State v. Tassin

• Decision Date: 09 January 2014
• Docket Number: No. 11–KA–1144.,11–KA–1144.
• Citation: 129 So.3d 1235
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Robert TASSIN.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

129 So.3d 1235

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Robert TASSIN.

No. 11–KA–1144.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana,
Fifth Circuit.

Dec. 19, 2013.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 9, 2014.

[129 So.3d 1240]

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Douglas W. Freese, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Robert Tassin, In Proper Person, Angola, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Abigail F. Gaunt, Attorney at Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Caroline W. Tillman, Attorney at Law, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, JUDE G. GRAVOIS, and ROBERT A. CHAISSON.

ROBERT A. CHAISSON, Judge.

Defendant, Robert Tassin, seeks review of his second degree murder conviction. Having thoroughly reviewed the record as well as the briefs submitted by all parties, we find no merit to the arguments presented by defendant herein, and accordingly, we affirm his conviction and life sentence.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant, Robert Tassin, his wife Georgina Tassin, and Sheila Mills for the first degree murder of Edward Martin in 1986. The State later reduced the charges against Georgina Tassin and Sheila Mills to armed robbery. On May 8, 1987, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder and unanimously sentenced him to death. On direct appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court, defendant's conviction and sentence were affirmed. State v. Tassin, 536 So.2d 402 (La.1988), cert. denied,493 U.S. 874, 110 S.Ct. 205, 107 L.Ed.2d 159 (1989).

In 2007, pursuant to a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the Eastern District Court of Louisiana granted defendant relief and vacated his first degree murder conviction. Tassin v. Cain, 482 F.Supp.2d 764 (E.D.La.2007). The State of Louisiana sought review in the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the district court's ruling. Tassin v. Cain, 517 F.3d 770 (5th Cir.2008).

On February 5, 2009, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant with the second degree murder of Edward Martin in violation of LSA–R.S. 14:30.1. On February 9, 2009, defendant was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. The matter proceeded to trial on November 30, 2010, before a twelve-person jury. After considering the evidence presented, the jury, on December 10, 2010, unanimously found defendant guilty as charged.

On January 14, 2011, defendant filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied on January 18, 2011. Also on that day, defendant waived sentencing delays, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant now appeals.

FACTS

In November of 1986, Wayne Stagner was working as a deckhand on a river tugboat with his captain, Eddie Martin, the victim in this case. After finishing the day's work on November 5, 1986, Mr. Martin and Mr. Stagner disembarked between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. and proceeded to Schnell's Restaurant in Marrero to cash their paychecks. Afterward, they went across the street to the Shady Lady Lounge for a few beers. While there, Mr. Martin met Sheila Mills. After several hours in the bar, Mr. Martin and Mr. Stagner exited the bar, planning to go back to the boat. As they walked to Mr. Martin's two-door grey Thunderbird, Ms. Mills approached and asked Mr. Martin if

[129 So.3d 1241]

he wanted to buy some cocaine. After Mr. Martin said “yes,” Ms. Mills went back into the lounge in an apparent attempt to acquire cocaine, but she was unsuccessful. Ms. Mills returned outside and joined the two men in Mr. Martin's car. Mr. Martin drove, Ms. Mills sat in the middle of the front seat, and Mr. Stagner sat on the passenger side of the front seat.

The three proceeded to another bar in Avondale to obtain cocaine, but were unsuccessful. Ms. Mills then directed Mr. Martin to a friend's house where she thought they could acquire cocaine. They proceeded down Highway 90, turned on to Laroussini Street, and stopped in front of a white house. Mr. Martin had given Ms. Mills some money to purchase one-half gram of cocaine. While Mr. Martin and Mr. Stagner waited in the car, Ms. Mills approached the house, knocked on a window, and spoke with Georgina Tassin.¹ Ms. Tassin informed Ms. Mills that she and her husband, defendant, did not have cocaine, but they had access to Dilaudid. Ms. Mills entered the house, where she told the Tassins that the two men she was with had just come ashore, were loaded with money, and were going to treat her to drugs.

The Tassins told Ms. Mills that they would obtain the drugs if she bought some for them too. Ms. Mills returned to the car and spoke with Mr. Martin outside of the car, while Mr. Stagner remained seated inside. As a result of their conversation, Mr. Martin apparently gave Ms. Mills some more money, and she returned inside. Around this time, Mr. Stagner placed his money in his shoe and asked to hold Mr. Martin's money there too. Mr. Martin gave his money to Mr. Stagner, who put it in his other shoe.

