State v. Burns

• Decision Date: 19 February 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98 KA 0602.,98 KA 0602.
• Citation: 734 So.2d 693
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Helen BURNS.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 693

734 So.2d 693

STATE of Louisiana v. Helen BURNS.

No. 98 KA 0602.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

February 19, 1999.

Walter P. Reed, District Attorney, Covington, Dorothy Pendergrast, Metairie, Counsel for Plaintiff—Appellee State of Louisiana.

Gwendolyn Brown, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Defendant—Appellant Helen Burns.

Before: FOIL, KUHN, and WEIMER, JJ.

WEIMER, J.

The defendant, Helen Burns, and her brother, Michael Wright (hereinafter referred to as "Wright"), were charged by grand jury indictment # 255875 with one count of second degree murder, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1, for the shooting death of her husband, Conway Burns. Burns pled not guilty.¹

Initially, Burns alone was indicted for the offense under grand jury indictment # 245264, but a nolle prosequi was entered as to that indictment. She was subsequently re-indicted with her brother as a co-defendant.

After a jury trial, Burns was found guilty as charged. She filed motions for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and for new trial, but the motions were denied. She was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. She now appeals, designating four assignments of error.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In assignments of error numbered three and four, Burns contends the trial judge erred in denying her motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal because the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to support her conviction.

The standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence to uphold a conviction is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could conclude the State proved the essential elements of the crime and the defendant's identity as the perpetrator of that crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In conducting this review, we also must be expressly mindful of Louisiana's circumstantial evidence test, which states in part, "assuming every fact to be proved that the evidence tends to prove," every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. LSA—R.S. 15:438. State v. Huts, 95-0541, p. 25 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/29/96), 676 So.2d 160, 176, writ denied, 96-1734 (La.1/6/97), 685 So.2d 126. Where the key issue is the defendant identity as the perpetrator, rather than whether or not the crime was committed, the State is required to negate any reasonable probability of misidentification. Positive identification by only one witness may be sufficient to support the defendant's conviction. State v. Parfait, 96-1814, p. 17 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/9/97), 693 So.2d 1232, 1242, writ denied, 97-1347 (10/31/97), 703 So.2d 20.

When a conviction is based on both direct and circumstantial evidence, the reviewing court must resolve any conflict in the direct evidence by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the direct evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence and the facts reasonably inferred from the circumstantial evidence must be sufficient for a rational juror to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. Huls, 95-0541 at 25, 676 So.2d at 176-177.

The applicable definition of second degree murder in the instant case is the killing of a human being "[w]hen the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm." LSA-R.S. 14:30.1(A)(1). Specific criminal intent is "that state of mind which exists when the circumstances indicate that the offender actively desired the prescribed criminal consequences to follow his act or failure to act." LSA-R.S. 14:10(1). Intent is a question of fact. Nevertheless, the intent at issue in this case, specific criminal intent, may be proven by direct evidence, such as statements by a defendant, or by inference from circumstantial evidence, such as a defendant's actions or facts depicting the circumstances. Specific intent is an ultimate legal conclusion to be resolved by the fact finder. State v. Seals, 95-0305, p. 6 (La.11/25/96), 684 So.2d 368, 373, cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1199, 117 S.Ct. 1558, 137 L.Ed.2d 705 (1997); State v. Buchanan, 95-0625, p. 4 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/10/96), 673 So.2d 663, 665, writ denied, 96-1411 (12/6/96), 684 So.2d 923. Specific intent to kill may be inferred from a defendant's act of pointing a gun and firing at a person. Seals, supra. All persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether present or absent, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, aid and abet in its commission, or directly or indirectly counsel or procure another to commit the crime, are principles. LSA-R.S. 14:24.

Burns and Wright were tried jointly. We discuss the evidence against Wright in detail in State v. Wright, 98 KA 0601, also rendered this date. Herein, we set forth the evidence concerning Burns' role in the commission of the offense.

