State v. McFarland

960 So. 2d 1132, 2007 WL 1545850
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 29, 2007
Docket06-KA-970
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 960 So. 2d 1132 (State v. McFarland) 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. McFarland, 960 So. 2d 1132, 2007 WL 1545850 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

960 So.2d 1132 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Luther D. McFARLAND.

No. 06-KA-970.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 29, 2007.

*1134 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Anne Wallis, Donald Rowan, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Jane L. Beebe, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., THOMAS F. DALEY, and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

Defendant, Luther McFarland, was charged by grand jury indictment with second degree murder in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1 and pled not guilty at the arraignment. Brian Fullilove, Morris McFarland, Yarnall McFarland,[1] and Derrick Williams were also indicted.[2]

On January 20, 2005, all of the cases of the co-defendants were severed. On this same date, after a hearing, the trial judge denied Luther McFarland's motion to suppress his statement and identification. The trial judge also denied a motion to quash the arrest warrant, which was filed by Fullilove and adopted by Luther McFarland.

On June 8, 2005, the defendant proceeded to trial by a twelve-person jury, which found him guilty as charged the next day. The defendant filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial judge denied on June 28, 2005 prior to sentencing the defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Thereafter, the trial judge denied the defendant's motion for reconsideration of sentence and granted the motion for appeal.

FACTS

On May 10, 2004, Arthur Buras was living in one side of a double located at 2819 Tugie Drive in Metairie. At approximately 12:30 a.m., he heard loud noises *1135 coming from the other side of the double, 2817 Tugie Drive, where the victim, 23-year-old Coulton Lyell, Jr., lived. Mr. Buras looked out of his bedroom window and saw three black males trying to break through the victim's front door. He heard muffled voices, and then heard a gunshot. When he looked outside of the front window, he saw the three men running down Tugie Drive toward Park Manor. When they reached the corner, they started walking toward Lafreniere Drive. Mr. Buras never got a good look at any of their faces.

Sergeant Donald Meunier, Lieutenant Dennis Thronton and other officers of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office responded and found the victim on the floor in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the neck.[3] The State's forensic pathologist, Dr. Susan Garcia, testified the victim sustained a gunshot wound to the left side of his neck, which resulted in injury to the left lung. The victim also had patterned abrasions on his left forehead. Dr. Garcia explained the object that struck the victim's forehead imprinted the skin with the particular pattern. Based on the gunpowder marks, or stippling, near the wound, Dr. Garcia characterized the wound as an intermediate range gunshot wound. She explained that it was further away than close range, which is a contact wound, but closer than distant range, which is an undetermined distance away. A projectile was recovered from the victim's body. The victim's toxicology test revealed the presence of marijuana, cocaine, amphetamine, methadone, benzodiazepine, and opiate.

The police found the victim's wallet, containing over $200 in cash on the bedroom floor. Police found a dresser drawer opened in the bedroom. A .40 caliber casing was recovered from the scene. The police found the front door opened, with shoe prints on it. The deadbolt and door frame were damaged. The back door, which was a partial-glass paned door, contained a broken pane. The police did not find any cocaine in the house.

After a lengthy investigation, an arrest warrant for the defendant was issued on August 6, 2004, and the defendant was arrested on August 9, 2004. After he was arrested and waived his rights, the defendant made a tape-recorded statement to Sergeant Meunier, which was admitted in evidence and was played for the jury at trial. Initially, the defendant denied that he was on Tugie Drive in the early morning hours of May 10, 2004. Thereafter, the defendant admitted that the gun discharged when he struck the victim after breaking into the house to steal the victim's cocaine. The defendant said he had never met the victim, but had heard of him. The defendant explained that, on the day before, Yarnell McFarland told him that she had seen a large amount of cocaine in the victim's house. The defendant, Morris and others had discussed earlier in the day that they would break in and take the cocaine while no one was home at the victim's house. Later that night, Morris McFarland and Wooder[4] picked up the defendant at his job at Popeye's and then brought him home. They left and returned with Derrick. The defendant hesitated because they were doing drugs, but the defendant said he was "inspired to go" "by [their] situation going with money." The defendant retrieved his *1136 gun, a black Glock .40 caliber, and left with Morris and the others.[5]

When Morris neared the victim's house, Luther and the others told Morris to stop around the corner because they did not want him to go with them. Luther and the others unsuccessfully tried to break in through the back door, but entered the front door after kicking it in. The defendant cocked the gun, since he "didn't know who was in there." The defendant called out, but no one ever responded, so he believed no one was home. The trio entered the victim's bedroom and found him on the bed. The defendant struck the victim with the gun and it "went off." The defendant said he did not mean to shoot the victim. They were asking him where the drugs were, and after the victim was shot, he tried to tell them. Derrick looked everywhere, but they left empty-handed. Afterwards, they met up with Morris at the corner.

At trial, Louise Walzer, a firearms expert, was called as a defense witness. Ms. Walzer testified that she examined a fired cartridge case and an unknown caliber projectile. She stated that the fired case was a Remington Peters .40 S&W caliber. She opined that the projectile was consistent with .40 caliber S&W ammunition. She testified that, the chances were very rare, unless the gun had an aftermarket barrel, that the projectile was fired from a Glock .40 caliber. The projectile had a "G" on the bullet at the base, which was consistent with Dr. Garcia's mark.[6]

Shannon Herron testified that the defendant was employed at the Taco Bell in Kenner, and said that the defendant was a good employee. She stated she was not aware the defendant had a prior possession of cocaine conviction.

DISCUSSION

The defendant raises issues regarding the sufficiency of the evidence and another alleged trial error. When the issues on appeal relate to both the sufficiency of evidence and one or more trial errors, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence by considering the entirety of the evidence. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731, 734 (La. 1992). If the reviewing court determines that the evidence was insufficient, then the defendant is entitled to an acquittal, and no further inquiry as to trial errors is necessary. Id.

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Related

State v. Thomas
13 So. 3d 603 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
960 So. 2d 1132, 2007 WL 1545850, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcfarland-lactapp-2007.