State v. Trahan

246 So. 3d 585
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 2, 2018
Docket17–1060
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 246 So. 3d 585 (State v. Trahan) 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. Trahan, 246 So. 3d 585 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

SAUNDERS, Judge.

*586On May 27, 2015, Defendant, Dillion Wade Trahan aka Dillon Wade, was charged by bill of indictment with the January 28, 2015 second degree murder of Silas Tate, in violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1. On September 7, 2017, a jury found Defendant guilty as charged. On September 14, 2017, Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, as required by La.R.S. 14:30.1.

Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence, raising a single assignment of error: the evidence introduced at trial is insufficient to support his conviction for second degree murder.

FACTS:

Staff Sergeant Michael Hiatt of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office testified that he was a detective in the "crimes against persons unit" at the time Silas Tate was killed. Sergeant Hiatt testified he was the on-call detective and was called out with information that someone had been shot and there were witnesses and officers on the scene. He stated that when he arrived at the scene Anthony Savoy and Charlotte Broussard were attempting to transport Silas Tate to the hospital; Kelsey Trahan, Dylan Guidry, and Steve Trahan, Jr. were in Steve Trahan, Jr.'s home; and Steve Trahan, Sr. and Heather Trahan were in their home. Anthony, Charlotte, Steve Trahan Sr., and Steve Trahan Jr., live in trailer homes near one another.

Sergeant Hiatt stated that Charlotte Broussard advised him that she had given Anthony Savoy permission to use a trailer located on the Trahans' property, and that in the process of retrieving the trailer Anthony knocked down the Trahan's gate, which resulted in an altercation in front of Anthony's trailer between her, Anthony Savoy, Silas Tate, Steve Trahan Sr., Steve Trahan, Jr., Dylan Guidry, and Defendant, during which time Heather Trahan made two 9-1-1 calls. Sergeant Hiatt testified that Charlotte advised him that at onset of the altercation Steve Sr. was chasing her with a knife, then he began chasing Silas with it, that she heard gun shots, and saw Silas fall. Initially Charlotte said the shots came from where Dylan Guidry was standing, but later said that the shots came from where Defendant was standing. She also stated that when Silas went down, Steve Sr., Steve Jr., and Dylan Guidry were all in front of her and none of them had a gun.

The others involved in the altercation were also interviewed. However, the statements given by those witnesses were either evasive, inconsistent, or later recanted.

Sergeant Hiatt testified that Kelsey and Dylan's stories changed over time. Initially they both stated that they were inside *587their home when the altercation occurred, had not seen anything, and neither recalled seeing Defendant that night. Later Kelsey stated that Defendant could have been there, although she was not certain. Whereas, Dylan later stated that both he and Kelsey had seen Dillion that night.

Sergeant Hiatt testified he believed that the Trahan family was trying to cover up Dillion's involvement:

During my interviews with the family, it was a lot of trying to cover up where Dillion was. He wasn't there. Then, some said he was there. Then, some said they never saw him. Some said he was camping. And so it was a bunch of misdirection from the family during the interviews.

Steve Trahan, Sr.'s story changed repeatedly. Initially he stated that during the altercation he was inside his home waiting on law enforcement, then he stated that his involvement consisted of yelling at Anthony from across the yard, then he stated that he was at Anthony's during the altercation. He also stated that he was unsure if Defendant was there, but subsequently stated that he had told Defendant not to go to Anthony's. Finally, he stated "he fucked up", meaning Defendant.

Heather Trahan, Defendant's mother, initially claimed that none of her family had gone to Anthony's, but the State introduced recordings of her 9-1-1-calls that disprove that. In her initial 9-1-1 call regarding Anthony taking the trailer, Heather tells law enforcement they needed to hurry up and get there before "somebody is gonna really get badly hurt." She also states that there are four vehicles at Anthony's: Anthony's truck, Charlotte's car, a black SUV, and a grey car, but that she does not know to whom the last two vehicles belong. In her follow up call to 9-1-1 Heather repeatedly stops speaking to the dispatcher so that she can yell at people at the scene, at some point yelling at "Dillion" to quit and at other times yelling at both "Dillion" and "Steve" to "get back here." After the 9-1-1 calls were played so that Heather could hear herself screaming at her sons, Defendant and Steve Jr., she admitted people went to Anthony's but still claimed Defendant was not there; rather, she was screaming at Dylan Guidry. She later admitted it may have been Defendant, as Dylan Guidry had never gone down to Anthony's.

Steve Jr., Defendant's brother, denied that he shot Silas and began to cry when asked whether Defendant had shot Silas. He did, however, place Defendant at the scene.

The Defendant and his girlfriend Courtney, were located the following morning at Courtney's mother's house. Initially Courtney stated that neither she nor Defendant were present when Silas was shot. Later she admitted that Defendant had dropped her off at her mother's house for a while.

Lieutenant Drew Leblanc with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office interviewed Dylan Guidry, who stated that he saw Dillion Trahan shoot Silas Tate. Dylan Guidry's statement was consistent with Charlotte's. He stated that during the altercation he saw Dillion Trahan break from the group, go down the fence line, get into his vehicle, pull down the street, stop his vehicle, step outside of it, take a shooter's stance, fire two rounds in the direction of Anthony's trailer, scream for his girlfriend to get in the car, and flee the scene.

Detective Leblanc testified Defendant became a suspect based on the consistent stories given by Charlotte Broussard and Dylan Guidry. Furthermore, according to the witnesses, the only person with a firearm that night was Defendant. The pathologist ruled out suicide; therefore, Silas *588Tate could not have possessed the gun that shot him. As a result, there was sufficient evidence to charge Defendant with the second-degree murder of Silas Tate.

Dr. Christoper Tape, a forensic pathologist, testified that the decedent's body had a gunshot wound in front of the external ear and right above the ear canal on the temple. Furthermore, there was no strippling that means it was not a close shot. Dr. Tape's testimony corroborates the testimony of Dylan Guidry who stated that Dillion Trahan shot Silas Tate and that Tate was shot in the head.

On September 7, 2017, a jury found Defendant guilty as charged. On September 14, 2017, Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, as required by La.R.S. 14:30.1. On December 11, 2017, Defendant appealed his conviction.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR:

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Related

State v. Dorsey
260 So. 3d 616 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)

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Bluebook (online)
246 So. 3d 585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-trahan-lactapp-2018.