State v. Tidwell

139 So. 3d 1251, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 122, 2014 WL 2515223, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1484
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 4, 2014
DocketNo. 14-122
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 139 So. 3d 1251 (State v. Tidwell) 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. Tidwell, 139 So. 3d 1251, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 122, 2014 WL 2515223, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1484 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

AMY, Judge.

I,The defendant was convicted of obstruction of justice. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and motion for new trial. Thereafter, the State instituted habitual offender proceedings. The defendant was adjudicated a third felony offender, and the trial court imposed sentence of thirty years at hard labor without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. The defendant appeals his conviction. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The State alleged that after the murder of Christina Mayeaux,1 the defendant, Jared J. Tidwell, assisted the perpetrators in tampering with evidence and attempting to cover up the crime scene, most notably by pouring bleach over the victim’s body and the surrounding area. The defendant was subsequently indicted for obstruction of justice, a violation of La.R.S. 14:130.1. A jury unanimously found the defendant guilty of that charge.

Thereafter, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and motion for new trial. Alleging that the defendant was a fourth felony offender, the State instituted habitual offender proceedings. However, the State filed a motion seeking to reduce the habitual offender bill to third felony offender status. The trial court granted that motion and sentenced the defendant to thirty years at hard labor without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.2

| ¿The defendant appeals, asserting that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction.

Discussion

Errors Patent

Pursuant to La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After performing such a review, this court notes no such errors.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

The defendant’s sole assignment of error concerns the sufficiency of the evidence for his conviction for obstruction of justice, a violation of La.R.S. 14:130.1. The defendant frames this assignment within the context of the trial court’s denial of his motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and motion for new trial. However, we note that a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal tests the sufficiency of the evidence. See State v. Westmoreland, 10-1408 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/4/11), 63 So.3d 373, writ denied, 11-1660 (La.1/20/12), 78 So.3d 140.

The review of insufficiency of the evidence claims is well-settled. In State v. Dorsey, 10-216, pp. 42-43 (La.9/7/11), 74 So.3d 603, 633, cert. denied, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1859, 182 L.Ed.2d 658 (2012), the supreme court stated:

When an appellate court reviews a sufficiency of the evidence claim, the [1253]*1253standard applied 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. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676, 678 (La.1984). This standard has been codified by our legislature in Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 821, which provides: “A post verdict judgment of acquittal shall be granted only if the court finds |sthat the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the state, does not reasonably permit a finding of guilty.” When circumstantial evidence is used to prove the commission of the offense, Louisiana Revised Statute § 15:438 mandates, “assuming every fact to be proved that the evidence tends to prove, in order to convict, it must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence.” State v. Neal, 00-0674, p. 9 (La.6/29/01); 796 So.2d 649, 657, cert. denied, 535 U.S. 940, 122 S.Ct. 1323, 152 L.Ed.2d 231 (2002). This is not a separate test that applies instead of a sufficiency of the evidence test when circumstantial evidence forms the basis of the conviction. State v. Cummings, 95-1377, p. 4 (La.2/28/96); 668 So.2d 1132, 1134. Rather, all of the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, must be sufficient under Jackson to convince a rational juror the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not the function of the appellate court to assess credibility or reweigh the evidence. Id.

The determination of the weight of the evidence is question of fact which rests solely with the trier of fact, and the trier of fact “may accept or reject, in whole or in part, the testimony of any witnesses.” State v. Macon, 06-481, pp. 7-8 (La.6/1/07), 957 So.2d 1280, 1285.

Additionally, where the identity of the perpetrator is the key issue, not whether the crime was committed, the State is required to negate any reasonable probability of misidentification. State v. Neal, 00-674 (La.6/29/01), 796 So.2d 649, cert. denied, 535 U.S. 940, 122 S.Ct. 1323, 152 L.Ed.2d 231 (2002). “[A]s appellate courts will not second-guess the credibility determinations of the fact finder beyond the constitutional standard of sufficiency[,]” a single witness’s testimony, “[i]n the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence,” if accepted by the fact finder, “is sufficient support for a requisite factual conclusion.” Dorsey, 74 So.3d at 634.

The defendant was charged with obstruction of justice, a violation of La.R.S. 14:130.1. That statute, provides, in pertinent part, that:

A. The crime of obstruction of justice is any of the following when committed with the knowledge that such act has, reasonably may, or will affect an actual or potential present, past, or future criminal proceeding as hereinafter described:
(1) Tampering with evidence with the specific intent of distorting the results of any criminal investigation or proceeding | ¿which may reasonably prove relevant to a criminal investigation or proceeding. Tampering with evidence shall include the intentional alteration, movement, removal, or addition of any object or substance either:
(a) At the location of any incident which the perpetrator knows or has good reason to believe will be the subject of any investigation by state, local, or United States law enforcement officers; or
(b) At the location of storage, transfer, or place of review of any such evidence.

[1254]*1254La.R.S. 14:180.1(A). See also State v. Jones, 07-1052 (La.6/3/08), 983 So.2d 95.

In this case, the State’s theory of the case was that the victim, Christina May-eaux, was killed on Saturday, December 3, 2011. According to the State, the primary suspects in Ms. Mayeaux’s murder were Trampus Bernard (the defendant’s uncle), Chad Tidwell (the defendant’s cousin), and their girlfriends, Heather Foster and Kayla Guillot. The State contended that the four primary suspects, along with the defendant, attempted to tamper with the crime scene by pouring bleach on Ms. Mayeaux’s body and the surrounding area.

Mary Normand testified about the discovery of the body of Ms. Mayeaux, who was her daughter. Ms. Mayeaux lived next door to Ms.

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Related

State v. Tidwell
140 So. 3d 894 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
139 So. 3d 1251, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 122, 2014 WL 2515223, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tidwell-lactapp-2014.