State v. Sanders

431 So. 2d 833
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 3, 1983
Docket15295-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 431 So. 2d 833 (State v. Sanders) 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. Sanders, 431 So. 2d 833 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

431 So.2d 833 (1983)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Anthony J. SANDERS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 15295-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 3, 1983.
Rehearing Denied June 8, 1983.

*834 Terry Lindsey and Catherine Estopinal, Asst. Dist. Attys., Shreveport, for plaintiff-appellee.

Donald R. Minor, Indigent Defender, Shreveport, for defendant-appellant.

Before PRICE, FRED W. JONES, Jr. and NORRIS, JJ.

NORRIS, Judge.

Defendant, Anthony J. Sanders, appeals a conviction of second degree murder by a jury, assigning the following three errors:[1]

(1) The trial court erred in refusing the defendant's jury charge.
(2) The trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a new trial after the State's failure to inform the defendant fully of the substance of a post-arrest statement by the defendant.
(3) The trial court erred in denying the defendant's post verdict motion for a judgment of acquittal.

FACTS

In the late evening of December 24, 1981, defendant and his homosexual lover, Benjamin Fulcher, garbed as a female, were walking down a street in Shreveport when, for reasons not clearly established, an altercation ensued. Four witnesses riding in a car came upon the fight after its inception and observed the defendant hitting Fulcher with his fists, knocking him to the ground, and stomping him about the head. Thereafter, the witnesses saw the defendant drag Fulcher into the weeds, remove his jeans and undergarment and perform what appeared to be an act of anal intercourse on his unconscious body. Believing Fulcher to be a woman because of his feminine attire, the witnesses then notified the police, who arrived on the scene to find the unconscious Fulcher in a state of semi-undress bleeding from the mouth, temple, nose and ear. It was only when Fulcher was examined on the scene that it was discovered that he was a male rather than a female. Fulcher was taken to the LSU Medical Center where, after examination, it was determined that he was suffering from brain clots caused by the blows which he had received to the head. After undergoing brain surgery, Fulcher remained comatose until April 20, 1982, when he died from complications resulting from the blows inflicted by the defendant on December 24, 1981. Subsequent to the death of Fulcher, the defendant was indicted for second degree murder, tried and found guilty as charged.

*835 ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

Prior to argument, the defendant requested that the trial judge include the following special charge in his jury instructions:

A person who is assaulted by another is under no obligation to retreat from such an assault and has the right to act in self defense.

Defendant contends that the requested charge was necessary in order to qualify the general charge given by the trial judge. The defendant testified at trial contending that he had acted in self defense in response to Fulcher's initiation of the fight; thus, on appeal, he now contends that the above charge was necessary to amplify the judge's instruction that "... the possibility of avoiding the incident by retreat" was one of several factors to consider in determining whether the defendant had a reasonable belief that his actions were necessary. Defendant contends that it was necessary for the jury to be informed that he had no duty to retreat.

Special jury charges are provided by La. C.Cr.P. Art. 807.[2] However, it is clear that the requested charge must be wholly correct without requiring qualification, limitation and explanation and need not be given if it is included in substance in the general charge.

Defendant argues that under State v. Boatright, 406 So.2d 163 (La.1981), there is no "retreat rule" in Louisiana; thus, defendant had no obligation to retreat from the altercation. However, a closer reading of the statement in Boatright upon which defendant relies reveals that "... defendant's reasonable perception of the killing as the only reasonable means of extricating himself from the danger is critical." This rule of law is further amplified in State v. Brown, 414 So.2d 726 (La.1982) wherein the court stated:

... Although there is not an unqualified duty to retreat the possibility of escape is a recognized factor in determining whether or not a defendant had the reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to avoid the danger ...

See also State v. Stroud, 198 La. 841, 5 So.2d 125 (La.1941)[3] and 5 La.L.Rev. 236.[4]

Thus, in order to have properly stated the law to the jury, the trial court in the instant case would have had to amplify and explain the requested charge to include the critical requirement that the defendant must have reasonably perceived killing or the infliction of great bodily harm as the only reasonable means of extricating himself from the danger. Thus, the charge, as requested by the defendant, does not fulfill the requirements of La.C.Cr.P. Art. 807; therefore, the trial judge was under no duty to accept it.

Furthermore, our review of the record reveals that the jury instructions given, viewed as a whole, adequately stated *836 the law regarding self defense and retreat. The charge on self defense and retreat given in the instant case is virtually identical to that given in State v. Tolbert, 390 So.2d 510 (La.1980), which was quoted with approval by the Supreme Court. A jury charge must be considered as a whole, and a conviction will not be reversed even on the ground of erroneous instruction unless the disputed portion when, viewed in light of the entire charge, is erroneous. See State v. West, 419 So.2d 868 (La.1982). We find no such error in the instant jury charge.

Finding that the trial judge was under no duty to give the requested charge, and that the jury charge as a whole adequately covered the subjects of self-defense and retreat, this assignment of error is without merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2

One week after the rendition of the guilty verdict, the defendant filed a motion for new trial complaining of the introduction of testimony at trial by the State without full compliance with the defendant's motion for discovery and La.C.Cr.P. Art. 716.

Prior to trial in response to the defendant's motion for discovery, the state notified defense counsel of its intent to offer into evidence two oral statements made by the defendant in the presence of police officers the substance of which was given as follows:

The substance of both statements referred to previously made by the defendant are that he was struck with a stick by the complainant [Fulcher] and attacked him [Fulcher] at that time. [Brackets added.]

At trial, one of the officers to whom the defendant made the statements testified as follows:

He [defendant] explained that it was in retaliation for Fulcher hitting him [defendant] with a stick, that they [Fulcher and defendant] had been arguing—excuse me—and that the argument was prompted by jealousy. [Brackets added.]

At the time that this testimony was given at trial, the defendant made no objection.

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Bluebook (online)
431 So. 2d 833, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sanders-lactapp-1983.