Inside the house, after Ms. Mills handed over the money to defendant, he paged his drug connection, went out the back door, obtained Dilaudid on the corner, and returned inside. Ms. Mills and the Tassins then injected the Dilaudid. According to Ms. Tassin, after shooting up the Dilaudid, the three discussed a plan about acquiring a gun from some friends and taking the rest of Mr. Martin's and Mr. Stagner's money; however, Ms. Mills denied that there was ever a discussion or plan to commit an armed robbery. Ms. Mills and the Tassins then returned to Mr. Martin's car and asked him to give them a ride to their friends' house to buy the cocaine. Mr. Martin agreed and was directed to the Tres Vidas apartment complex in Gretna, the home of Mary Ann Valverde and her boyfriend, Darryl Macaluso.

The Tassins went inside that apartment, and at some point, were joined by Ms. Mills. According to Ms. Tassin, defendant went into the bedroom with Ms. Valverde. However, Ms. Valverde ² maintained that defendant did not enter her bedroom that night, that defendant asked her for some syringes which she provided to him, and further, that no one in her apartment owned or possessed a gun. In contrast to this testimony, Mr. Macaluso, who was not home at the time of the Tassins' visit, claimed that he kept a gun in the bedroom of his apartment and that his gun was in the apartment when he left on November 5, 1986. Mr. Macaluso further stated that he retrieved his gun the next day from defendant's house.

After about 15 minutes inside Ms. Valverde's apartment, Ms. Mills, Ms. Tassin,

[129 So.3d 1242]

and defendant returned to the car, where defendant asked Mr. Martin to give him a ride back home. Mr. Martin agreed. Defendant got into the back seat behind Mr. Martin, the driver, while Ms. Tassin got into the back seat behind Mr. Stagner. Ms. Mills returned to the front seat between Mr. Martin and Mr. Stagner. During the ride, Ms. Mills complained she was feeling nauseous and asked Mr. Martin to pull over. Mr. Martin complied and stopped the car in a dark area under the Lapalco Bridge.

Ms. Mills exited the car and walked to the rear. According to Mr. Stagner, after a few minutes, he reached up on the dashboard to get his cigarettes when he heard a “pow” and saw a “red flash.” He looked over his left shoulder to see defendant rapidly shoot Mr. Martin three times in the back of the head, “blowing off” a part of the victim's face. Mr. Stagner opened his door to get out when he heard another shot. Mr. Stagner ran behind the car; even though he had been shot in his left shoulder and left leg, he managed to flee the scene and get help.

After Mr. Stagner escaped, Mr. Martin's body was removed from the car, and his pockets were checked for money. However, no money was found. Mr. Martin's body was rolled into a ditch,³ and the three got into Mr. Martin's car and fled. With Ms. Mills driving, they returned to the Tassins' house. Defendant then left to dispose of the gun and the car. Upon his return, defendant told his wife that he threw the gun in the Mississippi River and drove the car into the Westwego Canal.

Mark Helton, a former homicide detective with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, led the investigation in this case. After examining the scene, he proceeded to West Jefferson Hospital, where Mr. Stagner was in serious condition. Mr. Stagner initially told detectives that he and Mr. Martin had picked up some hitchhikers who robbed them.

Soon after the incident, Linda Kelly, a patron at the Shady Lady Lounge on the night of November 5, 1986, came forward and informed Detective Helton that she had seen Mr. Martin and Mr. Stagner leave the bar with “Sheila.” Further investigation revealed that Sheila's last name was “Mills.” Ms. Kelly was shown a photographic lineup from which she identified Ms. Mills.

On November 7, 1986, Detective Helton confronted Mr. Stagner about the hitchhiker version of events, and Mr. Stagner admitted that it was a fabrication. Mr. Stagner then identified Ms. Mills from a photographic lineup. Based on the information obtained from Mr. Stagner and Ms. Kelly, Detective Helton obtained an arrest warrant for Ms. Mills, and she was subsequently arrested.

As Mr. Stagner's health gradually improved, Detective Helton obtained permission from his doctor for Mr. Stagner to ride in an ambulance with the detective and direct him to all the places he and Mr. Martin had been to that night. During this ride, Mr. Stagner pointed out the house on Laroussini Street where he and Mr. Martin first met the Tassins. With this address, Detective Helton acquired

[129 So.3d 1243]

defendant's and his wife's names, and warrants were issued for their arrests. After hearing on the news that they were wanted for the murder, the Tassins, on November 12, 1986, turned themselves in to the police.

Several months after the incident, defendant's father contacted the police with the...