State v. Marks
| Decision Date | 17 May 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2022 KA 0575 |
| Parties | STATE OF LOUISIANA v. ROBERT JAVONTIE MARKS |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
On Appeal from the 18th Judicial District Court In and for the Parish of Iberville State of Louisiana Trial Court No 1054-20 and 1054-20A Honorable Alvin Batiste, Judge Presiding
Antonio M. Clayton District Attorney Ali Meronek Terri Russo Lacy Assistant District Attorneys Port Allen, Louisiana Attorney for Appellee, State of Louisiana
William P. Gibbens Gwyneth O' Neill New Orleans Louisiana Attorneys for Defendant/Appellant, Robert Javontie Marks
BEFORE: WELCH, PENZATO, AND LANIER, JJ.
The defendant, Robert Javontie Marks, was charged by grand jury indictment with second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1 (count 1); second degree kidnapping, a violation of La. R.S. 14:44.1 (count 2); first degree feticide, a violation of La. R.S. 14:32.6 (count 3); illegal carrying of a weapon while committing a crime of violence, a violation of La. R.S. 14:95(E) (counts 4-7); obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence, a violation of La. R.S. 14:130.1(A)(1)(a) (count 8); aggravated kidnapping of a child, a violation of La. R.S. 14:44.2 (count 9); and carjacking, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64.2 (count 10).[1] The defendant pled not guilty to all charges and, following a jury trial, was found guilty as charged on all counts. The defendant filed a motion for new trial, which was denied.
For the second degree murder conviction, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; for the second degree kidnapping conviction, he was sentenced to forty years imprisonment at hard labor with the first two years of the sentence to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; for the first degree feticide conviction, he was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment at hard labor; for each of the illegal carrying of a weapon while committing a crime of violence convictions, the defendant was sentenced to ten years imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; for the obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence conviction, the defendant was sentenced to forty years imprisonment at hard labor; for the aggravated kidnapping of a child conviction, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; for the carjacking conviction, the defendant was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. All of the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The defendant now appeals, designating eleven assignments of error. We affirm the convictions. Finding error in connection with the sentence imposed for count 9, aggravated kidnapping of a child, we vacate that sentence and remand for resentencing on count 9. We affirm all other sentences.
Lyntell Washington was a teacher at Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She had a daughter D.W.,[2] who was three years old in June, 2016. At that time, Ms. Washington was seven months pregnant. The defendant, who was married, was the father of her unborn baby. He was an assistant principal at Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy.
On the morning of June 9,2016, Leslie Parms, III, was leaving the parking lot of his office on Newcastle Avenue (off South Sherwood Forest Boulevard) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and saw 3-year-old D.W. standing near the parking lot entrance holding a pillow. The location of the parking lot was across the street from an apartment complex. Mr. Parms testified that he did not see any adults nearby, and asked D.W. where her mother was. When D.W. did not respond, Mr. Parms called 911. Mr. Parms continued talking to D.W. while he was on the phone with the 911 operator, who indicated she would stay on the phone with Mr. Parms until the police arrived. Mr. Parms noted that D.W. had dried blood on her foot. He asked D.W. where her mother's car was, and D.W. led him to a blue Toyota Corolla. When Mr. Parms looked inside the car, he saw blood on the front seat of the car and a "sizable amount of blood" all over the back seat. D.W. told Mr. Parms that "Mr. Robbie did that blood." When Mr. Parms again asked D.W. where her mother was, D.W. said, "My mommy was going to sleep with Mr. Robbie." A tape of the 911 call was admitted into evidence in connection with Mr. Parms's testimony.
The police officers who arrived at the scene requested the presence of the special victims unit, which investigates sex crimes, child abuse cases, and missing persons. Detective Jonathan Medine of the special victims unit of the Baton Rouge Police Department responded to the call, testifying that the unit generally gets called for cases involving juveniles found in a parking lot without a supervised adult. Detective Stephen Woodring of the homicide division of the Baton Rouge Police Department was also called to the scene because of the blood observed in the vehicle. It was decided that Detective Woodring would be the primary investigator.
