State v. Payne

16 So. 3d 517, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 1557, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 1391, 2009 WL 1886726
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 1, 2009·No. 2008-KA-1557·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ROLAND L. BELSOME, Judge.

11 Defendant Earl Payne, Jr. appeals his manslaughter conviction and his fifteen-year sentence, requesting only a review of the record for errors patent. Because such review finds no error, we affirm Payne’s conviction and sentence and grant his counsel’s motion to withdraw.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Earl Payne, Jr. was indicted on January 17, 2008 with the second degree murder of Joseph Robinson. He pled not guilty to this charge at his arraignment on January 24. 1 On April 30, 2008, at the close of a two-day trial, a twelve-person jury found Payne guilty of the responsive verdict of manslaughter. The State subsequently filed a multiple bill charging Payne as a second offender, and Payne pled not guilty to the bill and moved to quash it. The court quashed the bill on July 11, 2008. On August 5, 2008 the court sentenced Payne to serve fifteen years at hard labor. The court denied his motion to reconsider sentence and granted his motion for appeal.

*519 The body of Joseph Robinson was found lying in an alleyway behind a large building that encompassed the 3500 block of General Meyer Avenue. At trial, Dr. 12Paul McGarry, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy of Robinson, testified that Robinson sustained massive compressive scraping injuries from the side of his head and down the side of his face, onto his neck and chest. Dr. McGar-ry further testified that Robinson’s chest had been crushed in; his ribs were broken in forty places, with ten ribs fractured on each side twice; he sustained deep abrasions on the right side of his body and his back; a fractured right thigh bone; he had a large incision from his breastbone to his pelvis, exposing his internal organs; he sustained fractures and a deep gouging injury in the left leg, and scraping injuries down his left arm out to his hand. Additionally, Dr. McGarry testified that several of Robinson’s internal organs had been punctured by his broken ribs, including his lungs, his liver, and his intestines; his spleen had been removed; his spinal cord was crushed, as was his pelvis; and his lungs were filled with fluid and surrounded by blood. Dr. McGarry concluded that all of Robinson’s injuries were consistent with being rolled against rough surfaces and crushed; he agreed the injuries were consistent with having been hit by an automobile and crushed against another surface. Robinson never regained consciousness and died several days after the incident.

Sgt. Kevin Guillot of the New Orleans Police Department testified that he received a call about the incident at approximately 1:00 p.m. on November 12, 2007, and because he was in the vicinity, he was the first police officer to arrive. He testified that the call indicated that a possible attempted armed robbery, and that when he did not see anything unusual in the 3500 block of General Meyer Avenue, he turned down Flanders Street and drove to the alley, at which time he observed the defendant Earl Payne, Jr. standing next to a maroon van, waving to him. Sgt. Guillot testified that he stopped and exited his car and walked down the Lalley to Payne. He stated that he saw Robinson lying on the ground next to a bicycle, and described both Robinson and the bicycle as “pretty badly mangled.” He testified that Payne told him that Robinson had tried to rob him with a gun, and he had struck Robinson with his van. Sgt. Guillot stated that when he questioned Payne about the gun, Payne said that Robinson threw it somewhere in the alley before Payne hit him with the van.

Sgt. Guillot further testified that because Robinson was convulsing as he lay on the ground, he called for EMS assistance and officer assistance. He also notified the police dispatcher about the possible armed robbery. He stated that Payne did not mention to him that he knew Robinson. He testified that other officers soon arrived and began looking for the gun, but no gun was found. Sgt. Guillot testified that he did not immediately advise Payne of his Miranda rights because at the time he spoke with him he believed that Payne was the victim of an attempted armed robbery. He then supervised the scene when the other officers arrived. 2

Officer Ryan Aucoin of the New Orleans Police Department, who also responded to the broadcast, described the 3500 block of General Meyer Avenue as holding a large building that contained various offices, and the block was bounded by Michael and Flanders Streets. He testified that a service alley ran behind the 3500 block of General Meyer, and that he was directed to the alley, where he found a maroon van *520 parked, which was the only vehicle in the alley at that time. Officer Aueoin observed Robinson lying on the ground with his head toward a damaged fence, and his feet were toward the damaged bicycle.

|4Officer Aueoin further testified that he and other officers looked for the gun that Payne described, searching the alley, the yards along the alley, a shed, dumpsters, and even the roof of a building, but they could not find a gun. 3 He testified that they also contacted the ATF, which dispatched a canine trained in finding gunpowder and firearms a week subsequent to the incident, but no gun was found. 4 Officer Aueoin also described an oil puddle on the ground and an oil trail that led down the alley from where Robinson was found, and identified the clothing collected from Robinson.

Officer Stuart Smith of the New Orleans Police Department similarly testified that he responded to Sgt. Guillot’s broadcast concerning the incident. Officer Smith observed the van, the damaged bicycle and fence, and Robinson, who was unresponsive. He further testified that, in initially speaking with Payne about the incident, he did not advise him of his Miranda rights because he believed that Payne was the victim of an attempted armed robbery.

Officer Smith further testified regarding Payne’s account of the events leading up to the incident. Payne advised him that he had been sitting in his van with his door open in the parking lot of the building on General Meyer when Robinson came up to him on the bicycle and instigated an argument regarding a mattress set that Robinson had purchased from Payne for thirty-five dollars. Officer Smith stated that Payne recalled Robinson becoming extremely agitated and producing a gun from his waistband, threatening to “f — up” Payne, but did not point the gun directly at him. Payne told Officer Smith that he closed the door and | r,drove away, and Robinson began riding down the alleyway, holding the gun in one hand; Payne subsequently turned around and pursued Robinson down the alley, hitting him with the van. Payne’s statements to Officer Smith were not recorded; Officer Smith’s testimony was based on his handwritten notes.

Detective Kevin Bell of the New Orleans Police Department testified that he also spoke with Payne on the scene, and was under the initial impression that Payne was the victim. Detective Bell stated that Payne explained that he and Robinson had an ongoing dispute over the money Robinson paid for the mattress set, and that during the argument in the alley regarding same, Robinson produced a gun and demanded his money back.

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State v. Payne, 16 So. 3d 517, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 1557, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 1391, 2009 WL 1886726 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

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