State v. Adams

• Decision Date: 29 September 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2004-77.,2004-77.
• Citation: 884 So.2d 694
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Corey Marquee ADAMS, Whitney Batiste, and Horatio Adams.

884 So.2d 694

STATE of Louisiana v. Corey Marquee ADAMS, Whitney Batiste, and Horatio Adams.

No. 2004-77.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

September 29, 2004.

Appeal from the Fifteenth Judicial District Court, Parish of Lafayette, No. 93424, Patrick Michot, D.J.

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Michael Harson, District Attorney, Keith A. Stutes, Assistant District Attorney, Lafayette, LA, for State of Louisiana.

Carey J. Ellis, III, Louisiana Appellate Project, Rayville, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Corey Marquee Adams.

G. Paul Marx, Louisiana Appellate Project, Lafayette, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Whitney Batiste.

Sherry Watters, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Horatio Adams.

Corey Marquee Adams, Louisiana State Prison, Angola, LA, Pro Se.

Court composed of JOHN D. SAUNDERS, MICHAEL G. SULLIVAN, and ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, Judges.

SULLIVAN, Judge.

Brothers Corey Adams, Horatio Adams, and Whitney Batiste appeal their convictions for the second degree murder of Jimmie Chandler. For the following reasons, we affirm Corey and Whitney's convictions and Corey's sentence; we reverse Horatio's conviction and reinstate his guilty plea and sentence.

Facts

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Thanks-giving Day in 2001 in Lafayette, Jimmie Chandler was walking to a store to buy a disposable camera for another resident of the halfway house where he lived. About the same time, Corey Adams was driving in the vicinity; his brothers, Horatio and Zachary Adams were passengers in the car. Corey parked his car near a building where Mr. Chandler was walking, and all three got out of the car. Corey and Zachary remained near the car, while Horatio walked behind the building.

As Mr. Chandler walked by Corey and Zachary, Corey called out to him. Mr. Chandler responded, and the men began arguing. The argument quickly escalated into physical violence. Corey hit Mr. Chandler with a stick, and Zachary punched him. At some point, Corey threw or discarded the stick and resorted to using his fists. Returning to the scene, Horatio also began punching Mr. Chandler. Suddenly, Whitney¹ appeared on the scene with a knife and began stabbing Mr. Chandler while the others continued to hit him. At some point, Mr. Chandler fell to the ground, but the four brothers continued attacking him. When a bystander approached, Corey, Horatio, and Zachary returned to the car and drove away, and Whitney left the area on foot.

Mr. Chandler ultimately died of multiple stab wounds. The subsequent police investigation led to the arrest and indictment of all four brothers. On January 16, 2002, in Lafayette Parish, the State filed an indictment charging Corey, Horatio, Zachary, and Whitney with second degree murder, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1.

On August 5, 2002, Corey, Zachary, and Horatio each pled guilty to the reduced charge of second degree battery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:34.1. Pursuant to their plea agreements, the three brothers were to testify truthfully at Whitney's trial. Whitney was tried for second degree murder, but the proceeding ended with a hung jury.

On August 14, 2002, the State filed a motion to rescind all three of the Adams' plea agreements. After a hearing on September 13, 2002, the trial court granted the motion with regard to Corey and Horatio but denied the motion as to Zachary. In August 2003, Corey, Horatio, and Whitney were tried and convicted by a jury of second degree murder.

Corey filed a motion for new trial, a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, and a motion in arrest of judgment. On August 27, 2003, the trial court denied all three motions, then proceeded to sentencing. Corey, Horatio, and Whitney were sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, as required by statute. They all seek review by this court. Corey assigns five errors; Horatio and Whitney each assign two errors.

Errors Patent

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, one error regarding Corey's sentencing was found.

The language of La.Code Crim.P. art. 873 requires a delay of at least twenty-four hours between the denial of a motion for new trial or a motion in arrest of judgment and sentencing. Corey filed a motion in arrest of judgment, a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, and a motion for new trial. All three motions were denied on the same date Corey was sentenced. There is no indication in the record that the twenty-four-hour delay was waived. Any error in this respect is harmless because Corey received a mandatory life sentence. See State v. Porter, 99-1722 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/3/00), 761 So.2d 115; State v. Williams, 617 So.2d 557 (La.App. 3 Cir.), writ denied, 623 So.2d 1331 (La. 1993).

