State v. Bell

• Decision Date: 14 January 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2009–KA–0199.,2009–KA–0199.
• Citation: 53 So.3d 437
• Parties: STATE of Louisianav.Anthony BELL.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

53 So.3d 437

STATE of Louisiana

v.Anthony BELL.

No. 2009–KA–0199.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Nov. 30, 2010.Rehearing Denied Jan. 14, 2011.

Capital Appeals Project, Blythe Taplin, Sarah Lynn Ottinger, for Appellant.James D. Caldwell, Attorney General, Douglas P. Moreau, District Attorney, Allison Miller Rutzen, Mark Aaron Dumaine, Monisa L. Thompson, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.CIACCIO, J.^*

[2009-0199 (La. 1] On June 15, 2006, Anthony Bell was indicted by an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury with the first-degree murders of his wife, Erica Bell; her relatives, Leonard and Gloria Howard; Doloris McGrew; and Darlene Mills Selvage; as well as for the attempted first-degree murder of Claudia Brown, Erica Bell's mother, all committed on May 21, 2006. The state gave notice of its intention to seek the death penalty and alleged that: defendant killed Leonard and Gloria Howard and Doloris McGrew, who were over 65 years of age; defendant killed Darlene Selvage because she was a witness to the other shootings; defendant killed Erica Bell in the course of a second degree kidnapping; and defendant had specific intent to kill multiple persons in each instance. On June 16, 2006, the district court appointed the Office of the Public Defender to represent the indigent defendant. The Office assigned attorneys Margaret Lagattuta and Greg Rome to the matter. Defense counsel appeared at thirty-five hearings and filed approximately thirty pre-trial motions. However, defendant repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with his representation and attempted to discharge at least one of his attorneys several times. Eventually, after several different motions, on February 28, 2008, the defendant unequivocally asserted his [2009-0199 (La. 2] right to represent himself.

Before defendant dismissed his appointed counsel, they placed his mental status at issue in separate but interrelated motions. First, on June 22, 2006, the defense asked the district court to appoint a sanity commission to determine whether the defendant was competent to proceed. Second, on July 5, 2006, the defense asked the district court to appoint experts to determine the defendant's I.Q. in light of the Supreme Court's determination in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 321, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 2252, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002), wherein the court held the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of mentally retarded offenders. Finally, on October 11, 2007, appointed counsel filed a lengthy Motion to Quash the state's notice to seek the death penalty, claiming the defendant is mentally retarded. On February 26, 2007, the district court granted the defense's Motion to Determine Defendant's Competency, and after a hearing on August 30, 2007, the court found he was competent to proceed. The district court also granted the defense's Motion to Determine Defendant's I.Q. but declined to resolve the Atkins claim pre-trial, because the parties did not agree to leave this determination up to the court pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. 905.5.1, which states, “The jury shall try the issue of mental retardation of a capital defendant during the capital sentencing hearing unless the state and the defendant agree that the issue is to be tried by the judge.” ¹

Jury selection began on March 31, 2008, and was completed on April 7, 2008. Trial commenced on April 8, 2008, after defendant's requests to continue were denied. The state rested its case-in-chief midday on April 11, 2008, and the defense rested that same day at approximately 6 p.m. The state had no rebuttal to defendant's case, and closing arguments were completed by approximately 8:30 p.m. The jury [2009-0199 (La. 3] retired to deliberate and after nearly two hours, unanimously found the defendant guilty as charged on each count.

On the morning of April 12, 2008, as the penalty phase was to begin, defendant made a request for attorneys Lagattuta and Rome to be reappointed to represent him, which the district court granted. The court then denied the defense's motion to continue for sixty days and instead granted the defense two days, which was, subsequently, extended by this Court until April 17, 2008. ² State v. Bell, 2008–804 (La.4/15/08), 979 So.2d 485. The penalty phase then took place on April 17, 2008. After the state's and the defendant's presentation of evidence and after approximately two hours of deliberation, the jury recommended defendant be sentenced to death on each of the five counts of first-degree murder. The defense thereafter sought a new trial on the basis that defendant was denied the tools necessary to present a defense, the role of standby counsel was unduly restricted at trial, the defense had new evidence of defendant's mental retardation, and reappointed defense counsel were not given sufficient time to prepare a case in mitigation. The district court denied defense's Motion for a New Trial.

