State v. Marcal

388 So. 2d 656
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 23, 1980
Docket64318
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 388 So. 2d 656 (State v. Marcal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Marcal, 388 So. 2d 656 (La. 1980).

Opinion

388 So.2d 656 (1980)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Joseph N. MARCAL, III.

No. 64318.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

January 28, 1980.
On Rehearing June 23, 1980.

*658 F. Irvin Dymond, Dymond, Crull, Castaing, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Louise Korns, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

BLANCHE, Justice.

The defendant was convicted after a bench trial of two counts of public bribery in violation of La.R.S. 14:118. He was sentenced to one year at hard labor on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. The first count of the indictment alleged that on or about March 20, 1975, the defendant paid Mrs. Dorothy Boyd, an Orleans Parish Deputy Clerk of Court, two hundred dollars in cash to assign one of his cases to a particular section of Criminal District Court. The second count alleged that the identical offense took place on May 16, 1975 and that the defendant gave Mrs. Boyd a check for two hundred dollars.

Mrs. Boyd testified, under a grant of immunity, that she had assigned the cases as Mr. Marcal requested and that he had paid her for these services. Her testimony was corroborated by other state witnesses. The defendant's former secretary, Mrs. Beatty, testified that on the day of the first allotment, the defendant had taken two hundred dollars from his law office. Later, she claimed he told her that he had used the money to bribe Mrs. Boyd. On May 16, 1975, the defendant asked Mrs. Beatty to stay late to give an envelope to Mrs. Boyd. Mrs. Beatty testified that she had opened the envelope and found a two hundred dollar check payable to Mrs. Boyd on Mr. Marcal's Attorney-at-Law account. She further testified that she gave the envelope to Mrs. Boyd. Mr. Mitchell, an attorney who had rented office space from the defendant, testified that the defendant often boasted that he could have cases assigned to a particular section and that he had witnessed the May 16 transfer of the check.

The defendant argued both alibi and the lack of credibility of the witnesses. Both Mrs. Beatty and Mr. Mitchell admitted to having financial disputes with the defendant. *659 Further, the state failed to produce the check or any records from the banks which would verify its existence. On appeal, the defendant has urged fifteen assignments of error.

Assignment of Error Number 2

The defendant urges that the trial court erred in failing to require the state to disclose the content of oral inculpatory statements. The defendant had requested in a bill of particulars the details and content of any oral inculpatory statements. The state responded that the defendant had made numerous oral inculpatory statements to certain named persons but that he was not entitled to the contents. The court ruled this answer sufficient. The defendant concedes that he has no statutory right to these statements but maintains that he is entitled to the contents of oral statements which were part of the res gestae. He argues that since the offenses charged have substantial elements which are both physical and verbal, that he is entitled to these statements because of his right to "be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him." La.Const. Art. 1, § 13 (1974). The law is well settled that this constitutional provision requires the state to inform the defendant in sufficient particularity so that he is able to prepare for trial, to allow the court to determine the admissibility of the evidence and to afford the defendant protection from subsequent prosecution for the same offense. State v. Meunier, 354 So.2d 535 (La.1978); State v. Thomas, 260 La. 784, 257 So.2d 406 (1972). The bill of particulars is not intended to be a discovery device whereby a defendant may discover the state's evidence or the details of the state's case. State v. May, 339 So.2d 764 (La.1976). We view this as an attempt by the defendant to use the bill of particulars so as to discover the evidence whereby the state intends to prove its case. The trial court properly denied the defendant's motion.

Assignment of Error Number 3

By this assignment of error, the defendant urges that the trial court erred in denying his motion to recuse the district attorney and his staff. The defendant requested recusal of the district attorney under La.C. Cr.P. art. 680 which provides in pertinent part:

"A district attorney shall be recused when he: (1) Has a personal interest in the cause which is in conflict with fair and impartial administration of justice;..."

"In support of this motion, the defendant alleged that the district attorney had borne a personal grudge against him since the defendant had requested his recusal in State v. Villarubia. The defendant alleges that the proceedings in that case degenerated to the point where he accused the district attorney's wife, Anita Connick, of perjury and attempted to have her prosecuted on that charge. The district attorney testified at the hearing on the motion that although he remembered the charges levelled at his wife, his memory was vague since at the time, he felt that they lacked substance. None of the other witnesses called could contradict Mr. Connick's assertion that vengeance did not play a part in the prosecution.

In an action to recuse the district attorney, the defendant bears the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the district attorney has a personal interest in conflict with the fair and impartial administration of justice. State v. Snyder, 256 La. 601, 237 So.2d 392 (La.1970). In Snyder, this Court held that the district attorney should be recused where there had been personal animosity between the district attorney and the defendant, even if the district attorney claims that those feelings no longer exist.

This case is distinguishable from Snyder. In the instant case, the trial court concluded that no animosity existed, or had existed, between the two. In his reasons for denying the motion, the trial judge noted that the defendant had been given an opportunity to cooperate with the district attorney's office and to receive some consideration for his cooperation, which would negate an abiding personal vendetta on the *660 part of the district attorney's office. Based on this and other reasons, the judge concluded that there was no animosity on the part of the district attorney. There is nothing in the record showing any personal or political confrontations between Mr. Connick and the defendant. We can not conclude that the trial court's ruling on the Motion to Recuse was erroneous; therefore, this assignment is without merit.

Assignments of Error Numbers 5 and 16

The defendant filed a supplemental motion to quash the indictment. The motion alleged that the prosecution was merely a product of the district attorney's hatred for him and that the indictment was the result of untrustworthy grand jury testimony. The trial court properly denied the motion. The motion is essentially an attack on the credibility of the state's witnesses and thus requests that the trial court rule on the merits of the case. An attack on the merits of the state's case is not properly raised by a motion to quash. State v. Marse, 365 So.2d 1319 (La.1978); State v. Atkins, 360 So.2d 1341 (La.1978).

Assignments of Error Numbers 6, 7 and 11

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Bluebook (online)
388 So. 2d 656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-marcal-la-1980.