Rescission of Plea Agreements

On August 5, 2002, pursuant to a plea agreement, Corey, Horatio, and Zachary entered pleas of guilty to a lesser charge, second degree battery. The plea agreements were conditioned upon them testifying "truthfully" at Whitney's murder trial.

At Whitney's first trial, the three Adams brothers testified for the State. However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict, and the court declared a mistrial on August 7, 2002. Thereafter, the State filed motions to rescind the plea agreements of the three Adams brothers, alleging they did not testify truthfully at Whitney's trial. The trial court conducted a hearing on the State's motions and granted the motions as to Corey and Horatio, but denied the motion as to Zachary.

In State v. Givens, 99-3518, pp. 14-15 (La.1/18/01), 776 So.2d 443, 455 (emphasis added), the supreme court addressed disputed plea agreements, explaining:

In determining the validity of agreements not to prosecute or of plea agreements, Louisiana courts generally refer to rules of contract law, while recognizing at the same time that a criminal defendant's constitutional right to fairness may be broader than his or her rights under contract law. See State v. Louis, 94-0761, p. 7 (La.11/30/94), 645 So.2d 1144, 1148 (citing State v. Nall, 379 So.2d 731 (La.1980); State v. Lewis, 539 So.2d 1199 (La.1989)). The first step under contract law is to determine whether a contract was formed in the first place through offer and acceptance. Id. at 1149; La.Civ.Code art.1927. The party demanding performance of a contract has the burden of proving its existence. Louis, 645 So.2d at 1149. In the context of plea bargains, a defendant may demand specific performance of the state's promise if he can show that the parties reached an agreement, that he performed his part of the agreement, and that in doing so, he relinquished a fundamental right. Id. at 1149-50. See also State v. Tanner, 425 So.2d 760, 763 (La.1983).

The parties acknowledge that valid plea agreements existed. Therefore, we must determine whether Corey and Horatio performed in accordance with the terms of their plea agreements. The burden of proof is on them to establish that they complied with their plea agreements. Id.

No Louisiana case addresses the applicable standard of review in this situation. In U.S. v. Ballis, 28 F.3d 1399, 1409 (5th Cir.), rehearing denied, 39 F.3d 322 (5th Cir.1994), the court held that "[a] district court's finding as to whether a defendant has breached a plea agreement will be overturned only if clearly erroneous." This standard of review applies to a trial court's factual findings during a hearing to suppress evidence. State v. Casey, 99-23 (La.1/26/00), 775 So.2d 1022. We find the standard appropriate to this situation.

The State's acceptance of Corey's, Horatio's, and Zachary's pleas was premised on them cooperating and testifying truthfully in the prosecution of Whitney, as specified by the prosecutor:

An absolute important plank of that agreement is that the defendants provide truthful cooperation in the trial of the remaining defendant, Whitney Adams Batiste. I would ask that each defendant declare that that is the foundation of this plea and the recommendation of the ultimate sentence the Court will deliver, that they will, in fact, provide truthful cooperation against that remaining defendant.

The trial court individually questioned Corey, Horatio, and Zachary regarding their understanding and agreement to testify "truthfully," and each affirmatively acknowledged that he understood that his plea agreement was based on his truthful cooperation and testimony at Whitney's trial. The prosecutor then stated the factual basis for the pleas. Again, Corey, Horatio, and Zachary were each asked whether the recited facts were correct, and each responded "yes."

During the hearing on the State's motions to rescind the plea agreements, the trial court made the following observations:

Part of what [the prosecutor] stated [in the Boykinization] is that ... "Out of nowhere, according to the defendants, came Whitney Batiste. Whitney Batiste appeared, produced a knife, which they have described as a brass knuckle knife that fits around the knuckles and extends the blade from—folding out from the knuckles, and then began to stab, and stabbed repeatedly the victim."

That was in the factual basis given by [the prosecutor]. It specifically stated that the defendants would testify that they saw Whitney Batiste stab the victim. And, in fact, all three of the defendants agreed with that factual basis.

When time for testimony came, the only one who testified in accordance with that was Zachary Adams. Horatio said he didn't see anybody stabbing anybody. And Corey said he didn't even see a knife. Now, that is not consistent with the factual basis that [the prosecutor] placed in the record.

....

[W]hen Horatio got up to testify, he wouldn't say that he saw the stabbing. He said, I saw him swinging. That was not in accordance with what he indicated to [the prosecutor] that—what his testimony would be, that he saw Whitney Batiste stab the...