The police determined that the blue Toyota Corolla was registered to Ms. Washington, and called Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy. As a result of the telephone call, Jamicia Payne, an assistant principal at Brookstown Middle Magnet, and a friend of Ms. Washington, went to Ms. Washington's apartment. When she arrived, she saw police cars and Ms. Washington's vehicle in a parking lot on the side of the apartment complex where Ms. Washington lived. Ms. Payne advised the police that she knew Ms. Washington and D.W. The police handed D.W. to Ms. Payne. Ms. Payne testified that D.W. told her that "Mr. Robbie" had hurt her "mommy." According to Ms. Payne, D.W. referred to the defendant as "Mr. Robbie."
Ms. Payne testified that she told the police that "Mr. Robbie" was the defendant. Ms. Payne further testified that she also told the police that a couple of days earlier, Ms. Washington had forwarded to Ms. Payne text messages between Ms. Washington and the defendant about the fact that the defendant was trying to escape the responsibility of the baby. According to Ms. Payne, Ms. Washington told her that Ms. Washington and the defendant were supposed to be having a "get- together to talk about the situation."
Detective Medine testified that he spoke to Ms. Payne at the scene, and she told him that the defendant and Ms. Washington were in a relationship and that Ms. Washington was pregnant with the defendant's baby. Detective Medine said that Ms. Payne also told him that Ms. Washington had made threatening statements about telling the defendant's wife that she and the defendant were in a relationship and she was pregnant, and that both Ms. Washington and the defendant worked at the same school and neither one of them showed up at school that morning. Detective Medine testified that he briefly spoke to D.W. and that she told him that "Mr. Robbie" was the one who hurt her mother. Detective Medine relayed this information to Detective Woodring.
Later that same day, Ms. Payne brought D.W. to the Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) where she was interviewed. The CAC interview was played for the jury. D.W. indicated that "Mr. Robbie" had put the blood in Ms. Washington's car. She also indicated she saw her mother get hurt. When asked who hurt her, D.W. replied, "Mr. Robbie." Toward the end of the interview, D.W. was asked if she saw "Mr. Robbie" hurt her mom. D.W. replied, "Yes ma'am."
Detective Woodring testified that upon arriving at the scene on the morning of June 9, 2016, he feared Ms. Washington was either deceased or hurt extremely bad, and the urgency at that point was to locate her. Detective Woodring retrieved a cell phone from Ms. Washington's apartment and found a number for "Robert," which he determined was the defendant's phone number.[3] According to Detective Woodring, the name Robert was important to him because D.W. had said that "Mr. Robbie" hurt her mommy.
Detective Woodring obtained a search warrant for the contents of the defendant's phone. A documentation of the web history searches from the defendant's cell phone revealed a May 20, 2016 Google search for "pregnant shot," as well as an online search for a rifle. The web history also showed a May 28,2016, Google search for "injection of Clorox" and "What would happen if you inject bleach into your blood stream?" On May 29, 2016, a Google search was conducted for "failure to appear for paternity test," and The police also recovered the defendant's iPad. A forensic examination of his iPad's web history revealed a May 24, 2016 search for a large caliber handgun, and a May 28, 2016 search for whether a father had to pay child support without his name on the birth certificate.
At approximately 4:00 p.m. on June 9, 2016, the defendant was brought in for questioning. He admitted to his relationship with Ms. Washington, and told Detective Woodring that he had last seen Ms. Washington the previous night (June 8,2016) at the Wal-Mart in Baker, Louisiana, where he talked to her, then left. The defendant said he then went to Twin Peaks Restaurant. The police reviewed hours of video footage from Twin Peaks for the night of June 8, 2016, which revealed that he never went there.
At trial, Timothy Piper was qualified as an expert in historical call data records analysis. He testified that cell phone data, which included phone records of Ms. Washington and the defendant, and historical call data...
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