State v. Gatti
| Decision Date | 13 October 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 39,833.,39,833. |
| Citation | 914 So.2d 74 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Reagan GATTI, Appellant. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Louisiana Appellate Project, by Peggy J. Sullivan, Monroe, Reagan Gatti, for Appellant.
John Schuyler Marvin, District Attorney, John Michael Lawrence, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.
Before GASKINS, PEATROSS and DREW, JJ.
Defendant was convicted by jury of eight Bossier Parish crimes, all offenses occurring on the same day:
• aggravated flight from an officer, La. R.S. 14:108;
• attempted aggravated burglary, La. R.S. 14:60 and La. R.S. 14:27;
• aggravated burglary, La. R.S. 14:60;
• attempted second degree kidnapping, La. R.S. 14:44.1 and La. R.S. 14:27;
• second degree kidnapping, La. R.S. 14:44.1;
• attempted second degree murder, two counts, La. R.S. 14:30.1 and La. R.S. 14:27; and
• unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, La. R.S. 14:62.3.
Sentenced to a total of 163 years at hard labor, the defendant appeals his convictions on seven of the charges and all of the sentences. We reverse the conviction of second degree kidnapping for lack of evidence. We affirm the attempted second degree kidnapping conviction but vacate the illegally-lenient sentence and remand for re-sentencing. We affirm the conviction and sentence on each of the other six charges.
On March 13, 2003, Gatti and others robbed the occupants of an armored car in Shreveport of three quarters of a million dollars. Besides Gatti, the gang included:
• Larry Thompson, Sr. ("Larry Thompson");
• his son, Larry Neal Thompson, Jr. ("Neal Thompson");
• two brothers, Nicholas Gentry and Anthony Gentry; and
• Tung Nguyen ("Nguyen").
All six robbers fled to an apartment complex in Shreveport, where they moved loot, guns, and protective vests from a Chevrolet Suburban into a green minivan. They drove east on I-220, with Neal Thompson driving and Nguyen in the front passenger seat. Larry Thompson and Anthony Gentry were in the middle of the van, with Nicholas Gentry and Gatti in the rear. Gatti and Nicholas Gentry were armed with semi-automatic AK-47 rifles, loaded with high-capacity magazines.
When the gang was spotted getting into the green minivan, a BOLO alert was issued. Shreveport Police Department Officer Mark Sharbono spotted the van at the Shreveport-Blanchard Highway exit off I-220. Sharbono turned on his lights and chased the van, which was speeding over 90 miles per hour. Gatti fired several times at the S.P.D. patrol unit. One round struck the officer in the arm.
After being shot, Officer Sharbono was unable to continue his pursuit and pulled his car off the road. Officer Dwayne Cortez, who was following behind Officer Sharbono, continued the pursuit of the van, with speeds still exceeding 90 miles per hour. The pursuit continued into Bossier Parish, ending in the Greenacres subdivision of Bossier City.
Once in the subdivision, the van pulled into the garage of a home on Wesley Circle, owned by John Stanley Palmer. Mr. Palmer:
• saw armed men getting out of a green van;
• heard them trying to break in his door;
• locked his door, called 911, armed himself with a pistol; and
• fired at the door, which Gatti was kicking.
The robbers never actually entered the living area of the Palmer house, though they entered the garage without authorization. Mr. Palmer chased them off by firing into the door Gatti was trying to kick in.
The gang scattered throughout the neighborhood, leaving behind the bags of money, masks, gloves, bullet-proof vests, two-way radios, and most weapons. After the confrontation, Mr. Palmer saw that the driver's side door of his car was open. He saw no faces and could not identify Gatti as one of the masked men.
Larry Thompson was caught while pretending to weed a flowerbed in the neighborhood. Neal Thompson was quickly apprehended, hiding in a tree. Anthony Gentry was arrested in a nearby backyard.
Gatti, Nguyen, and Nicholas Gentry fled into to the home of William Walker, who was weeding his flowerbed, unaware of the invasion. Inside the home was Mrs. Rose Hagelmeier, his 93-year-old mother-in-law.
The three demanded car keys from Mrs. Hagelmeier. She neither gave them keys nor did she attempt to look for any keys. She also did not testify at trial. Nicholas Gentry and Nguyen, testifying as state's witnesses, denied that anyone threatened Mrs. Hagelmeier, nor held her hostage. She apparently kept walking around the house during this incident.
Shortly after the intrusion, Mr. Walker noticed his garage door was locked, and went to investigate. He saw two men holding guns. Gatti, still wearing a mask, pointed a gun at Walker, demanding keys to a vehicle.
Mr. Walker said "no," and ran out of the house with Nicholas Gentry in pursuit. Mr. Walker slammed the door on Gentry's arm, but was overpowered by him and thrown him to the ground. When Gentry demanded the truck keys, Mr. Walker told him the keys were in the truck.
The three ran from Walker's house. Nguyen peaceably surrendered. Gatti and Nicholas Gentry kept running, with the police giving chase. Nicholas Gentry was arrested without incident after he jumped a neighbor's fence, landing right next to a peace officer.
Shreveport Police Officers Scebern Willis and J.P. Creighton found Gatti, still wearing a ski mask and body armor, hiding in shrubs at Dr. Clint McAlister's home. The S.P.D. officers came to Bossier when they heard a fellow officer had been shot. Because Gatti had a holstered gun, they pulled their weapons and ordered him to get on the ground.
