State v. Molette

258 So. 3d 1081
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 17, 2018
DocketNO. 17-KA-697
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 258 So. 3d 1081 (State v. Molette) 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. Molette, 258 So. 3d 1081 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

CHEHARDY, C.J.

On appeal, defendant challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendants. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Procedural History

On January 23, 2014, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant, Tommie C. Molette a/k/a Tucker Molette, for the second degree murder of Deshon Evans, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1 (count one), and the attempted second degree murder *1084of Jonquell Neal, in violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:30.1 (count two).1

On May 22, 2017, trial commenced before a twelve-person jury.2 After a six-day trial, the jury found defendant guilty as charged on both counts. On June 26, 2017, the trial judge sentenced defendant for second degree murder to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and for attempted second degree murder, to imprisonment at hard labor for fifty years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, to run concurrently. Thereafter, defendant filed a timely notice of appeal, which was granted.

Facts

In this case, Tommie Molette, defendant-herein, is charged with second degree murder and attempted second degree murder for his involvement in a shooting incident that occurred on October 8, 2013 at 5923 Becker Street. The Hicks brothers - Kevin and Kevias - were also charged with second degree murder and attempted second degree murder for their involvement in the Becker Street incident.

In that same indictment, the grand jury also charged the Hicks and, their younger brother, Kedrick Anderson, with two counts of attempted second degree murder for their involvement in another shooting incident that occurred on July 13, 2013, at 2800 Mount Kennedy. Although defendant-herein was only indicted for the October Becker Street shootings, he and the Hicks brothers were tried at the same time.

For clarity and completeness in addressing defendant's assignments of error, this opinion includes all of the germane testimony elicited at trial regarding five shooting incidents connected by ballistics and/or testimony to two groups of people. The first incident occurred on June 22, 2013, when A.P. was fired on while driving his girlfriend, J.A.'s, vehicle. Testimony reflected that A.P. was targeted because he had been deemed a "rat."3 Ballistics were not recovered from that event.

The second incident occurred on July 13, 2013, at approximately 9:45 p.m. at the *1085Ridgefield Apartments on Mount Kennedy Drive in Marrero. During the Mount Kennedy incident, J., the two-year-old son of A.P. and J.A., was shot in the chest. J.A., the child's mother, testified that, "Kevias [Hicks'] face was the face in the front that I saw" shooting at her son and her that night. J.A. also saw Kedrick Anderson with a "big gun" that night. J.A. stated that she did not see Kevin Hicks that night.4 Ballistics matched spent 9-mm shell casings recovered from the Mount Kennedy scene to two later shootings: the Bridge shooting and the Becker Street shooting.5

The third incident was a shooting that occurred on the Crescent City Connection on July 16, 2013. During that incident, Kevias Hicks was shot by someone riding in a nearby vehicle. Neither Kevias nor Kedrick Anderson, who was also in the car, would identify the assailant. However, J.A. testified that, at some point, A.P. told her that he and Kevias were shooting at each other on the "bridge." A spent 9-mm shell casing found inside the Hicks' vehicle matched the ballistics of casings found at the Mount Kennedy and Becker Street shootings.

In the fourth incident, which occurred on August 12, 2013, at the Beechgrove Apartments in Westwego, Aubrieon Davis, who is the mother of Kedrick Anderson's son, was fired upon by A.P. while she was driving. Subsequently, A.P. pled guilty to aggravated assault with a firearm on Aubrieon Davis for that incident. Ballistics from the .40 caliber casing recovered at Beechgrove matched a casing found in the roadway after the Bridge shooting on July 16, 2013.

Finally, the only shooting pertinent to defendant-herein occurred on October 8, 2013 at 5923 Becker Street in Marrero. The surviving victim, Jonquell Neal, testified that he and his friend, Deshon Evans, were recording rap music in a studio at Deshon's house, when they heard a knock at the front door. Evans opened the door to Kevin and Kevias Hicks, and defendant-herein, Tommie Molette. Neal remembered that when Kevias came to the door, he said something about running from another shooting where a child had been shot. After the men talked for a little while, they decided to record a song in Deshon's studio.

After they had been rapping and recording for a while in the studio, Neal heard Kevias say that he was a "god" and that "your life is in my hands." Neal was concerned but continued writing his song. When he heard a loud sound, Neal thought it was the music at first. But when Neal looked up, Evans' blood was all over him, and Evans was dead. Neal saw Kevin, Kevias, and defendant-herein shooting in Evans' direction. Neal saw defendant-herein shoot him in the leg.

Neal testified that, after he was shot, he picked up Evans' firearm from the floor, and put it in his lap. When Kevin tried to shoot him, Neal raised Evans' weapon, "let off a shot," and Kevin left. Neal stated that more than twenty-five or thirty shots were fired.

That night, Neal received four gunshot wounds in his shoulder, thigh, and "feet." Immediately after the shooting, Neal positively identified Kevin, Kevias, and defendant-herein as the shooters in photographic lineups. Neal further reported in his *1086statement at the hospital to Sergeant Gary Barteet of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office ("JPSO") that Kevias was shooting a 9-mm Smith and Wesson, that Kevin was using a 9-mm Beretta, and that defendant-herein was using a .40 caliber Colt. At trial, Neal testified that he was "100% sure" that Kevin, Kevias, and defendant-herein were the individuals who shot Evans and him that night.

Dr. Susan Garcia of the Jefferson Parish Forensic Center, who was accepted as an expert in the field of forensic pathology, conducted the autopsy on Deshon Evans. She explained that Deshon Evans' cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds,6 including a lethal wound to the head, and that his manner of death was homicide.

Special Agent William Charles Williams of the FBI was accepted as an expert in the field of historical cell site analysis. Agent Williams analyzed historical records for two phone numbers - one associated with Kevin Hicks and one associated with defendant-herein - for the early morning hours of October 8, 2013. According to Agent Williams, both phones utilized the cellular phone tower nearest to 5932 Becker Street numerous times between 1:04 a.m. and 1:41 a.m. Williams testified that further data was consistent with both phones leaving the area around Becker, traveling along the Westbank Expressway, over the Mississippi River via the Crescent City Connection, and traveling north to the New Orleans East area. Williams testified that both phones were utilizing the nearest tower to 7840 Mills Avenue in New Orleans East between 2:52 a.m. and 2:54 a.m.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
258 So. 3d 1081, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-molette-lactapp-2018.