State v. Silva

699 So. 2d 487, 1997 WL 559942
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 3, 1997
Docket96-KA-0407
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 699 So. 2d 487 (State v. Silva) 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. Silva, 699 So. 2d 487, 1997 WL 559942 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

699 So.2d 487 (1997)

STATE of Louisiana,
v.
William SILVA.

No. 96-KA-0407.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

September 3, 1997.
Rehearing Denied September 30, 1997.

*488 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Karen Godail Arena, Assistant District Attorney, Parish of Orleans, New Orleans, for appellee.

Dwight Doskey, Orleans Indigent Defender Program, New Orleans, for appellant.

WALTZER, Judge.

The defendant appeals his conviction for first degree murder, committed during the perpetration of aggravated rape, and/or an armed robbery, and/or an aggravated burglary. After careful review of the record, the memoranda of counsel, we affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The defendant was charged by grand jury indictment with the first degree murder of Deborah Correge, the murder having been committed during the perpetration of aggravated rape, and/or an armed robbery, and/or an aggravated burglary. On 20 July 1994 he entered a plea of not guilty. On 19 September 1994 he changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. On 18 October 1994 a hearing was held to determine whether the defendant was competent to proceed. At the hearing Dr. Sarah Deland testified that the defendant was competent to proceed. The prosecution and the defense stipulated that if Dr. Richoux, the other member of the psychiatric team were called to testify, he would agree in all respects with the findings of Dr. Deland. The trial court found that the defendant was competent to proceed.

After a three day trial, a twelve member jury found him guilty as charged. The next day, the jury was unable to reach a conclusion that the defendant should be put to death. Consequently, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. After the defense filed a brief initially and after the State responded thereto, the defense filed a supplemental brief regarding a supplemental assignment of error. We ordered that the record be supplemented with the transcript of the sanity hearing held on 18 October 1994.

FACTS

On 15 August 1993, the victim's boyfriend, Richard Sharpe, found her dead in her apartment at 3316 DeSoto Street. She had been severely beaten and strangled and had been dead for several days. Her night shirt had been pulled above her waist. However, there was no trauma to her vagina, and no seminal fluid was discovered. Although the house was not ransacked, the house was not as neat as the victim usually kept it. Valuables had been left intact. However, one of three rings the victim wore had been removed, and a watch was missing. Initially, Sharpe was a suspect in the crime, but he was absolved.

On 24 May 1994, a group of the defendant's friends went to police headquarters and reported that several nights earlier when they were with the defendant at a bar drinking, the defendant told them he had killed the victim, who had been his next door neighbor. He said that he had gone to her house to help her with her air conditioner, that she had bent over and he had seen her buttocks. He became aroused and started to have sex with her. Whether or not she had given her consent was not clear. During sex, he went "crazy" and began beating the victim in the face numerous times with brass knuckles. *489 He burned his clothes in a smoker at his girlfriend's house.

The victim's face had indentations in the pattern of brass knuckles. Several witnesses testified that the defendant had owned a pair of brass knuckles.

When the defendant was arrested, he immediately confessed after having been given his Miranda rights.

Remnants of clothes were discovered in the smoker. The defendant's friend, Ryan Liner, testified that the defendant had given him the watch and the ring. He, in turn, had given the watch to his girlfriend, and pawned the ring. The watch was identified as the victim's at trial.

The defendant testified at trial, and said that he had killed the victim, but he did not give a reason. He said he could not remember the details of the event.

A psychologist, Mark Zimmerman, testified at trial that he conducted psychological tests at the request of Mulry Tetlow, Ph.D., also a psychologist. The tests revealed brain dysfunction. The defendant's IQ was low, although he was not retarded.

A psychiatrist, Dr. John Thompson, testified he reviewed the following documents: witnesses' statements, the defendant's statement, the screener's report, the autopsy protocol and supplemental police report, the Orleans Department of Criminal Investigation Homicide Unit statement, the New Orleans Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau report, and the statements of the defendant's friends. Additionally, he met with the defendant. Dr. Thompson testified that the defendant exhibited signs of depression which were not unusual given his situation. However, there were no signs that the defendant suffered from mental disease that would have prevented him from being able to tell the difference between right and wrong at the time he committed the offense. He said that the defendant did not suffer from schizophrenia or manic depression. He examined a report by Dr. Tetlow, which had concluded that the defendant had some schizoid features, but he opined that the features did not meet the diagnostic criteria that would establish schizophrenia.

Dr. Tetlow testified for the defense that he ran a battery of tests on the defendant, and had reviewed a report by Dr. Thompson. Dr. Tetlow said that the defendant had an IQ just above that of a person who suffers from mental retardation. The IQ test alone could not be used to determine the level of the defendant's mental functioning. Other tests revealed that the defendant suffers from a schizophrenic process, although he was reluctant to diagnose him as suffering from schizophrenia. He said the defendant was likely functioning in a "fugue state" at the time of the murder, since he could not remember the details of the events later. He testified that at the time the crimes were committed, in his opinion, the defendant did not know right from wrong, specifically he stated that he thought the defendant "was out of his mind".

ERRORS PATENT

We have examined the record for errors patent and find none.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR ONE

During the cross-examination of Dr. Tetlow, the State asked him whether he was aware of all the facts of the case, in an attempt to challenge his opinion and show Dr. Thompson to be better informed. The State asked him how long he had spent examining the defendant before he reached his conclusion, to which he responded a total of fifteen to twenty hours. The State also asked him if he knew the defendant had been prescribed an anti-depressant medication, to which he responded that he did. The State asked whether he had read the police report, and Dr. Tetlow responded that he had read the initial report, but not the supplemental one. He said he had read Dr. Thompson's report, in which he quoted "various sources". He had spoken to members of the defendant's family, but not to witnesses. He knew that the defendant had confessed to two friends, but he did not speak to them. The State then asked how, when Dr. Tetlow had no "knowledge of what went on before the murder, the time of the murder and the description of the murder", he could determine that the defendant did not know right from wrong at the time he committed the *490 murder.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
699 So. 2d 487, 1997 WL 559942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-silva-lactapp-1997.