State v. Jackson

926 So. 2d 815, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 825, 2006 WL 932056
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided April 12, 2006·No. Nos. 40,949-KA, 40,950-KA·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MOORE, J.

LThe appellant was convicted in a jury trial of second degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. He timely appeals, [817]*817assigning two conviction errors. We affirm.

FACTS

On October 11, 2003, the victim, Gary Haywood, was asked to leave the Old School Lounge in Tallulah because he was being a nuisance. Later that evening, the appellant and Haywood were seen talking outside the lounge when suddenly they began fighting. While no one witnessed the actual stabbing, two bystanders took hold of the appellant, who was holding a knife. One of the men told the appellant to drop the knife, and he told the victim to run.

The victim ran to a nearby residence and banged on the door for help. When officers responded to the call, the victim was found unconscious near the residence. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital. He had been stabbed in the chest and left arm. The autopsy revealed that death was due to hemorrhaging from the 3 ½ inch stab wound in the chest of the victim that incised the lung and the heart.

The record shows that after the stabbing, the appellant went home, told his wife he had stabbed someone, washed his knife and took his vehicle to his brother’s house. He was subsequently arrested just hours after the stabbing by police investigators, and he made an unrecorded oral statement regarding his involvement in the incident. The knife was never found, although a holster or sheath was found in a drawer where the defendant told 12investigators the knife could be found.

After being advised of his rights, appellant signed a waiver and gave an oral statement to investigators. Appellant stated that the victim owed him about $100 for which he had confronted the victim. He said that during the incident he thought the victim had something behind his back, so he went to his vehicle and got his knife. He stated he stabbed the victim in the chest but did not mean to cut him “that bad.”

Prior to trial, the appellant unsuccessfully attempted to have the statement suppressed. He was tried and convicted of second degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Appellant filed the instant appeal, alleging two assignments of error.

Discussion

By his first assignment of error, appellant alleges the trial court erred in ruling that the state’s case agent’s notes were work product and not subject to discovery without first making an in camera inspection to determine whether they contained exculpatory material. He argues that the record makes it impossible to know whether or not notes made by the detective “would have made a difference in the effect of the defendant’s confession.” He contends that the notes should have been furnished either to the trial court for inspection or to the defendant for impeachment purposes, citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963).

|aThe state contends that the detective heard appellant’s statement and made notes “to help him remember the contents” of the confession. It argues that they are the detective’s work product, and it is under no duty to disclose them because they contain nothing exculpatory. The state also argues that the disclosure of the officer’s personal notes would not have changed the outcome of the trial since there were other witnesses who testified about the stabbing.

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 716 provides:

A. Upon motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to [818]*818permit or authorize the defendant to inspect and copy, photograph or otherwise reproduce any relevant written or recorded confession or statement of any nature, including recorded testimony before a grand jury, or copy thereof, of the defendant in the possession, custody, control, or knowledge of the district attorney.
B. Upon motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to inform the defendant of the existence, but not the contents, of any oral confession or statement of any nature, made by the defendant, which the district attorney intends to offer in evidence at the trial, with the information as to when, where and to whom such oral confession or statement was made.
C. Upon motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to inform the defendant of the substance of any oral statement which the state intends to offer in evidence made by the defendant, whether before or after arrest, in response to interrogation by any person then known to the defendant to be a law enforcement officer.

La. C. Cr. P. art. 718:

Subject to the limitation of Article 723, on motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to permit or authorize the defendant to inspect, copy, examine, test scientifically, photograph, or otherwise reproduce books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects, buildings, places, or copies or portions thereof, which are •within the possession, custody, or control of the state, and which:
L(l) are favorable to the defendant and which are material and relevant to the issue of guilt or punishment, or
(2) are intended for use by the state as evidence at the trial, or
(3)’were obtained from or belong to the defendant.
The court may determine whether evidence is subject to the provisions of Paragraph (1) hereof by in camera inspection.

La. C. Cr. P. art. 723:

Except as provided in Articles 716, 718, 721, and 722, this Chapter does not authorize the discovery or inspection of reports, memoranda or other internal state documents made by the district attorney or by agents of the state in connection with the investigation or prosecution of the case; or of statements made by witnesses or prospective witnesses, other than the defendant, to the district attorney, or to agents of the state.

A contradictory hearing was held outside the jury’s presence during the trial regarding whether the notes were discoverable. The detective was questioned about the notes he had made regarding the appellant’s oral statement.

Although counsel did not raise the issue of whether the notes contained any exculpatory information, the issue was raised during the hearing on the motion to suppress the statement when counsel asked the investigator if the appellant had told him he was defending himself from Haywood, who “had a reputation of beating folks, taking their money and hurting them.” The investigator replied no. The record does not show that the defense attorney asked the trial court to do an in camera inspection of the notes.

| sIn State v. McKinnie, 35,591 (La.App. 2 Cir. 8/30/01), 793 So.2d 1272, this court stated:

As noted above, La. C. Cr. P. art. 716(C), pertaining to discovery of oral confessions, requires the state to disclose the “substance” of the statement to [819]*819the defense. This issue was addressed by the supreme court in State v. Hooks, 421 So.2d 880 (La.1982). In Hooks,

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State v. Jackson, 926 So. 2d 815, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 825, 2006 WL 932056 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

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