State v. Lanieu

734 So. 2d 89, 1999 WL 216600
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 1, 1999
Docket98 KA 1260
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 734 So. 2d 89 (State v. Lanieu) 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. Lanieu, 734 So. 2d 89, 1999 WL 216600 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

734 So.2d 89 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Clemone W. LANIEU.

No. 98 KA 1260.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

April 1, 1999.

*90 Victor J. Woods, Jr., Alvin F. Landry, Assistant District Attorneys, Port Allen, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

John M. Bemiss, Jr., Assistant Indigent Defender, Port Allen, Paul C. Marx, Louisiana Appellate Project, Lafayette, for Defendant/Appellant, Clemone W. Lanieu.

Before: CARTER, C.J., SHORTESS, and WHIPPLE, JJ.

CARTER, C.J.

The defendant, Clemone W. Lanieu, was charged by grand jury indictment with second degree murder, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1. He pled not guilty and, after *91 trial by jury, was found guilty of the responsive verdict of manslaughter, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:31. He subsequently was sentenced to forty years at hard labor. He has appealed, urging five assignments of error.

FACTS

On June 30, 1995, the defendant shot the victim, Tyrone Butler, twice in the head, after an argument wherein the men cursed at each other in front of the defendant's home in West Baton Rouge Parish. Prior to the shooting, the victim had argued with the defendant, backed his car into the defendant's driveway, and opened the car door. The defendant then reached in through the passenger side window of the victim's car and pointed a gun at the victim's head. The victim told the defendant to shoot him and the defendant shot the victim in the head. After a pause, the defendant shot the victim a second time in the head. After shooting the victim, the defendant drove off in the victim's car with the victim's body in the car and dumped the body in a field. The defendant was arrested after being stopped by the police.

Prior to the date in question, the defendant and victim were acquaintances, but had had a disagreement regarding a car owned by the defendant, but sold to a third party by the victim. The defendant claimed that prior to the shooting, he saw the victim reach down in the car and saw the handle of what appeared to be a gun. Michael Ardoin, who was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle when the victim was shot, testified that the victim did not reach for a gun and he did not see the victim with a gun on that day. Gerrod Thomas, who was also in the victim's car at the time of the shooting, testified that he did not see the victim with a gun that day.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In his first assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in allowing into evidence, and the playing of, taped interviews of Gerrod Thomas and Carolyn Clayton. In his brief to this court, the defendant argues that the State did not prove that Thomas was unable to refresh his memory from the tape. He contends that if Thomas's memory was refreshed after hearing the tape, then the recording should not have been played before the jury. He contends that even if the prosecutor was attempting to impeach Thomas, he failed to follow the proper procedures. The defendant further contends that the reliability of Clayton's statement was questioned as she did not remember making the statement, and claimed she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time. He contends that there was a question as to whether Clayton's statement was an accurate reflection of her knowledge. Furthermore, the defendant contends that the statement contains highly prejudicial material and its prejudicial effect is greatly outweighed by its probative value.

Evidence of a witness's prior inconsistent statement is admissible when offered to attack the witness's credibility, unless the court determines that the probative value of the evidence on the issue of credibility is substantially outweighed by the risks of undue consumption of time, confusion of the issues, or unfair prejudice. LSA-C.E. art. 607 D(2). A prior inconsistent statement by a witness may be considered for impeachment purposes only, and not as substantive evidence of a defendant's guilt (unless the statement otherwise qualifies for admission as non-hearsay or fits within an exception to the hearsay rule). State v. Nedd, 93-1906, p. 6 (La. App. 1st Cir.11/10/94); 647 So.2d 346, 349-50.

A witness may be confronted with his own prior statement which is inconsistent with his current testimony when the proper foundation required by LSA-C.E. art. 613 has been laid. The witness's attention must be "fairly directed" to the statement, and the witness must be given the opportunity to admit the "fact" of the statement. *92 Extrinsic evidence of the prior contradictory statement is admissible only if the witness denies making the particular statement. LSA-C.E. art. 613. Nedd, 647 So.2d at 350.

In the instant case, during the testimony of Gerrod Thomas, he was asked if he talked to the defendant about "leaving this alone." Thomas responded that he told him, "[y'all] just try to resolve this and just leave it alone." The prosecutor asked Thomas if he remembered exactly what he told the defendant and Thomas responded, "I can't recall all the way but I can tell you some things I think I had said." The prosecutor then asked Thomas if he remembered giving a statement to police officers on July 6, 1995, to which he responded that he recalled the date. At this point, the prosecutor asked Thomas to read from a piece of paper. However, defense counsel argued that there was a tape recording of the witness's statement and that the best evidence was the statement. The prosecutor argued that at this point, he indicated that he was only trying to have the witness refresh his memory. The trial court allowed Thomas to read the statement to which defense counsel objected.

After he read the statement to himself, Thomas indicated that he remembered giving the statement and that he remembered what he told the defendant. When asked what he told the defendant, he stated that he told him, "just leave it alone" and "I would try to resolve it ... before anything bad might happen." The prosecutor then asked what were the words he used when telling that to the officers and Thomas indicated he would have to look at the statement. At this point, defense counsel argued that the written statement was not certified and that the best evidence of his statement would be the tape recording. The prosecutor asked for a short recess in order to play the taped statement for Thomas. The prosecutor also asked that the taped statement be allowed into evidence because Thomas was unresponsive and the tape shows the true statements at the time they were made. The prosecutor contended that, while Thomas stated that he told the defendant to just leave the matter alone, in the taped statement, he stated that he told the defendant that "[the victim] wasn't going to kill him."

After the tape was played, Thomas admitted that he was the person who made the statement but explained that it was only his opinion. Defense counsel then argued that the problem with the taped statement was that "Hotard" was testifying and the defense was unable to cross-examine Hotard[1] at that time. The prosecutor explained that on the tape Hotard was only asking a leading question, which the prosecutor would have been allowed to do.[2] The prosecutor indicated that he wanted to limit the playing of the taped statement to only what he specifically asked Thomas at trial, regarding his statement, and to what Thomas failed to testify to accurately. At that point, defense counsel stated, "Okay.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
734 So. 2d 89, 1999 WL 216600, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lanieu-lactapp-1999.