Gatti knelt, wiped his hands, then reached for his holstered gun as he stood up and fled, whereupon Officer Willis fired at him four times. Gatti returned fire as he ran into Dr. McAlister's backyard. The officers took cover behind a fence, as several bullets struck the ground near them.
Gatti, who was hit twice by the officers, fired his 9-mm pistol 13 times in this exchange, though some of the rounds were fired to shoot out a sliding glass patio door, in order to gain entrance into the McAlister home.
The wounded Gatti used his cell phone to call 911 and tell them he was shot and wanted to surrender. The call was disconnected. Gatti attempted to call the captured Larry Thompson, whose cell phone was in the possession of B.C.P.D. Officer Todd Hylbert. The officer heard the cell phone ringing, saw "Ragan" on caller I.D., but didn't answer. Immediately learning that the suspect in Dr. McAlister's home had called 911 and wanted to surrender, Officer Hylbert punched the redial button. He recognized Gatti's voice from dealing with him for 12 years as a law officer. When Officer Hylbert made this statement at trial, Gatti's counsel objected and moved for a mistrial, which was denied by the trial court.
Officer Hylbert told Gatti to remove all weapons and his shirt prior to surrendering so the officers outside the home could see his waistband to make sure he wasn't armed. Gatti surrendered without further incident.
Gatti's blood-stained pistol, holster, extra magazines, bulletproof vest, gloves, and ski mask were later found in a bedroom in the McAlister home. DNA testing established the likelihood the blood on some of these items to be Gatti's was 1.6 quadrillion to one. The pistol had a fresh, fully loaded 14-round magazine in it, and one round in the chamber.
All six of the gang members were indicted on various charges. Gatti was indicted on eight counts: aggravated flight from an officer, three counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and two counts of attempted first degree murder.
On July 21, 2003, Gatti and Nguyen pled not guilty on all counts. At the time, Gatti was represented by Daryl Gold, and Nguyen was represented by Peter Flowers. Neither Gold nor Flowers was present at arraignment. Attorney Kelly Long stood in for each missing counsel, without objection.
Larry Thompson was convicted separately. Nguyen and the Gentry brothers pled guilty with sentencing caps and agreed to testify against the remaining defendants. Gatti and Neal Thompson were tried together.
Near the end of trial, the trial judge, outside the presence of the jury, advised counsel in open court that earlier that morning he had stopped by the jury room to see if they had refreshments, where a juror advised that the jury wanted to see the neighborhood where the crimes occurred. The judge communicated this to the lawyers.
The state had no objection to the trial court's conversation with the jury. Gatti objected, a hearing was held, and a motion for mistrial denied.
Gatti then asked that the jury view the neighborhood, but refused to waive his presence at the scene. The trial court denied the request. We instructed the trial court to reconsider. The trial judge again denied the request, with comments relative to his familiarity with the Palmer and McAlister homes, in which he'd been a guest on many occasions. Gatti then filed a motion to recuse the trial court, based on these comments. The motion was heard and denied by Judge Ford Stinson, Jr. The state then rested and the defendants called no witnesses.
The jury found the defendant guilty of aggravated flight from an officer, attempted aggravated burglary of the Palmer home, aggravated burglary of the Walker home, attempted second degree kidnapping of Mr. Walker, second degree kidnapping of Mrs. Hagelmeier, two counts of attempted second degree murder of the two S.P.D. officers, and unauthorized entry of the McAlister home.
After reviewing a presentence report, the court harshly sentenced the defendant. Gatti appeals seven of the eight convictions, and all sentences.
The defendant argues there was insufficient evidence to support seven of the eight convictions:...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State Of La. v. Blow
...erroneous introduction of other crimes evidence is subject to harmless error review. State v. Roberson, supra; State v. Gatti, 39, 833 (La. App. 2d Cir. 10/13/05), 914 So. 2d 74, writ denied, 2005-2394 (La. 4/17/06), 926 So. 2d 511; State v. Salter, 31, 633 (La. App. 2d Cir. 2/24/99), 733 S......
-
State v. Colby
...43,780 (La. App. 2 Cir. 12/3/08), 1 So.3d 561, writs denied , 2009–0014, 0160 (La. 10/2/09), 18 So.3d 100, 103; State v. Gatti , 39,833 (La. App. 2 Cir. 10/13/05), 914 So.2d 74, writ denied , 2005-2394 (La. 4/17/06), 926 So.2d 511. The test for determining harmless error is whether the revi......
-
State v. Jacobs
... ... 27. 041312, pp. 3035 (La.1/19/06), 921 So.2d 904, 92932, cert. denied, 549 U.S. 858, 127 S.Ct. 137, 166 L.Ed.2d 100 (2006), overruled in part on other grounds by State v. Dunn, 070878 (La.1/25/08), 974 So.2d 658. FN28. See also State v. Gatti, 39,833, pp. 1517 (La.App. 2 Cir. 10/13/05), 914 So.2d 74, 8889, writ denied, 052394 (La.4/17/06), 926 So.2d 511, where the Second Circuit found no error in the denial of a challenge for cause of a prospective juror who stated that she thought the defendant was probably guilty because he ... ...
-
State v. Warren
...enforcement officer did not disqualify her from service given her answers during voir dire. As this court said in State v. Gatti, 39,833 (La.App. 2d Cir.10/13/05), 914 So.2d 74, writ denied, 2005-2394 (La.4/17/06), 926 So.2d 511: Although personal connections to and relationships with law e......