State v. Leger
| Decision Date | 11 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | NO. 2017 KA 0461 R,2017 KA 0461 R |
| Citation | 303 So.3d 337 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. David LEGER |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Hillar C. Moore, III, District Attorney, Cristopher J. M. Casler, Assistant District Attorney, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellee, State of Louisiana
Rachel I. Conner, New Orleans, LA, James Edgar Boren, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorneys for Defendant-Appellant, David Leger
BEFORE: HIGGINBOTHAM, HOLDRIDGE, AND PENZATO, JJ.
A grand jury indicted the defendant, David Leger, with five separate counts of vehicular homicide, a violation of La. R.S. 14:32.1. The co-defendant, Kelsye Hall ("Hall"), was charged in the indictment with counts one through five, and the defendant was charged with counts six through ten, which are the only indictments on appeal. The defendant pled not guilty. Following a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty as charged. Subsequently, the defendant filed motions for a post-verdict judgment of acquittal and a new trial. The defendant also filed a motion to recuse the trial judge, which was initially denied. This court vacated the ruling on the motion to recuse and ordered the motion to be randomly allotted to another judge for disposition. State v. Leger, 2014-1518 (La. App. 1st Cir. 10/16/14), 2014 WL 12570083, writ denied, 2014-2200 (La. 11/5/14), 152 So.3d 161. Following the random allotment of the motion to recuse, the motion was granted, and the case was ordered to be randomly allotted to a new judge for further proceedings. Following reallotment of the case, the trial court subsequently denied the defendant's motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, but granted his motion for new trial. The Louisiana Supreme Court, however, reversed the grant of the new trial and remanded the case for reconsideration. State v. Leger, 2015-1720 (La. 2/19/16), 184 So.3d 685 (per curiam). Following that remand, the defendant filed a supplemental motion for new trial, which was denied by the trial court.
Thereafter, the trial court sentenced the defendant on counts six through ten as follows:
The defendant appealed, asserting seven assignments of error. In addressing the assignment of error regarding the sufficiency of the evidence, this court found the evidence presented to the jury was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant's intoxication was a contributing factor to the deaths of the victims of the five counts of vehicular homicide for which the defendant was convicted. Consequently, this court modified defendant's convictions to negligent homicide.1 State v. Leger, 2017-0461 (La. App. 1st Cir. 11/15/17), 236 So.3d 577, 586-88. The State sought certiorari review. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the State's application and found that the State had presented sufficient evidence to prove the defendant's intoxication was a contributing factor in causing the death of the five victims. The supreme court, therefore, vacated the decision of this court, reinstated the judgment of the trial court finding the defendant guilty of five counts of vehicular homicide, and remanded the matter to this court to consider the remaining assignments of error that were pretermitted on review of the original appeal. State v. Leger, 2017-2084 (La. 6/26/19), 284 So.3d 609, 618. Hence, on remand, we will consider the claims raised by the defendant in assignments of error five, six, and seven,2 wherein he asserts that the trial court erred when it denied requested jury instructions from the defense, denied his motion for new trial, and disproportionately sentenced the defendant when compared to his co-defendant.
On March 13, 2011, at approximately 8:30 p.m., five people, Effie Fontenot, her three sons, Austin Fontenot, Hunter Johnson, and Keagan Fontenot, and her friend and co-worker, Kimberly Stagg, died in a motor vehicle collision in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 in East Baton Rouge Parish. The defendant's vehicle, originally traveling in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10, crossed the median, first striking an eighteen-wheeler trailer, then colliding with the victims’ vehicle, which burst into flames, killing the victims.
Several minutes prior to this collision, the defendant was driving a white pickup truck westbound on Interstate 10. At the same time, Hall was driving a green Mercedes SUV westbound on Interstate 10. Several eyewitnesses who were also driving in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 testified at trial. According to Dara Soulier ("Soulier"), she noticed the two vehicles when she looked in her mirror, saw them approaching from behind her, and noticed flashing lights on the truck. She noticed that the vehicle in front, the Hall vehicle, was swerving back and forth, and the pickup truck was trying to pass it. Soulier was in the right lane, and both vehicles passed her at a speed in excess of the speed limit of seventy miles per hour. It appeared to her that the Hall vehicle was not allowing the defendant's vehicle to pass, as she testified that the defendant's vehicle would get over to pass and then the Hall vehicle would get over, ride the center line back and forth, and not allow the defendant's vehicle to pass. She described the vehicles as playing "cat and mouse." The defendant's vehicle did not disengage from playing, did not slow or try to fall back, continued at a high rate of speed, and continued to try to pass the Hall vehicle. After the vehicles had passed her, Soulier observed taillights on the shoulder of the roadway, then saw the defendant's vehicle "shoot" across the interstate and the median, striking an eighteen-wheeler and a vehicle.
Kevin Patton ("Patton"), also traveling westbound, testified that the Hall vehicle passed him at a very high rate of speed and rapidly pulled in front of him, almost clipping his bumper. Very shortly after, the defendant's vehicle passed him at a similar speed and appeared to be following the Hall vehicle very closely. At the time, Patton thought they were following each other, like "cat and mouse," chasing each other or "road rage," and observed that both vehicles were darting in and out of traffic. The defendant's vehicle did not appear to slow down or disengage. After these two vehicles were approximately ten to fifteen car lengths ahead of him, Patton observed the defendant's vehicle go to the shoulder, then veer back across, through the median, hitting vehicles. Several other witnesses who were traveling eastbound on Interstate 10 at the time, including the driver of the eighteen-wheeler, testified at trial that they observed the defendant's vehicle cross the median, hit the eighteen-wheeler, then collide with the victims’ vehicle.
Hall, who was charged and convicted of five counts of negligent homicide in this case, testified at the defendant's trial. According to Hall, while she was driving that night on Interstate 10, she noticed a white pickup truck following her closely, and the truck engaged its bright lights, and then flashed the lights. When she got into the right lane, the truck followed. Although she tried to let the truck pass her several times, the truck continued to follow her, and this happened multiple times over an approximately ten-mile distance. Hall testified that, as she was in the right lane, the truck came around on the shoulder of the roadway, swerved and cut back in front of her vehicle, clipping the front of her vehicle. The truck then went to the right, and Hall went to the left, the truck turned perpendicular and went into the median, hitting vehicles in oncoming traffic. Hall exited at the next exit and returned to the scene on the eastbound side of the interstate. Hall denied that she tried to cut off the defendant or that she swerved between both lanes to prevent him from passing her. She admitted that she was straddling both lanes of the interstate, but asserted she did this because the defendant continued following her with bright lights flashing, and she had already allowed him the opportunity to pass multiple times, but he would not pass her. Hall testified that she did not believe she did anything wrong that night and described herself as a "victim."
Louisiana State Police Trooper James Summerford arrived at the scene, as the fire department was...
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