State v. Langston, 43,923-KA.

Decision Date25 February 2009
Docket NumberNo. 43,923-KA.,43,923-KA.
Citation3 So.3d 707
PartiesSTATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Jesse Wade LANGSTON, Appellant.
CourtCourt of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Louisiana Appellate Project by John Harvey Craft, New Orleans, for Appellant.

J. Schuyler Marvin, District Attorney, John M. Lawrence, Cecil P. Campbell, II, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, CARAWAY & PEATROSS, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

Defendant, Jesse Wade Langston, was convicted of attempted second degree murder and sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment at hard labor, without possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Defendant now appeals. For the reasons stated herein, the conviction and sentence of Defendant are affirmed.

FACTS

Defendant was involved in a relationship with the victim, Jennifer Maness, from 2002 through 2006. The victim and Defendant, who had a child together, frequently separated and reconciled. The victim testified that, during their separations, she often moved out of the residence she shared with Defendant only to reconcile and move back in later out of fear. According to the victim's mother, the relationship between her daughter and Defendant was "very violent."

In 2006, Defendant's violent behavior toward the victim escalated and the police became involved on several occasions. On January 13, 2006, the victim spent an evening with friends to celebrate her birthday. The group ate at Outback restaurant and then went to a bar in Bossier City. During the evening, Defendant sent several text messages to the victim, demanding to know her whereabouts, but she ignored the messages. Eventually, Defendant tracked down the victim at a bar where he approached her from behind and pinched her. Then, Defendant began pulling the victim by her wrists, attempting to force her to leave the bar with him. The police were promptly called and Defendant was arrested. The victim later dropped the charges, explaining that she did so because Defendant was released from jail the next day and "wouldn't leave me alone."

A second incident occurred on March 15, 2006, after the victim and Defendant had broken up and the victim went to Defendant's residence to gather some of her belongings. Defendant was talking on his phone and the victim was sending text messages to her aunt. Believing the victim was "texting another guy," Defendant slapped the victim across the face and threw her against the wall. Two days later, the victim filed a police report detailing the incident.

According to the victim, another violent incident occurred sometime between March and November 2006, when Defendant followed the victim after work, forced her to pull her car over and tried to make her get out of the car. The victim stated that "whenever I sped off, he hit the side of my car and it was just — it was nonstop. He wouldn't — he wouldn't stop following me. He wouldn't stop calling me."

Several months later, the victim and Defendant purchased a house together and were resuming their relationship. Then, on December 7, 2006, the victim looked through Defendant's cell phone contacts and noticed "at least 50 girls' names and [phone] numbers." Since Defendant had previously been unfaithful to the victim on many occasions, the victim told Defendant she was leaving the relationship. Apparently not taking well to the victim's decision to leave him, Defendant threw the victim on the ground, placed her in a choke hold, held a screwdriver to her throat and threatened to kill her if she called the police.

That same day, the victim left the residence and terminated the relationship. Immediately thereafter, Defendant began stalking and sending text messages to the victim, threatening to kill her and her family. Defendant's text messages to the victim, which were admitted into evidence and discussed at trial, included statements such as "[d]on't go to sleep because you won't wake up" and "[f]irst I'm going to kill [your sister], then you, then your piece of shit mom, and your scared ass dad."

A few weeks later on December 26, 2006, Defendant waited for the victim after work and followed her onto the interstate as she began driving home for the day.1 The victim realized Defendant was following her when she noticed his vehicle's distinctive bright blue "HID-type" lights in her rearview mirror. The victim immediately picked up her cell phone to call the police; but, before she could make the call, Defendant rammed the passenger side of his vehicle into the driver's side of the victim's vehicle, forcing her onto the side of the road. Attempting to avoid Defendant's vehicle, the victim slammed on her brakes; nevertheless, she collided with Defendant's vehicle, who then steered into the ditch. Managing to maneuver her vehicle back toward the interstate, the victim continued driving and dialed the police. As the victim drove away, she saw that the vehicle that rammed into hers was a black SUV. The victim then met up with the police at a service station where she informed them of the incident and filed a formal report.

