State v. Gatson
| Decision Date | 29 December 2021 |
| Docket Number | 21-KA-156, 21-KA-157 |
| Citation | 334 So.3d 1021 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Freddie B. GATSON |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, Honorable Paul D. Connick, Jr., Metairie, Thomas J. Butler, Andrea F. Long, Rachel L. Africk, Zachary P. Popovich
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT, FREDDIE B. GATSON, Jermaine Harris, Alexandria
Panel composed of Judges Jude G. Gravois, Marc E. Johnson, and Hans J. Liljeberg
Defendant, Freddie B. Gatson, appeals his convictions and sentences for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1, simple assault, in violation of La. R.S. 14:38, domestic abuse battery, in violation of La. R.S. 14:35.3, and false imprisonment, in violation of La. R.S. 14:46, from the 24th Judicial District Court.1 For the following reasons, we affirm the convictions for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and simple assault, the sentence for simple assault, and the misdemeanor convictions and sentences.
Defendant, Freddie B. Gatson, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1, and domestic abuse aggravated assault, in violation of La. R.S. 14:37.7, in a bill of information filed on June 26, 2018. The bill of information also stated that Defendant was previously convicted of possession of Schedule II and III drugs in case number 314,920 in 2013 and Schedule II and IV drugs in case number 328,681 in 2016 in the 9th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Rapides, in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(C), 40:968(C), and 40:969(C). Defendant was also charged with domestic abuse battery in violation of La. R.S. 14:35.3 and false imprisonment in violation of La. R.S. 14:46 in a separate bill of information2 . Defendant pled not guilty as to all charges at his arraignment the following day. Notably, among several motions and notices filed by both the State and Defendant, the State filed a Notice of Intent to Introduce Evidence of Other Acts, which was granted after a hearing on June 27, 2019.
The jury trial for Defendant's felony charges and the bench trial for his misdemeanor charges were held simultaneously and began on February 18, 2020. On February 19, 2020, a unanimous jury of twelve convicted Defendant of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and the lesser included offense, simple assault. The judge also convicted Defendant of domestic abuse battery and false imprisonment. The following facts were developed at trial:
On May 23, 2018, Officer Greg Alphonso of the Kenner Police Department was dispatched to 2759 Albany Street around 3:20 p.m. in response to a 9-1-1-call. Approximately ten other officers arrived at the scene at the same time as Officer Alphonso. Because a gun was mentioned by the 9-1-1 caller, rifles were deployed and the officers assumed a tactical stance before knocking on the door of the residence and announcing themselves. In response, Mrs. Leilani Gatson, Defendant's wife, ran out of the door and towards the officers. Mrs. Gatson, whom Officer Alphonso described as scared and visibly shaken, told the officers that her husband was upstairs and he had a gun. The officers then gave verbal commands to anyone inside the home to show themselves. Mr. Gatson came out approximately two minutes later. Another officer immediately detained Defendant and searched him for weapons. No gun was found on Defendant, who continued to yell at Mrs. Gatson. Officer Alphonso testified that it appeared a struggle occurred inside the residence and a bedroom door frame was split. He called for crime scene technicians and escorted Mrs. Gatson back inside the home to interview her.
Officer Alphonso observed no injuries on Mrs. Gatson, but she told him her hand was injured when Defendant grabbed her wrist to take a phone away from her. Mrs. Gatson gave the officers verbal consent to search the home. Crime scene technicians took photographs of the apartment, which were admitted into evidence. There was a picture of Defendant's property in a bag, which indicated to Officer Alphonso that Defendant did not reside there. A "black high point semi-automatic weapon" was found inside a pink plastic container on a shelf inside the closet of the daughter's bedroom. Officer Alphonso initially confiscated the weapon. The magazine of the gun was empty and a crime scene technician swabbed the gun for DNA and dusted the gun for fingerprints – no fingerprints were found.
Later, Mrs. Gatson and her daughter, Kayla Mays, went to the police station to provide a statement. Officer Alphonso noted that Mrs. Gatson told the officer writing her statement down that Defendant beat on the door of the bedroom and told her that he would break the door down. On February 8, 2020, when Officer Alphonso served Mrs. Gatson and Ms. Mays with subpoenas, Mrs. Gatson "appeared highly agitated [...,] snatched the subpoena" from his hand, and indicated that she was not planning on going to court. A victim assistance coordinator later testified that she and the assistant district attorney spoke with Mrs. Gatson on January 24, 2020. During that call, Mrs. Gatson said that she was available to come to court and gave the district attorney's office names of family members who they could speak with in reference to the case.
