State v. Turner

91 So. 3d 426, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 870, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 410, 2012 WL 1020765
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 27, 2012·No. No. 11-KA-870·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

li>On May 18, 2010, a Jefferson Parish grand jury indicted Jeremy Turner and two co-defendants with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, in violation of La. R.S. 14:26:64, and second degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1, of Cletis Jessie, Jr. (hereinafter “the victim”).1 Defendant pled not guilty to the charges at arraignment.

On May 10, 2011, the four-day trial commenced. On May 13, 2011, a twelve-person jury unanimously found defendant guilty as charged as to both counts. On May 18, 2011, defendant was sentenced to consecutive terms of 40 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for second degree murder.

Facts

On Saturday night, January 2, 2010, Jeremy Turner, Roddrick Petty, and Danarius Meredith were riding in Turner’s Lincoln Towncar on Center Street in | .¡Avondale, Louisiana. According to Turner, his car broke down so he called the victim for help. Within minutes of the victim’s arrival in his white Ford Thunderbird, the victim was shot twice in the face from one to three feet away.2

[429]*429As the victim lay on the ground, Petty, at Meredith’s instruction, drove away in the victim’s car. According to Turner, Meredith forced him to drive away and take him to a residential neighborhood in Marrero.

Around the same time, Curtis Webber was sitting in his car in his driveway on Avondale Garden Road when he saw a Lincoln Continental parked on Center Street, which is the street behind his house. Suspecting that the vehicle might be dumping trash, he backed out of the driveway, drove around to the vehicle, and confronted the driver of the vehicle. When the driver informed Webber that he was “waiting for a jump,” Webber returned to his driveway.

Almost immediately after he returned to his driveway, he observed a white vehicle pull nose-to-nose with the Lincoln. Web-ber saw a man exit that vehicle. Within a minute, Webber heard two gunshots. When he looked up, he saw both vehicles drive away. After consulting with his wife, Webber dialed 911 and reported the shooting. A recording of that call was played for the jury.

When JPSO responded, officers found the victim’s body. Detective Beavers of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office (“JPSO”) discovered the victim’s cellular telephone at the scene and notified the victim’s parents of his death.3

That afternoon, a neighbor informed the victim’s father, Cletis Jessie, Sr. (hereinafter “Jessie, Sr.”), that his son’s car was parked in the woods off of Sauvage Road. Jessie, Sr. notified Detective Beavers of the car’s location. That |4evening, JPSO personnel recovered the victim’s vehicle, a white Thunderbird, in the location they had been directed to, a wooded area in the rear of Orleans Village subdivision.

Detective Beavers of JPSO testified that stolen vehicles were often stripped and discarded in that area, and it appeared that thieves had attempted to “strip the victim’s vehicle.” The windows were down, one of the doors was open, most of the wheels’ lug nuts were removed, and other items from the vehicle were strewn on the ground around the car. The wheels’ rims were damaged, which demonstrated a significant effort to remove the rims and tires. The thieves were unable to remove the rims and tires because they could not locate the special key needed to remove the last lug nut from each wheel. Likewise, there was a wire hanging from the audio equipment in the trunk indicating an unsuccessful effort to remove that equipment. A cloth glove was recovered from the ground next to the car.4 The murder weapon was never recovered.

At trial, defendant testified on his own behalf. He stated that the victim was his best friend and he knew the Jessie family well. On the day of the incident, defen[430]*430dant was on his way to pick up money from his mother’s house on Senate Street, when he stopped off to see his friend that lived on Center Street. While on his way to his friend, defendant encountered Meredith and Petty, who asked for a ride to Deacon Street. Defendant agreed and continued on to Center Street, where his car broke down and he called the victim for assistance. During the drive, defendant noticed that Meredith had a gun in his possession.

Once the victim arrived in his white Thunderbird, defendant immediately began attaching the jumper cables to the car batteries, and the victim asked him to | ¡¡assist with a loose wire on his amplifier and to adjust the sound on either the bass or high knob, which required two people. At that point, defendant’s car started and Meredith exited the vehicle and began speaking with the victim.

While the defendant was removing the jumper cables from the vehicles, the conversation got louder and defendant heard the victim call for his help. Defendant looked up and saw Meredith pointing a gun at the victim. Defendant told Meredith to “chill out” three times, then Meredith shot the victim.

Next, Petty entered the victim’s vehicle and Meredith entered the defendant’s vehicle and forced him to drive him to Lin-colnshire, threatening his family along the way. Defendant testified that the victim’s car had custom rims that required a lug nut key for removal; however, he could have removed the rims because he knew the key was located in the glove compartment. Later, defendant called the victim because he wanted to make sure he was alive, but he did not call the police because he was afraid.

The day after the shooting, defendant also called John Ray, Meredith’s brother, on a landline phone, who instructed him not to say anything. Defendant changed his alternator that night to make sure he did not break down again after what he had experienced; however, his car broke down again because the problem was the battery. Defendant agreed that while he was changing his alternator, the victim was lying dead on Center Street, and although he called, he never returned to the scene to check on the victim, his best friend.

On cross-examination, defendant admitted that Meredith had a reputation for shooting people, yet he still gave him a ride because it was his friend’s younger brother. He also allowed him to stay in the vehicle after he brandished a gun. Defendant stated that he made 17 phone calls to Meredith’s brother just after the murder, but never spoke to Meredith. Defendant also stated that he believed the | ¿victim had a pair of gloves like the one found near the victim’s vehicle, but they were not his gloves. Defendant declared that he would wear gloves to help the victim change his tires so it would be possible that his DNA was on the gloves if they were the victim’s gloves.

After hearing the testimony and evidence, the twelve-person jury unanimously found defendant guilty as charged of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and second degree murder. This appeal follows.

Law and analysis

On appeal, defendant raises three assignments of error: first, there was insufficient evidence to support Jeremy Turner’s convictions for second degree murder, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery; second, the trial court erred in removing a prospective juror, over the objection of defense counsel, without making a proper inquiry into whether he should have been disqualified from serving, which violated Mr.

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

State v. Turner, 91 So. 3d 426, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 870, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 410, 2012 WL 1020765 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

91 So. 3d 426 (State v. Turner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State of Louisiana v. James Lee Burks, III
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013
State v. Thompson
106 So. 3d 1102 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Petty
103 So. 3d 616 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)