State v. Alridge
| Decision Date | 23 May 2018 |
| Docket Number | NO. 2017–KA–0231,2017–KA–0231 |
| Citation | 249 So.3d 260 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Dajuan A. ALRIDGE |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Leon A. Cannizzaro, Jr., DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ORLEANS PARISH, Donna Andrieu, Chief of Appeals, Mithun Kamath, Kyle Daly, Laura Cannizzaro, Assistant District Attorney, 619 South White Street, New Orleans, LA 70119, COUNSEL FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
Christopher J. Murell, Erica L. Navalance, CAPITAL APPEALS PROJECT, 636 Baronne, New Orleans, LA 70113, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT
(Court composed of Judge Terri F. Love, Judge Paula A. Brown, Judge Dennis R. Bagneris, Pro Tempore1 )
This is a criminal appeal. Defendant, Dajuan A. Alridge ("Dajuan") seeks review of his conviction of second degree murder and his sentence of life imprisonment without the benefit of parole. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm Dajuan's conviction and sentence.
On March 25, 2010, Dajuan and co-defendant, Dennis Lewis ("Dennis")—two seventeen-year-olds—were indicted by the grand jury for the charge of second degree murder of fifteen-year-old James McKenzie ("James").2 A jury trial commenced on October 19, 2015, and concluded on October 21, 2015. With an eleven to one vote, the jury convicted Dajuan of second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. Prior to sentencing, Dajuan filed motions for new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, which the district court denied. On June 16, 2016, Dajuan was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole.3 This appeal followed.
Pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 920, a review for errors patent on the face of the record reveals no errors.
Dennis and James lived in the same neighborhood on Hauck Drive in New Orleans, Louisiana. On the morning of November 30, 2009, Dennis asked James to go with him to an abandoned house in the neighborhood. Dajuan was with Dennis. While at the abandoned house, Dennis held James from behind while Dajuan stabbed James forty-nine times. James was found dead in the abandoned house; and his face was wrapped in duct tape and his body was covered in a sheet of plastic.
During the three days of trial, the following pertinent testimony was elicited:
Lashonda Enclade
Lashonda Enclade ("Ms. Enclade"), James' mother, recalled that on November 30, 2009, she went to work, leaving James at home to babysit his youngest brother, five-year-old K.S.4 Ms. Enclade lived on Hauck Drive. While at work, she attempted to call James, but she did not reach him. When she returned from work, K.S. told her that James left the house that morning with Dennis and a "boy with dreads." When James did not come home that night or the following day, Ms. Enclade called the police and reported James missing.
Ms. Enclade testified that Dennis had threatened James at knifepoint on Thanksgiving Day, and Dennis accused James of stealing his gun. Ms. Enclade also stated she was aware Dennis recruited someone to help him reclaim his gun. Ms. Enclade made several attempts to speak to Dennis' mother about James' disappearance. On Saturday, December 5, 2009, Ms. Enclade walked to Dennis' house and confronted Dennis' mother. Dennis' mother denied that she and her son knew anything about James' disappearance.
Also, Ms. Enclade, her family, and friends began canvassing the neighborhood on December 5, 2009, with flyers requesting information on James; and the flyer had a picture of James on it. The neighbors began telling the family members information.
Ms. Enclade testified that "[t[he neighbors was [sic] coming out, saying they heard, stuff they seen, Dennis and my son ... and another boy, walking up the street." Another neighbor told Ms. Enclade he smelled smoke coming from the backyard of Dennis' home on Monday, November 30, 2009. Ms. Enclade testified that based on information from the neighbors, her family members entered an abandoned house on the corner and found James' body.
Detective Debra Norman ("Detective Norman"), employed by the New Orleans Police Department ("NOPD"), testified that she was dispatched on December 5, 2009, to Hauck Drive on a disturbance call. As she arrived on the scene, Detective Norman noticed people posting pictures of a missing person. Detective Norman learned that a neighbor saw Dennis burning clothes in the backyard of his mother's house on November 30, 2009. Detective Norman entered the backyard to investigate the report and discovered a pile of burned clothing on the ground. At the time she made that discovery, she heard screams coming from the abandoned house on the corner of Hauck Drive and Prentiss Street. She relocated to the house and found James' body.
On that same day, December 5, 2009, Dennis was taken to the police station where he was interrogated by Detective Orlando Matthews ("Detective Matthews").5 During the interrogation, Dennis gave several statements to police including a statement implicating Dajuan as the person who stabbed James.
