State v. Manieri
| Decision Date | 13 December 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 64742,64742 |
| Citation | 378 So.2d 931 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Kevin MANIERI and Sheldon Manieri. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
A. J. Boudreaux, Staff Appeals Atty., 24th Judicial Dist. Indigent Defender Bd., Metairie, for defendant-appellants.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Jacob J. Amato, Jr., Abbott J. Reeves, Asst. Dist. Attys., Gretna, for plaintiff-appellee.
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On October 14, 1977, defendants, Kevin and Sheldon Manieri, were indicted for first degree murder in violation of R.S. 14:30. The defendants plead not guilty and were tried by a jury of twelve persons. The jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty as charged against both defendants. Pursuant to a sentencing hearing mandated by C.Cr.P. art. 905, et seq., the jury recommended that the defendants be sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
On appeal, the defense urged 33 assignments of error, all of which have been argued in counsel's brief. We address in this opinion only assignments of error numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 20, 21, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33, which deal with admission into evidence of certain physical evidence, as meriting discussion. For the benefit of the parties, we attach hereto an appendix containing a discussion of the remaining assignments of error which we designate as "Not for Publication".
The state adduced the following facts: On September 29, 1977, the defendants and one Tim Mosely went to the residence of Cheryl Black for the purpose of purchasing some marijuana. The eleven year old victim, Chris Black, admitted the defendants into his house where they learned that the victim's mother was at work. Kevin Manieri, having smoked marijuana at the house on a previous occasion, telephoned the victim's mother to inquire about a purchase, but the phone call ended with a request by Cheryl Black that they leave the house as she did not want them there. As requested, they left the house and went to a neighborhood park where Timothy Mosely overheard the defendants discussing "something about killing something or someone". Tim Mosely testified that the three returned to the Black residence, where they were again admitted by the victim, on the pretense of needing to use the bathroom. Tim further testified that after gaining entrance, Kevin Manieri came out of the bathroom with a rubber hose which he used to strangle Chris Black. Kevin then stabbed the victim repeatedly and cut his throat, although the evidence showed that the throat wound was superficial. While Kevin Manieri was killing young Chris Black, the other boys ransacked the house in search of marijuana. In order to appear as though a robbery had occurred, Kevin Manieri broke the back door upon leaving the house.
The state admitted into evidence over defense counsel's objection blood-stained clothing of Kevin Manieri, three knives, six photographs of the victim at the scene of the crime, and two autopsy photographs of the victim. Defense counsel contends the trial court erred in admitting these items into evidence because their prejudicial effect outweighed any probative value which they may have had.
The state produced a T-shirt, black pants and work boots that Kevin Manieri admittedly wore on the day of the murder. An expert criminologist, Linda Reel, testified she found traces of blood on each of these articles of clothing, but was unable to type the blood or even to determine if it was animal or human blood. She also stated that the bloodstains on the T-shirt were old stains, thus indicating that Kevin or someone else got blood on the clothes on two separate occasions.
In considering whether demonstrative evidence is admissible over an objection that it is unduly inflammatory, the test to be applied is whether the proffered evidence is relevant to any material issue in dispute, and if so, whether its probative value exceeds its probable prejudicial effect. State v. Hawthorne, 345 So.2d 1170 (La.1977). The fact that the clothes which Kevin admitted he wore on the day of the murder had blood stains on them does tend to inferentially support the state's argument that Kevin stabbed the victim to death. We believe the blood-stained clothing was highly relevant to the issue of Kevin Manieri's guilt and was properly admitted. The criminologist's inability to determine the blood type and species and her testimony that the stains on the T-shirt were "old" should go to the weight to be given the evidence. State v. Miles, 339 So.2d 735 (La.1976).
The state also introduced into evidence over defense counsel's objection three knives, one of which was found in the kitchen drawer of the victim's residence. None of the knives had bloodstains on them, and a state witness testified that none of the knives was the murder weapon.
It is error to introduce into evidence weapons which are allegedly "similar" to the ones used in the murder. The jurors naturally tend to infer a connection between the weapon and the murder simply from a mere viewing of the material object, although such a connection is not proved. The viewing tends without proof prejudicially to associate the accused with the deadly weapon. Because the potential for prejudicial effect may outweigh any probative value such evidence may possess, it is our view that a trial judge flirts with prejudicial error when ...
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State v. Taylor
...heated argument. The offender and the victim were competitors in a sandlot football game. A life sentence was received. In State v. Manieri, 378 So.2d 931 (La.1979), the defendant strangled and stabbed the victim, an eleven year old boy, thirty times. Upon completion of the murder, defendan......
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State v. Edwards, 64204
...which death occurred; to establish the location, severity and number of wounds; to establish the identity of the victim. State v. Manieri, 378 So.2d 931 (La., 1979); State v. Cooper, 334 So.2d 211 (La., 1976). The fact that the photographs may be gruesome does not in and of itself render th......
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State v. Weiland
...(La., 1979), involved a teenager who fatally stabbed another teenager and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In State v. Kevin and Sheldon Manieri, 378 So.2d 931 (La., 1979), defendants killed an eleven year old girl and were sentenced to life imprisonment. In State v. Love, 410 So.2d 1045......
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96 1794 La.App. 1 Cir. 5/9/97, State v. Pooler
...93-0488 at p. 9, 633 So.2d at 1343. The present case is distinguishable from the case relied upon by the defendant, State v. Manieri, 378 So.2d 931 (La.1979), wherein the court found that the trial judge erred in admitting three knives into evidence where none of the knives had bloodstains,......