State v. Williams

714 So. 2d 258, 1998 WL 265031
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided May 27, 1998·No. 97-KA-1135·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

714 So.2d 258 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Terrance J. WILLIAMS.

No. 97-KA-1135.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 27, 1998.

*259 Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate Project, Gretna, for Appellant Terrance Williams.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Thomas J. Butler, Assistant District Attorney, Research and Appeals, Gretna, for Appellee State.

Before GAUDIN, WICKER and CANNELLA, JJ.

CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Terrance J. Williams, appeals from his conviction of second degree murder. We affirm the conviction and sentence for second degree murder, reverse the conviction of contempt and vacate the sentence and remand.

On January 25, 1995, defendant and Sedric Robinson (Robinson) were charged with the first degree murder (La. R.S. 14:30) of Jason Paul Bies (Bies) by a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indictment. Defendant was arraigned on February 16, 1996 and pled not guilty.

On October 16, 1996, the trial court took up defendant's motions to suppress evidence, statements and identification and held them open. On June 17, 1997, the trial court denied the motions to suppress the evidence and identification. The record does not show that the trial court ruled on the motion to suppress statements.[1] On the same day, the state reduced the charge against defendant to second degree murder (La. R.S. 14:30.1) and the case proceeded to trial as to him only. On June 18, 1997, a jury of twelve persons found defendant guilty of second degree murder.

On June 25, 1997, defendant filed a motion to set aside the jury verdict. The motion was denied in open court on July 25, 1997.[2] Defendant waived sentencing delays and the trial court sentenced him that day to the mandatory term of life imprisonment, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant was disorderly during sentencing and the trial judge found him in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months imprisonment without hard labor.

Robinson testified at trial for the state under an agreement by which he was allowed to plead guilty to accessory after the fact to *260 murder. He testified that, on October 26, 1995 at approximately 1:00 p.m., defendant telephoned him to ask for a ride to his girlfriend's house. Robinson stated that defendant was a friend whom he had met through his job as an Orleans Parish deputy sheriff. After Robinson picked up defendant, defendant asked him to drive to the apartment of a mutual friend, Bies. Bies was a former deputy sheriff whom Robinson had met at work.

They arrived at Bies' apartment at about 2:15 p.m. Bies greeted them at the door, welcomed them inside and invited them to sit. According to Robinson, defendant asked to see Bies' guns. Bies went into a back room and returned with a box containing a nine millimeter handgun. Bies removed the clip and handed the gun to defendant. After inspecting it, he returned it to Bies. Then, defendant showed Bies two handguns. After removing a clip, he handed them to Bies.[3] Bies looked at the guns, then returned them to defendant. Defendant then asked Bies whether he had "hooked up that deal for me." Bies said that he had paged the man in question, but had received no response. Defendant asked to see another gun of Bies. Bies retrieved a shotgun that he used for hunting. After showing the gun to defendant, Bies then returned it to the back room. While he was gone, Robinson twice asked defendant if he was ready to leave. Defendant did not answer either time. Bies returned to the front room and defendant asked for another look at the nine millimeter weapon. After Bies handed the gun to defendant, defendant pointed his own gun at Bies. Defendant asked, "Bitch, where's it at?" Bies responded that he did not know what defendant meant. Defendant said, "Bitch, you know what I'm talking about." Bies told defendant to stop playing around. Defendant responded, "Bitch, you think I'm playing?" Defendant then shot Bies in the forehead. Robinson testified that defendant was standing about one and one-half feet away from Bies when he fired the shot and that Bies was sitting on a sofa. Robinson testified that Bies did nothing to provoke the shooting. Defendant next ordered Robinson to search the apartment for valuables while he kept watch outside the front door. Robinson went to the back of the apartment and watched defendant through a window. He saw a white woman in her twenties walk past defendant. After defendant returned to the apartment, he asked Robinson if he had found anything. Robinson said that he had not, but defendant searched the bedroom anyway. As they were leaving the apartment, defendant pointed his gun at Bies again and said that he was going to have to "Pop this bitch one more time." Robinson stopped defendant, telling him not to shoot because Bies was dead. Robinson drove defendant to a nearby convenience store where defendant made a call on a pay telephone. Robinson returned home after driving defendant to his girlfriend's house. Robinson did not contact the police, but told his friend, Monica Spurlock (Monica), about the shooting. Some weeks later, Robinson fled to Texas.

Pamela Dinicola (Dinicola), the girlfriend of Bies, arrived at Bies apartment between 3:40 and 3:45 p.m. that afternoon to find him sitting on the couch, moaning and bleeding profusely. Bies was unable to move or speak. Dinicola telephoned for emergency assistance. Paramedic Danny Gurtner (Gurtner) testified that he received the dispatch at 3:39 p.m. When Gurtner and his partner Jonathan Jones arrived at the scene, Bies was still alive. They administered first aid and transported Bies to Meadowcrest Hospital where he later died.

Deputy Troy Irsch of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (JPSO) was the first officer to arrive at the apartment. He secured the scene. He testified that he did not detect any signs of forced entry. Deputy Charles Pittman, a crime scene technician of the JPSO, photographed the scene and collected evidence, including a .40 caliber expired cartridge case found next to the sofa.

Lt. Maggie Snow, a homicide detective with the JPSO, supervised the investigation. Upon investigating at the scene, she located *261 a witness, Carista Ramage (Ramage), who said that she lived next door to Bies' apartment and that upon walking to her door earlier that day, she saw a man standing in the doorway of Bies' apartment and another next to a nearby air conditioning unit. Ramage gave a description to police artist Major Tom Gordon, who developed a composite sketch of one of the suspects. On November 7, 1995, Lt. Snow showed Ramage a lineup of eight photographs. Ramage identified defendant as one of the men she had seen on the day of the murder. She stated that she was ninety per cent certain of her identification.

Deputy United States Marshal Ronnie Johnson testified that on November 15, 1995 he went to a house on Breckenridge Drive in Harvey, where he believed defendant was living. He was accompanied by several other marshals and officers from the New Orleans Police Department.[4] Deputy Johnson knocked on the door for several minutes, but got no response. Another officer spotted defendant through a window of the residence. A neighbor confirmed that defendant was living in the house.

Eventually the officers used force to enter the house. They ordered defendant to lie face down on the floor and handcuffed him. Defendant was placed under arrest. The officers performed a protective search of the house and found another man and a woman there. The officers discovered

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

State v. Williams, 714 So. 2d 258, 1998 WL 265031 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

714 So. 2d 258 (State v. Williams) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Davis
273 So. 3d 670 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019)
State v. Broussard
269 So. 3d 1094 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019)
State of Louisiana v. Damon Broussard
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019
State v. Woodward
50 So. 3d 147 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2010)
State v. Tapp
8 So. 3d 804 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State of Louisiana v. Anthony A. Tapp
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009
State v. Holmes
5 So. 3d 42 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2008)
State v. Smith
877 So. 2d 1123 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Richthofen
803 So. 2d 171 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Cazenave
772 So. 2d 854 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Lewis
764 So. 2d 164 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Dupuy v. Cain
Fifth Circuit, 2000
State v. Jackson
746 So. 2d 698 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Normand
735 So. 2d 901 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Barnes
729 So. 2d 44 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Washington
727 So. 2d 673 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)