At trial, Dennis denied killing James and explained he pled guilty because, "[i]f I got a paid lawyer, you [the State] wouldn't be able to use the [Dennis'] statements." Dennis expounded he confessed to the police that he stabbed James to protect his mother from the threat made by the police to put her in jail. When questioned by the State about how he knew details about the crime scene such as where the victim's body was found, and that the body was covered with plastic, Dennis said that Detective Matthews told him. Dennis continued to deny any involvement in the murder and said he never told his mother he stabbed the victim.
Since Dennis denied any involvement in the murder, the State played a portion of a videotaped statement taken during Dennis' interrogation at the police station. This portion of the video depicted Dennis in a room with his mother, and Dennis telling his mother that Dajuan stabbed James. At that time, Detective Matthews had left the room.
Following the playing of the video, Dennis admitted, at trial, that he had stabbed James, but he denied Dajuan was involved. Dennis explained that James stole his gun and that James took it from his "stash spot" in the neighborhood. Dennis admitted the last time he saw James was when they left together from James' house. Dennis recalled he and James went into an abandoned house; he told James they were going to talk about something. When the two entered the abandoned house, Dennis began hitting James and James tried to fight back. Dennis found a knife in the house and began stabbing James. When asked how he stabbed James, Dennis testified that he "just grabbed him and started stabbing." Dennis stated James tried to run, but he held James down. After Dennis stabbed James, he wrapped James' face with duct tape. Dennis testified he left before James died. Dennis stated he burned his and James' clothes in the backyard of his home to get rid of the evidence.
Because Dennis continued to deny any involvement by Dajuan, the State played the entire videotaped statements given by Dennis to police.6 Notably, in the last statement to Detective Matthews, Dennis stated he went to James' house on the morning of November 30, 2009. He wanted to confront James about stealing his gun. He continued explaining that he and Dajuan lured James to an abandoned house on Hauck Drive to smoke marijuana. According to Dennis, because James continued to deny stealing his gun, Dajuan stabbed James multiple times while Dennis held James from behind. Dennis stated he found a knife in the house, and later, he threw the knife in the river. Dennis wrapped James' face and head in duct tape and covered the body with a sheet of plastic. He and Dajuan returned to Dennis' house where Dennis burned his, Dajuan's, and James' blood-stained clothing and shoes.7 Dennis gave to Dajuan some of his clothing and a pair of his sister's shoes, which had rainbow shoelaces, for Dajuan to wear home.
After the jury heard the videotaped statements, Dennis retracted his statement that Dajuan stabbed James. He explained he lied about Dajuan stabbing James so his mother would think he was innocent of the murder, and Dennis stated he perjured himself at trial when he testified he did not kill James. Dennis testified he lied when he said he gave Dajuan his sister's shoes to wear home after the murder. Dennis explained he saw Dajuan purchase the women's shoes from Footlocker. When Dajuan was arrested, he was wearing women's tennis shoes similar to the description Dennis gave in his statement. Dennis identified the shoes at trial. When confronted by the State with the fact that two different sized shoe prints were left at the murder scene, Dennis claimed one print belonged to him and the other to the victim.
Former NOPD Detective John Duzac (Mr. Duzac) testified that in 2009 he was assigned to the Crime Task Force with the FBI, and he was dispatched to Hauck Drive on December 5, 2009. Mr. Duzac said that during the course of his investigation, he learned Dennis threatened the victim with a knife on Thanksgiving Day. Additionally, he discovered that a neighbor had seen Dennis burning items in Dennis' backyard.
Mr. Duzac obtained evidence of the burned clothing retrieved from the rear of Dennis' residence on Hauck Drive; the evidence included three socks—one pair of socks and a single sock.
Mr. Duzac identified photographs of the scene. Many of the photographs depicted bloody footprints taken at the scene.8 Mr. Duzac testified one of the footprints measured 280 millimeters and another footprint measured 245 millimeters. Mr. Duzac estimated one was about a size 10 and the other about a size 7. Mr. Duzac explained the smaller footprint was photographed at the scene of the crime on December 8, 2009. Mr. Duzac recalled, when Dajuan was arrested, he was wearing a pair of tennis shoes. These shoes were introduced into evidence and published to the jury; they were identified as "[o]ne pair of rainbow...
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