In the instant case, St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office Detective David Hall testified that on June 23, 1995, Burns surrendered herself to him at the jail facility of the sheriff's complex and gave a recorded statement in which she admitted to killing her husband. It is well established that once the crime itself has been established, a confession alone may be used to identify the accused as the perpetrator. State v. Carter, 521 So.2d 553, 555 (La.App. 1 Cir.1988).

When Burns surrendered herself to Detective Hall, she had redness around her right eye, a blood bruise within the eye itself, and injuries inside and outside of her lips. In response to questioning, Detective Hall indicated that Burns did not complain of any injuries to her arms or her fingers, and that he did not see any swelling or bruising to either her fingers, her legs, or her torso. Detective Hall identified State Exhibit 16 as the statement/waiver of Miranda rights form given to and signed by Burns after he met her. He read the form to Burns and she claimed to understand her rights. Burns made an initial statement which was not recorded. Thereafter, Detective Hall asked Burns whether she would give a recorded statement and she voiced no objection. Detective Hall then recorded Burns' statement, again advising her of her Miranda rights at the beginning of the recording.

Detective Hall identified State Exhibit 10² as the statement/waiver of Miranda rights form that Burns signed at the beginning of the recording. He identified State Exhibit 39 as a Panasonic tape containing Burns' taped statement. He identified State Exhibit 40 as an accurate transcript of the statement. Over the objection of counsel for Burns, the taped statement was played for the jury.³

Covington Police Department Detective Melvin Crockett also testified that he was present during Burns' interview. He identified State Exhibit 16 as the statement/waiver of Miranda rights form given to Burns by Detective Hall and signed by Burns at the beginning of the interview. He also identified State Exhibit 17 as the statement/waiver of Miranda rights form given to Burns by Detective Hall and signed by Burns at the beginning of her taped statement.

In the taped statement, Burns confessed to shooting her husband. Her version of the events surrounding the shooting was as follows. On the morning of the offense she woke up her child and began giving her a bath. The child cried because she did not want to be awakened so early. The victim began cursing Burns concerning the child being in the bathtub and crying. Burns told the victim that she was getting ready to get the child out of the bathtub after she finished the child's bath. The victim immediately reached over Burns and lifted the child out of the bathtub and told Burns to get the child a towel and dry her off. Burns told the victim that he had taken the child out of the bathtub, so he should get a towel and dry the child off. The victim struck Burns in the face. Burns told the child to go in the bedroom, put her panties on, and wait. The victim began to beat Burns. Burns escaped down the hall, but the victim pushed her against the wall and punched her in the face. Burns fought with the victim, stopped to pick up the child, and attempted to get her keys, but the victim grabbed her hand and tried to break her fingers by pulling them back. The victim took away Burns' keys, but Burns had a spare set of car keys in her shoe. The victim continued to beat Burns and she continued to fight to get away. As Burns was making her way through the front room, the victim struck her and she fell on the sofa. The victim punched her while she was on the floor, striking her in her face, her head, her stomach, and "everywhere his fist [could] go."

The victim struck her again as she grabbed for the door. The victim dragged Burns down the steps and into the grass constantly hitting, kicking, and punching her. Burns heard her neighbor's door across the street close and assumed that the victim also heard this because he stopped beating her after calling her some names and kicking her. Burns went to her vehicle. She did not feel dressed because she was only wearing shorts, a shirt, and tennis shoes. She did not go back for the child because she "couldn't go back in there." She warmed up her car, a white Chrysler Newport, drove down the dirt road, parked, and cried. She wanted to telephone her boss, but felt unable to do so because her face was "messed up." She drove around for a while and decided to change clothes because her clothes were hot, sweaty, and bloody. Due to the time, Burns suspected that the victim had probably gone to work and so she returned to the home.

When she did not see her van at her home, she felt that it was safe to enter the home. However, she did not have her keys, so she broke a window to gain entry into the home. She changed clothes. She tried to think of somewhere to go take a bath, before beginning to look for sunglasses to cover her face. She rode around, got a cup of ice for her...