State v. Draughn

• Decision Date: 17 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2005-KA-1825.,2005-KA-1825.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Darrell D. DRAUGHN.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

950 So.2d 583

STATE of Louisiana v. Darrell D. DRAUGHN.

No. 2005-KA-1825.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

January 17, 2007.

Rehearing Denied March 30, 2007.

Capital Appeals Project, Jelpi P. Picou, Jr., New Orleans, Letty S. DiGiulio, for Appellant.

Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, Paul Carmouche, District Atty., Catherine M. Estopinal, Michael A. Pitman, Asst. Dist. Attys., for Appellee.

TRAYLOR, Justice.

On December 12, 2000, a Caddo Parish grand jury indicted the defendant, Darrell D. Draughn, for the April 10, 2000 first degree murder of Lauretta White,¹ in violation of La. R.S. 14:30. Trial commenced with jury selection beginning on June 17, 2003. On June 27, 2003, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty as charged. After a penalty phase hearing, the same jury unanimously recommended a sentence of death after finding the following aggravating circumstances: (1) that the defendant was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an armed robbery, first degree robbery or simple robbery; and (2) that the offense was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner. On May 17, 2004, after denying post-verdict motions, the trial court imposed the sentence of death in accordance with the jury's verdict.

The defendant now brings the direct appeal of his conviction and sentence to this court pursuant to La. Const. art. 5, § 5(D)² raising 27 assignments of error. For the reasons that follow, we find that none of the arguments put forth constitute reversible error, and affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

On April 6, 2000, a Thursday, Cornell White dropped off his 64-year old mother, Lauretta White, at her residence at 228 East Boulevard Street in Shreveport, Louisiana. Before he left, Ms. White gave her son her social security check and some cash to deposit for her but kept a $20 bill, which he saw her put in her wallet. She told her son that she would not need more money than that because she was just going to stay at her house that weekend.

On Monday morning, April 10, 2000, Mr. White returned to his mother's residence to pick her up to take her to a baby-sitting job. He was later than normal and was surprised that his mother had not tried to contact him on his beeper. When he reached his mother's house, he saw that the curtains had not been opened and the side door to the kitchen was left open a crack. Mr. White became concerned for his mother because both of these circumstances were unusual.

When Mr. White eased open the kitchen door, he found the body of his mother lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. Her glasses were lying on the floor away from her body. Further into the house, her purse was on the floor near the hallway in the living room. The purse's contents were lying on the floor, the wallet and checkbook open flat on the floor. The wallet contained no money, credit cards or checks. Mr. White called 911 from the telephone in his mother's house and then waited outside for the police to arrive.

An autopsy showed that Ms. White had been stabbed or cut 61 times. Thirty-four of these stabbing and cutting wounds were on the head and face, with all but one of the cuts on the right side of her head. There were four stab wounds around her right eye. The autopsy showed that Ms. White could only see out of her right eye; her left eye was a glass eye.

In addition to the injuries to her head and face, the coroner found that Ms. White had stabbing and cutting wounds to her chest, abdomen and right foot. There were no wounds on her legs. There were multiple stabbing and cutting wounds of both arms and both hands, primarily on the palms of her hands. Three of the stab wounds were fatal; two of these cut the right jugular vein and one cut the right carotid artery.

In addition to the stabbing and cutting wounds, Ms. White's body showed several contusions and bruising. The coroner estimated Ms. White had been killed six to twelve hours before her body was found. Based upon the injuries she received, the coroner testified that Ms. White had been alive throughout the entirety of the attack, that she had numerous defensive wounds and that her injuries would have inflicted a great deal of pain and suffering.

Due to the great number of stab wounds, the police thought it likely that the assailant cut his hand, also, with the murder weapon. In their investigation of Ms. White's house, the police found drops of blood, later identified as being from a male, at eight locations throughout the house, away from Ms. White's body. Partial shoe prints were found in the victim's blood and on the carpet in her hallway.

