State v. Perrilloux

864 So. 2d 843, 2003 WL 23025572
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 30, 2003
Docket03-KA-0917
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 864 So. 2d 843 (State v. Perrilloux) 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. Perrilloux, 864 So. 2d 843, 2003 WL 23025572 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

864 So.2d 843 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Daniel PERRILLOUX.

No. 03-KA-0917.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 30, 2003.

*846 Harry J. Morel, Jr., District Attorney, Kim K. McElwee, Hahnville, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Frank Sloan, Louisiana Appellate Project, Mandeville, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SOL GOTHARD, THOMAS F. DALEY and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

SOL GOTHARD, Judge.

Defendant, Daniel Perrilloux, appeals his conviction and sentence on charges of armed robbery and attempted second degree murder. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

Perrilloux was originally charged in a two-count bill of indictment with the second degree murder of Luan Nguyen and the attempted first degree murder of Wendy Owens. He was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty on both counts. The indictment was subsequently amended twice to charge armed robbery of Luan Nguyen and attempted second degree murder of Wendy Owens. The defendant was re-arraigned after each amendment and ultimately entered pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity to both charges.

After a four-day trial, a jury found defendant guilty as charged on the armed robbery charge and guilty of the lesser and included crime of attempted manslaughter on the attempted second degree murder charge. In due course defendant was sentenced to ninety years of imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on the armed robbery conviction, and to a concurrent twenty year sentence on the attempted manslaughter conviction. A timely appeal was filed and granted.

FACTS

On July 22, 2000, Daniel Perrilloux parked his silver Chrysler vehicle on the side of Harry's One Stop convenience store located at Highway 628 and Hollywood Park Road in Montz, Louisiana. He entered the store armed with a tire wrench and a knife, stood at the counter and demanded money. According to Perrilloux's testimony he intended to rob the store to get money to purchase cocaine. The owner of the store, Luan Nguyen, opened the cash register and gave some money to Perrilloux. In the course of the robbery, Mr. Nguyen produced a gun which Perrilloux and Mr. Nguyen wrestled over. During the struggle Mr. Nguyen was shot in the head and killed. *847 As defendant ran from the store, he was seen by the second victim, Ms. Wendy Owens, a customer of the store. According to Perrilloux's testimony, he believed that Ms. Owens was trying to make a note of the license plate on his car. To avoid this, Perrilloux shot several times at Ms. Owens. The shots missed Ms. Owens, but entered the back window of her vehicle. Perrilloux fled the scene.

As this crime was being investigated, officers received notice of an attempted armed robbery of the Kart-N-Karry convenience store in LaPlace. During this attempted robbery, the perpetrator was armed with a tire tool. The description matched that of the robber in the crime being investigated. Perrilloux was subsequently arrested by police.

LAW

On appeal defendant assigns two errors for our review. In the first, he argues the trial court abused its discretion in failing to sustain a Batson[1] challenge. In particular, he reasons that the State's explanation for striking potential juror Deloyd Dabney was a "concocted pretext," and it should not have been accepted as a "race-neutral" explanation that satisfied the State's burden under Batson.

The State replies that the defendant did not satisfy his burden of establishing a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination by the State in its use of peremptory strikes. Additionally, the State adds that the trial court judge correctly found the State's exclusion of Deloyd Dabney was for race-neutral reasons, not because of its intent to exclude a juror on the basis of race.

It is well settled that the use of peremptory challenges based solely on a juror's race is prohibited. Batson v. Kentucky, supra. The Batson decision is codified in our law in La.C.Cr.P. art. 795(C). In Batson, the United States Supreme Court established a three-step analysis to determine whether a peremptory challenge has been used in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

First, a defendant must establish a prima facie case of discrimination by showing facts and relevant circumstances that raise an inference that the prosecutor used his or her peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors on the basis of race. Batson, 476 U.S. at 94, 106 S.Ct. at 1722, 90 L.Ed.2d at 86; State v. Harris, 01-408 (La.6/24/02), 820 So.2d 471, 473. In order to establish a prima facie case, the defendant may offer any facts relevant to the question of the prosecutor's discriminatory intent to satisfy this burden. Such facts include, but are not limited to, a pattern of strikes by a prosecutor against members of a suspect class, statements or actions of the prosecutor which support an inference that the exercise of peremptory strikes was motivated by impermissible considerations, the composition of the venire and of the jury finally impaneled, and any other disparate impact upon the suspect class which is alleged to be the victim of purposeful discrimination. State v. Green, 94-887 (La.5/22/95), 655 So.2d 272, 288. It is not enough that a discriminatory result be evidenced but rather that result must be traced to a discriminatory purpose. The sole focus of the inquiry is upon the intent of the prosecutor at the time he exercised his peremptory strikes. Id. If the defendant fails to make a prima facie case, then the challenge fails.

Second, if a prima facie case is established, the burden shifts to the State to come forward with a race-neutral explanation for its peremptory challenges. Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765, 767, 115 *848 S.Ct. 1769, 1771, 131 L.Ed.2d 834, 839 (1995); Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991); State v. Harris, supra, 820 So.2d at 473. The race-neutral explanation must be one that is clear, reasonably specific, legitimate and related to the case at bar. State v. Dunn, 01-1635 (La.11/1/02), 831 So.2d 862, 869. This is a burden of production, not one of persuasion. State v. Harris, supra. Unless the discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor's explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race-neutral. Purkett, supra, 514 U.S. at 768, 115 S.Ct. at 1771, 131 L.Ed.2d at 839; State v. Duplessy, 853 So.2d 77 (La.App. 5 Cir. 7/29/03).

Third, if a race-neutral explanation is tendered, then the trial court must determine whether the defendant has established purposeful discrimination. Purkett, supra; Batson, supra; Harris, supra. The question is "whether the defendant's proof, when weighed against the prosecutor's proffered `race-neutral' reasons, is strong enough to persuade the trier-of-fact that such discriminatory intent is present." State v. Green, supra, 655 So.2d at 290.

In State v. Duncan, 99-2615 (La.10/16/01), 802 So.2d 533, 549, the Louisiana Supreme Court observed the following regarding the selection of a token number of persons from the cognizable racial group:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
864 So. 2d 843, 2003 WL 23025572, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-perrilloux-lactapp-2003.