State v. Jones

451 So. 2d 1181
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided May 30, 1984·No. KA 83 1417·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinion

451 So.2d 1181 (1984)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Vernell JONES.

No. KA 83 1417.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 30, 1984.

*1183 Ossie B. Brown, Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.

Johnnie Matthews, Baton Rouge, William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., State of La., New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Before COVINGTON, COLE and SAVOIE, JJ.

COVINGTON, Judge.

Defendant, Vernell Jones, was charged by bill of information with having committed a battery with a dangerous weapon on October 2, 1982, upon Johnny Lanus in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:34 (aggravated battery). Defendant entered a plea of not guilty, was tried by a six-person jury, and was found guilty as charged. He received a sentence of five years at hard labor without probation, parole or suspension of sentence pursuant to LSA-R.S. 14:34 as regulated by LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 893.1 and, additionally, two years at hard labor without probation, parole or suspension of sentence or credit for good time, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 14:95.2, to be served consecutively to the five year sentence. Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence, alleging six assignments of error:

1. The trial court erred in sentencing defendant under the provisions of Article 893.1 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 95.2 of Title 14 of Revised Statutes of Louisiana, without regard for the sentencing guidelines set forth in Article 894.1 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure.

2. The trial court erred in using both LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 893.1 and LSA-R.S. 14:95.2 to punish the same act.

3. The trial court erred in failing to take into account the circumstances of the case and the character of the accused in imposing an unreasonable and unfair sentence.

4. The trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence upon defendant in light of the fact that he was a first offender.

5. The trial court erred in not granting defendant a mistrial when evidence of another crime was introduced by the victim herein.

6. The trial court erred in not allowing defendant to go into the victim's prior acts of hostile demonstrations and overt acts against defendant and other parties.

On October 2, 1982, defendant and the victim, Johnny Lanus, were both attending a fund-raising function in the Gus Young Community Center in East Baton Rouge Parish. A dialogue took place between the two, apparently over a girlfriend. Each of them left separately and went outside, where they again encountered each other, and further words were exchanged. When Lanus started to return to the recreation center, defendant fired his gun three times, hitting Lanus in the back with the first shot, and standing over the fallen victim to shoot him with the other two shots. A bystander, Ivy Hatch, was also struck in the foot. Lanus was taken to the hospital by friends. The police were called; a search of the area resulted in three spent bullet shells being found, but the perpetrator had left the scene.

Subsequently, Jones phoned a police officer he knew, related his story and asked about the case. Thereafter, the defendant was arrested and the instant charge was made.

At the trial, defendant took the stand in his own defense and admitted that he shot Lanus, but stated that Lanus had made threats to him during their initial encounter. Jones testified that he shot only when Lanus made a movement to put his hand in his pocket. Lanus testified that he was unarmed at the time, did not make any hostile demonstration toward Jones and had turned to go back to the center when Jones shot him in the back, and shot again after he was down.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 5; MISTRIAL:

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion for mistrial. Defendant moved for mistrial when another crime attributed to defendant was mentioned by the victim on cross *1184 examination. The testimony complained of was elicited while defense counsel was questioning Johnny Lanus:

Q. I understand. I think you said earlier you wanted to reaffirm and find out whether or not—
A. Yeah.
Q. Everything was going to be peaceful between you all?
A. Right.
Q. Why was that important?
A. I just wanted to make sure because, like I said, I wanted to make peace with him because a week or two—a month or two before I got shot, he had shot up another guy two times. And so I didn't want the same thing to happen to me. That's why, like I said, when I heard the rumor about him, you know, disliking me I said I wanted to make sure. I wanted to be safe. [Defense objected and moved for a mistrial]

LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 771 provides:

In the following cases, upon the request of the defendant or the state, the court shall promptly admonish the jury to disregard a remark or comment made during the trial, or in argument within the hearing of the jury, when the remark is irrelevant or immaterial and of such a nature that it might create prejudice against the defendant, or the state, in the mind of the jury:
* * * * * *
(2) When the remark or comment is made by a witness or person other than the judge, district attorney, or a court official, regardless of whether the remark or comment is within the scope of Article 770.
In such cases, on motion of the defendant, the court may grant a mistrial if it is satisfied that an admonition is not sufficient to assure the defendant a fair trial.

An admonition is sufficient to cure any prejudice resulting from a prosecution witness' remarks concerning evidence of other crimes of defendant, as to which evidence would not be admissible, where the witness' remarks were elicited by defense counsel and there was no specific intention to prejudice defendant. State v. Jackson, 396 So.2d 1291 (La.1981). Such testimony is not chargeable against the State so as to provide a ground for reversal of a conviction. State v. Jones, 332 So.2d 466 (La.1976).

Under LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 771, it is within the trial court's sound discretion to grant a mistrial if he believes that an admonition is insufficient to assure the defendant a fair trial. State v. Michel, 422 So.2d 1115 (La.1982). In the case at bar, the answer of the victim was elicited on cross-examination by the defense and was unsolicited by the prosecution and not in response to any evidence of the State. The trial judge promptly and properly admonished the jury to disregard the response of the victim concerning any other crime. The record reveals that following defense counsel's objection to the response of the victim, the trial judge ruled that the remark was unresponsive to the question and that it was elicited on cross examination by defense counsel. The judge then asked defense counsel if he wanted an admonition to be given to the jury. Defense counsel requested an admonition. When the jury returned, the trial judge admonished it to disregard any evidence which would have a relation to another crime other than the one for which the defendant was then on trial.

As stated, the remark at issue was not elicited by the State but was given on cross examination in response to a question by defense counsel. There is no suggestion or indication that the remark was made in order to prejudice the defendant; rather, the witness made the statement by way of explaining his own actions.

A similar situation occurred in State v. Henson, 351 So.2d 1169 (La.1977). In

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