State v. Langley

• Decision Date: 11 May 2011
• Docket Number: No. 10–969.,10–969.
• Citation: 61 So.3d 747
• Parties: STATE of Louisianav.Ricky Joseph LANGLEY.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

61 So.3d 747

STATE of Louisiana

v.Ricky Joseph LANGLEY.

No. 10–969.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 6, 2011.Rehearing Denied May 11, 2011.

Appeal from the Fourteenth Judicial District Court Parish of Calcasieu, No. 10258–02, Honorable Robert Lane Wyatt, District Judge.John Foster DeRosier, Assistant District Attorney, Lake Charles, LA, for State of Louisiana.Anna Van Cleave, Richard Bourke, Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant, Ricky Joseph Langley.Court composed of ULYSSES GENE THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge, SYLVIA R. COOKS, and ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, Judges.PICKETT, Judge.

[3 Cir. 1] FACTS

On Friday, February 7, 1992, the Calcasieu Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from the mother of six-year-old Jeremy Guillory reporting him missing. The call was placed from the home of Ricky and Rosie Lawrence, where they lived with their two small children. Ricky Langley, the defendant, rented a room in the house from the Lawrences and had been living there for approximately three weeks.

Deputies were dispatched to the scene. A massive search ensued and continued through the weekend. When it became apparent to law enforcement that Jeremy had not just wandered off, they began a criminal investigation. In the course of the investigation, it was discovered that there was an outstanding warrant for the defendant from the State of Georgia for a parole violation.

On Monday, February 10, 1992, the defendant was arrested on the Georgia warrant at his place of employment. He was taken into custody by Calcasieu Parish Detective Donald DeLouche and FBI Special Agent Donald D. Dixon. Detective DeLouche advised the defendant of his Miranda rights. After placing him in an FBI vehicle, Special Agent Dixon advised the defendant that in addition to being arrested for the Georgia parole violation, he was a suspect in the disappearance of Jeremy Guillory. Agent Dixon then asked the defendant if he had killed Jeremy Guillory, and the defendant admitted that he had killed Jeremy. The defendant advised Special Agent Dixon that Jeremy's body was in the closet of the bedroom that he rented from the Lawrences. He admitted that he had choked Jeremy.

The Lawrence home was secured as a crime scene. Both the defendant and Mrs. Lawrence executed volunteer search forms. The defendant accompanied the law [3 Cir. 2] enforcement officials to the Lawrence home. The defendant was again advised of his Miranda rights, which he agreed he understood and which he waived. He voluntarily walked the officials through the crime scene, describing in detail how he had killed Jeremy. Jeremy's body was discovered in the closet of the defendant's bedroom, covered with blankets. Jeremy had a ligature around his neck and a sock stuffed into his mouth, consistent with the details the defendant had given the officers when describing how he had killed Jeremy. The cause of death was ultimately determined to be asphyxiation.

The defendant was then taken to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office, where he gave a videotaped statement. The defendant was again advised of his Miranda rights, and he expressly waived those rights. He told the officers he first met Jeremy Guillory approximately one week before the homicide when Jeremy was at the Lawrences' home playing with the Lawrence children. The defendant said when he first saw Jeremy, he “wanted him” and that he wanted to molest him. On the Friday that he killed Jeremy, Jeremy was at the house playing with the Lawrences' son, but Jeremy left when Mrs. Lawrence and her son left to visit a relative. Jeremy later returned with his BB gun while the defendant was at the house alone, and asked if his friend was there. The defendant said he could come in and visit. Jeremy came into the house and put his BB gun down in the front room. The defendant said he knew then that he would “mess” with the child unless the child left immediately or someone came home. The defendant related that he went upstairs and Jeremy followed him and went into one of the children's rooms to play. He stated that while Jeremy was playing he came up behind him, put his arm around his neck, lifted him off the floor, and choked him. The defendant said he knew he was going to kill him. He gave the [3 Cir. 3] officers detailed information about the incident, including the fact that Jeremy was kicking and his boots came off. The defendant said he felt enjoyment while he was choking Jeremy. He said when Jeremy quit moving he carried him to the defendant's bedroom and laid him on the bed. He said he put his penis in the child's mouth and ejaculated. The defendant left Jeremy there and went about his task of doing laundry. He said at some point Jeremy was making noises and the defendant then put a ligature around his neck and choked him, pulling the ligature as hard as he could. He then tied the two ends of the cord together and stuffed a sock in Jeremy's mouth.

