State v. Knowles, 80-K-1540

CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
Citation392 So.2d 651
Docket NumberNo. 80-K-1540,80-K-1540
PartiesSTATE of Louisiana v. Patricia Jane KNOWLES.
Decision Date15 December 1980

Diehlmann C. Bernhardt and Steven A. Jefferson, Monroe, for defendant-relator.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., J. Carl Parkerson, Dist. Atty., John R. Harrison, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-respondent.

DIXON, Chief Justice.

The defendant was indicted for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder, violations of R.S. 14:30 1 and R.S. 14:26. A jury acquitted her of the murder charge, and the state has now attempted to prosecute her for the alleged conspiracy. Defendant filed two motions to quash the indictment, based upon pleas of former jeopardy, autrefois acquit, res judicata and collateral estoppel. The trial court denied the motions, and defendant seeks review.

The victim of the homicide was the husband of Sherry Littleton, who is defendant's sister. Testimony at the trial on the murder charge indicated that defendant was in the company of Sherry Littleton from 5:00 p. m. until about midnight, when the shooting occurred. Winfred Chappel, a witness for the prosecution, also accompanied the two sisters during part of that time. The three visited various bars in the City of Monroe, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and taking capsules of amphetamine. The evidence indicates that Chappel and Littleton were romantically involved at the time, and that Mrs. Littleton asked Chappel to kill her husband. Defendant testified that Chappel refused the request, and that she believed that the matter was at an end. Chappel testified that the murder was discussed two or three times later in the night.

By late evening, defendant stated that she was staggering, and could barely drive her sister's car. The three then went to a convenience store. Reportedly at her own request, Mrs. Littleton was struck several times in the face by Chappel, as part of a plan to make it seem that she had been beaten by her husband. Defendant then drove Littleton to her trailer home; she testified that she waited in the car for several minutes after Littleton entered the trailer. When defendant made her entrance, she found her sister sitting on a bed with a loaded 16 gauge shotgun. As the victim approached, defendant stated that she grabbed the barrel of the gun, which discharged. The police were called, and Littleton told them that she had shot her husband after he had beaten her.

Pursuant to negotiations with the district attorney, Mrs. Littleton pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in connection with the fatal shooting of her husband. Defendant moved to Kansas. Some time later an undercover investigator with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation contacted the Ouachita Parish sheriff's office reporting that defendant had admitted shooting her brother-in-law. Defendant was arrested in Kansas and gave a recorded statement; she was then brought back to Louisiana, where the grand jury indictments were returned.

No person can twice be put in jeopardy for the "same offense." Amendment V, U.S.Const.; Art. 1, § 15, La.Const. (1974); C.Cr.P. 591. Whether two offenses are the same for purposes of double jeopardy is determined by the test established in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306, 309 (1932):

"... The applicable rule is that where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not...."

It is clear that this rule is constitutionally required of the states. Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977).

The Louisiana rule is embodied in C.Cr.P. 596:

"Double jeopardy exists in a second trial only when the charge in that trial is:

(1) Identical with or a different grade of the same offense for which the defendant was in jeopardy in the first trial, whether or not a responsive verdict could have been rendered in the first trial as to the charge in the second trial; or

(2) Based on a part of a continuous offense for which offense the defendant was in jeopardy in the first trial."

This court has employed both the "Blockburger" test, see, for example, State v. Steele, 387 So.2d 1175 (La.1980), and State v. Doughty, 379 So.2d 1088 (La.1980), and the "same evidence" test. State v. Solomon, 379 So.2d 1078 (La.1980); State v. Smith, 323 So.2d 797 (La.1975); State v. Didier, 262 La. 364, 263 So.2d 322 (1972); State v. Bonfanti, 262 La. 153, 262 So.2d 504 (1972).

The "same evidence" test depends upon the proof required to convict, not the evidence actually introduced at trial. State v. Doughty, supra. Thus, if the evidence necessary to support the second indictment would have been sufficient to support the former indictment, double jeopardy prohibits the second prosecution. State v. Richardson, 220 La. 338, 56 So.2d 568 (1951); State v. Foster, 156 La. 891, 101 So. 255 (1924); State v. Roberts, 152 La. 283, 93 So. 95 (1922).

In this regard, it is significant to note that the jury present at the murder trial was instructed as to the law of principals contained in R.S. 14:24, which states:

"All persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether present or absent, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, aid and abet in its commission, or directly or indirectly counsel or procure another to commit the crime, are principals."

At the trial on the murder charge, defendant could have been convicted if the jury was convinced that she aided and abetted her sister in intentionally killing the victim, or if the jury found that defendant counseled her sister in the commission of the crime.

