State v. Reed

88 So. 3d 601, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 507, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 152, 2012 WL 469882
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 14, 2012
DocketNo. 11-KA-507
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 88 So. 3d 601 (State v. Reed) 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. Reed, 88 So. 3d 601, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 507, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 152, 2012 WL 469882 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

|2On July 28, 2010, the St. Charles Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Samuel Reed, with two counts of attempted second degree murder, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:27 and 14:30.1. Defendant pled not guilty. On December 14 and 15, 2010, the case was tried before a 12-person jury, and defendant was found guilty as charged. On March 1, 2011, the trial judge sentenced defendant to imprisonment for ten years in the Department of Corrections without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

FACTS

At trial, Richard Kestle testified that on June 14, 2010, he was at 312 Almedia Plantation Road in St. Rose where he lived with his daughter and his wife, Christine Loupe. Also at the residence visiting that evening were Michael Kestle, who is Richard’s nephew, Cynthia Harrington, who was Michael’s girlfriend, Mona Kestle, who is Michael’s mother and Richard’s sister, and Allan Tinoco, who was Mona’s longtime boyfriend. At approximately 7:30 or 8:00 IsP-ni., defendant, James Yawn, and defendant’s wife arrived at the residence in a truck. Defendant had been a longtime friend of the Kestle family. Michael walked outside, and he and Yawn had an argument while Yawn was sitting in the truck regarding rumors Yawn had allegedly spread about Michael’s mother.

According to Richard, defendant got out of the truck and hit Michael on the back of his head. Defendant and Michael started fighting, and Yawn jumped out of the truck. A fistfight ensued among defendant, Michael, Yawn, and Tinoco. Richard subsequently broke up the fight, and defendant got back into the truck. At some point, Tinoco told defendant and Yawn to leave. Richard testified that defendant paused, and then pulled out a gun. Defendant’s wife, who was in the driver’s seat, yelled, “Shoot him, shoot him.”

Richard testified that defendant pointed the gun out of the window and aimed it at Mona’s chest. He then turned and shot Michael and Tinoco, who were standing approximately fifteen and five feet away, respectively. Tinoco was shot in his right arm and right hip, and Michael was shot in his left leg. Afterward, defendant, Yawn, and defendant’s wife left. Michael Kestle, Mona Kestle, Allan Tinoco, and Christine Loupe also testified at trial, and their testimony was similar to Richard’s testimony.

Detective Ben Schmitt of the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office testified that he was the lead investigator in the case. A couple of hours after the shooting, he stopped defendant and advised him of his rights. After waiving them, defendant gave a statement. Defendant said that he went with Yawn to Richard’s house, because Richard owed defendant some money. He also claimed that Richard asked him to bring Yawn there to set Yawn up, because of the comments Yawn had made about Michael’s mother. Richard and a few other men were waiting to fight with Yawn. Defendant and Michael started fighting, and then other people started |4fighting. Defendant claimed that someone yelled, “Go get a gun.” He saw an AK-47 assault rifle, but he did not know who had it, and then he heard three shots. Defendant and Yawn got into the vehicle and left.

[604]*604In his statement, defendant said that when he and Yawn got out of the truck when they first arrived, he was beaten up with baseball bats and “God knows what else.” He initially denied shooting a gun. However, defendant later admitted that he had a gun and shot it one time into the air or “that way” to try and scare them off. He later said he did not know how many times he fired his weapon.

Detective Schmitt, Lieutenant Rodney Madere, and Detective Derek Pertuis all testified that defendant’s injuries were consistent with a fistfight and inconsistent with being beaten by a bat.

James Yawn testified at trial for the defense. He stated that he and defendant went to Richard’s house, because Richard called defendant to say he had the money he owed defendant. When they arrived, defendant got out of the truck and started walking, and Michael came over and told Yawn to get out of the truck. Defendant then turned around and came back and told Michael to get away from the truck. Yawn did not see defendant strike Michael on the back of the head. Afterward, Yawn saw Tinoco and others beat defendant and hit him with a bat.

Yawn tried to help defendant by punching someone, but then Michael hit Yawn with a baseball bat across his back and on the side of his head. He identified State’s Exhibit 13 as the red and black bat Michael used. Yawn went back to the truck, and he saw defendant crawling on his hands and knees toward the truck. He claimed that Tinoco was standing over defendant, hitting defendant with a silver bat, and telling defendant he was going to kill him. Yawn identified State’s Exhibit 12 as being close in color to the bat Tinoco had.

IsAfterward, Yawn heard Michael yell, “Go get the gun.” He then saw Richard standing in the yard by the fence with an assault rifle in his hand. Yawn heard three shots and thought Richard was shooting at defendant and Yawn. Defendant then jumped in the truck and they left. Yawn claimed that defendant was beaten pretty badly, and that defendant had lumps on his nose, the side of his eye, and the side of his head, and black and blue eyes. Yawn denied that defendant extended his arm out of the window and fired shots. He testified that he heard shots while defendant was still trying to get into the truck, and that he did not know where the shots came from; however, he said he was not saying that defendant did not fire shots. Yawn also testified that he never heard defendant’s wife say, “Shoot them.” Yawn admitted that he pled guilty in this case to aggravated battery, but explained that he did not do anything wrong and only pled guilty because he wanted to go home. On cross-examination, Yawn admitted that defendant told him he shot a gun during the incident.

The State’s witnesses responded that the altercation was a fistfight, and that no one used baseball bats or any other weapons during the fistfight, other than the gun defendant pulled out after the fistfight had ended. Richard testified that the baseball bats found in the trailer, State’s Exhibits 12 and 18, were his daughter’s softball bats, and they were at his residence on the day in question, but were not used during the incident. Richard denied ever owning an AX-47 assault rifle. He also denied that he owed defendant money or that he told defendant to come over so he could repay money he owed defendant.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. He contends that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shootings were not done in self-[605]*605defense, noting that he was a passenger in a Rvehicle that was aggressively attacked by the Kestles, and that he reasonably believed his life and the lives of others were in danger. Defendant also asserts that the State only proved, at best, that the shootings were attempted manslaughter done in the heat of passion, and not attempted second degree murder.

In reviewing the sufficiency of evidence, an appellate court must determine if the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, or a mixture of both, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact that all of the elements of the crime have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 So. 3d 601, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 507, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 152, 2012 WL 469882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-reed-lactapp-2012.