State v. Jones

• Decision Date: 22 May 2019
• Docket Number: No. 52,672-KA,52,672-KA
• Citation: 273 So.3d 585
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Linzell JONES, Appellant
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

273 So.3d 585

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Linzell JONES, Appellant

No. 52,672-KA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered May 22, 2019

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT, By: Douglas Lee Harville, Counsel for Appellant

ROBERT STEPHEN TEW, District Attorney, MICHAEL J. FONTENOT, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee

Before PITMAN, COX, and McCALLUM, JJ.

COX, J.

This criminal appeal arises from the Fourth Judicial District Court, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. Linzell Jones was convicted of aggravated arson and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment at hard labor, with the first 2 years to be served without benefits. Jones now appeals his conviction and sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm Jones's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

In the early morning hours of April 6, 2016, the City of Monroe Fire Department and Police Department responded to a fire at 105 Vegas Drive, the home of Tayran Jones, Jones's now ex-wife. After investigating the fire, which originated in the carport, police arrested Jones. Jones was charged by amended bill of information with aggravated arson. A sanity commission was appointed to determine Jones's mental condition at the time of the offense, as well as his present mental capacity to proceed. On March 28, 2018, based on the reports, the trial court found that Jones was competent to stand trial.¹

Tayran testified that she married Jones in 2009, and they lived in her home at 105 Vegas Drive. Tayran stated that she acquired the house in 1989, and owned a green 1999 Nissan Quest van since at least 2006. Tayran testified that they were having marital problems at the time of the trial. She stated that Jones started drinking alcohol and would be extremely nice to her in front of others, but would become erratic behind closed doors. She testified that in 2014, she started recording Jones so he could hear how he sounded when he was drinking. On October 25, 2015, Tayran recorded one of Jones's rants, which was played for the jury. In the recording, Jones stated that he would "burn down all these s** of b****** house around all around these homes even this house right here... I'll burn this m***** f***** down."

Tayran testified that on March 9, 2016, her house flooded. She stated that around March 28, 2016, her insurer was prepared to pay her money to repair the residence and she was talking to a contractor. However, Jones was angry because he wanted her to let him do the work. She testified that as a result of the flood, she had to gut the house and many of the contents of the house and furniture were put under the carport. Tayran stated that she put books inside the van. The van was having mechanical issues, and the rear of the van was parked partially under the carport, with the van facing the street. She stated that she had removed the tags from the van because Jones started drinking and she did not want him driving it, and that made Jones angry.

Tayran testified that on the night of the fire, her seven-year-old grandson was spending the night at her house. Tayran stated that around midnight, Jones had been outside when she heard three loud "pop" sounds. She testified that she heard the first "pop" around 9:00 p.m., when she went outside looking for Jones. She stated that she discovered Jones had lit the grill in the backyard, and was burning old documents. She said she heard the second "pop" shortly after she took a picture of her grandson sleeping in a bedroom, around 11:50 p.m. She testified that she looked out the window and saw Jones near the rear of the van walking under the carport, but she did not see a fire at that time. She stated that Jones came inside the house and asked her about cucumbers, and she told him that they were on the table. She stated that Jones walked outside, but came back inside and asked about the cucumbers two more times. Tayran testified that she then heard the third "pop" shortly after midnight, looked out the window, and saw a fire inside the rear section of the van.

Tayran testified that she panicked because she thought the van was going to explode. She yelled for Jones, he came walking from the back, and she told him the van was on fire. She stated that she grabbed her phone, purse, and work bag; scooped up her grandson; and ran outside to the neighbor's house. She testified that she called 911 and moved her other vehicle, which was parked near the van, to her neighbor's house. Tayran stated that she then grabbed the neighbor's water hose and started spraying water toward the van, but stopped when she heard another loud "boom." She said the fire consumed the inside of the van, and started coming up above the van. She testified that at one point, she saw Jones in the yard with a bucket, throwing water or some liquid substance at the fire. She stated that she did not see him again until the fire was out.

