State v. King

788 So. 2d 589, 2001 WL 520910
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 25, 2001·No. 00-KA-1434·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

788 So.2d 589 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
George KING (Sentenced as "George N. King").

No. 00-KA-1434.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 16, 2001.
Order Denying Rehearing July 25, 2001.

*590 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Rebecca J. Becker, Donald A. Rowan, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, Attorneys for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Kay M. Franks, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorney for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SOL GOTHARD, JAMES L. CANNELLA and PATRICK M. SCHOTT, Pro Tempore.

GOTHARD, Judge.

Defendant, George King, appeals his conviction of manslaughter and his sentence of twenty-five years imprisonment as a result of that conviction. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

Defendant was charged by Grand Jury Indictment with two counts of criminal behavior. Count one charged defendant with the second degree murder of Taron Griffin in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1; *591 count two charged defendant with possession of cocaine, in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967 F.[1] Defendant entered a plea of not guilty to both counts. After a jury trial on the charge of second degree murder, defendant was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. In due course, he was sentenced to serve twenty-five years at hard labor. At the time of sentencing, defense counsel orally objected to the sentence and advised the court of his intention to appeal the conviction and sentence. Because the oral motion for appeal was not followed up with a written motion, defendant filed a pro se Motion to Enforce Direct Appeal Procedure, which was granted.

The testimony offered at trial shows that the defendant and the victim knew each other for some years before the murder and had a history of acrimonious incidents. Defendant testified that he had problems in the past with Griffin. In 1996, Griffin car-jacked a vehicle defendant was driving. Griffin pointed a revolver at defendant, told him to get out of his car, and left defendant on the side of the road. About 10:00 p.m. on the night of the car-jacking, Griffin forced his way into defendant's house and took his money. The incidents were reported to the police, but Griffin was never tried for the car-jacking or the robbery, and defendant never got the car or the money back. Defendant was present at another time when Griffin shot a man in the face and the arm.

The record also shows that Griffin was imprisoned for shooting someone in the face and neck. Detective Mike Tucker, of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, testified that Taron Griffin pled guilty in June of 1997 to shooting someone with a gun. He further testified that five bags of marijuana were found on Griffin's body at the scene of the murder on June 22, 1998. Detective Tucker stated that the first casing fired from defendant's gun was found near the curbside, and the remaining casings were found in the rear yard of the home where Griffin was killed. Griffin was wedged between the house and a truck when his body was found.

State witnesses testified that defendant made several telephone calls to Griffin's family members telling them he was looking for Griffin. Defendant later found Griffin at the home of his sister, Catrina Griffin. After a heated discussion in the front yard, defendant shot Griffin several times. Witnesses testified that defendant took a gun out of his vehicle and fired one shot. The gun jammed and defendant struggled with it while the victim backed away. Defendant was able to get the gun working again and began firing at Griffin, killing him. Defendant left the area in his vehicle.

In his testimony, defendant admitted shooting Griffin after the two men had an argument. Defendant testified that he arrived at his home on June 21, 1998 and saw Griffin standing in front of the door. Defendant told Griffin he wasn't going to "fool" with him, and he left to go to his girlfriend's house. When defendant returned home at 8:00 a.m. the following morning, he found that his door had been kicked in. When he went inside, he saw that his home had been ransacked. Cabinet doors were swung open and $1,500.00 was missing. When a neighbor told defendant it was Griffin who kicked in the door, defendant became very angry, got in his truck, and went to find Griffin to get his money back. Defendant brought an AK-47 with him, which he put on the passenger seat of his vehicle. He went to 133 *592 Rosalie Street and knocked on the door. When Griffin came outside, defendant told Griffin that he wanted his money back, and Griffin told him to get his "m... f... a..." from around his house. Griffin told him to take his "m... f..." money from him if he was "man enough." At that point, defendant went to his truck and got his gun. When he turned around, Griffin was right in front of him. Defendant pointed the gun down, but Griffin grabbed it, and the gun went off. The bullet hit the concrete, and the gun jammed. When Griffin saw that the gun had jammed, he backed up toward the yard and said, "I'm going to get something for your m... f... a... now." Defendant unjammed the gun, shot it, and continued to shoot it. He then turned around and went back to his truck. After the shooting, he threw the gun into the woods.

Defendant stated that he weighed 200 lbs., and that he was a much smaller man than Griffin, who according to other testimony weighed about 380 lbs. Defendant testified that he regretted going over to Griffin's house that day, and that he was sorry he killed him. After the shooting, defendant went to Houston, Texas to see his son. When he returned home, he turned himself in to the Sheriff's Department without a lawyer. He admitted on cross-examination that he told Catrina Griffin when he called that he was going to kill Taron.

In the two assignments of error briefed by defendant, he asserts that his sentence of twenty-five years is excessive and that his trial counsel was ineffective in that he failed to file a motion to reconsider the sentence, and failed to preserve the issue of sentencing for appellate review. Because the two assignments are related, we will address both in one discussion.

A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is most appropriately addressed through an application for post-conviction relief rather than direct appeal, so as to afford the parties an adequate record for review. State v. Truitt, 500 So.2d 355, 359 (La.1987); State v. McIntyre, 97-876 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1/27/98), 708 So.2d 1071, 1075, writ denied, 98-1032 (La.9/18/98), 724 So.2d 753. Only when the record contains sufficient evidence to decide the issue and the issue is properly raised by assignment of error on appeal, may it be addressed in the interest of judicial economy. State v. Peart, 621 So.2d 780, 787 (La.1993); State v. McIntyre, supra, 708 So.2d at 1075. The appellate record in this case contains sufficient evidence for consideration of the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Accordingly, we will address the issue.

A defendant is entitled to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 13 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. In assessing a claim of ineffectiveness, a two-pronged test is employed. The defendant must show that (1) his attorney's performance was deficient, and (2) the deficiency prejudiced him. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1

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

State v. King, 788 So. 2d 589, 2001 WL 520910 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

788 So. 2d 589 (State v. King) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State of Louisiana Versus Odell Lee Robertson
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State v. Taylor
258 So. 3d 217 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Edwards
979 So. 2d 623 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State of Louisiana v. Charles Edwards, Jr.
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008
State v. Favorite
862 So. 2d 208 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Brashears
811 So. 2d 985 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)