State v. Stirgus

917 So. 2d 559, 2005 WL 3178926
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 29, 2005
Docket05-KA-259
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 917 So. 2d 559 (State v. Stirgus) 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. Stirgus, 917 So. 2d 559, 2005 WL 3178926 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

917 So.2d 559 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Stanley J. STIRGUS.

No. 05-KA-259.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

November 29, 2005.

*560 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Thomas J. Butler, Donald A. Rowan, Jr., Cameron M. Mary, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Attorney at Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges MARION F. EDWARDS, SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

On October 11, 2001, defendant, Stanley J. Stirgus, was charged by indictment with second degree murder, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1.[1] He pled not guilty on October 18, 2001. On January 28, 2002, the indictment was amended to charge defendant with attempted armed robbery, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:27:64. Defendant withdrew his former not guilty plea, pled guilty to the amended charge and entered into a plea agreement with the State.[2] On March 7, 2002, the State filed a motion to vacate defendant's guilty plea, asserting *561 that defendant failed to comply with the plea agreement, because he did not testify truthfully at a motion to suppress hearing on February 27, 2002. In April 2002, the trial court set aside the plea agreement and granted the State the right to reamend the indictment to charge defendant with second degree murder. On April 15, 2002, defendant sought review of this ruling, but his writ application was denied by this Court on May 28, 2002.

Another indictment was filed on May 6, 2002, charging defendant, Clayton Weaver, and Peter Lewis with second degree murder. On August 11, 2003, a final indictment was filed, adding Sarah Harris as a co-defendant as well.[3]

Defendant proceeded to trial on December 8, 2003, and a jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on December 11, 2003. On January 7, 2004, defendant's motion for new trial was granted and his motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal was denied. The State sought review of the trial court's ruling granting defendant's motion for new trial and on February 20, 2004, this Court reversed the trial court's ruling. Thereafter, a writ was denied by the Louisiana Supreme Court on October 1, 2004.[4]

Defendant was sentenced on November 17, 2004 to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. This appeal follows.

FACTS

In the early morning hours of September 14, 2001 at 324 Ruby Street, Apartment B, Ralph Sterling, also known as "Big Man," died as a result of a gunshot wound to his chest. At the time of this homicide, Brandon Harris, Sarah Harris (Brandon's sister), Shirley Johnson, Shirley's two nephews and her niece were in the apartment.[5]

At trial, Shirley Johnson testified that on the morning of the incident, her nephew heard knocking, so she went to see who was at the door. When she got downstairs, the three perpetrators, whom she recognized as defendant, Peter Lewis and Clayton Weaver, were already in the apartment. Shirley knew defendant prior to the incident and had talked to him before. She also knew Lewis from living across the street. Lewis and Weaver were armed with guns, and Weaver grabbed her leg while Lewis put a gun to her head as she screamed. Defendant, who was unarmed, went upstairs in a room with Shirley, who was sixteen at the time, and her nephews and niece. Defendant gave her a towel to wipe her face and said not to worry, because things would be okay. Weaver and Lewis went into the room where Sarah and Big Man were sleeping. Subsequently, Shirley heard six or seven gunshots.

When the police arrived at the scene, Shirley told a detective that defendant was one of the perpetrators.[6] She provided defendant's first name and a description of the other two perpetrators. Thereafter, on this same day, Shirley identified defendant in a photographic lineup. On the following day, she identified Weaver and Lewis from photographic lineups.

*562 Brandon testified that on the morning of the incident, he was asleep on the sofa at the apartment. He awoke and heard Shirley screaming for Sarah and Big Man. One of the perpetrators walked by the sofa and tried to hide his face with his right arm. After he heard Sarah screaming upstairs and the victim say "I'm going to give it to you," Brandon ran to his sister's house down the street to call the police. From his sister's house, he heard gunshots.

Brandon only saw one perpetrator. Although he did not see his face, he was about two to three feet away from him, and he observed a tattoo of letters on his right arm. Brandon was able to describe the tattoo to Detective Clogher, and he later identified the tattoo in a photograph as the same one he saw on the arm of the perpetrator that night. In addition, he knew the person with the tattoo from the neighborhood, having seen him a few times before, and he identified defendant as that person. At trial, Brandon recognized the photographic lineup from which he identified defendant on September 14, 2001, and stated that he was sure that defendant was the person he saw in the apartment that night.

Defendant's father, a New Orleans Police Officer, brought defendant into the Detective Bureau on September 16, 2001. At the time, defendant was sixteen years old. Defendant gave five taped statements on this day, which were transcribed. These statements were played for the jury at trial.

Defendant's first statement was exculpatory and provided information as to where he purportedly was at the time of the incident. In this statement, defendant claimed he did not know the victim.

In his second statement, defendant admitted that he was in the apartment when the victim was shot, but that he remained downstairs. He stated that he thought they were just going to visit the victim. He admitted that he knew that the other two were armed with what looked like a machinegun and a nine millimeter, but he stated that he did not have a gun. He heard more than two gunshots and left.

In defendant's third statement, he noted that he had just been shown a lineup and he identified "Dough Boy" as the person who was in the apartment armed with a machinegun.[7] He then stated that he was shown a second lineup in which he identified someone he called "Red" who was in the apartment armed with a nine millimeter.[8]

Defendant admitted in his fourth statement that he went upstairs, but he was in another room with Shirley and the children. He stated that he ran after he heard the gunshots.

In defendant's fifth statement, he claimed that a few days before the incident, Dough Boy was talking about a "lick" (strong arm or robbery) of a man with five or six keys (kilos of dope) and twenty two thousand dollars. Dough Boy stated that he needed help and he heard Big Man's name mentioned. Defendant was later told that if he watched someone, he would get four quarters (dope). Defendant admitted that he knew they were armed that night and he was told to go in the room to watch Shirley and the children. He realized what was going on once they threw open the door, heard a couple of things and then heard gunshots. He claimed that he did not realize there was going to be a murder, but he knew there would be a strong arm for dope and/or money.

*563 At trial, defendant testified that he was not at the apartment at the time of the incident.

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Related

State v. Jones
33 So. 3d 306 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
917 So. 2d 559, 2005 WL 3178926, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stirgus-lactapp-2005.