State v. Rose
| Citation | 949 So.2d 1236 |
| Decision Date | 22 February 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 2006-K-0402.,2006-K-0402. |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Randy ROSE. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Louisiana |
Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, Eddie J. Jordan, Jr., District Attorney, Graham L. Bosworth, Meri M. Hartley, Assistant District Attorneys, for Applicant.
Kevin Vincent Boshea, New Orleans, for Respondent.
This case involves the issue of the admissibility of other crimes evidence in defendant's trial for the second degree murder of his wife. The trial court concluded the evidence of other crimes sought to be introduced by the State, which included defendant's previous conviction for the manslaughter of his former wife, his convictions for violence perpetrated against his former wife, and his arrest for domestic violence against his wife, were admissible. The court of appeal reversed this determination, finding the crimes were too dissimilar to be independently relevant. We conclude the evidence of other crimes is highly probative to show defendant's identity, pattern, system and motive, and his vicious attitude toward women with whom he shares a close personal relationship. We further conclude the other crimes evidence is not unduly or unfairly prejudicial and that its probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeal and remand the case to that court for it to consider defendant's remaining assignment of error.
Defendant, Randy Rose, was charged by grand jury indictment on January 29, 2004, with second degree murder of his wife, Lisa James Rose, a violation of R.S. 14:30.1. He pled not guilty at his arraignment on February 3, 2004. The State filed a notice of intent to use evidence of other crimes in conformity with State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La.1973), and La. C.E. art 404(B). The notice indicated the State intended to introduce evidence regarding the defendant's prior conviction of manslaughter of his former wife, prior physical violence involving his former wife, and prior physical violence involving the victim. A Prieur hearing was held on March 24, 2004, after which the trial court granted the State's request and ruled that the other crimes evidence was admissible to prove intent and a system or a plan. The trial court found that the probative value of the evidence outweighed its prejudicial effect. Upon defendant's application for supervisory writs, the court of appeal granted defendant's writ application, but denied relief. State v. Rose, 04-0693 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/20/04) (unpub'd). This court subsequently denied defendant's writ application. State v. Rose, 04-1374 (La.6/16/04), 876 So.2d 788.
Defendant's trial took place on August 30 and 31, 2004. A twelve-person jury found defendant guilty as charged. The trial court denied the defendant's motion for a new trial and sentenced him to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
On appeal, the court of appeal reversed defendant's conviction and sentence based on its finding that the trial court clearly and convincingly erred in permitting the introduction of evidence of prior crimes committed by defendant. State v. Rose, 05-0396 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1/18/06), 925 So.2d 34. The court acknowledged various similarities between the two homicides, including the facts that both involved the wife of defendant, both involved close physical contact of an especially brutal nature, both were committed in defendant's home, both occurred after a previous incident of violence by the defendant against his wife, both followed a recent separation between defendant and his wife, and both were followed by defendant fleeing the state. Id., 05-0396 at pp. 21-22, 925 So.2d at 46-7. Nevertheless, the court found that "the similarities between Ms. Rose's murder and the other crimes that [defendant] was previously charged with are not substantially similar to the crime in the case at bar." Id., 05-0396 at p. 22, 925 So.2d at 47.
This court granted certiorari to review the correctness of the court of appeal's judgment. State v. Rose, 06-0402 (La.11/9/06), 941 So.2d 28.
On November 24, 2003, Ms. Rose was found dead in her bathtub, lying nude in the fetal position with her head beneath the faucet. A number of partially dissolved white pills were observed on top of her head and on portions of her body, suggesting that the tub had been previously filled with water. No signs of forced entry to the residence existed. After an autopsy, Ms. Rose's death was classified as a homicide and the cause of death as manual strangulation. At trial, the pathologist placed the time of death as occurring approximately 10 to 18 hours before his 8:00 a.m. examination of the body on November 25, 2003.
