State v. Ross

182 So. 3d 983, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 84, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2485, 2014 WL 11034409
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 15, 2014·No. No. 14-KA-84·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

HANS J. LILJEBERG, Judge.

|2Pefendant appeals his sentence imposed relative to his conviction for La. R.S. 14:30.1. For the following reasons, we affirm and remand with instructions.

Procedural History

On September 10, 2009, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant, Arnold T. Ross, on one count of second degree murder of a known juvenile (D.O.B.8/11/08) in violation of La, R.S. 14:30.1 and one count of sexual battery of a known juvenile (D.O.B.8/11/08) in violation of La. R.S. 14:43.1.1 On September 14, 2009, defendant pleaded not guilty at arraignment. On December 10, 2010, defendant withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, but withdrew the plea prior to trial. Defendant proceeded to trial on July 11, 2013. On July 12, 2013, a. twelve-person jury Lreturned a unanimous verdict of guilty as charged on both counts of the indictment. On September 16, 2013, following a pre-sentence investigation and a Miller2 hearing held pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 878.1, the trial court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation dr suspension of sentence on count one and [985] a concurrent sentence of ten- years- imprisonment at- hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence on count two. Defendant orally objected to the severity of the sentence and later filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which the trial court denied on September 18, 2013. The trial court granted defendant’s timely motion for appeal on that same date. Defendant’s appeal follows.

Facts

At the time of the offense, D.3, age 34, who was recently paroled for a drug offense, temporarily lived with her cousin and through her cousin came to know defendant, age 17.4 D. also became very close with defendant’s family. Eventually, D. was able to secure an apartment in a complex on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish for her and her son, D.L., and was in the process of working a case plan to regain custody of hér two older children. D. worked as a prep cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken to support herself and her son, which required her to walk an hour each way to and from her apartment. While D. was at work, D. routinely left D.L., who was approximately nine-months-old, in the care 'of defendant’s sister, Khishannon Ross.

[4On the evening of June 5, 2009, defendant wént to D.’s apartment. He was upset, talking, and venting. Defendant left the apartment and then returned an hour later. D. and defendant spoke again and then went to bed. The next morning, defendant’s sister was not yet at the apartment when D. had to leave for work, so she asked defendant if he, could watch D.L. until his sister arrived to pick up D.L.5 Defendant agreed, and D. changed D.L.’s onesie, made sure he was- dry, and fixed him a bottle, which- she left within his reach. D. also prepared and left D.L.’s baby bag. D. left the apartment and arrived at work at approximately 8:00 a.m.

Keshia and Leonard Schexnayder lived in the next apartment and shared a common bedroom wall with D. On that same morning, the Schexnayders were awakened by a door slamming shut and minutes later multiple knocks/hits/thumps against the common wall of the apartment. Several minutes after that, 'there was a “frantic knock” at their door. Mr. Schexnayder answeréd the door to find defendant upset and crying, stating the baby had fallen down, the stairs. Mr. Schexnayder rushed past defendant into the next-door apartment, where he found D.L. unconscious on the floor upstairs. The baby did not appear to be breathing, with his head “a little bit further than what it was supposed to be,” and mucus and blood coming from his nose and mouth. Mr. Schexnayder straightened the child’s head, and D.L. took a breath of air. Ms. Schexnayder took the baby downstairs while her husband phoned 911. Both the paramedics and the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office [986] responded to the scene. D.L. was not breathing, and he was transported to the hospital.

Deputies responded to what they bé-lieved at the time to be a “medical roll.” Defendant'was distraught and relayed to police that his girlfriend asked him to watch D.L. because she had to go to work early. Defendant stated that he went | ¡^downstairs to make a bottle for the baby, when he heard a thumping noise coming down the stairs. He ran to the stairs from the kitchen, where he found D.L. at the bottom of the stairs with his nose bleeding. Defendant stated that he placed the baby on the sofa and attempted CPR, which he did not know how to perform. Mr. Schex-nayder, however, told deputies that he found D.L. on the floor upstairs, not downstairs when he arrived. Defendant attempted to speak over Mr. Schexnayder, saying several times to the effect, “yeah, you remember the baby was down the stairs.” At that point, deputies separated defendant from Mr. Schexnayder.

After apprising their superiors of the situation, deputies were instructed to close off the scene. Defendant was Miran-dized6 and placed in the backseat of a police unit. The deputies processed the scene,7 and defendant was transported to the Criminal Investigations Bureau to be interviewed by Detective Jeffrey Rodrigue.

At approximately 9:30 a.m., D. received a phone call from police notifying her of an accident' at home. The police picked her up from work and brought her to the hospital.

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State v. Ross, 182 So. 3d 983, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 84, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2485, 2014 WL 11034409 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

182 So. 3d 983 (State v. Ross) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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