State v. Lewis

61 So. 3d 78, 10 La.App. 5 Cir. 386, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 207, 2011 WL 523369
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 15, 2011
DocketNo. 10-KA-386
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 61 So. 3d 78 (State v. Lewis) 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. Lewis, 61 So. 3d 78, 10 La.App. 5 Cir. 386, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 207, 2011 WL 523369 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

MARION F. EDWARDS, Chief Judge.

12Pefendant/appelIant, Jamal L. Lewis (“Lewis”), appeals his conviction and sentence on a charge of manslaughter in violation of La. R.S. 14:31. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

Lewis was charged with manslaughter by a bill of information. He was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. Several defense motions, including motions to suppress the confession and identification, were considered by the trial court and subsequently denied. On October 20, 21, and 22, 2009, Lewis was tried before a twelve-person jury that unanimously found him guilty as charged.

Lewis’ post-trial motions for new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal were denied by the trial court on October 29, 2009. On that same date, Lewis waived sentencing delays, and the trial judge sentenced him to imprisonment at hard labor for forty years without benefit of probation or ^suspension of sentence. Lewis filed a motion to reconsider sentence that was denied and a timely motion for appeal that was granted.1

FACTS

On April 6, 2006, Deputy Michael Poletti of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office (JPSO) was dispatched to 1500 Westwood Drive in Marrero in reference to an aggravated battery. Upon arrival, he observed a black male juvenile, later identified as fifteen-year-old Martell Callahan (“Callahan”), lying on his stomach on a sidewalk adjacent to the parking lot of the Concor-dia Apartments at Westwood Drive and Lapalco Boulevard. Callahan appeared to be unconscious, and his breathing was very shallow.

Deputy Poletti asked the crowd standing around if anybody saw what happened. Shortly thereafter, an anonymous black male juvenile told officers that a black male wearing a black T-shirt and tan pants committed the crime. Deputy Po-[81]*81letti then directed other deputies to secure the scene and disperse the crowd. As he was doing so, he was approached by a black male wearing a black T-shirt and tan pants, later identified as Lewis, defendant/appellant herein, who said, “We was just playing. Is he okay?” Deputy Polet-ti immediately placed Lewis in handcuffs and advised him of his rights.

Lewis stated that he and Callahan were “play fighting,” and he accidentally stabbed Callahan with a folding knife, which he threw into a wooded area across the street. Deputy Poletti and Lewis, along with other deputies, proceeded to that location and looked for the knife, but they were unable to locate it. Lewis stated that he and Callahan were not having an argument, nor were they mad at each other at the time of the incident.

l4JPSO Detective Roger Gorumba testified that Lewis had a slight abrasion to his right hand on the knuckle area, which Lewis said was from a fight that occurred before he stabbed Callahan. The detective also testified that Lewis had blood on his pants, which Lewis explained came from the knife he used to stab Callahan. Detective Gorumba took a statement from Lewis, age seventeen, which was played for the jury.2

Detective Gorumba also took a statement from eyewitness Brian Johnson (“Johnson”), age thirteen. At trial, Johnson testified that, two or three days before the homicide, he was walking home through the Concordia Apartments on his way home from band practice. As Johnson was walking, he tried to call his mother on his cell phone to ask her to come and pick him up because it was raining. Lewis, whom Johnson did not know, approached Johnson and asked him if he could use Johnson’s cell phone. Johnson gave the cell phone to Lewis, but Lewis did not use it. When Johnson asked Lewis to return his cell phone, Lewis just walked away with it. Because of his smaller size, Johnson was afraid to confront Lewis. Johnson went home without the cell phone, but he did not tell his mother that his cell phone was gone because he was afraid of punishment.

According to Johnson’s testimony, on the day of the homicide, Callahan went to Johnson’s house, and they decided to go to Nicholson Playground to play basketball. At approximately 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., Callahan and Johnson got on a bicycle to go to the playground. Callahan was pedaling the bicycle, and Johnson rode on the handlebars. Because there was a lot of traffic on Westwood Drive, they turned into the parking lot of the Concordia Apartments.

|sAs they were riding through the apartment complex parking lot, Johnson saw Lewis sitting down close to the apartments. Johnson testified that he politely asked Lewis to return the cell phone, but Lewis did not respond. Instead, Lewis got up and began “fussing” in a loud tone. Lewis walked up to them, pushed Johnson off the bicycle, and began talking about fighting. Johnson told Lewis he was not going to fight him because he (Johnson) was small, and Lewis was big and strong.

At this point Callahan, who was about the same height as Lewis, stepped in and tried to protect Johnson. Johnson saw Lewis walk back to his patio, and he [82]*82thought Lewis was going to get the cell phone. Lewis knelt down, picked something up, and walked back to the parking lot.

When Lewis walked back toward them, Callahan walked toward Lewis with his hands up in a boxing pose preparing to fight. Lewis had his left hand behind his back holding his right hand. At some point, Johnson saw that Lewis had a knife in his hand, and Johnson called out to warn Callahan. At that point, Lewis stabbed Callahan and ran away. Callahan ran approximately twenty or thirty feet and then collapsed.

Johnson went over to Callahan, who told Johnson to take his (Callahan’s) cell phone out of his pocket and call his parents. Johnson called Callahan’s parents and then 911. Right after the incident, Lewis’ mother walked toward them. When Johnson told her that Lewis had stabbed his friend, she started crying. Johnson waited for the ambulance, which took Callahan away. Four days later, Johnson talked to the police, and he positively identified Lewis as the perpetrator.

Dr. Karen Ross, who performed the autopsy on Callahan, testified that the cause of death was a stab wound to the abdomen. She explained that the stab wound went through the cartilage, liver, pancreas, splenic vein, and the two major Rblood vessels in the body, the aorta and the vena cava. Dr. Ross stated that the stab wound went at least four and one-half inches deep into the body and was one inch long, and that it went all the way through Callahan’s body to his spine.

After the State rested its case, Lewis testified that he met Johnson sometime in 2006, and he recognized Callahan, but they were not friends. Lewis then recounted an incident that led to the confrontation that ended in the stabbing. Lewis testified that before the day of the homicide, Johnson and “Greg” came around in Greg’s sister’s car. Greg was driving, and Johnson was in the passenger seat. Lewis and his friend, “Alonzo,” were standing outside. Greg and Johnson exited the car, and they were clowning around. Greg and Johnson subsequently drove off, and Lewis and Alonzo threw iced tea on their car. Greg, his sister, and Johnson came back again. Greg’s sister told Lewis she wanted him to wash her car, but Lewis refused; however, Lewis gave Greg’s sister five dollars the next day to get the car washed. Lewis testified that Greg and Johnson were “fussing” because they could not get the matter handled their way.

On the day of Callahan’s homicide, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Lewis was walking home from work.

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Related

State v. Garrison
184 So. 3d 164 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Fullilove
81 So. 3d 809 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
61 So. 3d 78, 10 La.App. 5 Cir. 386, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 207, 2011 WL 523369, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lewis-lactapp-2011.