State v. Tolliver

753 So. 2d 958, 2000 WL 228919
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 1, 2000
Docket32,859-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 753 So. 2d 958 (State v. Tolliver) 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. Tolliver, 753 So. 2d 958, 2000 WL 228919 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

753 So.2d 958 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Levelle TOLLIVER, Appellant.

No. 32,859-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

March 1, 2000.

*960 Louisiana Appellate Project by J. Wilson Rambo, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Stephen T. Sylvester, Asst. Dist. Atty., Counsel for Appellee.

Before NORRIS, C.J., and BROWN and STEWART, JJ.

STEWART, J.

The state charged the defendant, Levelle Tolliver, with second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. The jury rendered a unanimous verdict of guilty. As such, the trial court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence, challenging the sufficiency of evidence, the excessiveness of the sentence, the failure of the trial court to wait the requisite time frame between the denial of motions for new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal and sentencing, and the dismissal of two jurors who slept during testimony. We hereby affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 21, 1993, at about 3:48 a.m., Todd Crockett of the Monroe City Police *961 Department responded to a call about a shooting that had occurred in front of a residence at 1012 South Third Street. Patrick Johnson, the victim, had been shot in the head. When Crockett arrived at the residence, he saw the victim lying in the driveway near a car, unconscious and bleeding. Crockett noticed that there was blood spatter or brain spatter on the windshield of the car.

Several witnesses were present at the scene when the shooting occurred. Kenneth Franklin stated that he arrived in the area of the shooting a few minutes before the victim was shot. When he arrived, a dice game was just finishing. According to Franklin, a couple of minutes later the victim tried to leave. However, he was prevented from doing so by Charles Sumler and Timothy Shaw, both of whom were armed. Sumler and Shaw each had a gun drawn on the victim. Franklin testified, "... they were-they had guns, but they didn't have no clips in them. They just kept clicking ..." Franklin believed that Sumler and Shaw were trying to rob the victim of his dice game winnings. Suddenly, the defendant left the porch, walked around the car and shot the victim in the back of his head. Franklin was standing just a few feet from the victim when the victim was shot.

Michael Cooper testified that he saw the defendant shoot the victim in the back of the head. Cooper also believed that Shaw and Sumler were trying to rob the victim that night. He heard Sumler tell the victim to "give it up."

Stormy Moore, the defendant's former girlfriend, stated that she was at her house on the night that the victim was shot. When the defendant came to her house, the first thing he said was, "Baby, I shot him." Sometime after the night of the shooting, Moore and the defendant saw something about the victim's death on the news. Moore stated that the defendant responded to the news program by indicating that he did not mean to kill the victim.

Furthermore, Mario Moore, Stormy Moore's sister, who was living with Stormy Moore at the time of the shooting, stated that on Saturday, August 21, early in the morning, Michael Cooper and Timothy Shaw came to her house. In Mario Moore's presence, Shaw and the defendant made several statements concerning the incident in question. Shaw indicated that he was trying to get his money back from the victim. Shaw stated that he had tried to fire his gun, but it just clicked and did not fire. Mario Moore also stated that the defendant said he had shot someone.

Detective William Webb, who was also on duty at the scene of the shooting that night, contacted Willie Edwards and Latora Williams. Edwards and Williams both indicated that they were present when the shooting occurred. Williams informed Webb that the shooter went by the nickname of "Black." Additionally, Williams stated that he thought "Black's" first name was Levelle. Edwards provided very similar information to Webb.

Webb then turned to the police department's master name list which is kept on a computer. The master list revealed only one individual, Levelle Tolliver, with the nickname of "Black" who also had the first name of Levelle. Webb then put together a photographic line-up which contained Tolliver's picture.

Webb showed the photo line-up to six individuals whom he had identified as witnesses. Latora Williams, Willie Edwards, Kenneth Franklin, Charles Sumler, Timothy Shaw, and Michael Cooper all identified the defendant as the individual who shot the victim on the night of the incident.

On September 14, 1993, the defendant, Sumler and Shaw were charged by bill of indictment with second degree murder. The following day the defendant entered a plea of not guilty. On April 20, 1994, the defendant filed a motion to change his plea to add the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity. On May 6, 1994, the defendant filed a motion to stay all proceedings on the basis that he was mentally incapable *962 and requested the appointment of a sanity commission.

In 1997, a hearing was held and the defendant was found mentally competent. The jury trial commenced in October 1998. The defendant was found guilty of second degree murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

DISCUSSION

Insufficiency of Evidence

By his first assignments of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial on the basis that the evidence presented in trial was insufficient to have resulted in a verdict of guilty of the crime of second degree murder. The defendant further contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a post-judgment verdict of acquittal because the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of each element of the crime alleged. The defendant asserts through these assignments of error that the evidence was not sufficient to establish that he was the shooter. In the alternative, he contends that he was so highly intoxicated that he did not have the requisite specific intent necessary to be found guilty of second degree murder.

La.C.Cr.P. art. 851(1) provides that the court shall grant a motion for new trial whenever the verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence, for example, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction. A motion for new trial presents only the issue of the weight of the evidence. Under this article the trial judge has wide discretion to determine the weight of the evidence. The refusal to grant such a motion is not subject to appellate review, except for error of law. State v. Mitchell, 26,070 (La.App.2d Cir.6/22/94), 639 So.2d 391, citing, Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31, 102 S.Ct. 2211, 72 L.Ed.2d 652 (1982); State v. Robinson, 624 So.2d 1260 (La.App. 2d Cir.1993), writ denied, 93-2899 (La.2/11/94), 634 So.2d 372.

La.C.Cr.P. art. 821 provides that a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal shall be granted only if the court finds that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the state, does not reasonably permit a finding of guilty. This is a question of legal sufficiency. State v. Combs, 600 So.2d 751 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992), writ denied, 604 So.2d 973 (La.1992).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
753 So. 2d 958, 2000 WL 228919, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tolliver-lactapp-2000.