After being informed that Ms. White would not have opened her door to a stranger, and observing that there were no signs of forced entry into her house, the police theorized that Ms. White must have known her murderer. The police asked for and received 19 voluntary DNA samples from Ms. White's family members, friends and neighbors. None of these DNA samples matched the perpetrator's bloodstains, and the investigation stalled.

Six months later, a detective received an anonymous tip stating that the defendant was involved in the murder of Ms. White. The defendant, a 29-year man who was one of Ms. White's neighbors, was located and brought in for questioning on October 26, 2000. After informing the defendant of his constitutional rights, the police asked him about Ms. White's murder. The defendant denied ever having been in the victim's house but voluntarily submitted his DNA for testing.

The police received the results of the DNA testing on November 8, 2000. The DNA taken from the defendant matched the DNA found in Ms. White's house to an exclusion of other African American males in the statistical ratio of one in 430 trillion. After receiving the DNA results, the defendant was arrested for the murder of Ms. White. At that time, the police observed that the defendant had a noticeable scar on his right ring finger and that he was unable to stretch out that finger completely. The police found that the bloody shoe prints left at Ms. White's house were consistent with shoes the defendant had worn. The defendant again denied ever being in Ms. White's house and had no explanation for how his blood DNA was in her house. He claimed that he was at his grandmother's house, down the street from Ms. White's house at 240 East Boulevard Street, on the night Ms. White was murdered.

The state presented this evidence at trial and argued that Ms. White had been killed by the defendant during the robbery or attempted robbery of her house. The defendant presented an alibi defense through the testimony of his brother, great uncle, mother, grandmother and aunt, asserting that he had been at his grandmother's house, three houses down from Ms. White's house, the entire day and night before her body was found. The defendant did not take the stand. The defendant's brother testified that the shoes worn by defendant found similar to the shoe pattern at the murder scene were purchased after the murder took place. The defendant's family members testified that the defendant injured his right hand as a youngster. After considering all of the evidence presented, the jury unanimously found the defendant guilty of first degree murder.

The following day, the trial court held a hearing outside the presence of the jury to determine whether evidence of the defendant's involvement in an unadjudicated murder and aggravated battery could be admitted at the penalty phase of his trial, in addition to evidence of two prior convictions. After finding that the state's evidence of these unadjudicated crimes met a clear and convincing standard of proof, the trial court allowed limited evidence of the two unadjudicated crimes.

At the penalty phase hearing, the state presented clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed the murder of 18-year old Justin Bradley on August 21, 2000, five months after Ms. White's murder. The jury heard evidence that the defendant shot Mr. Bradley in the wrist and back of the head with a shotgun. The state also presented clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed aggravated battery of Willie Bush on October 25, 1999, a little over five months before Ms. White's murder. The jury was informed that the defendant attacked Mr. Bush and hit him on the head with a caulking gun.

The state also presented evidence of adjudicated crimes committed by the defendant through stipulations that the defendant had a misdemeanor conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia on November 28, 1989, and a felony conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute on January 22, 1993. The state also presented victim impact evidence when it called Cornell White as a witness to testify about his mother and the impact of her death on her family members.

In the penalty phase, the defense called the defendant's grandmother, mother and aunt in the penalty phase to testify as to the pain the jury's verdict had caused them and the sorrow they felt for the victim's family.

Following the penalty phase, the jury unanimously recommended that the defendant be sentenced to death, finding that the murder was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner and also that the murder was committed during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of armed robbery, first degree robbery or simple robbery.

The defense filed motions for new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. The trial court allowed the defense to obtain transcripts of trial proceedings in support of their motions. Thereafter, the trial court consider and denied the post-verdict motions, and formally sentenced the defendant to death.

The defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence urging 27 assignments of error.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of the Evidence

Assignments of Error 1 and 4

The defendant claims that the evidence...