State v. English

• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana
• Writing for the Court: NORRIS
• Citation: State v. English, 582 So.2d 1358 (La. App. 1991)
• Decision Date: 19 June 1991
• Docket Number: No. 22501-KA,22501-KA
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Everett T. ENGLISH, Appellant. 582 So.2d 1358

Page 1358

582 So.2d 1358

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Everett T. ENGLISH, Appellant.

No. 22501-KA.

582 So.2d 1358

Court of Appeal of Louisiana Second Circuit.

June 19, 1991.

Writ Denied Sept. 20, 1991.

Hunter, Scott, Blue, Johnson & Ross by Louis G. Scott, Michael A. Courteau, Monroe, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Jerry Jones, Dist. Atty., Richard A. Sherburne, Asst. Dist. Atty., Monroe, for appellee.

Before SEXTON, NORRIS and VICTORY, JJ.

NORRIS, Judge.

The defendant, Everett T. English, was charged by amended indictment with two counts of second degree murder, La. R.S. 14:30.1, arising from his participation in the "Moon Lake Murders" of Winston Vandervield and Simmie Stevenson in Ouachita Parish in April 1988. He proceeded to a jury trial and was found guilty on responsive verdicts of manslaughter, La. R.S. 14:31. The trial court later sentenced English to the maximum, 21 years at hard labor on each count, and directed the sentences to be consecutive to one another, as well as to two prior contempt sentences. English now appeals, advancing five assignments of error. For the reasons expressed, we affirm.

Background facts

On the morning of April 12, 1988, patrons of the Moon Lake Recreation Area in northern Ouachita Parish discovered the bodies of two black men lying some distance from the gravel road. One of the victims was 25-year old Winston Vandervield (also known as Otis Strawder). His hands and feet were tied up with neckties, his mouth taped with duct tape, and his head shot in the right side. He also had a large laceration on the right side of his head, above the bullet hole, consistent with a blow to the head or a fall. His body showed a pattern of dirt and debris as though it had been dragged on its back. The other victim was 30-year old Simmie Lee Stevenson. His wrists were tied with a necktie and white electrical cord, his mouth gagged with a red scarf, and his head shot in the left side. He also had a lacerated lip, suggesting a blow or a fall. Vandervield was pronounced dead at the scene but Stevenson, still breathing laboriously, was taken to North Monroe Hospital. He could not be saved and died that night.

Later in the same day Stevenson's car, a maroon 1983 Monte Carlo, was found on Solvent Street in Sterlington, not far from Moon Lake. Officers found, in the trunk and back seat, large blood stains that were still damp. Deputy Hilton, who dusted the car for prints, found "streaky" areas that appeared to have been wiped clean.

Stevenson's house showed no signs of foul play; however, Vandervield's house on Mississippi Street in Monroe was in disarray, with drawers open and items scattered. The police also found bloodstains on the bedroom carpet; a Church's Fried Chicken box and bottles or cans of malt liquor in the garbage can; and an electric vacuum cleaner with a clipped cord similar to the one found on Stevenson's wrists. Vandervield's sister, Ms. Ballard, added that she saw a white bath towel on the trash can outside the house. Police dusted the house for fingerprints but recovered only one usable print from a beer glass in the kitchen sink. The murder weapon was never found.

In the course of the investigation, Dallas police arrested a suspect who was wearing Vandervield's red jacket and had apparently been driving his car, a white Dodge Shadow. The suspect, James Divers, is Everett English's cousin. Police also matched Divers's fingerprints with those found on the Monte Carlo and the drinking glass at Vandervield's house.

On May 7, Sterlington Police Chief Paul Davis called the Ouachita Parish Sheriff Office to report that a reliable confidential informant had implicated Everett English in the killings. After meeting with the RCI, Deputies Toney and Jones decided to question English.

The Statements

Three deputies went to English's parents' house on the evening of Saturday, May 7. Without arresting or restraining him, Deputies Toney and Jones said they would like to question him about the Moon Lake killings. Officer Moore, the only one in uniform and visibly armed, kept his distance on the street. English hesitated, saying there was no one at home to watch his three-year old daughter, but his parents drove up presently and English willingly accompanied the deputies to the Courthouse Annex. There he was Mirandized and signed a rights waiver form at 8:26 p.m. The deputies then took his oral statement, admittedly with some difficulty as English was nervous, shaken and "afraid to talk." The substance of the statement, as related by Deps. Toney and Jones, was as follows.

