State v. Quinn

479 So. 2d 592
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 19, 1985
DocketKA 85 0351
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 479 So. 2d 592 (State v. Quinn) 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. Quinn, 479 So. 2d 592 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

479 So.2d 592 (1985)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
James QUINN.

No. KA 85 0351.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

November 19, 1985.

Johnny McGary, Asst. Dist. Atty., Amite, for plaintiff-appellee State of Louisiana.

Thomas Foley, Asst. Public Defender, Amite, for defendant-appellant James Quinn.

Before EDWARDS, LANIER and JOHN S. COVINGTON, JJ.

*593 LANIER, Judge.

The defendant, James Quinn, was charged by grand jury indictment with second degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1. He pled not guilty, waived his right to trial by jury and, after a trial, was found guilty as charged by the trial judge. Quinn filed a motion for a new trial contending the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence[1] and a motion in arrest of judgment contending the verdict was not responsive to the indictment and was so defective it could not form a basis for a valid judgment. These motions were denied. The trial judge then[2] sentenced Quinn to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Pursuant to La.R.S. 14:95.2, the trial judge enhanced the sentence by two additional years to run consecutively with the life sentence. This appeal followed.

FACTS

Gloria Jean Williams testified her sister, Claudia Mae Grimes, was living with Quinn in Amite on June 9, 1984. On that date, Ms. Williams and her boyfriend, Eddie Lee Self, accepted an invitation from Ms. Grimes to attend a barbecue dinner at the trailer occupied by Ms. Grimes and Quinn. They arrived at about 5:30 p.m. Because it started raining, everyone went inside the trailer. While a record player was being carried inside, the speaker wire became disconnected and this precipitated an argument between Ms. Grimes and Quinn. Ms. Grimes did nothing to provoke or start the argument. As the argument proceeded, Quinn told Ms. Grimes to go get her clothes and leave. Ms. Grimes placed a "spread" on the floor and started putting clothes into it. Quinn then locked the door of the trailer, preventing Ms. Grimes from leaving. Ms. Grimes sat down. Then Ms. Grimes went to the "ice box" and got herself and defendant a beer. At about 11:30 p.m., Ms. Grimes was standing in the kitchen when Quinn, who was also in the kitchen, "got up and went around her [Ms. Grimes] like he was going to the bathroom and ... started shooting." Three shots were fired. When the first shot was fired, Ms. Grimes "clapped her hands up side [against] her head", and then she shook her head and turned. She stood there for a second, and Quinn shot her again. She then fell backwards to the floor. After the second shot was fired, Ms. Williams grabbed Quinn and told him not to shoot Ms. Grimes again because she was already dead, and "he turned around and shot down on the floor." At the time of the first shot, Ms. Grimes was standing by the stove with her right side toward defendant, i.e., she was not facing him. There was a knife on the kitchen table, but Ms. Grimes made no attempt to grab it. She did not in any way threaten or attack Quinn prior to the shooting. From the time the argument concerning the stereo wire began until the final shot was fired, Ms. Grimes was unarmed, did nothing aggressive, made no threats, and did not put defendant in any danger of losing his life or being seriously hurt.

Eddie Lee Self testified that he saw Quinn shoot Ms. Grimes on the date in question at about 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. He testified three shots were fired. When the first shot was fired, Ms. Grimes grabbed the side of her head. She fell backwards immediately after the second shot was fired. "[T]hen he shot her some more." *594 Mr. Self further testified that he did not see Ms. Grimes do anything to threaten defendant. Mr. Self and Ms. Williams reported the shooting to the police. They returned to the trailer with the police to show them its location.

Don Alexander, a deputy sheriff with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office, testified he returned to the scene with Mr. Self and Ms. Williams to investigate the shooting at about 11:00 or 11:30 p.m. Alexander approached the trailer with caution and called out Quinn's name. Quinn walked out the front door. Before Alexander could say anything, Quinn said "I shot the bitch." Alexander then, before saying anything else, read defendant his rights and placed him under arrest. Alexander testified that defendant's speech was coherent and he was calm. "He didn't seem drunk, kind of like nothing had happened, you know."

Johnny Jones, an investigator for the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office, testified he also investigated the incident and recovered a .38 caliber pistol found lying on a bed inside the trailer. The gun contained three spent cartridges and two live ones. Jones further testified that, on the night of the shooting, Quinn did not appear nervous, angry, or excited in any way.

Dr. Russell T. Ribando, Tangipahoa Parish Coroner, testified he performed an autopsy on the victim and located two gunshot wounds in her body. The cause of death was a bullet wound which entered the victim's back near the right scapula, went through her chest, her aorta and lodged in her left breast. The other bullet wound was a surface wound which entered and exited the victim's left breast.

James Quinn took the stand in his own defense and testified that he met Ms. Grimes on May 12, 1982. They began living together shortly thereafter. On the night of the shooting, Quinn and Self went to town to get some barbecue sauce and, when they returned to the trailer, Quinn observed the wire disconnected from the stereo. He asked Ms. Grimes about the stereo, and "she blew her top". Her purse was on the kitchen table with the gun inside it. She made a lunge for the gun, and he beat her to it. He grabbed the purse, took the gun out and started shooting. Before he started shooting, Ms. Grimes reached for one of two butcher knives that were on the kitchen table. He thought Ms. Grimes was going to try to kill him. Quinn also testified that in January of 1983, Ms. Grimes shot at him. She pulled a knife on him at his place of employment, Clemmon's Brothers Lumber Company, in February of 1984 while they were arguing. She also threatened him with a knife at Gloria's Cafe in June of 1983.

Billy Ray Ebarb, a co-worker of defendant, testified that in February of 1984, from a distance of about 45-50 yards, he saw Ms. Grimes take an object which he could not identify from her purse and saw defendant backing up immediately thereafter.

Irma Jean Smith, who along with her husband operated Gloria's Cafe in June of 1983, testified that she saw Ms. Grimes pull a knife on defendant and that she took the knife away from Ms. Grimes. She testified that defendant had done nothing to threaten Ms. Grimes at the cafe.

The parties stipulated Ms. Grimes was convicted of manslaughter on March 8, 1978, in Michigan.

Julius Quinn testified he was with the Amite City Police Department and was James Quinn's brother. He never observed James use violence towards Ms. Grimes. On one occasion, he observed James and Ms. Grimes at a lounge and Grimes "had a big jug or something to hit him [James] with". Julius got James out of the lounge and told him to leave Ms. Grimes alone. About ten or twelve years ago, he arrested Ms. Grimes for "cursing", "running off at the mouth" and "arguing with me".

Edward J. "Rudolph" Smith testified he was the superintendent at the Clemmon's Brothers mill where James Quinn worked. Quinn had a good work record. On one occasion, Quinn and Ms. Grimes came to *595 his house and Ms. Grimes had a pistol in her back pocket.

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Bluebook (online)
479 So. 2d 592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-quinn-lactapp-1985.