State v. Moore

777 So. 2d 600, 2000 WL 1875878
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 20, 2000
Docket99-KA-2684
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 777 So. 2d 600 (State v. Moore) 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. Moore, 777 So. 2d 600, 2000 WL 1875878 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

777 So.2d 600 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Johnny MOORE.

No. 99-KA-2684.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

December 20, 2000.

*602 Hon. Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, William L. Jones, III, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Jane L. Beebe, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, LA, Attorneys for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Katherine M. Franks, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorney for Defendant/Appellant.

Court composed of Judge PLOTKIN, Judge WALTZER, Judge McKAY.

McKAY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On July 16, 1998, appellant Johnny Moore was indicted on a charge of first degree murder. On June 2, 1999, a jury found him guilty of second degree murder. On June 18, 1999, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

At about 12:30 on May 27, 1998, the fire department was called to the scene of a fire in the second floor of a townhouse apartment on Burgundy Street. When the firemen arrived, there was no fire on the first floor, but the fire on the second floor was so intense that they could not enter. After waiting a few minutes for water to charge the line, the firefighters entered the bedroom area of the apartment and put the fire out. As they did so fire captain A.J. McGovern saw a body in the debris; he notified his command, which in turn notified the police department. Capt. McGovern then guarded the body and helped police officers look for evidence.

Capt. McGovern observed a burned shell of a mattress over the upper portion of a burned body. The victim's hands were tied behind his back. The fiber used to tie the victim's hands was saturated with blood. A claw-like hammer and a metal pipe were found underneath the victim. The hammer was badly burned also. Capt. McGovern and arson investigator Thomas St. Germaine testified that they observed "trailers," burn patterns indicating that a fire was set with accelerant. Capt. McGovern explained that a fire ignited with an accelerant leaves darker marks where the accelerant was poured, because the fire is hotter in those areas. Investigator St. Germaine testified that the heat from this particular fire would have been so extreme after it was set that no one could have entered the room.

The parties stipulated that the burned body was identified from x-rays and dental records as William "Willie" Lewis. Dr. William Newman performed the autopsy. He testified that there was extensive charring of the victim's face and extremities. The victim also suffered depressed skull fractures in the back of the head consistent with blows to the head from a hammer. Oral and rectal swabs were negative *603 for seminal fluid. The victim had type 0 blood. There was no soot in the victim's lungs, indicating that he died of the blows to his head prior to being set on fire.

At about the same time that the fire department was called to the fire and only a few blocks away, appellant Johnny Moore was riding a bicycle on North Villere Street when Det. Dan Anderson, who was patrolling with a partner, ordered him to stop. Moore was carrying a heavy duffel bag and a cue stick, and was weaving back and forth, posing a danger to himself and other traffic. After he was stopped, Moore began making threats, stating to Det. Anderson that he had just dropped a gun off, or he would have killed him. Det. Anderson then placed Moore under arrest.

After advising Moore of his rights, Det. Anderson asked him where he got the property in the duffel bag. Moore told him it came from an abandoned house. The officers went with Moore to two locations, but neither location had abandoned property on it. Det. Anderson then relocated to the district station to initiate the paperwork on the threat and another report on lost or stolen property. At trial, Det. Anderson identified the items of clothing and shoes worn by Moore when he was arrested.

Norman Lewis, father of the murder victim, identified the duffel bag and the items inside, including an antique mantel clock, a pocket watch, the cue stick and the bicycle which Moore was riding, as having belonged to his son.

Detective John Riviere was called to the scene of the fire to investigate the fatality for the police department. After observing the scene, he made inquiries among the neighbors, which led him to Rodney Weeden, a handyman who did maintenance work for the victim. Det. Riviere telephoned Weeden, who voluntarily came to the district station for an interview. Because Weeden was a suspect at that time, he was advised of his rights prior to his statement. Through Weeden, Det. Riviere developed a suspect by the name of Johnny Beasley and learned Beasley's address. When Det. Riviere went to that address, the appellant's mother advised him that her son was Johnny Moore, not Johnny Beasley. She further advised Det. Riviere that her son was not home because he was in jail. At that point, Det. Riviere thought he had reached a dead end. However, he ran the appellant's name, date of birth and address through the computer and found out that Moore had been arrested shortly after the fire and only a few blocks away.

Det. Riviere then got a court order to seize the clothes Moore was wearing at his arrest and obtain a sample of Moore's blood. He further obtained an order to seize Moore's shoes, which Moore was still wearing in Parish Prison. Moore and the victim both had type O blood. Accordingly, a swatch of Moore's pants was sent for DNA analysis which indicated that the blood on Moore's pants was from the victim. In addition, Moore's shoes and pants indicated that they were contaminated with a type 3 accelerant consistent with the paint thinner at the victim's home.

When Det. Riviere learned that Moore's pants had type "O" blood on them, the same blood type as the victim, that Moore's shoes and pants were contaminated with mineral spirits, and that the property seized from Moore at his arrest was identified by the victim's family, he had Moore re-booked for murder. He further had Moore brought from Parish Prison to Police Headquarters for questioning. After being advised of his rights, Moore refused to sign the waiver of rights form or make a recorded statement, but made an oral statement to Det. Riviere and Sgt. Kessel.

At first, Moore started crying and said how bad he felt for "Little Willie." After he cried for a few minutes, the officers took a break and got Moore a soft drink. Moore then told them that he went to the location looking for Rodney Weeden. Moore told them that he called for William, who came out with a bloody towel on *604 his head and a black eye. Moore told the officers that he wanted to call the police and get an ambulance, but William told him to take the duffel bag with the property in it to the Villere and Louisa Street area and give it to someone in a green car. Moore further stated that William said he would get medical help when Moore got back after delivering the duffel bag.

At trial, Teddy Fambro, the crime scene technician who worked the scene of the fire, testified that checks for blood, hair and fiber on the hammer, pipe and cloth found near the victim were negative. Fambro further testified that he attempted to obtain fingerprints from various items downstairs in the apartment with no success. He explained that fingerprints were very delicate and often damaged by environmental factors such as extreme heat and moisture.

Criminalist Joe Tafaro testified that there was no identifiable blood or accelerant on Moore's T-shirt.

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Related

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850 So. 2d 845 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
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841 So. 2d 38 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
777 So. 2d 600, 2000 WL 1875878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-moore-lactapp-2000.