State v. Stewart

902 So. 2d 440, 2005 WL 954642
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 26, 2005
Docket04-KA-1231
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 902 So. 2d 440 (State v. Stewart) 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. Stewart, 902 So. 2d 440, 2005 WL 954642 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

902 So.2d 440 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Vincent T. STEWART.

No. 04-KA-1231.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 26, 2005.

*442 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Andrea F. Long, Vincent Paciera, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Prentice L. White, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Vincent T. Stewart, Angola, Louisiana, in Proper Person.

Panel composed of Judges JAMES L. CANNELLA, THOMAS F. DALEY, and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

The Defendant, Vincent Stewart, appeals from his guilty plea to manslaughter and sentence of 15 years imprisonment at hard labor. For the reasons which follow we affirm and remand.

On January 31, 2002, the Defendant was charged by grand jury indictment with second degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. On March 14, 2002, the Defendant entered a plea of not guilty. Thereafter, the Defendant filed two separate Motions to Suppress, one relative to incriminating statements and the other relative to identification. Following hearings on both motions, they were denied. The Defendant then withdrew his previous "not guilty" plea and entered a guilty plea under State v. Crosby,[1] to the offense of *443 manslaughter, La R.S. 14:31. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to 15 years imprisonment at hard labor. It is from this guilty plea conviction and sentence that the Defendant appeals. On appeal the Defendant presents five assignments of error, one counseled and four pro se.

COUNSELED ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE AND PRO SE NUMBERS ONE AND TWO.

By these assignments of error the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the statements that he made following his arrest. He argues that the State did not meet its burden of proving that his statements were knowing and voluntary when they were made, after he was subjected to nine hours of interrogation without the benefit of sleep.

The Defendant in his pro se brief argues that the State failed to demonstrate that he understood his rights at the time the third statement was given and that his waiver of rights prior to those statements was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. He also argues that the State failed to prove that he waived his rights to be interrogated regarding aggravated burglary as well as murder. The State responds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress statements.

Sergeant Dennis Thornton of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (JPSO) testified at the hearing on the motion to suppress that the Defendant was picked up on outstanding attachments and brought to the detective bureau for questioning. He advised the Defendant that he was under investigation for murder and read the Defendant his rights using the JPSO rights of arrestee form.

The Defendant initialed each line of the form and signed it indicating that he understood his rights and was waiving them. He stated that he could read and write and had an eleventh grade education. The form was completed and signed on December 2, 2001 at 5:55 p.m. The first taped statement began at 6:05 p.m. and ended at approximately 6:25 p.m.

Sergeant Thornton testified that it appeared to him that the Defendant understood his rights, and that no one to his knowledge used any force, coercion, or intimidation, or made any promises in order to get the Defendant to waive his rights. He further indicated that, at no time during the questioning, did the Defendant state that he wished to stop speaking with him or that he wanted a lawyer.

In his first statement, the Defendant said that he picked up his friend, Titus White (White), the victim, at 11:00 p.m. at his house on Hooter Road. They rode around and went to clubs and he dropped off White at the EZ Serve near Hooter Road and Bridge City Avenue at approximately 2:30 or 3:00 a.m., where White was supposed to meet "Stacy." The Defendant stated that he did not have anything to do with White's death, that he was not near the location when White was killed, and that he did not know who killed White. He said that he was telling the truth and would take a polygraph.

Sergeant Thornton spoke to the Defendant again at approximately 6:35 p.m. on December 2, 2001, ten minutes after the first statement ended, and took a second taped statement from the Defendant. The second statement began at 6:35 p.m. and ended at 6:56 p.m. Sergeant Thornton testified that, although no additional waiver of rights form was executed, the Defendant indicated that he was going to give the second statement of his own free will based on the first form that was used.

In the Defendant's second statement, he said that, at approximately 2:30 to 3:00 a.m., he took White and "Leroy" to Jamie *444 Street in Avondale where they got out of the vehicle. White told the Defendant that he was going to Stacy's house and that it was alright if the Defendant left, so he did. The Defendant explained that he had a "bad feeling" when Leroy got out of the vehicle with White.

Sergeant Thornton took a third statement from the Defendant on December 3, 2001. Detective David Morales was present for that statement. The third statement began at approximately 1:15 a.m., approximately six hours after the second statement ended, and ended at 1:34 a.m. The Defendant remained in the interview room during the time between the second and third statements.

Sergeant Thornton explained that, during that time, the officers were verifying the Defendant's story, checking into information that the Defendant supplied in the first two statements, following up on leads, and performing other aspects of the investigation. He testified that, although the Defendant remained in the interview room during the time from the first statement through the third statement, he was allowed to use the restroom and get something to eat and drink.

In the Defendant's third statement, the Defendant stated that he and White met Leroy at a sports bar in Westwego. The Defendant said that they then went to White's house, and that White went inside his house and came out with a duffel bag containing latex gloves, a revolver, a ski mask, and some tape. After that, they went down the street, and White told Leroy to go check behind the house. When Leroy returned he had a shotgun.

The Defendant drove them to Jamie Street in Avondale and parked. Leroy and White put on the masks and gloves and jumped out of the vehicle with their guns. The Defendant stated that White told him he was going to a house because he had heard there was money and drugs inside. It was the Defendant's feeling that they were going to kill somebody.

Three minutes later, the Defendant saw Leroy run from the house dragging White's body. Leroy left White's body in the street and got into the vehicle. Leroy told the Defendant that he accidentally shot White because he thought White was a resident of the house. The Defendant wanted to get White's body, but Leroy told him to take him to Marrero or he would kill him. The Defendant brought Leroy to a house, saw Leroy go inside, and then left.

Detective Morales testified that on December 3, 2001 at approximately 3:30 p.m. he advised the Defendant of his rights using the JPSO rights of arrestee form, but that a statement was not taken from him at that time. The Defendant took a polygraph test on that day as well, which he did not pass.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
902 So. 2d 440, 2005 WL 954642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stewart-lactapp-2005.