State v. Colby
| Decision Date | 30 May 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 51,907–KA,51,907–KA |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Mark Edward COLBY, Appellant |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
JOHN D. & ERIC G. JOHNSON, LAW FIRM, LLC, By: Eric G. Johnson, Minden, Counsel for Appellant
JAMES E. STEWART, SR., District Attorney, BRITNEY A. GREEN, ERICA JEFFERSON, RON C. STAMPS, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee
Before WILLIAMS, PITMAN, and GARRETT, JJ.
The defendant, Mark Edward Colby, was charged by bill of indictment with second degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. Following a jury trial, he was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm.
FACTS
On September 10, 2014, the Shreveport Police Department ("SPD") responded to a report of a deceased person at a residence. The police officers arrived at the home of the victim, 53–year–old Angela Godley, and discovered that she had been shot multiple times. The officers also learned that Godley shared the house with the defendant, Mark Edward Colby, with whom she was involved in a romantic relationship.
The subsequent investigation revealed that Godley owned and operated a restaurant and bar in Shreveport known as the Noble Savage Tavern ("the tavern"). During interviews with employees of the tavern, the officers learned the following facts: Godley and the defendant were last seen having drinks together at the tavern on September 10, 2014, at approximately 1:30 a.m.; the tavern was registered in Godley's name because the defendant's "criminal history" prevented him from obtaining a liquor license; and the defendant carried a handgun.
The defendant became a person of interest early in the investigation into Godley's murder. However, initially, the SPD was unable to locate the defendant or ascertain his whereabouts. On September 12, 2014, the defendant was apprehended in Mexico. Subsequently, he was transported to Shreveport and was later indicted by a grand jury for second degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1.
On June 13, 2016, the state filed a notice of intent to introduce evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts, pursuant to La. C.E. art. 404(B). The state's Prieur1 notice identified four "other crimes, wrongs, or acts" as follows:
In the Prieur notice, the state maintained that the evidence was relevant to prove the following:
[T]he defendant's intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm on the victim; the defendant's planning and preparation of the murder; the defendant's identity as the murderer; the defendant's motive for the murder; the absence of mistake or accident; and/or modus operandi.
On July 19, 2016, the defendant filed an opposition to the Prieur notice, arguing that the information contained therein did not fall within the narrow exceptions of La. C.E. art. 404(B) and that the admission of the evidence would result in unnecessary prejudice. Following a hearing, the trial court found that all putative evidence offered by the state was admissible.2
Thereafter, a trial was held, at which multiple witnesses testified. Peter Fetterman, an employee at the tavern, testified as follows: he was working the night of September 9, 2014; when he left the tavern between 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m., Godley was there drinking wine and vodka; and Godley and the defendant seemed to be "in good spirits" when he last saw them.
Michelle G. Ballard, who was also employed at the tavern, testified as follows: she was working at the tavern on the evening of September 9, 2014; Godley and the defendant were at the tavern "having drinks" that night; Godley was drinking wine and/or vodka and cranberry juice; she (Ballard) left the tavern at approximately 11:00 p.m.; Godley and the defendant seemed to be "in good spirits" when she left the tavern; she (Ballard) reported to work at the tavern on September 10, 2014, at approximately 2:30 p.m.; when she arrived, the doors were locked; she thought it unusual that the doors were locked because, ordinarily, the defendant would be at the tavern by the time she arrived to begin her shift; she noticed that Godley's vehicle was in the tavern's parking lot; she was unable to locate either Godley or the defendant by telephone; her concern motivated her to drive to the home Godley shared with the defendant; when she arrived at the house, she noticed that the garage door was open and she heard the couple's dogs barking; she walked into the garage, looked through the glass window of a door leading from the garage into the laundry room of the house, and saw Godley lying face down on the floor; one of the dogs was lying on top of Godley; she opened the unlocked door and called out to Godley, who did not respond; she noticed that Godley was wearing the same clothing she had been wearing the previous night; and she ran out of the house and called 911.
Detective Marcus Mitchell, a crime scene investigator with the SPD, testified as follows: he assisted in the investigation of Godley's murder; when he arrived at the residence, Godley's body had not been moved; he did not find any weapons in Godley's hands, on her person or within her reach; after obtaining a search warrant for the residence, he and other officers searched the house; during the search, the officers found multiple spent .45 caliber Hornady brand shell casings; a semi-automatic Colt Defender .45 caliber handgun, serial number DR31076 ("the Colt .45"), was found on a bed in one of the bedrooms; he removed the magazine from the gun and noticed that it was loaded with Hornady brand .45 caliber bullets; he located multiple revolvers throughout the house; when he arrived at the house, he documented and photographed the location of each gun and photographed the crime scene;3 a flip-flop shoe that matched the one Godley was wearing was found in the kitchen near the laundry room; blood was spattered on the kitchen wall near the shoe; a bullet hole was found in a wall in the kitchen, and the bullet was found on the opposite wall; the blood spatter and bullet hole indicated that someone was shot in close proximity to the wall; the home had an "open" floor plan; a partial wall, containing a double-sided fireplace, was located between the living room area and the kitchen; multiple .45 caliber shell casings were found near the fireplace; the location of the shell casings indicate that shots were fired from that location; unlike a revolver, a semi-automatic handgun ejects shell casings when fired; a deformed bullet and more shell casings were found in the doorway leading into the laundry room; the deformity indicates that the bullet had been fired from a gun and had struck an object; another shell casing was found near Godley's body in the laundry room; he found Godley's handbag on a table in the dining room area; he did not find a gun in the handbag; he found multiple revolvers in the living room and kitchen, and one loaded revolver was found in a drawer in the laundry room several feet from Godley's body;4 he "bagged" and labeled the Colt .45; and he suspected that the Colt .45 could be the murder weapon because it was the only semi-automatic weapon found in the house.5
Detective Chad Dailey, a detective with the violent crimes section of the SPD, also assisted in the investigation of Godley's murder. Det. Dailey testified as follows: when he arrived at the crime scene, he learned that the defendant lived in the house with Godley; he became concerned that the defendant may have also been a victim of the crime; after interviewing Ballard, he sent police officers to the tavern to secure the location and to determine if there were any other victims of the homicide; multiple guns were recovered from the tavern; during his interview with some of the tavern's employees, Eric Johnson, one of the managers, informed him that the defendant had stated to him (Johnson) that he (the defendant) would flee to Mexico if he was ever charged with a crime;6 he (Det. Dailey) issued a request to locate the defendant's Ford Ranger truck and provided the truck's license plate number; Louisiana highway traffic cameras identified the defendant's truck on I–49 South at 6:00 a.m. and on I–10 westbound in Lake Charles, Louisiana, at 10:00 a.m. on September 10, 2014; he was later informed by the Department of Homeland Security that the defendant's truck was identified traveling from Laredo, Texas, into Juarez, Mexico at 4:31 p.m. on September 10, 2014; after he received photographs from the Department of Homeland Security depicting the defendant driving his truck across the border into Mexico, he obtained a warrant to arrest the defendant for Godley's murder;7 with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, the defendant was located, arrested, escorted to the border and turned over to United States authorities;8 he, Det. Mitchell and another SPD...
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