Officer B.J. Sanford of the Bossier City Police Department participated in Defendant's arrest later that evening. Officer Sanford testified that the damage and traces of paint on Defendant's vehicle matched the damage and traces of paint on the victim's vehicle. Officer Sanford also testified that he noticed Defendant's vehicle was wet and dripping although the ground was dry and it had not rained that day. Officer Sanford opined that this evidence suggested that someone had recently tried to wash paint smears off of Defendant's vehicle. The police arrested Defendant after finding him in an apartment in Shreveport, hiding behind a refrigerator. During the altercation, Defendant attempted to disarm one of the arresting officers, so he was shot with a "less than lethal round" or a "beanbag round." After Defendant was arrested and advised of his Miranda rights, Defendant remained silent when the officers asked to interview him.

When Defendant arrived at the Shreveport city jail, one of his "bedmates" for a few days was inmate Kevin Larue. Mr. Larue testified that Defendant described the December 26, 2006 incident to him stating that he had intended to run the victim off the road and kill her. Defendant further explained to Mr. Larue that he would rather "see his . . . girlfriend and daughter dead than to see his daughter wind up with his mother-in-law." Since Mr. Larue knew the victim's mother, Georgia Myers, who is a Bossier City jailer, he relayed Defendant's statements to Ms. Myers. During the trial, Mr. Larue testified for the State who bolstered his account by eliciting detailed testimony that Defendant told Mr. Larue that, on the night he was arrested, he had been hiding behind a refrigerator and was shot with a beanbag round. According to the State, Mr. Larue's credibility was strengthened when he accurately recounted these details of Defendant's arrest because they were not public knowledge and could have only been learned from Defendant.

On July 6, 2007, Defendant was charged with attempted second degree murder by bill of information.2 On August 14, 2007, the State provided notice to the court and Defendant of its intent to use at trial evidence of Defendant's prior acts of domestic violence against the victim. The trial court ruled that such evidence was admissible. On October 23, 2007, after a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty as charged by eleven of twelve jurors. On March, 18, 2008, Defendant was sentenced by the trial court to 27 years' imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

On February 4, 2008, the State filed a habitual offender bill of information. After a hearing on the habitual offender bill of information, the court found Defendant to be a habitual offender and vacated its original sentence, re-sentencing Defendant to 35 years' imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The trial court denied Defendant's motion for reconsideration, motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and motion for a new trial. This appeal ensued.

DISCUSSION

Assignment of Error Number One (verbatim): The district court erred in denying the motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal as the evidence at trial was insufficient to prove that Appellant had the requisite intent to kill.

According to the defense, the victim offered a less than certain identification of Defendant's car and the State offered no scientific link between the victim's vehicle and Defendant's vehicle. Defendant argues that his intent cannot be established solely through evidence of the tumultuous relationship between himself and the victim and the post hoc statement made by Defendant to Mr. Larue. Additionally, Defendant asserts that his statement to Mr. Larue only establishes his willingness to characterize himself as having no regard for the victim's life and was, therefore insufficient to prove his specific intent to kill.

To the contrary, the State cites applicable law and notes that evidence was submitted at trial showing Defendant's history of violence and threats against the victim. Additionally, the State introduced evidence that Defendant fled from the scene of the incident, hid from the police and attempted to avoid apprehension. The State argues that this evidence, in addition to Defendant's overt act of ramming his vehicle into the victim's vehicle while she was driving onto the interstate, indicates that Defendant possessed the specific intent to kill.

The question of sufficiency of the evidence is properly raised by a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. State v. Howard, 31,807 (La.App. 2d Cir.8/18/99), 746 So.2d 49, writ denied, 99-2960 (La.5/5/00), 760 So.2d 1190. When issues are raised on appeal, both as to the sufficiency of the evidence and as to one or more trial errors, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency...

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