State v. Karey

180 So. 3d 500, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 522, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2263, 2015 WL 7074753
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 12, 2015
DocketNo. 15-522
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 180 So. 3d 500 (State v. Karey) 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. Karey, 180 So. 3d 500, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 522, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2263, 2015 WL 7074753 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

PETERS, J.

hThe State of Louisiana (state) appeals the trial .court’s grant of a motion to quash, thereby dismissing the charge of second degree murder against the defendant, Woodrow Karey, Jr., also known as Woodrow Karey, II. For the following reasons, we deny the state’s request to supplement the record, reverse the' trial court’s grant of the motion to quash, reinstate the grand jury indictment for second degree murder, and remand the matter to the trial court ■for further proceedings. .

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

The defendant is accused of walking into the Tabernacle of Praise Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on September 27, 2013, and killing the church’s pastor, Ronald Harris, Sr. On June 26, 2014, a grand jury indicted the defendant for the offense of, second degree murder, a violation of La.R.S, 14:30.1. However, at .the time of this grand jury indictment, the defendant was already under an indictment returned by a different grand jury for the offense of manslaughter, a violation of La.R.S. 14:31. The manslaughter indictment had been returned on November 14, 2013. Furthermore, in both -indictments, the victim was the same--Ronald Harris, Sr. who died in his church on- September 27, 2013. The indictments were assigned different docket numbers and have been treated as-two completely separate proceedings. On July 28, 2014, the defendant appeared in the trial court for arraignment on the charge of second degree murder, entered a not guilty plea, and requested a jury trial. On July 30, 2014,' the state nolle prossed the manslaughter charge.

On August. 8, 2014, the defendant filed a motion to quash the second degree murder charge, but filed the motion, under the docket number assigned to the then-disr missed manslaughter charge and not the ■ docket number assigned to the second I adegree murder proceeding. The defendant based his motion on the argument that the "state and the defendant had entered into an agreement that both would be bound by whatever’ charge or charges the first grand jury returned, and that; the state violated that agreement by taking the matter back to another grand jury and obtaining an indictment for a more serious charge. The trial court heard the motion on January 6,. 2015. The next day, the trial court filed its written ruling, with reasons, granting the defendant’s motion to quash and dismissing the second degree murder indictment.

[503]*503OPINION

Motion to Supplement the Record

After perfecting its appeal in the trial court, the state filed a motion to supplement the record in this court, and to extend the briefing schedule then in place. With regard to supplementing the record, the state sought to have. Docket Number 26060-13 made part of the appellate record now before us. We find no merit in the motion.

Although some documents from Docket Number 26026-13 found their way into the record in Docket Number 17151-14, neither party moved' in the trial court to introduce the earlier record in the later one. Strictly speaking, the materials filed under one docket number should not be included in an appellate record when the. pertinent motion for appeal does not bear the docket number of the materials at issue. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 917 provides, in pertinent part, that “[t]he clerk of the trial court shall prepare the record in accordance with the rules of the appellate court.” Additionally, Uniform Rules — Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-1.7 states in pertinent part:

No record of another case (or prior record in the same ■ titled and numbered case) shall be included in the record,, unless such other record has been introduced in evidence (at trial) in the case on appeal | aor on writs, in which event such other record shall accompany the record as an exhibit.

For the foregoing reasons, we decline to grant, the state the requested relief.

Assignment of Error

In its sole assignment of. error on appeal, the state asserts that the trial court erred in granting the motion to quash and in dismissing the grand jury indictment for second degree murder. While the state asserts,, only .one assignment of error, it breaks that assignment down into three different segments, and we will consider each segment separately.

Timeliness of the defendant’s motion to quash

The state first asserts that the defendant did not timely file his motion to quash because he filed it in the dismissed manslaughter proceeding and not in the second degree murder proceeding.

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 535 provides the time limitations associated with the filing of a motion to quash. -That article provides that a motion to quash may be filed of right, at any time before the commencement of trial in eight situations: seven are listed in La.Code Crim.P. art. 535(A); and one is listed in La.Code Crim.P. art. 535(B). Additionally, the seven grounds listed in La.Code Crim.P. art. 535(A) “may be urged at. a later stage of the proceedings in accordance with other provisions of [the Louisiana Code ,of Criminal Procedure].” Motions to , quash .addressing any other-ground “shall be filed in accordance with Article 521.” La.Code Crim.P. art. 535(C). Finally, La.Code Crim.P. art. 535(D) provides that “[t]he grounds for a motion to quash under Paragraphs B and C are waived unless a motion to quash is filed in conformity with those provisions.”

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 521(A) provides that “[p]retrial motions shall be made or filed within fifteen days after arraignment, [¿unless a.different tipie is provided by law or fixed by the court at arraignment upon a showing of good cause why fifteen days is inadequate.’.’ That fifteen-day time limitation may .be extended by the trial court “[u]pon written motion at any time and a showing of good cause” for the extension. La.Code Crim.P. art. 521(B).

[504]*504The state arraigned the defendant on the second degree murder indictment on July 28, 2014, and the defendant filed his motion to quash on August 8, 2014, or within fifteen days of the defendant’s arraignment. Thus, had the motion been filed in the correct proceeding, there is no question but that it would have been timely pursuant to La.Code Crim.P. art. 535(C).

The state argues on appeal, however, that the motion was not timely because it was filed in the dismissed proceeding and, therefore, was never properly before the trial court. In opposition, the defendant asserts that the state’s argument on this issue is not properly before the court because the state did not object in the trial court proceedings and, therefore, the trial court was not required to and did not address the issue. Additionally, the defendant argues that neither judicial economy nor the interests of justice would be served with a dismissal or remand because all of the parties were aware that the motion was to be heard on January 6, 2015, and the trial court held a full hearing on the motion.

The record establishes that not only did the defendant file his motion to quash in the previously dismissed manslaughter proceeding, but he never corrected this error by filing a new motion or a certified copy of the improperly filed motion in the proper proceeding. However, the record also reflects that at all times, the state, the defendant, and the trial court treated the motion as if it had been filed in the second degree murder proceeding.

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180 So. 3d 500, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 522, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2263, 2015 WL 7074753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-karey-lactapp-2015.