State v. Martin
| Decision Date | 08 October 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 62687,62687 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. David D. MARTIN. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
C. Alan Lasseigne, Houma, for defendant-appellant.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Francis Dugas, Dist. Atty., John J. Erny, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.
Defendant, David D. Martin, was indicted by grand jury for four counts of first degree murder in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30. Trial was held April 3-11, 1978. Defendant was found guilty on each count by a twelve-person jury. Following the sentencing portion of the trial, the jury unanimously recommended that the defendant be sentenced to death on each count. On April 25, 1978, the defendant was sentenced to death on each count of first degree murder.
Defendant assigns nineteen errors as the basis for his appeal before this Court. Assignments 15, 16, 17 and 18 relate to the constitutionality of the death penalty and will be discussed in the sentence review portion of this opinion. Finding no reversible error in either the guilt or sentence portion of the trial, we affirm both the conviction and the sentence.
On August 11, 1977, Wayne Melancon, a wireline operator in Houma, Louisiana, picked up the defendant, David D. Martin, and his wife as they walked in the rain. This was the first time Melancon had ever met the defendant. He took the Martins to their home, helped them unload their groceries and visited for a while. Melancon then asked the defendant and his wife over to his house to get better acquainted. The defendant and Melancon went to Melancon's house where they listened to music and Melancon showed Martin his gun collection. Melancon showed the defendant a Colt Python .357 Magnum pistol with a four-inch blue steel barrel which he kept hidden under the mattress of his bed. The gun was loaded with hollow point bullets which had been modified by Melancon by cutting an "X" across the bullet points in order to give them more knock-down power.
While it is unclear, the evidence also indicates that the evening of August 11 was the first night the defendant's wife went to work at the Black Gold Restaurant and Lounge, which was owned by Bobby Todd. The second night of her employment she had sexual relations with Todd and later informed the defendant of this fact. That same night, Friday, August 12, the defendant broke into Wayne Melancon's home and stole the Colt Python .357 Magnum which Melancon had showed him the day before.
On Saturday, August 13, the defendant visited Raymond Rushing, his next door neighbor, showed him the gun and told Rushing he was going to shoot Bobby Todd. Rushing testified that the defendant said he was jealous because his wife was working at the Black Gold.
On Sunday morning, August 14, the defendant went to see Chester Golden. He told Golden that his wife was working at the Black Gold and would not quit. Martin also stated that he and his wife were going to split up and he was going to leave for Texas. The defendant also said he had a bone to pick with Bobby Todd and if he ran into Todd there would be trouble. Martin informed Golden that he had been up the last two nights waiting outside the Black Gold so that he could get Bobby Todd. He said he had been unable to do this, however, because there were always people around Todd at the Black Gold and he wanted to get him alone. Martin mentioned that it might be impossible because Terry Hebert was always with Todd.
The defendant showed Golden the Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver and told Golden he had stolen it from a convicted felon. Martin said he did not believe the man would report the gun stolen because of his status as a felon. The defendant asked Golden if he knew of a store that was open where he could purchase some ammunition to use to go target shooting. Eventually, after Martin had been unsuccessful in locating any stores open that could sell him the bullets, Golden arranged for Martin to purchase a box of reloads from a man named Tommy Ledet.
Around 5:00 P.M. on the same day, Martin brought his wife by Todd's trailer which was located directly behind the Black Gold. A woman answered and told Mrs. Martin that Todd was asleep. Martin and his wife then left and had supper, where they split a pitcher of beer. Around 7:00 P.M. the defendant dropped his wife at home, telling her he was going to return to its owner the borrowed automobile that they had been driving.
Instead, he returned to the Black Gold. He parked his car down from the place so that he would look like a hitchhiker. He went to the trailer, knocked and asked if he could speak to Bobby. One of the victims allowed the defendant to enter the trailer. Todd walked into the room toward the defendant. As he did, Martin pulled the .357 Magnum from under his shirt. Todd offered the defendant two rolls of money which he produced from his pocket believing the defendant to be a robber. Martin responded that he did not want Todd's money, he just wanted Todd to know his name. He then shot Todd twice in the chest. Martin then proceeded to shoot the other three persons who were also in the trailer: Terry Hebert, Anne Tierney and Sandra Brake.
The evidence regarding the exact sequence of events after Todd was shot is sketchy. The defendant told Pamela Wilson that he shot Terry Hebert next and then the two women. The autopsies revealed that Terry Hebert had been shot five times in the back and side, two shots having pierced his heart; Sandra Brake was shot twice in the heart and had defensive wounds on her wrist and arm; Anne Tierney was shot six times, once in the chest, four times in the abdomen and once in the face. The defendant related to Chester Golden that he had shot one of the girls in the stomach and that she would not die. He said she told him she was hurting and begged him to kill her, to finish her, so he shot her in the head and finished her.
There were a total of at least fifteen shots fired. Since the defendant was carrying a six-round revolver, he was required to stop and reload twice during the shooting. After the shooting, the defendant took the rolls of money to make it look like a robbery. He threw the pistol and the money in a nearby bayou.
By this assignment the defendant claims the trial court erred in failing to grant a motion in arrest of judgment on the grounds that the indictment was defective. Counsel for defense argues that the failure of the State to include in the indictment the aggravating circumstances on which it would rely in seeking the death penalty is fatal to the indictment.
At the time the offense was committed, first degree murder was defined simply as the "killing of a human being when the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm." LSA-R.S. 14:30 (La.Acts 1976, No. 657) The definition of the crime did not include any of the aggravating circumstances contained in Code of Criminal Procedure Article 905.4. Consequently, none of the aggravating circumstances set forth in the capital sentencing procedure were essential elements of the crime of first degree murder at the time of the offense in this case. Therefore, even if we were to accept defendant's argument that in cases where the aggravating circumstances form an essential element of the crime 1 the State is required to include them in the indictment, it would not benefit the defendant in this case since at the time of the crime the aggravating circumstances in Article 905.4 were not "essential facts constituting the offense charged." LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 464. 2
Corollary to the question raised by the defendant above is whether a defendant is entitled to pre-trial notice of the aggravating circumstances the State will rely on in seeking the death penalty at the sentencing portion of trial. Unquestionably, the need for reliability in the determination of whether to impose the death penalty by adversary proceedings demands that an accused be afforded full rights of due process. Accordingly, a defendant is entitled in a capital sentencing proceeding, no less than in the guilt or innocence trial, to be informed of the nature and the cause of the accusation against him, LSA-Const. Art. 1, § 13. Thus, the defendant is entitled to know the aggravating circumstances which the prosecution will seek to prove sufficiently in advance of court proceedings so that a reasonable opportunity to prepare will be afforded.
Our capital sentencing law does not provide a special provision by which the defendant can discover which aggravating circumstances the State will rely upon in seeking the death penalty. However, we believe the legislature intended that the State be required to disclose the aggravating circumstances on which it will rely when the defendant files a bill of particulars under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 484 requesting the same.
Since the defendant does not allege he was unaware of the aggravating circumstances on which the State would rely and the record is devoid of any evidence that the defendant filed a bill of particulars seeking to discover the same, we find this claim to be without merit.
By these assignments of error defendant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to permit inspection of the grand jury testimony of State witnesses.
Defendant filed motions before, during and after trial to obtain the grand jury testimony of all of the State's witnesses or, alternatively, requesting the trial court to conduct an in-camera inspection of the grand jury testimony to determine if there were any material inconsistencies between the grand jury and the trial testimony of these witnesses. The trial judge denied these motions.
Defendant's request for a private review of the grand jury testimony runs counter to the well settled practice of keeping testimony before a grand jury...
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