State v. Williams

362 So. 2d 530
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided September 5, 1978·No. 61629·Published·Cited by 34 cases

Opinion

362 So.2d 530 (1978)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Calvin WILLIAMS.

No. 61629.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

September 5, 1978.

*531 Ivan L. R. Lemelle, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Robert F. Barnard, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

MARCUS, Justice.

Calvin Williams and Carl Williams were charged in the same indictment with the first degree murder of Keith Norse. The state elected to try Calvin Williams separately. After a trial by jury, Calvin Williams was found guilty as charged. A sentencing hearing was conducted before the same jury that determined the issue of guilt; and the jury unanimously recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The trial judge sentenced defendant in accordance with the recommendation of the jury. On appeal, defendant relies on five assignments of error for reversal of his conviction and sentence.[1]

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

Defendant contends the state presented no evidence to prove that he was guilty as a principal to the crime of first degree murder. This alleged error was urged by defendant as a basis for his motion for a new trial which was denied by the trial judge.

Pursuant to La.R.S. 14:24, all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether present or absent, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, aid or abet in its commission, or directly or indirectly counsel or procure another to commit the crime, are guilty as principals. State v. Lovett, 359 So.2d 163 (La.1978); State v. Willis, 322 So.2d 169 (La.1975); State v. Broussard, 312 So.2d 325 (La.1975). This court's review of a denial of a motion for a new trial based on an allegation of no evidence is limited to a determination of whether there is some evidence to support a verdict. State v. Sheppard, 350 So.2d 615 (La.1977).

The record reveals that, on the evening of December 28, 1976, Keith Norse (the victim), *532 Norbert Matthews, Frederick Gibson and Thaddeus Griffin departed from a neighborhood lounge where they had seen defendant and his brother Carl earlier in the evening. After walking a short distance, Matthews left Norse, Gibson and Griffin to return to his home. As the three men continued on, they were approached by defendant and his brother, whereupon Carl Williams at gunpoint ordered Norse to stop and fired a shot at him. Gibson and Griffin immediately fled from the scene but Griffin, after running some distance, turned and observed Carl Williams holding Norse. Two or three additional shots were fired. Griffin continued to run but turned a second time to observe what was transpiring. As he did so, defendant fired at him. In the meantime, Gibson had caught up with Matthews and related to him that defendant and his brother had shot Norse. They returned to the scene of the crime where they discovered Carl Williams standing over the victim's body with defendant several feet behind. The victim was still breathing at the time. On seeing Matthews and Gibson approaching, defendant and his brother fled. The victim had been shot three times in the head and once in the left hand. Death was caused by a bullet passing through his brain. Subsequently, a green army fatigue jacket which had been worn by defendant during the commission of the crime was recovered by the police and in one of the pockets a .38 caliber gun was discovered. Defendant was later arrested and charged with the first degree murder of Norse; Carl Williams was never apprehended.

Our review of the record convinces us that there was some evidence that defendant was guilty as a principal to the crime of first degree murder in that he directly participated in the crime and/or aided and abetted in its commission. Accordingly, the trial judge did not err in denying defendant's motion for a new trial on this ground.

Assignment of Error No. 1 is without merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3

Defendant contends the trial judge erred in permitting the state to introduce in evidence a green army fatigue jacket allegedly worn by defendant during the commission of the crime. He argues that the jacket was not properly identified as being related to the case.

At trial, Norbert Matthews, Frederick Gibson and Thaddeus Griffin testified that, when the crime was committed, defendant was wearing a green army fatigue jacket, blue jeans, a knit hat and glasses. All three witnesses stated that the jacket exhibited to them at trial was the same or similar in appearance to that which was worn by defendant during the commission of the instant offense. Subsequently, Officer Martin Venezia of the New Orleans Police Department testified that a search warrant was executed at the residence of defendant's mother who informed the police that defendant was also living at that address. During the search of the residence, the police seized a green army fatigue jacket in the pocket of which was discovered a .38 caliber gun. Officer Venezia tagged and initialed the jacket and stored it in the evidence locker at the police station where it remained until brought to court on the day of trial. Over defense objection, the trial judge allowed the jacket to be admitted in evidence.

To admit demonstrative evidence at a trial, the law requires that the object be identified. The identification can be visual, that is, by testimony at the trial that the object exhibited is the one related to the case. It can also be identified by chain of custody, that is, by establishing the custody of the object from the time it was seized to the time it was offered in evidence. State v. King, 355 So.2d 1305 (La. 1978); State v. Dotson, 260 La. 471, 256 So.2d 594 (1971). For the admission of demonstrative evidence, it suffices if the foundation laid establishes that it is more probable than not that the object is the one connected with the case. State v. King, supra; State v. Provost, 352 So.2d 661 (La. 1977); State v. Williams, 341 So.2d 370 (La. *533 1976); State v. Collins, 328 So.2d 674 (La. 1976). Lack of positive identification goes to the weight of the evidence rather than to its admissibility. Ultimately, connexity is a factual matter for determination by the jury. State v. King, supra; State v. Hayes, 306 So.2d 705 (La.1975); State v. Freeman, 306 So.2d 703 (La.1975); State v. Dotson, supra; State v. Wright, 254 La. 521, 225 So.2d 201 (1969).

Defendant's contention that the jacket was not properly identified as being related to the case is without merit. The witnesses to the crime testified that the jacket was the same or similar in appearance to that worn by defendant during the commission of the crime. Moreover, the jacket was properly stored from the time of its recovery from defendant's residence until brought to court on the day of trial. Clearly, it was more probable than not that the jacket was related to the case. Hence, the trial judge properly permitted its introduction in evidence.

Defendant also contends the trial judge erred in admitting the jacket in evidence over his objection on the ground that it was unlawfully seized pursuant to an invalid search warrant. He argues that the search warrant was invalid in that it was based on hearsay information. No motion to suppress the evidence was filed by defendant either before or during trial.

Under La.Code Crim.P. art. 703, when

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