State v. Lombard, No. 85-K-1643
| Court | Supreme Court of Louisiana |
| Writing for the Court | MARCUS; LEMMON |
| Citation | 486 So.2d 106 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Guy A. LOMBARD. |
| Docket Number | No. 85-K-1643 |
| Decision Date | 31 March 1986 |
Page 106
v.
Guy A. LOMBARD.
Page 107
John Wilson Reed, Thomas J. Divens, Glass & Reed, for defendant-applicant.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Pat Leitz, Dorothy Pendergast, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-respondent.
MARCUS, Justice.
Guy A. Lombard was indicted by the grand jury for the second degree murder of John St. Pierre in violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1. After trial by jury, defendant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The court of appeal affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence. 1 On defendant's application, we granted certiorari to review the correctness of that decision. 2
The record reveals the following facts. On the night of September 3, 1983, John St. Pierre, a seventeen-year-old senior at Ehret High School and varsity football player, and his girlfriend, Heidi Jeandron, were sitting in the bleachers of the West Jefferson Stadium watching a football game between two high schools, Shaw and O. Perry Walker. Also attending the game was defendant, a sixteen-year-old junior at Redeemer High School and junior varsity basketball player, who was standing at the top of one of the stadium ramps. After the football game had begun, Jeandron left her seat to go to the restroom. When she got to the ramp, defendant blocked her path. Jeandron asked if he had a problem. As she nudged her way past him, he responded that he would not call it a problem, but a passion. On her way back to her seat, Jeandron again had to push her way past defendant. Upon arriving at her seat, Jeandron told St. Pierre what had happened. St. Pierre approached defendant
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and said, "[i]f you say something to my girlfriend again, I'm going to kill you," to which defendant responded, "where is your girlfriend, I will go and tell her something." St. Pierre warned defendant that if anything remained to be settled, he would be back later. After St. Pierre had left, defendant remarked to a few persons standing around him that if St. Pierre returned, it would not be much of a fight because he had a knife on him which he would use.Later, as St. Pierre and Jeandron were leaving the game, they passed defendant without incident; he remained at the top of the ramp. It is unclear how it started, but by the time St. Pierre and Jeandron reached the bottom of the ramp, defendant and St. Pierre were arguing. St. Pierre then said, "[i]f you want to fight me, we [can] go in the parking lot." Lombard refused this invitation to fight, but grabbed his genital area and made an obscene gesture toward St. Pierre. St. Pierre responded with, "that's your ass," handed his glasses to Jeandron and started up the ramp toward defendant. St. Pierre threw the first blow; then he grabbed defendant and hurled him against the railing. Defendant fell to his knees with St. Pierre on top of him. St. Pierre wrapped his right arm around defendant's neck in a stranglehold while twisting defendant's left arm behind his back. Defendant's right arm remained free enabling him to remove the knife from his pocket, flick off the sheath, and stab St. Pierre twice. The first, and fatal, wound was inflicted on the left side of his chest; the second on his upper right leg. An ambulance took St. Pierre to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Defendant was taken into custody on the ramp where the stabbing had occurred.
Defendant raises three assignments of error: (1) the trial judge erred in denying his motion for defense witness immunity; (2) the trial judge erred in refusing to give his requested special jury charge; and (3) the trial judge erred when he failed to modify the second degree murder verdict and render a judgment of conviction for manslaughter.
Defense Witness Immunity
Defendant contends that the trial judge erred when he denied his motion seeking immunity for a defense witness, Randy Bruner, who had invoked the fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Randy Bruner and defendant, friends since kindergarten, had gone to the football game together and remained together until the stabbing. After the stabbing, defendant allegedly gave Randy the murder weapon which, to date, has not been recovered. Randy was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury. His father, an attorney, decided that Randy should invoke the fifth amendment privilege on the ground that his testimony might incriminate him. Mr. Bruner and his son went to the district attorney's office to inform the prosecutor that Randy would not testify. The prosecutor told them that he was not interested in Randy; he just wanted to learn the truth. After being informed that Randy had no knowledge of any threats made before the stabbing, the prosecutor told Mr. Bruner that he was not interested in Randy's testimony and that no immunity would be granted.
After the close of the state's case, defendant, outside the presence of the jury, moved for defense witness immunity contending that Randy had been threatened by the prosecutor. The prosecutor replied that he had merely told Randy's father that he thought Randy was an accessory to the crime and that if the boy's testimony confirmed this suspicion charges would be filed. After hearing the testimony of Randy and his father, the judge denied defendant's motion.