The district attorney's office requested calls made by Defendant while he was incarcerated. A Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detective and custodian of records for Securus calls described Securus as an internet-based system that records all calls from prisoners housed at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. Portions of eight of Defendant's calls made on September 26, 2018 and February 9, 2020 were played for the jury.
In one call, Defendant asks his mother to call "her." After initially refusing, his mother made a three-way call to Defendant's wife. Defendant then asked Mrs. Gatson what she was going to do. Mrs. Gatson replied that she had been calling the assistant district attorney, who informed her "you can write [your affidavit] but I am still prosecuting him." After Defendant asked her what he was being prosecuted for, his mother said that they could not prosecute him if Mrs. Gatson wrote in the affidavit "that she did that because you were mad." They discussed the gun. Defendant's mother and Mrs. Gatson proceeded to speak at the same time and one said something about Facebook. Defendant's mother stated, "If you want to do something, get him out" and told Mrs. Gatson if she sent the affidavit to her, then "she'll do the rest." Mrs. Gatson hung up shortly thereafter.
In another three-way call between Defendant, Mrs. Gatson, and his mother, Defendant told Mrs. Gatson a few times that they were legally married and that she did not have to do anything she did not want to do. Mrs. Gatson replied that "[the district attorney] is afraid that if I don't say anything, which I'm not, then they have to let you go." Mrs. Gatson told Defendant about the subpoenas she and her daughter received. She also told him that she refused to go downtown to speak to an attorney when requested to do so. Defendant responded, "Just keep it like that." Then, the three discussed dates, the dates on the subpoena, and blocking something on Facebook.
A total of eight calls were played for the jury. Notably discussed during some of the other calls were that Mrs. Gatson only wanted Defendant brought to rehab because he "wasn't himself." Defendant and his mother also continued to tell Mrs. Gatson that she did not have to cooperate with the investigation because they were still legally married and they all discussed Defendant's legal representation. In another call, Defendant and his mother revisited the subject of the affidavit they wanted Mrs. Gatson to write and give to Mrs. Gatson's lawyer. During an earlier call, Mrs. Gatson told them that she had retained counsel because the prosecutors kept wanting to talk to her.
At the time of trial, Kayla Mays was twenty-three years old, worked at a Holiday Inn, and lived with her mother in Kenner. She identified Defendant as her stepfather and said she was about five years old when he entered her and Mrs. Gatson's lives. She was not at home at the time of the incident on May 23, 2018. Ms. Mays testified that she does not own a gun, or keep a gun in her bedroom, and that her mother does not keep a gun in the house. When presented with photographs, Ms. Mays identified her bedroom as it was in May 2018. She identified a storage bin in her bedroom closet which she sometimes used to store makeup. Ms. Mays indicated that the storage bin depicted in the photographs contained a gun but she did not know how the gun got there and reiterated that it was not her gun or her mother's gun.
While growing up, Ms. Mays witnessed instances of Defendant threatening or abusing her mother. She was about twelve or thirteen years old on April 9, 2011 when Defendant pulled a gun out on her and her mother at their apartment in Alexandria, Louisiana. She indicated that Defendant and her mother were arguing, but she was not sure what they were arguing about. She described Defendant as angry and upset. Ms. Mays indicated her mother was scared, but not as scared as she was. Ms. Mays testified that she ran to her room and hid on the side of her bed. Her mother then came in, closed the door and hid with her, until the police came.
After reviewing a police report from July 13, 2011, Ms. Mays recalled her mother and Defendant fighting on that date. Ms. Mays exited her bedroom and began recording them. Ms. Mays testified that Defendant was pushing and hitting her mom. That was the first time she tried to record the abuse but Defendant took the cell phone from her and left the house, so she was unable to show the recording to the police.
Ms. Gwendolyn Gatson, Defendant's aunt, testified that she is close to Defendant and that he stayed in a house across town from her in...
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