Before he was sentenced, defendant again moved to dismiss his attorneys, which motion the district court denied. Defendant was sentenced on September 11, 2008, on counts one through five to death by lethal injection, and on count six to serve 50 years' imprisonment at hard labor. The district court granted the defendant's Motion to Appeal and Designate the Record and appointed the Capital Appeals Project to represent him on September 25, 2008.

Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence of death, under La. Const. art. V, § 5(D), asserting 52 assignments of error. We will address the most significant [2009-0199 (La. 4] of these errors in this opinion, and the remaining errors will be addressed in an unpublished appendix. After a thorough review of the law and the evidence, for the following reasons we affirm defendant's convictions for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, as well as the imposition of the death penalty.

FACTS

The sole surviving adult of the shootings, Claudia Brown, pastor of the small family church where the incident occurred, testified at the trial. On the morning of the shooting, Brown's family church, the Ministry of Jesus Christ located at 1935 Dallas Drive, Baton Rouge, was holding service at approximately 9:00 a.m., with six adults ³ and five children ⁴ present. Brown testified the defendant arrived at about 9:15 a.m. and asked that she yield the floor to him to address the gathering. Brown granted the request, and the defendant publicly stated he wanted Erica back and asked her to reconcile with him. When Erica refused, defendant became agitated, exited the church, and paced up and down the sidewalk, where he was visible to Brown. Out of concern, Brown sent her father, Leonard Howard, to check on the defendant outside. Howard returned to the service and indicated the defendant was okay.

As the service was ending and people were leaving, Brown testified there was a commotion in the outer room of the church and she heard her mother, Gloria Howard, say, “Don't shoot me Anthony.” Brown remembered moving toward the door to see what was happening, and after Brown heard gunshots, the next thing she could remember she was lying face down on top of a baby's car seat. Brown had been shot in the back of her head, and moments later she heard her daughter, Erica, [2009-0199 (La. 5] say, “Anthony, can I kiss my Mama goodbye?” Brown heard the defendant give his permission, and as Erica kissed her on her cheek, she looked up slightly and saw a gun hanging down from the defendant's hand. As the defendant and Erica were exiting the church, Brown heard the defendant say, “Come on, Erica! Let's go! ... I told you I was going to do it!”

Five of the six adults present at the church that morning had been shot, all in the head, while Erica and her three children had been taken by the defendant in a rented, beige Nissan Maxima. Brown, the only adult to survive the shootings, could see at least one other victim from where she was positioned and was able to call out to one of the two children left on the scene to get her a cell phone. The first cell phone retrieved would not work, so the child retrieved another from one of the victims, and Brown called the police. Brown told the 911 operator Bell had shot up the church and asked for an ambulance immediately. She indicated she could see her family members on the ground not moving. The operator requested that Brown call out to see if anyone would respond, but no one responded to Brown's calls, as she and the two children apparently were the only people alive in the church. She told the 911 operator she was covered in blood and did not know if she was shot or where she was shot and felt as though she might faint. The call abruptly ended when Brown heard noises and thought the defendant was coming back into the church. A recording of her 911 call was played for the jury.

After the police arrived, Brown told the police Anthony Bell had shot her, and she was taken to Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center, where she was treated and gave a statement to the police. Brown later had surgery to remove two fragments of a bullet from her head and neck. Brown's statement to police at the hospital was also played for the jury. In her statement, Brown was very slow to communicate due to [2009-0199 (La. 6] her medical treatment but told police that Anthony Bell had come into church to ask the church to pray with him. She asked her father to go speak to him outside, where Anthony was pacing up and down the sidewalk. Further, Brown stated the defendant then came back in the church and began shooting everyone. She indicated he was wearing a red, white, and blue pullover shirt and denim shorts, and after the shooting, defendant took Erica and their three children from the church.

Brown also testified at trial that her daughter Erica and the defendant were married in November of 2000, at a ceremony in which Brown herself performed. However, the couple had a tumultuous, on-again off-again relationship ⁵ and had recently separated. Brown testified...