Ms. Rose resided with defendant and her young adult children, Ashley James ("Ms.James") and Allen James ("Mr. James"). Mr. James testified that on the morning of November 24, 2003, his mother awakened him at approximately 9:00 a.m. Soon thereafter, Mr. James heard Ms. Rose and defendant, his stepfather, arguing over a traffic ticket. He noted that his stepfather was quite angry. Ms. Rose dropped Mr. James off at work at the Oakwood Mall at approximately 9:30 a.m. Ms. Rose was scheduled to attend a doctor's appointment that morning at 10:00 a.m. and had planned to pick Mr. James up from work at 4:00 p.m.
Mr. James testified that before he and Ms. Rose left their home, defendant asked Mr. James if he planned to come home between his two jobs. Mr. James told him that he did not. Mr. James testified that he felt strange after his stepfather made this particular inquiry because it was unusual that he would ask him about his whereabouts for the day. Mr. James further testified that on that morning he observed his stepfather wearing a blue skull cap and his mother wearing a brown colored sweat suit.
Ms. James testified that her mother drove her to Delgado Community College on November 24, 2005. Ms. James recollected that they left the house at approximately 8:10 a.m. Ms. James returned home between 9:45 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. to retrieve a set of keys. When she arrived home, Ms. Rose, defendant and Mr. James were still at home.1 Ms. James then left her home and went to a friend's house. While at her friend's house, she reviewed some of her study guides and then called Richard Wilson, a close family friend with whom she maintained a relationship. Mr. Wilson, unable to take her call, put her on hold, and she eventually hung up and returned to school.
Ms. James's last class ended sometime around 1:00 p.m. She waited at school until approximately 2:00 p.m. for her boyfriend to pick her up. After he arrived, she went back to her house to drop off her books and to pick up a check. Her boyfriend stayed in the car. She related that the house looked normal at that time and that it was quiet. The lights were off except for the bathroom light, which was normally kept on, and no one appeared to be home. She did not go into the bathroom. Ms. James then went shopping at several area shopping malls. That afternoon she received a call from her brother alerting her that no one had picked him up after work and that he needed a ride to his second job. Ms. James telephoned her grandmother and arranged for her to pick up her brother.
After completing a few more errands, Ms. James called her mother's best friend and told her that she had not heard from her mother and that she had been looking for her all day. Ms. Rose's friend agreed to meet Ms. James at the family's house. The two arrived at the house at the same time. The door was locked. Once inside, Ms. James began telephoning hospitals and the police to see if anything had happened to her mother or stepfather. Ms. James observed that her stepfather's lunch for work was still in the refrigerator. She noticed that the bathroom light was still on and that the area around the sink was in disarray, which she knew would upset her mother, so she entered. At that point at approximately 8:00 p.m., she found her mother's lifeless body in the bathtub. She touched her mother's body, but could not move her because her arms and everything "were like hard, solid." She called 911.
The next morning, when Ms. James returned to the house, she was unable to locate the clothes her mother had worn the previous day. She noticed that the trash bag was missing from the kitchen garbage can. Detective Ronald Ruiz of the New Orleans Police Department came to the house to inform her of the results of the autopsy. Ms. James mentioned that her mother's clothes and the trash bag were missing. She also noted that on occasion her stepfather would take their trash to the dumpster around the corner. Shortly thereafter, Detective Ruiz telephoned Ms James and asked if she could come to the dumpster to identify some clothing that he had recovered. She went immediately and identified her mother's underwear, bra, sweat pants and top that her mother had been wearing the previous day. She also identified the shirt her stepfather had been wearing the previous day, a pair of his socks and his blue skullcap. She also identified a towel from their bathroom and a pillow that her mother had made for her, as well as a pair of her own socks.
Richard Wilson testified that he had a close friendship with Ms. Rose for many years beginning when her children were toddlers. He stated that he had helped raise the children as if they were his own. Subsequently, Mr. Wilson married another woman and his relationship with the children became much more limited. Nevertheless, he maintained contact with them over the years. Mr. Wilson recalled that on the morning of November 24, 2003, he received a telephone call from Ms. James at work between approximately 9:45 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. He was forced to place her on hold, and when he got back to the call the two had been disconnected. Assuming she had called him from her home, Mr. Wilson then called Ms. James back and ...
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