Criminal conspiracy, the crime with which defendant is charged in the present prosecution, is defined by R.S. 14:26 as:

"... the agreement or combination of two or more persons for the specific purpose of committing any crime; provided that an agreement or combination to commit a crime shall not amount to a criminal conspiracy unless, in addition to such agreement or combination, one or more of such parties does an act in furtherance of the object of the agreement or combination."

If the state has proof that defendant reached an agreement with her sister and/or Chappel for the specific purpose of murdering the victim, and that an act was done in furtherance of the agreement, such proof is not necessarily sufficient to convict the defendant as a principal to the crime. The one difference is that, in order to be convicted as a principal, there must be proof that the crime was committed; a conviction for conspiracy does not depend upon the actual commission of the crime, but only upon an act in furtherance of the conspiracy. The evidence necessary for a conviction of conspiracy to commit first degree murder is therefore not sufficient to support a conviction for the murder itself.

Similarly, the proof required to convict an accused as a principal to a crime does not necessarily involve the same evidence that is needed for a conviction of conspiracy. The term "principal" is broadly defined to include the actual perpetrator of the crime as well as one who assists in the perpetration. The crime of conspiracy is formed when an agreement to commit a crime is reached between two or more persons and an act is done in furtherance of the agreement. It is at least conceivable that an accused may be proven to have assisted in a crime without introducing any evidence as to an agreement. See, e. g., Pereira v. United States, 347 U.S. 1, 74 S.Ct. 358, 98 L.Ed. 435 (1954); Nye & Nissen v. United States, 336 U.S. 613, 69 S.Ct. 766, 93 L.Ed. 919 (1949). In this sense, the two crimes do not involve the same evidence; they are not the "same offenses." This is recognized in R.S. 14:26, which states:

"If the intended basic crime has been consummated, the conspirators may be tried for either the conspiracy or the completed offense, and a conviction for one shall not bar prosecution for the other."

However, the case with which we are presented is not one in which the defendant has been convicted of the "intended basic crime." In fact, it has never been proved that the homicide was the result of anything other than Mrs. Littleton's criminal negligence. Because of this, the provision allowing prosecution for both the conspiracy and the underlying offense is not relevant. It is necessary, then, to determine whether the double jeopardy prohibition bars prosecution of the defendant for conspiracy to commit the crime of which she was acquitted, when the jury was specially instructed as to the law of principals. It is in this regard that we must consider defendant's argument that the state should be barred from prosecuting the conspiracy charge on the basis of collateral estoppel.

The doctrine of collateral estoppel was explained in Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 443, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 1194, 25 L.Ed.2d 469, 475 (1970):

"... It means simply that when an issue of ultimate fact has once been determined by a valid and final judgment, that issue cannot again be litigated between the same parties in any future lawsuit...."

The opinion makes it clear that the protection of this doctrine is anchored in the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy. In this state, the application of the doctrine has been limited "to those cases where it is required by Ashe v. Swenson...." State v. Doucet, 359 So.2d 1239, 1248 (La.1978). Compare State v. Cain, 324 So.2d 830 (La.1975).

In Ashe v. Swenson, the jury in the first trial determined that the defendant was not proved to have been one of the robbers involved in the alleged crime. Under the collateral estoppel doctrine, the state was not allowed to present "the same or different identification evidence in a second prosecution for the...

To continue reading

Request your trial
153 cases
  • City of Baton Rouge v. Ross
    • United States
    • Louisiana Supreme Court
    • April 28, 1995
    ..."The 'same evidence' test depends upon the proof required to convict, not the evidence actually introduced at trial." State v. Knowles, 392 So.2d 651, 654 (La.1980) (citations omitted ). See also State v. Jones, 642 So.2d 252, 254 (La.App. 4 Cir.1994): State v. Roblow, 623 So.2d 51, 56 (La.......
  • State v. Powell
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
    • April 8, 1992
    ...This rule is constitutionally required of the states. 1 Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977); State v. Knowles, 392 So.2d 651 (La.1980). Louisiana also applies a test known in the jurisprudence as the "same evidence" test: If the evidence required to support a f......
  • State v. Nelson
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
    • October 28, 2009
    ...same for purposes of double jeopardy analysis, Louisiana employs both the "Blockburger test" and the "same evidence test." State v. Knowles, 392 So.2d 651 (La.1980); State v. Price, supra. The "Blockburger test," established by the United States Supreme Court in Blockburger v. United States......
  • State v. Furgerson
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
    • March 2, 2001
    ...La. R.S. 14:24. Only those persons who knowingly participate in the planning or execution of a crime are principals. State v. Knowles, 392 So.2d 651 (La.1980). Mere presence at the scene is therefore not enough to "concern" an individual in the crime. State v. Schwander, 345 So.2d 1173 (La.......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT