State v. Veal

116 So. 3d 779, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 0712, 2013 WL 1839308, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 870
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 1, 2013
DocketNo. 2012-KA-0712
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 116 So. 3d 779 (State v. Veal) 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. Veal, 116 So. 3d 779, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 0712, 2013 WL 1839308, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 870 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

JAMES F. McKAY, III, Chief Judge.

| Jonathan Veal and Tyrone Bienemy appeal their convictions and sentences for manslaughter. Both of the defendants assert that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were the perpetrators of the killing. In addition, Tyrone Bienemy contends that his sentence as a second felony offender is excessive. Because neither of these assignments has merit, the defendants’ convictions and sentences are affirmed.

STATEMENT OF CASE

The grand jury indicted Jonathan Veal, Tyrone Bienemy, and Chelsea Croft on November 19, 2009, charging each of them with the second degree murder of Randell Riley, Jr. (“Randell Riley”) All three defendants subsequently pled not guilty. The court denied the defendants? motions to suppress the identification on March 5, 2010. Ms. Croft requested a sanity hearing, and on March 30, after a hearing, the court found her competent to proceed. The court denied a motion to sever on October 15, 2010. On October 18, 2010, the State amended the indictment to charge Ms. Croft with manslaughter, and she pled guilty as charged in the amended bill. Trial as to Tyrone Bienemy and Jonathan Veal began on March 21, 2011, and on the second day of trial, Tyrone Bienemy took an ^emergency writ to this Court concerning videotapes that were turned over by the State. The trial court denied any stay in the matter. This Court denied Tyrone Bienemy’s writ. State v. Bienemy, unpub. 2011-0378 (La.App. 4 Cir. 3/22/11). On March 24, 2011, at the conclusion of a four-day trial, the jury found both the defendants guilty of manslaughter. On April 4, 2011, the court sentenced Ms. Croft to serve'twenty years at hard labor.1 On July 22, 2011, the court sentenced Jonathan Veal to serve thirty-five years at hard labor and sentenced Tyrone Bienemy to serve forty years at hard labor. Both the defendants orally moved for an appeal. The State then filed a multiple bill of information that charged Tyrone Bienemy [782]*782as a second felony offender. The case was continued several times, and on May 3, 2012, the court found Tyrone Bienemy to be a second offender. The court vacated his original sentence and sentenced Tyrone Bienemy to serve eighty years at hard labor.

The appeal record was lodged in this Court on May 14, 2012. Counsel for Tyrone Bienemy filed a brief on his behalf on June 11, 2012, and counsel for Jonathan Veal filed his brief on June 28, 2012. The State filed its response to Tyrone Biene-my’s brief on July 2, 2012, and its response to Jonathan Veal’s brief on December 13, 2012. Although this Court forwarded a copy of the record to both Tyrone Biene-my and Jonathan Veal in order for them to file pro se briefs, neither man filed a brief. FACTS

Randell Riley was shot and killed in the early morning hours of August 4, 2009, at his home at 3205 Kabel Drive in Algiers. Officers responding to the call found Randell Riley lying partially on top of a weight bench on his back patio. | aThe officers saw pieces of broken glass lying around Randell Riley’s body, and a second story window directly above Randell Riley’s body was broken. Inside the bedroom that had the broken window, officers found blood on the carpet, three nine millimeter casings on the floor, and bloodstains on the window sill.2 The crime scene technician who processed the scene identified various photographs that he took, including some that showed spent casings found in the second floor hallway, blood on the carpet in the entryway of the bedroom with the broken window as well as in the bedroom itself, and blood in the window area. He also identified photos of a safe that was found near the front door, as well as a camouflage-like mask, a camouflage-colored glove, and various blood samples.

The court qualified Officer Troy Dickerson as an expert in the taking, analysis, and identification of fingerprints. He identified his report of his analysis of evidence in this case. He stated that he analyzed a black and gray safe and a piece of wood doorframe, but he was unable to find any fingerprints on either item. He stated that although the piece of door-frame had been marked as having a possible fingerprint in the bloodstain on it, he was unable to find a fingerprint on it. He examined the evidence eight days after it was collected. The State then recalled the crime lab technician, who testified that although the bloodstain on the doorframe was wet when he first arrived on the scene, it was dry by the time he cut the piece of wood with the bloodstain out of the frame and then put a piece of tape over what appeared to be a fingerprint.

|4Pr. Cynthia Gardner, the forensic pathologist who performed Randell Riley’s autopsy later, that day, testified that Randell Riley sustained one gunshot wound to his chest which injured his diaphragm, heart, and lungs, and then exited his chest and lodged in his right arm. She estimated that this wound would have caused his death within minutes. Randell Riley also sustained two other gunshot wounds to his buttocks, and she agreed that the placement of these three wounds was consistent with someone being shot from the front and then turning away from the shooter. [783]*783Dr. Gardner testified that the lack of stippling showed that the shots were fired from greater than two feet from the victim. She also stated that Randell Riley sustained a number of superficial injuries that were consistent with falling from a window. She testified that toxicology testing on Randell Riley was negative for drugs or alcohol.

Officer Kenneth Leary, qualified as an expert in ballistics and firearms examination, testified that he tested casings found at the scene and determined that they were all fired from the same nine millimeter gun. He also stated that the bullet retrieved during Randell Riley’s autopsy was a nine millimeter bullet, but he could not tell if it was fired from the same gun that fired the casings because he would need the actual gun used in order to make that determination.

Patricia Joseph testified that Randell Riley, her son, lived with her at the time of his murder, as did as her grandson La-vante Riley and her granddaughter Lash-anti Riley, the victim’s nephew and niece. She stated that at the time, Randell Riley, whom she called Dell, was staying in the upstairs bedroom next to hers; Dell’s bedroom was also across the hall from the bathroom, and her 'grandchildren were staying in a bedroom down the hall. She stated that her boyfriend Aaron Clark was also there that night.

1í;Ms. Joseph testified that at approximately 9:00 p.m., Dell received a phone call and then left the house. He returned in about ten minutes with Chelsea Croft, whom Ms. Joseph had met the day before. Ms. Joseph stated that she went into her bedroom, and when she came back out around 10:00, she saw Ms. Croft in the bathroom, wearing a nightshirt and brushing her hair. She also noticed a cellphone sitting by the sink. Ms. Joseph checked on her grandchildren and then went to bed.

Ms. Joseph stated that sometime after midnight, she thought she heard something and went out of her room to check on Lavante. She saw Ms. Croft coming up the stairs, fully dressed, and man was walking up behind her. Ms. Joseph testified that she told them both hello, and Ms. Croft opened the door to Dell’s room a little and slipped inside. The man remained on the dark part of the stairs. She stated that she asked who was there, but the man did not respond. She described the man as a very large black man.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
116 So. 3d 779, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 0712, 2013 WL 1839308, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-veal-lactapp-2013.