Cecil Jeselink, a district fire chief for the City of Monroe Fire Department, testified that when he arrived at the scene, the firefighters were already spraying water on the van and working their way toward the house through the carport area. He stated that the first responding crew ensured that everyone was out of the house. He stated that as they were working on the fire, a then-unidentified man walked into the yard from the street. He testified that the man, later identified as Jones, grabbed a fire hose, pulled on it, and hollered, "Don't put that out." Chief Jeselink stated that he told Jones to put the hose down and come over by him. He testified that Jones introduced himself as the Archbishop of Louisiana. He noted that if the windows on a car are up when the car is on fire, it will cause a loud popping sound when the windows burst.

Officer Tim Crum of the City of Monroe Police Department testified that he responded to the fire. He stated that the fire department advised him that Jones was getting too close to the scene, so he put Jones in his unit. Officer Crum testified that based on a conversation with Jones's wife, he considered Jones to be a suspect in the fire. Officer Crum stated that although he could smell a moderate odor of alcohol on Jones, Jones was able to understand him and he could understand Jones. Officer Crum testified that he advised Jones of his Miranda rights, and Jones told him that he (Jones) had been working on a lawnmower that was flipped upside down near the carport. He stated that Jones said that as he was working on the lawnmower, he lit a barbeque grill, which was under the carport, and that the fire in the grill must have ignited the gasoline from the overturned mower, which then traveled toward the van, and caught the van on fire. Officer Crum stated that he confirmed there was an overturned lawnmower and grill near the carport, but stated that there was no evidence that any fire was started in those grills. He noted that there was also a grill in the backyard, which was burning something.

David Hill, Chief Arson Investigator for the City of Monroe Fire Department, was accepted by the trial court as an expert in arson investigation, including origin and cause. Investigator Hill stated he was called to investigate the fire and determine the cause of the fire. He testified that he determined that the origin of the fire was inside the rear section of the van. In reviewing photos he took of the damage to the van, he explained that the rear seats were totally consumed, meaning that is the area that burned the longest and the hottest. Investigator Hill testified that the fire started on the rear seats with an introduced ignition source, such as a lighter, match, or something with an open flame. He stated that the back passenger door on the driver's side of the van was open. He explained that it is not necessary to use an accelerant because as long as there is air and something to burn, the fire will continue to slowly grow. Investigator Hill testified that the fire burned inside the passenger compartment of the van, left the van, caught the easement of the carport on fire, and then traveled along the carport until it entered the attic of the house. He also testified that there was no evidence of an engine fire, spontaneous combustion, or a lightning strike.

Investigator Hill stated that when he talked to Jones, Jones told him that he had lit a barbeque grill that was near the van and that apparently an ember had flown over and caught the van on fire. Investigator Hill stated that although there were two grills near the carport on the passenger side of the van, one flipped upside down and one upright, there was no evidence of a recent fire having burned in either of them, so he was able to rule out those grills as a cause of the fire. He stated that there was a grill in the backyard near a storage shed, where papers were being burned, but that grill had nothing to do with the fire. Investigator Hill testified that there were several spots in the backyard that had been set on fire, and that Tayran told him that Jones was wandering around the backyard acting intoxicated, "talking out of his head," and setting fires. He stated that as part of his investigation, he reviewed the weather report for the night of the fire; there was a light wind blowing from the southeast. He explained that the house faced southeast, so any ember from the lit grill would have blown away from the van. He also testified that an open flame would have been required to start this fire, not an ember.

In response to Jones's suggestion that the fire started when a spark ignited gasoline from an overturned lawnmower, Investigator Hill stated that the driveway slopes down away from the carport toward the road, so any gasoline would not have flowed toward the van. He also explained that there was no evidence of any burns or damage to the lawnmowers nor was there any evidence that the fire started under the van. He testified that for these reasons, he concluded that the lawnmowers had nothing to do with the fire. Chief Hill stated that when ...