State v. Steward

969 So. 2d 804
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 14, 2007
Docket42,643-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 969 So. 2d 804 (State v. Steward) 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. Steward, 969 So. 2d 804 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

969 So.2d 804 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee
v.
Alvin J. STEWARD, Appellant.

No. 42,643-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

November 14, 2007.

*806 Louisiana Appellate Project by Annette Roach, for Appellant.

Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Lea Hall, John Ford McWilliams, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before STEWART, CARAWAY & PEATROSS, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

Defendant, Alvin J. Steward, was convicted by a jury of aggravated battery and was sentenced to five years of imprisonment at hard labor. Defendant now appeals. For the reasons stated herein, the conviction and sentence of Defendant are affirmed.

FACTS

On April 3, 2006, Defendant and Kimberly Jasmin, who was Defendant's live-in girlfriend at the time, went to wash some clothes at the home of Defendant's grandmother, Doris Jones (hereinafter referred to as "Doris"), which is located on Freddie Street in Shreveport. Defendant's father, Alvin Jones (hereinafter referred to as "Jones"), also lived at the residence. According to Ms. Jasmin, she and Defendant had been at the home approximately 20 to 30 minutes when a confrontation and/or argument began between Defendant and Jones. Defendant exited the house, followed by Jones, and retrieved a shotgun from the trunk of his and Ms. Jasmin's car. The two men stood "face to face" and continued arguing. Ms. Jasmin, who had gotten into the back seat of the car, heard the gun go off, but did not see the shooting because Defendant was standing between her and Jones. Jones was shot in the back of the middle part of his right leg. Defendant and Ms. Jasmin then left the scene in their car. Defendant was later arrested when police arrived at the home of Ms. Jasmin's mother, as he was attempting to flee the home through the back door. Ms. Jasmin's relationship with Defendant ended in August and Ms. Jasmin moved back into her mother's home at that time.

Defendant was subsequently charged by bill of information with aggravated battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:34. At trial, Ms. Jasmin testified to the facts set forth hereinabove. In addition, Jones and Doris had related the circumstances of the incident to police officers on the evening the shooting occurred. At trial, however, Jones refused to admit that he gave a statement to police and was adamant in his testimony that the shooting was an accident. Jones asserted that he only told the police at the scene that he had been shot and did not want to press charges. When asked if the police interviewed him at the hospital, he emphatically responded that they did not. The district attorney impeached Jones with the substance of his statement contained in Officer Julian Anderson's narrative supplement of a police report in which the officer recorded that Jones had acknowledged that he and Defendant had had an argument about an hour prior to the shooting and that he had told Defendant "you know you can't whip me so what are you going to do, shoot me?" In his testimony, however, Jones maintained that he did not say what was contained in the report. He testified that he had shown Defendant a shotgun he had recently purchased and that Defendant put it in the trunk of his car to take it somewhere to try it out. Jones also testified *807 that the gun accidently went off when it hit the bumper as Defendant was taking it out of the trunk of the car. He further asserted that, after he had been shot in the leg, he directed Defendant to leave the scene.

Doris, Defendant's grandmother, testified that she was trying to sleep when she heard the gunshot. She admitted talking to officers on the evening of the shooting, but said she was in shock and "told the police something." When impeached with the substance of her statement contained in Officer Anderson's narrative supplement of the police report, Doris denied telling the officers that Defendant and Jones were arguing about a lawn mower when Defendant said he would kill Jones, then got a gun out of his vehicle and shot Jones in the leg.

Officer Anderson testified that he interviewed Doris at the scene and she stated that Defendant and Jones were arguing over a lawn mower. Doris said that Jones warned Defendant that he would be whipped if he did not stop being disrespectful in front of his grandmother. Defendant replied that if Jones did, he would kill him. According to Officer Anderson, Doris stated that Defendant then went to the vehicle, pulled out a shotgun and shot Jones. Officer Anderson further testified that, when he spoke with Jones at the scene, Jones said he had been shot in the leg by Defendant. Officer Anderson observed that Jones was in a lot of pain and was not able to give a full statement on the scene. Officer Anderson further identified the Winchester .12-gauge double-aught buckshot casing recovered from the scene.

Detective Lane Smith testified that he also interviewed Doris at the crime scene. Her account of what transpired was basically the same as that related by Officer Anderson. Detective Smith further testified that he spoke with Jones at the hospital, at which time Jones confirmed that he and Defendant had been arguing. Jones said that he approached Defendant, a statement was made that he could not whip him and Jones said, "So what are you going to do, shoot me?" At this point, Jones related to Detective Smith that he turned away and Defendant shot him in the leg. Nothing Jones said to Detective Smith on that evening indicated that the shooting was an accident. Within two weeks of Defendant's arrest, Detective Smith received a phone call from Jones, who strongly urged that he did not want to pursue the matter and did not want Defendant to go to jail over the shooting because it was accidental.

Defendant testified at trial, basically claiming that the shooting was an accident. He explained that his argument with Jones had ended earlier and the gun accidentally fired when he was handing Jones the gun. Defendant further testified that Jones directed him to leave, and he was not aware of the warrant for his arrest until a day or two prior to his arrest.

As previously stated, a six-person jury found Defendant guilty as charged. Defendant filed a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, which was denied by the trial court, and Defendant was sentenced to serve five years of imprisonment at hard labor, with credit for time served. Defendant's timely-filed motion to reconsider sentence was denied by the trial court without a hearing. A motion for out-of-time appeal was granted.

DISCUSSION

Assignment of Error Number One (verbatim): The evidence introduced at the trial of this case when viewed under the Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) standard, was insufficient to prove all of the elements of the offense of aggravated battery beyond a reasonable doubt.

*808 Defendant admits that he shot Jones, but argues that the State failed to prove that he had the necessary criminal intent to support the conviction. The question of sufficiency of evidence is properly raised by a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. State v. Howard, 31,807 (La. App.2d Cir.8/18/99), 746 So.2d 49, writ denied, 99-2960 (La.5/5/00), 760 So.2d 1190.

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v.

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Bluebook (online)
969 So. 2d 804, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-steward-lactapp-2007.