Jeremy's mother came to the house looking for him. The defendant told her he had not seen him. He offered to let her use the phone. While she was there he realized that Jeremy's BB gun was still in the front room. When she left, he picked up the gun and took it upstairs, where he put it in his bedroom closet. Jeremy's mother returned to the house. The defendant offered to help her search and allowed her to use the phone to call 911. He later called 911 himself to make sure they had the correct address.

The defendant stated that people started to arrive to help with the search. The defendant then took Jeremy's body and put it in the closet, and retrieved Jeremy's boots from the child's room where he had been choked and put them in the closet. At some point, he covered the body with blankets from his room. He said he mopped his room and the hallway. He changed the sheets on his bed and washed the blankets. He denied that he was trying to destroy evidence.

On March 26, 1992, at the defendant's request, a second videotaped statement was taken from the defendant. The defendant was again advised of his rights. He acknowledged that he was being represented by an attorney but stated he did not want [3 Cir. 4] his lawyer present and expressly waived his rights, including his right to counsel. He told the officers that some of the details in his first statement were incorrect and he wanted to give them a correct account of the events of the day he killed Jeremy Guillory.

The defendant related that, on the day in question, Jeremy came back to the house to play with the Lawrences' child. He said he told Jeremy the child was not home but invited him in. Jeremy declined and went off to shoot his BB gun. The defendant said he thought about the fact that no one else was at the house and that he could do what he wanted to do. He stated he went to the back door and called Jeremy, inviting him inside, and Jeremy then came inside. The defendant said he went straight upstairs and Jeremy followed him. He stated he then went back downstairs and Jeremy followed him. The defendant said he pulled the child's pants down to molest him—to sodomize him—to “go all the way” with him—but he couldn't do it. He pulled Jeremy's pants back up, turned him around, and forced his penis into Jeremy's mouth. The defendant said he ejaculated but didn't know if it went into Jeremy's mouth. The defendant said he knew what he was doing was wrong but that he had no control over it. He said he then carried Jeremy upstairs to his own bedroom, not the children's, and choked him like he told them in the first statement—with his arm around Jeremy's neck. When Jeremy went limp, he laid him on his bed. The defendant went downstairs, and when he came back Jeremy was making heavy breathing noises. The defendant said that is when he put the ligature around Jeremy's neck and pulled as tightly as he could, but that did not stop the child from trying to breathe. He then stuffed an old sock in Jeremy's mouth to make sure he stopped breathing. He told the officers the remainder of his first statement was [3 Cir. 5] accurate. He agreed that he knew what he did was wrong. He stated that he had remorse for the fact that a child's life was lost, but that he felt no regret for “what's done.”

A seminal stain was found on the seam of the underside of one of the sleeves of the t-shirt that Jeremy was wearing when his body was found. It was identified by DNA analysis as being semen from the defendant. The semen was soaked into the fabric.

The 1994 Trial

A review of the defendant's conviction for second degree murder and the issues in this appeal requires a review of the prior proceedings in this case. The defendant was indicted by a grand jury for the offense of first degree murder. In 1994, he was found guilty of that charge and sentenced to death. His conviction was appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, and both the conviction and sentence were affirmed. The supreme court, however, granted the defendant's application for rehearing and ultimately remanded the case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing concerning the defendant's claim of intentional discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreperson. State v. Langley, 95–1489 (La.4/14/98), 711 So.2d 651, rehearing granted in part (6/19/98) (hereinafter Langley I ). On remand, the trial court granted the defendant's motion to quash the indictment and vacated his conviction and sentence. The state appealed that judgment, and it was affirmed by the supreme court. State v. Langley, 95–1489 (La.4/3/02), 813 So.2d 356.

The 2003 Trial

The defendant was re-indicted on a charge of first degree murder and pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. A change of venue was granted because [3 Cir. 6] of pretrial publicity. Although the case was tried in Calcasieu Parish, the jury was selected from Orleans Parish. The jury rejected the defendant's insanity defense and returned a verdict of guilty of the lesser included offense of second degree...