On the afternoon of April 11, English ran into Divers, who asked him for a ride home; English agreed and they got into English's white Nissan. Divers asked him to stop at "Jim Bob's" house near Louberta Street; English complied, noting that Divers was flashing his .32 revolver and a lug wrench. After Divers was through talking to "Jim Bob," he returned to the car and asked English to take him to a house on Mississippi Street where a "punk" (homosexual) lived. English complied, but parked several houses down lest he be seen with a "punk." Divers knocked on the door and Vandervield answered; English did not know Vandervield but Divers apparently did, as they started talking. English walked back to his car to get some cigarettes. When he got back, Vandervield and Divers were leaving in Vandervield's white Dodge Shadow to get some chicken; English rode with them to Church's and back. The three went to the bedroom to eat the chicken and watch TV. Vandervield and Divers sat on the bed and English on a chair. At one point Vandervield went to the kitchen and brought English a glass of water.

English had taken one sip when Divers suddenly struck Vandervield in the head with some object, perhaps the lug wrench and knocked him to the floor. This so startled English that he "wasted" (spilled) the water and bounded from the room. Divers told him, "You are in it now." Thinking Vandervield was dead, English stayed in the living room and looked out the window. Soon he saw Simmie Stevenson's Monte Carlo pull up. When Stevenson knocked, Divers opened the door and pointed his gun at Stevenson's head and ordered him into the bedroom. There English saw Vandervield lying on the floor, already tied up. Divers gave English the gun and told him to hold it on Stevenson while he went around the house gathering valuables to load in the Dodge Shadow.

English admitted he kept the gun on Stevenson while trying not to look at Vandervield, whom he thought was dead. They could hear Divers backing Stevenson's Monte Carlo to the door; Stevenson began to plead for his life. Divers returned to the bedroom and told English to park the Dodge Shadow some distance away. English did so, then ran back to the house, "knowing" that Divers was going to kill the two men and afraid that if he did not cooperate Divers would hunt him down and kill him too. When English reached the house, he saw that Divers had stuffed the two men into the car but had not yet shot them. Divers then told English to follow him to Sterlington. English complied, driving his own Nissan behind Divers in the Monte Carlo with the two unwilling passengers.

They proceeded north on Hwy. 165; when Divers turned off at Moon Lake, English followed. Even though it was dark, English could not bear to watch the bodies being pulled from the car so he turned his car around in the roadway. He then heard two muffled gunshots about a minute apart. Afterwards, Divers came up to English and said to follow him again; they rode to the old Myles High School in Sterlington. Divers got out of the Monte Carlo and wiped the trunk area with a towel. Then Divers got into English's car and told him to drive back to Monroe. English complied.

Before dropping Divers off near the Dodge Shadow, English stopped at a convenience store. Divers had found a $100 bill either on Stevenson's person or in his Monte Carlo; he changed it at the store and gave English $50. English then dropped him off and did not see him again, although Divers telephoned him about a week later to reassure him that "there was no way that anybody would know that they had anything to do with it."

English finished giving this statement around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 8. According to Deps. Jones and Toney, this was enough information to arrest English. Ready to take a recorded statement, they gave him another rights waiver form, which he refused to sign. He did not ask for a lawyer. English testified at the hearing on the motion to suppress that they arrested him because he refused to give a recorded statement; however, Dep. Toney denied this, citing the unsigned waiver form, which recited that English had already been placed under arrest (this was admitted as Exhibit S-3 at the hearing on the motion to suppress but not introduced at trial). English also testified that he gave the statement only because deputies promised to let him go home if he talked. They admitted telling him he would fare better for telling the truth but categorically denied promising to release him. English was taken to the jail around 2:00 a.m.; as he was being locked up, he told Dep. Toney, "Be sure to come get me * * * and talk to me."

Later that day, at 8:45 p.m., English was returned to the Annex, Mirandized again and questioned further. At 10:40 he was Mirandized yet again and gave a recorded statement which was played at trial. The statement acknowledged all Miranda rights and denied threats, promises, offers or inducements. In substance the recorded statement is identical to the oral one. It adds a few details: right after Divers hit Vandervield, he told English, "I told you we was gonna get some money"; English knew Divers was stealing a TV, tapes and clothes from the house; as late as when he moved the Dodge Shadow, which was loaded with stolen goods, he did not know Divers was going to kill the men; and he saw Divers wiping the...