This court has never recognized defense witness immunity. In State v. Mattheson, 407 So.2d 1150 (La.1981), cert. denied, 463 U.S. 1229, 103 S.Ct. 3571, 77 L.Ed.2d 1412 (1982), we rejected a claim for such immunity on the grounds that:
There is no statutory authority for a Louisiana court to grant a defense witness
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use immunity absent a request from the attorney general together with the district attorney for the district in which the proceeding is or may be held. La.Code Crim.P. art. 439.1. Therefore, any judicially-fashioned immunity must arise from the constitutional guarantees of compulsory process or due process....We do not consider that the sixth amendment supports a claim for defense witness immunity. Traditionally, the sixth amendment's compulsory process clause gives defendant the right to bring his witness to court and have the witness' non-privileged testimony heard, but does not carry with it the traditional right to displace a proper claim of privilege, including the privilege against self-incrimination.... Nor has section 16 of article 1 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 been construed to grant such a right....
Additionally, we do not consider that the due process clause requires that defense witness immunity must be ordered whenever it seems fair to grant it. The essential fairness required by the fifth amendment guards the defendant against overreaching by the prosecutor and insulates him against prejudice. It does not create general obligations for prosecutors or courts to obtain evidence protected by lawful privileges....
We consider that a trial judge properly rejects a...
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State v. Snyder, No. 98-KA-1078.
...of culpability less than that present when the homicide is committed in the 750 So.2d 838 absence of these factors. State v. Lombard, 486 So.2d 106 (La.1986); State v. Tompkins, 403 So.2d 644 (La.1981). Because they are mitigatory factors, a defendant who establishes by a preponderance of t......
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Doc v. Cain, CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:12-cv-2741 SECTION P
...conduct have involved physicalPage 32threats or actions on the part of the victim. Brooks, 839 So.2d at 1078 citing State v. Lombard, 486 So.2d 106 (La. 1986) and State v. Ruff, 504 So.2d 72 (La. App. 2d Cir. 1987), writs denied, 508 So.2d 64 and 65 (La. 1987). Moreover, Louisiana courts ha......
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State Of La. v. Dressner, NO. 08-KA-1366
...of a homicide from murder to manslaughter, the defense had the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. State v. Lombard, 486 So.2d 106, 110-11 (La. 1986). Notwithstanding defendant admitted to inflicting the lethal stab wound, the defense failed to demonstrate a sufficient level......
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State v. Glover, No. 47,311-KA
...of a defense which exhibits a degree of culpability less than present when the homicide is committed without them. State v. Lombard, 486 So. 2d 106 (La. 1986); State v. Williams, 44,977 (La. App. 2d Cir. 1/27/10), 32 So. 3d 902, writ denied, 10-0368 (La. 9/24/10), 45 So. 3d 1071. To support......
-
State v. Snyder, No. 98-KA-1078.
...of culpability less than that present when the homicide is committed in the 750 So.2d 838 absence of these factors. State v. Lombard, 486 So.2d 106 (La.1986); State v. Tompkins, 403 So.2d 644 (La.1981). Because they are mitigatory factors, a defendant who establishes by a preponderance of t......
-
Doc v. Cain, CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:12-cv-2741 SECTION P
...conduct have involved physicalPage 32threats or actions on the part of the victim. Brooks, 839 So.2d at 1078 citing State v. Lombard, 486 So.2d 106 (La. 1986) and State v. Ruff, 504 So.2d 72 (La. App. 2d Cir. 1987), writs denied, 508 So.2d 64 and 65 (La. 1987). Moreover, Louisiana courts ha......
-
State Of La. v. Dressner, NO. 08-KA-1366
...of a homicide from murder to manslaughter, the defense had the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. State v. Lombard, 486 So.2d 106, 110-11 (La. 1986). Notwithstanding defendant admitted to inflicting the lethal stab wound, the defense failed to demonstrate a sufficient level......
-
State v. Glover, No. 47,311-KA
...of a defense which exhibits a degree of culpability less than present when the homicide is committed without them. State v. Lombard, 486 So. 2d 106 (La. 1986); State v. Williams, 44,977 (La. App. 2d Cir. 1/27/10), 32 So. 3d 902, writ denied, 10-0368 (La. 9/24/10), 45 So. 3d 1071. To support......