State v. Jones

840 So. 2d 7, 2003 WL 183997
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 29, 2003
Docket36,553-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 840 So. 2d 7 (State v. Jones) 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. Jones, 840 So. 2d 7, 2003 WL 183997 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

840 So.2d 7 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Kevin Lamont JONES, Appellant.

No. 36,553-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 29, 2003.
Rehearing Denied February 27, 2003.

*8 Hersy Jones, Jr., Shreveport, for Appellant.

*9 Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, J. Thomas Butler, Donna Hall, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, STEWART and HARRISON (Pro Tempore), JJ.

HARRISON, Judge Pro Tempore.

Kevin Lamont Jones was charged by amended bill of information with armed robbery while using a firearm, La. R.S. 14:64, 64.3. He proceeded to trial, after which a 12-member jury found him guilty as charged. The District Court sentenced him to 10 years at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the armed robbery, and a consecutive term of five years at hard labor without benefits for the use of a firearm in the offense. Jones now appeals, urging seven assignments of error. We affirm.

Factual background

The victim, 70-year-old George Houston, was an employee of the Shreveport Times. About 3:00 a.m. on July 12, 1999, he was delivering papers to coin boxes outside a convenience store on North Market Street in Shreveport. He stopped his van close to the coin box and left the engine running while he carried the papers to the box. As he was doing this, a man (later identified as Myron Epps) came around the corner of the store. Brandishing a .40 cal. pistol, Epps told Houston, "Give it up, b*tch," and struck him in the head with the weapon several times. Houston's glasses flew to the ground but he remained on his feet. According to Houston, the two men struggled for a few minutes, as Houston tried to turn the gun on his assailant.

Houston testified that during the scuffle, another man, who had come "off the highway," came up, hit him and knocked him to the ground. This man, wearing a green sweatshirt with a hood over his head, told Houston, "G*d d*mn it, don't get up." At this point, Houston heard Epps tell the hooded man, "Let's go, Kevin." Epps and the hooded man got into the van, with Epps behind the wheel. Houston tried to come to his feet, but the hooded man shouted at him, "G*d d*mn it, I told you not to get up." The two drove off. The van, engulfed in flames, was found by Caddo Parish deputies in Blanchard a few minutes later. Houston's briefcase and .38 cal. police special revolver were missing from the vehicle.

Houston got a good look at Epps and his pistol. Houston did not know Epps; because the second assailant had a hood over his head, Houston could not recognize him. He reported the offense, and about 4:00 a.m. Shreveport police located Epps and another man walking in the parking lot of an apartment complex on North Market Street; the other man was in a green sweatshirt and blue jeans. Police detained Epps, who was carrying a concealed .40 cal. semi-automatic handgun. The man in the hooded sweatshirt fled, but Epps told them he was Kevin Jones. It turned out that Jones was Houston's wife's cousin's grandson. The police went to Jones's apartment; he was not home, but officers told his father that they wanted Jones for questioning.

Around mid-morning Jones and his father went voluntarily to the police station to be interviewed by Detectives Donna Lott and Ben Dailey, who tape recorded the interview. The tape begins with Det. Lott advising Jones that he was not under arrest but reading him his rights from a Miranda card which she initialed and dated[1] and Jones signed. She further advised *10 him that he did not have to give up those rights, and could refuse to speak. He proceeded to give a statement.

Jones initially denied being involved in the robbery, saying that he was with his girlfriend, Cassandra, all night. However, he was unable to give her last name, apartment or phone number, and he agreed to ride with the detectives to her apartment. When Cassandra's sister did not verify the alibi, the detectives placed Jones under arrest for armed robbery and Det. Dailey advised him of his Miranda rights, from memory, in the parking lot.

Jones then resumed his statement, admitting he was present when the crime occurred, but insisting that he only happened onto the scene, tried to stop Epps from hitting Houston, and actually pulled the two apart. He admitted he left in the van with Epps, but fled at the first opportunity and went to Cassandra's apartment. He said that Epps offered him Houston's revolver, and he refused. He admitted that he and Epps hid the gun, and were together when Epps was arrested. He stated he ran because he had a pending trespassing charge at those apartments. He also led the detectives to the hidden revolver.

Epps and Jones were initially charged in the same bill of information with armed robbery and carjacking; the defendants were later severed for trial purposes. At a preliminary examination in August 1999, Det. Lott testified that Jones had given a statement implicating himself in the crime, but did not mention the tape recording. In discovery responses, the State did not provide notice of a taped statement. Jones filed a motion to suppress his July 12, 1999 statements, urging a Miranda violation and that the statements were not free and voluntary. The District Court granted the motion to suppress, but on application for supervisory review this court vacated that judgment and remanded the case.

By supplemental discovery, the State provided notice of Jones's taped statement. On May 31 and June 19, 2001, the District Court held a free and voluntary hearing in which the State adduced evidence as to the Miranda warnings and the taped statement. The court ruled that the taped confession was free and voluntary.

At trial in November 2001, Houston related that two assailants, one of them armed, had struck him and stolen his van. Det. Lott described the circumstances of Jones's statement and played the tape for the jury.

Jones testified that he walked up to find Epps and Houston fighting. Seeing that Epps was about to shoot the elderly man, Jones broke up the fight but Houston lunged back at Epps and the two went at it again. Jones begged Houston to stop, but every time he pulled them apart, the old man ran back into the fight. While Houston may have fallen, Jones never hit him. Finally, Epps pointed the pistol at Jones and said, "Come on, let's go." Jones got into the van with Epps because of the weapon and to defuse the situation; a few blocks away, he told Epps to let him out. He added that Epps came back and tried to give him Houston's revolver, but he refused it and Epps hid it at another apartment complex. Jones admitted making the taped statement and telling police where the stolen gun was hidden.

On rebuttal, the State introduced a bill of information charging Jones with trespassing on the apartment complex. The State argued this was to rebut the testimony of Jones's father (not designated as part of the appellate record) who, according to the State, related that an Officer Evans handcuffed Kevin Jones, took him to the station and arrested him on the *11 criminal trespass charge. The State contended that the bill of information refuted that testimony. The court admitted the document, over Jones's objection.

As noted, the jury found Jones guilty as charged of armed robbery, and further found that the dangerous weapon used was a firearm. Jones filed a motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal or new trial, which was denied.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
840 So. 2d 7, 2003 WL 183997, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jones-lactapp-2003.