State v. Weathersby

140 So. 3d 260, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0258, 2014 WL 1512246, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1031
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 16, 2014
DocketNo. 2013-KA-0258
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 140 So. 3d 260 (State v. Weathersby) 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. Weathersby, 140 So. 3d 260, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0258, 2014 WL 1512246, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1031 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

MADELEINE M. LANDRIEU, Judge.

|TDefendant Christopher Weathersby appeals his convictions of one count of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated battery, and the sentences imposed. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Mr. Weathersby’s convictions. We also affirm the sentences he received for the three aggravated battery offenses. However, because the trial court failed to rule on Mr. Weathersby’s motion to reconsider the manslaughter sentence, we remand for a ruling on that motion, preserving to Mr. Weathersby his right to appeal the manslaughter sentence in the event the trial court denies his motion.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Mr. Weathersby was charged by grand jury indictment on May 14, 2009 with one count of second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1, and three counts of attempted second degree murder, violations of La. R.S. 14:(27)30.1. The defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment, and the trial court subsequently denied his motions to suppress the identification and evidence. Mr. Weathersby was tried by a twelve-person jury on May 10-18, 2011, and found guilty of the 12responsive verdicts of manslaughter on the first count and aggravated battery on the remaining three counts. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Mr. Weathersby’s motion for new trial. On October 21, 2011, Mr. Weathersby was sentenced to thirty years at hard labor on the manslaughter conviction and eight years at hard labor on each of the three aggravated battery convictions, with all sentences to run concurrently. Mr. Weathersby filed a written motion to reconsider his manslaughter sentence on November 2, 2011. On September 25, 2012, the trial court granted Mr. Weathersby an out-of-time appeal.

FACTS

Mr. Weathersby was convicted of manslaughter for the March 1, 2009 killing of Jamal Dorsey and of three counts of aggravated battery for the shootings of Ash-ten Dorsey, Jamaal Jones, and Angelo Jackson in the same incident.

The facts adduced at trial established that on the night of the incident, Mr. Weathersby drove a black Dodge Durango to a bowling alley in Kenner accompanied by four friends: Corey Willis, Dominique Smith, Kristy Gatlin and Sheena Carruth. That same night, Jamal Dorsey drove his white Dodge Durango to the same bowling alley accompanied by his wife, Ashten, and two friends: Jamaal Jones and his girlfriend, Jahlissa Wallace. Mr. Dorsey’s group was joined at the bowling alley by Angelo Jackson and his wife, Troylynn.1 The two groups were bowling next to each other. At a certain point the lights went out in the bowling alley, and there was a verbal altercation between Jamal Dorsey and Corey pWillis after Mr. Willis took a bowling ball from the other group’s lane. The altercation was broken up by the bowling alley’s security personnel. Members of both groups testified that about ten minutes later, Mr. Willis and Mr. Dorsey [264]*264appeared to “make peace” with each other by shaking hands, and they all continued bowling.

Mr. Weathersby’s group left the bowling alley first, about fifteen minutes before closing time. Mr. Weathersby’s group sat in the Black Durango in the parking lot until Mr. Dorsey’s group came out, at which point Mr. Weathersby pulled his vehicle alongside Mr. Dorsey and exchanged words with him. There was conflicting testimony as to what was said. All the members of Mr. Dorsey’s group got into the white Durango except Angelo Jackson and his wife, who got into their red Monte Carlo. All three vehicles left the parking lot of the bowling alley at the same time and got on the interstate heading toward the New Orleans Westbank. There was conflicting testimony as to whether the black Durango was following the white Durango or vice versa, and as to whether one vehicle pulled alongside the other on the interstate and/or whether the driver of one vehicle gestured to those in the other vehicle. At some point, the red Monte Carlo broke down, and Mr. Dorsey stopped and picked up the Jacksons.

Mr. Weathersby’s group in the black Durango exited the interstate on the West-bank, dropped Sheena Carruth off at her house and stayed ten to fifteen minutes, then headed to the residence of Corey Willis’ girlfriend on Americus Street, intending to drop Mr. Willis off there. Testimony from those in Mr. |4Dorsey’s group indicated that they were on their way to drop off the Jacksons at the home of Ms. Jackson’s aunt on JoAnn Place when they spotted Mr. Weathersby’s black Durango parked on Americus Street. Mr. Dorsey then stopped his white Durango facing the black Durango. After some of the passengers exited both vehicles, Corey Willis got into a fist fight with Jamal Dorsey in a grassy area, with the others looking on and/or trying to stop the fight.2 Mr. Weathersby got out of his vehicle with a gun and stood between Jamaal Jones and Jahlissa Wallace in front of the black Du-rango. Mr. Weathersby fired at Jamaal Jones, grazing him, and then fired several shots into the group surrounding the altercation. Mr. Dorsey was killed and three others were wounded. Upon being shot, Mr. Jones, who had a handgun in his waistband, ran to an alley between two houses and fired seven to eight shots back toward Mr. Weathersby.

When the shooting began, Angelo Jackson, his wife Troylynn, Ashten Dorsey and Jahlissa Jackson ran to the nearby home of Troylynn Jackson’s aunt. Angelo and Ashten were wounded. Jamaal Jones, who was also wounded, jumped a fence behind the alley and ran first to his mother’s home and then to his girlfriend Jahlissa Wallace’s house. Everyone who had been in the black Durango got back into that vehicle and fled the scene with Mr. Weath-ersby. Mr. Weathersby dropped off Kristy Gatlin and then drove to the residence of Dominique Smith in Baton Rouge, where he spent the night with her.

IsNOPD Homicide Detective Richard Chambers arrived on the scene to observe a white Dodge Durango and the victim, Jamal Dorsey, who had already been pronounced dead. Two other victims had been transported to University Hospital for medical treatment. Det. Chambers observed approximately six spent 9mm cartridge casings spread from the driveway between 3002 and 8010 Americus Street toward the victim’s body. He also ob[265]*265served that the doors of the white Duran-go were open, and that there was a bullet hole or bullet strike mark in the front door. Det. Chambers attended the autopsy of the victim and collected his clothes.

At the scene of the shooting, an uninjured victim gave Det. Chambers the license plate number of the suspect’s vehicle, which was registered to Mr. Weathersby. In his investigation, Det. Chambers learned of the prior verbal altercation that had occurred at the bowling alley. Video footage from the bowling alley did not show the altercation, but showed those in Mr. Weathersby’s vehicle, a black Dodge Durango, exiting the bowling alley prior to Mr. Dorsey’s group leaving. The video footage also showed that the black Durango sat in place until Mr. Dorsey’s group came out of the bowling alley, and then the driver of the black Durango pulled up to the Dorsey group.

Later on the day of the shooting, Jamaal Jones came to the homicide office to speak with Det. Chambers. He told the detective that he was one of the victims who had been inside of Jamal Dorsey’s vehicle, and that he had fired his weapon at the perpetrator, who had first fired at him and the others. Mr. Jones related that the | (¿first shot fired at him had grazed him in the neck, whereupon he had run to a driveway at 3002 Americus Street.

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Bluebook (online)
140 So. 3d 260, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0258, 2014 WL 1512246, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-weathersby-lactapp-2014.