State v. Toups

224 So. 3d 990, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 993, 2017 WL 2859661, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1207
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 5, 2017
Docket16-993
StatusPublished

This text of 224 So. 3d 990 (State v. Toups) 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. Toups, 224 So. 3d 990, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 993, 2017 WL 2859661, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1207 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

11 Defendant, Kyle James Toups, was indicted for negligent homicide, a violation of La.R.S. 14:32. After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty-as charged. Defendant was sentenced on July 15, 2016, to two years imprisonment at hard labpr, with credit for time served, and ordered to pay restitution to the victim’s family in the amount of six thousand dollars. Defendant filed a Motion to Reconsider Sentence which was denied without a hearing.

Defendant has perfected a timely appeal wherein he claims that the State did not negate his self-defense claim, thereby failing to prove negligent homicide beyond a reasonable doubt, and that his sentence is excessive. For the following' reasons, we affirm Defendant’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS

After an evening of drinking in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana, Defendant; his brother, Travis Toups (Travis); and Jacob Landry encountered the victim, Luke Michael Darby, on the street just before 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 14, 2012. Travis and the victim bumped into each other and briefly argued before the victim punched Travis in the face. Defendant then took a knife from his pocket and swung toward the victim’s chest. Thereafter, the victim and Defendant fled the scene. On Monday morning, the victim was discovered dead outside a nearby business. An autopsy revealed his cause of death as a single stab wound to the heart.

DISCUSSION

Errors Patent

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed by this court for errors patent on the face of the record. After review, we have found Lone error patent. Defendant was advised that he had “two (2) years within which to file for post-conviction relief.” Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 930.8 (emphasis added) provides that a defendant has “two years after the conviction and sentence become final” to seek post-conviction relief. Because the advisement given to him was insufficient, we direct the trial court to inform Defendant of the provisions of La.Code Crim.P. art. 930.8 by sending written notice to him within ten days of the rendition of this opinion and to file written proof in the record that Defendant received the notice. See State v. Roe, 05-116 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/1/05), 903 So.2d 1265, writ denied, 05-1762 (La. 2/10/06), 924 So.2d 163.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

‘In his first assigned error on appeal, Defendant asserts that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain his conviction for negligent homicide. At trial, Defendant- admitted that he stabbed the -victim, but he claimed that the killing was justified because he was acting in defense of his brother.

Negligent homicide is defined as “[t]he killing of a human being by criminal negligence.” La.R.S. 14:32(A)(1). Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:12 states that: “Grim-[992]*992mal negligence exists when, although neither specific nor general criminal intent is present, there is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender’s conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the. standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances.” A homicide is justifiable “[w]hen committed in self-defense by one who reasonably believes that he is in imminent danger of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm and that the killing is necessary to save himself from that danger.” La.R.S. 14:20(A)(1). In addition, La.R.S. 14:22 provides that “[i]t is justifiable to use force or violence or |sto kill in the defense of another person when it is reasonably apparent that the person attacked could have justifiably used such means himself, and when it is reasonably believed that such intervention is necessary to protect the other person.” When self-defense or defense of another is claimed as a justification for the homicide, the defendant does not bear the burden of proof on that issue; instead, the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense or in the defense of another. See State v. Prudhomme, 02-511, (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/30/02), 829 So.2d 1166, writ denied, 02-3230 (La. 10/10/03), 855 So.2d 324; State v. Addison, 97-1186 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/6/98), 717 So.2d 648, writ denied, 98-938 (La. 9/4/98), 723 So.2d 955.

In State v. Alexander, 04-788, pp. 1-2 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/17/04), 888 So.2d 401, 402 (alteration added), this court stated:

When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, appellate courts are controlled by the standard enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), and must determine “whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact that all of the elements of the crime had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676, 678 (La. 1984).... Therefore, we must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense.

Furthermore, on questions of the sufficiency of the evidence, the appellate court’s function is not to assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh the evidence. State v. Smith, 94-3116 (La. 10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442.

The pertinent evidence presented at the trial of this matter is outlined below. Jared Istre, an officer in the Crimes Against Persons section of the Lafayette Police Department; was the first witness called by the State. Officer Istre testified that on the morning of October 15, 2012, he received a call to investigate a body Ldiscovered in the bushes outside an office on Polk Street. Officer Istre stated that the person who called the police thought the man was sleeping, but upon his arrival at the scene, he realized that the man was dead. According to Officer Istre, it became a homicide investigation after the coroner arrived and lifted the victim’s shirt to reveal a single stab wound to his chest. A driver’s license found in the victim’s wallet identified him as Luke Michael Darby. Police officers then began canvassing the area and were able to follow a blood trail to a parking garage on the corner of Vermilion and Polk Streets. Officer Istre learned that a stabbing had occurred nearby on the corner of Jefferson and Vermilion Streets just prior to the altercation at issue in this appeal and that at least five police officers had responded to that incident. Officer Istre was able to verify that all of the suspects and victims of that incident were accounted for, which ruled out the possibility that Mr. Darby was injured in that first stabbing. During the [993]*993police’s search of the area in conjunction with this incident, an attendant for the parking garage on Vermilion Street informed another police officer that a knife had been found in the garage. The knife was collected and swabbed for DNA analysis.

According to Officer Istre, a tip .was called into the police department indicating that Mr. Landry was a witness to the victim’s stabbing. Mr. Landry was brought in for an interview during which Officer Istre learned that Defendant, a co-worker of Mr. Landry, had stabbed the victim. Thereafter, Mr. Landry and Officer Istre returned to the crime scene where Mr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
State v. Captville
448 So. 2d 676 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1984)
State v. Clark
529 So. 2d 1353 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
State v. Griffin
940 So. 2d 845 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Smith
661 So. 2d 442 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1995)
State v. Whatley
943 So. 2d 601 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Hughes
865 So. 2d 853 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Davis
680 So. 2d 1296 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
State v. Roe
903 So. 2d 1265 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State v. Rogers
966 So. 2d 1212 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Hardeman
467 So. 2d 1163 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
State v. Addison
717 So. 2d 648 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Gregrich
745 So. 2d 694 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Walker
677 So. 2d 532 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1996)
State v. Alexander
888 So. 2d 401 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Brown
414 So. 2d 726 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Brown
640 So. 2d 488 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)
State v. Beverly
867 So. 2d 107 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State in Interest of DS
694 So. 2d 565 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
State v. Prudhomme
829 So. 2d 1166 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
224 So. 3d 990, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 993, 2017 WL 2859661, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-toups-lactapp-2017.