried something might happen. The defendant [1189]*1189denied telling Sergeant Gilmore that there was a knife involved in the incident, or that he handled a knife at any point. Rather, the defendant denied ever seeing a knife, and stated:

I said the only thing I seen (sic) that possibly cut Ms. Beach was when Lea Ann punched through the window and tried to grab her through the window, that’s the only thing.

|sWhen asked if he was worried if his girlfriend would be charged with a criminal offense, the defendant responded, “Well I knew it was blood, somebody was going to be charged with something.”

The trial court found the defendant guilty of obstruction of justice pursuant to La. R.S. 14:130.1. At the conclusion of the proceedings, the state informed the court of its intent to file a habitual offender bill, and the parties selected a date for the defendant’s arraignment. The trial court then set a date for sentencing and ordered a presentence investigation report.

On July 10, 2012, the trial court found the defendant to be third-felony habitual offender pursuant to La. R.S. 15:521.1. In addition to his present felony conviction for obstruction of justice, the defendant had been convicted of felony contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile on June 8, 2008, and felony simple criminal damage to property on May 23, 2008.

After considering the aggravating and mitigating factors in light of La.

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

Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Robertson v. Casual Corner Group, Inc
541 U.S. 905 (Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Taves
861 So. 2d 144 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
State v. Hardy
892 So. 2d 710 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State v. Allen
828 So. 2d 622 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Smith
661 So. 2d 442 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1995)
State v. Speed
2 So. 3d 582 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Eason
3 So. 3d 685 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Dotie
1 So. 3d 833 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Dorthey
623 So. 2d 1276 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1993)
State v. Swayzer
989 So. 2d 267 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Ates
989 So. 2d 259 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Weaver
805 So. 2d 166 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2002)
State v. Bonanno
384 So. 2d 355 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Pigford
922 So. 2d 517 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2006)
State v. Tate
851 So. 2d 921 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
State v. Jones
398 So. 2d 1049 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
State v. Sutton
436 So. 2d 471 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
State v. Smith
839 So. 2d 1 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
State v. Cozzetto
974 So. 2d 665 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
114 So. 3d 1184, 2013 WL 1984366, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 922, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-humphreys-lactapp-2013.