State v. Maxie
| Decision Date | 10 April 1995 |
| Citation | 653 So.2d 526 |
| Parties | 93-2158 La |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
R. Neal Walker, Carol A. Kolinchak, for applicant.
Richard P. Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., Don. M. Burkett, Dist. Atty., Charles B. Adams, for respondent.
[93-2158 La. 1] VICTORY, Justice. 1
A jury convicted the defendant, George Delano Maxie, of one count of first degree murder and sentenced him to death for the May 21, 1992 strangulation and aggravated rape of Paula Manning. This is a direct appeal from that conviction and sentence. La. Const. art. V, § 5(D)(2). The defendant raises numerous assignments of error, including the failure of the trial court to sustain his challenge for cause of venire member Gloria Rains, and the lack of sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction. We find the latter assignment without merit. However, because we find reversible error in the trial court's failure to excuse prospective juror Rains for cause, we reverse and vacate the conviction and death sentence, and remand for a new trial. 2
FACTS
In May 1992, Paula Manning rented a mobile home fronting Highway 171 in Florien, Louisiana. After making repairs to the home's interior and cleaning the yard, she moved in and spent her first night in her new home on May 18, 1992.
[93-2158 La. 2] On May 21, 1992, the defendant, and three long-time friends, Marcus Garner, Robert Earl Collier, Jr., and Keith Dewayne Collier 3, spent the afternoon together. With Marcus driving his aunt's car, the four men travelled from Florien to nearby Many, where they washed the car. They then proceeded to neighboring Zwolle, where they purchased three or four bottles of wine. Between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m., after spending most of the afternoon drinking and riding through Zwolle and Many, the group headed back from Many to Florien by way of Highway 171.
As they passed Paula Manning's mobile home the defendant noticed her working in the yard and asked Marcus to stop the car. Marcus refused, and continued down Highway 171 to the "Busy Bee," a nearby convenience store, where Robert got out to buy something to eat. The defendant then announced that he was going to "rape that white bitch." He exited the car and began walking down Highway 171, in the direction of Paula Manning's mobile home.
When Robert returned, Marcus and Keith informed him of the defendant's intentions. The three men then backtracked down Highway 171, and found the defendant as he was approaching a carwash near Paula Manning's mobile home. They encouraged the defendant to get into the car, but he refused, remarking that he knew what he was doing. Following their unsuccessful attempt to prevent the defendant from carrying out his plan, Marcus, Keith and Robert drove home to Florien. When they left, the defendant had turned off of Highway 171, and was walking down a dirt road separating the carwash from the lot upon which Paula Manning's mobile home was located.
[93-2158 La. 3] At about 8:00 a.m. the next morning, Paula Manning's partially nude body was discovered by local police officers in dense woods 30 yards behind the mobile home. She had been severely beaten and raped. Following an investigation, the defendant was indicted for first degree murder.
TESTIMONY AND OTHER EVIDENCE
At the trial, Marcus Garner, Robert Collier and Keith Collier testified to many of the facts stated above. Marcus also testified that after leaving the defendant on Highway 171, he did not see him again until May 24, 1992, as he was riding through Florien. The defendant got into the car with him, and told Marcus that he had raped the victim and killed her. He also told Marcus that the victim struggled, and had to be "snatched" from a fence which she was grasping. Marcus testified that the defendant threatened to kill him if he told anyone.
Robert Collier testified that after the group left the defendant on Highway 171, Marcus dropped him and Keith off at their home. As he was leaving home approximately one hour later, Robert noticed the defendant walking towards his house from the direction of a set of railroad tracks that run directly behind the victim's mobile home. He recalled that the defendant looked "sweaty." Robert testified that the defendant told him that he had "raped the girl and killed her," and that he had stolen money from her. The defendant asked him for a change of clothes, which Robert retrieved from inside the house. Thereafter, the defendant, and both Collier brothers rode with Chris Holden to Many. Robert recalled that he and Chris rode in the front seat, while the defendant and Keith rode in the backseat. According to Robert, the defendant changed clothes in the backseat of the car.
[93-2158 La. 4] Keith Collier testified that after the group left the defendant on Highway 171, Marcus dropped him and Robert off at their home between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. Keith recalled that he was watching television when Robert came into the house to get the defendant a change of clothes. While Robert was getting the clothes, Keith went outside and talked to the defendant, who told him that he had vaginal and anal intercourse with the victim, and that he "choked" her while he was having sex with her. Keith also testified that the defendant told him that he "came from the back of the house and she was in the front by the fence and he said she turned around and seen him and she asked him what he wanted and he grabbed her and she grabbed hold to the fence and he pulled her from the fence and dragged her to the back."
Keith stated that he, Robert and the defendant rode to Many with Chris Holden. Keith recalled riding in the backseat with the defendant, where he changed into the clothes that Robert had given him. According to Keith, the clothes that the defendant was wearing before he changed were "kind of wet." Upon returning from Many, Chris Holden dropped the defendant and the Collier brothers off near the railroad tracks close to their home. Keith recalled walking to a nearby picnic table where the defendant gave him a watch which the defendant said he had taken from the victim. At that time, the defendant also informed Keith that he had gone into the mobile home and taken money out of the victim's purse.
Mia Skinner, a friend of the victim, also testified on behalf of the state. Earlier that day, she and the victim had agreed to meet at the mobile home at 7:00 p.m. to frost Mrs. Skinner's hair. Mrs. Skinner testified that she arrived on time. However, the victim was not home and Mrs. Skinner let herself into the unlocked residence. Upon entering, she noticed the victim's purse and keys on a chair near [93-2158 La. 5] the door. After waiting for about 30 to 40 minutes for the victim to return, she left to check on her children.
Mrs. Skinner returned to the mobile home approximately 20 minutes later. Upon her arrival she observed that the front fence gate was open, even though she recalled closing it to keep the dog inside of the yard. She entered the residence, and noticed that the victim's purse had been moved from the chair to a recliner. She also noticed a "dirty" pair of black and green "Newport" sunglasses lying on the right side of the purse. Mrs. Skinner waited another 35 to 40 minutes, and then left to find Kenneth Eugene Behan, the Florien Police Officer on duty that night, to inquire whether he had seen the victim.
After locating him, Mrs. Skinner and Officer Behan proceeded back to the mobile home, searched the premises, inside and out, and discovered nothing unusual. Upon his departure, Mrs. Skinner remained for an additional 15 minutes, and then decided to return home. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Skinner revisited the mobile home a third time, and waited in her car until about 10:00 p.m. When the victim did not appear, she left for the evening.
Officer Behan testified that he was patrolling Highway 171 at about 6:15 p.m., and he saw the victim working in her front yard. He confirmed Mrs. Skinner's testimony that they searched the premises at about 9:00 p.m., and found nothing. He returned to the victim's mobile home at 10:00 p.m. to search the premises again, but did not find anything unusual.
Duane Calhoun, the Chief of the Florien Police Department, testified that he received a telephone call from Mrs. Skinner at about 7:30 a.m., on May 22, 1992. She asked whether the victim had reported to work that day. 4 Chief [93-2158 La. 6] Calhoun stated that she had not, whereupon Mrs. Skinner informed him of the events from the preceding evening. At about 8:00 a.m., Chief Calhoun and Deputies Ben DuBose and Dennis Weldon went to the victim's residence to investigate.
Chief Calhoun searched the trailer and the surrounding property. As he was inspecting the backyard he noticed what appeared to be a body lying in dense woods about 30 yards behind the mobile home. Upon closer examination he found that it was the victim's body. Local law enforcement then turned over the investigation to Sabine Parish authorities for the collection of physical evidence.
Teddy G. DeLarcerda, an investigator for the Sabine Parish District Attorney's Office, testified that he found evidence of a struggle in the yard near a gate and along the fence. Several flower pots had been broken, and a white five gallon bucket near the gate had been turned on its side, allowing accumulated water and garbage to spill over. Also, dirt areas near the bucket showed signs of being "scuffed" or "kicked". Additionally, top portions of the chain link fence running near the "scuffed" or "kicked" areas were bent outward away from the yard.
Investigator DeLarcerda also inspected the inside of the mobile home. He found the victim's purse in the recliner, and found a pair of black and green "Newport" sunglasses lying near the purse. At trial, Keith Collier identified these sunglasses as being the same type worn by the defendant.
Detective James McComic of the Sabine...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Addison
...his mind prior to trial that he will not weigh evidence in mitigation [165 N.H. 449] is not impartial." Id. ; see also State v. Maxie, 653 So.2d 526, 537–38 (La.1995) (error not to dismiss prospective juror for cause who stated that she was disposed to impose the death penalty if the defend......
-
State v. Addison
...who has made up his mind prior to trial that he will not weigh evidence in mitigation is not impartial." Id.; see also State v. Maxie, 653 So. 2d 526, 537-38 (La. 1995) (error not to dismiss prospective juror for cause who stated that she was disposed to impose the death penalty if the defe......
-
State v. Taylor
... ... Tuscaloosa Commerce Bank, 96-1258, pp. 6-7 (La.App. 1 Cir. 12/29/97), 707 So.2d 59, 62 (adopting legislature's statement as to act's overruling effect and applying act retroactively) ... 15. The first case is that of George Delano Maxie, who raped, beat, and strangled a woman after abducting her from her backyard. This court reversed defendant's conviction and sentence based upon an erroneous denial of a challenge for cause. State v. Maxie, 93-2158 (La.4/10/95), 653 So.2d 526, 534-538 ... Defendant's retrial is pending ... ...
-
State v. Odenbaugh
...Jacobs, 99-1659, p. 5 (La.6/29/01), 789 So.2d 1280, 1284; State v. Cross, 93-1189(La.6/30/95), 658 So.2d 683, 686; State v. Maxie, 93-2158 (La.4/10/95), 653 So.2d 526, 534; State v. Robertson, 92-2660 (La.1/14/94), 630 So.2d 1278, 1280. A trial court is vested with broad discretion in rulin......