State v. Mayeux

• Decision Date: 06 February 2019
• Docket Number: KA 18-97
• Citation: 265 So.3d 1096
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Charles P. MAYEUX, Jr. aka Charles P. Mayeux
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

265 So.3d 1096

STATE of Louisiana

v.Charles P. MAYEUX, Jr. aka Charles P. Mayeux

KA 18-97

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

February 6, 2019

Annette Roach, Louisiana Appellate Project, P. O. Box 1747, Lake Charles, LA 70602-1747, (337) 436-2900, APPELLATE COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT: Charles P. Mayeux, Jr.

Anthony F. Salario, First Assistant District Attorney, 439 North Main Street, P.O. Box 503, Marksville, LA 71351, (318) 240-7123, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana.

Michael Francis Kelly, First Assistant District Attorney, P. O. Box 1200, Marksville, LA 71351, (318) 253-5815, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana.

Hon. Charles A. Riddle, III, District Attorney, 12th JDC, P. O. Box 1200, Marksville, LA 71351, (318) 253-6587, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana.

Court composed of Sylvia R. Cooks, John E. Conery, and D. Kent Savoie, Judges.

SAVOIE, Judge.

Defendant, Charles Mayeux, appeals his conviction of second degree murder and sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the early morning hours of March 21, 2015, Defendant, who was the Chief of Police and the Assistant Fire Chief of Evergreen, Louisiana, called 911 to report a fire at his residence in Evergreen. The body of Defendant's wife, Shelly, was later found in the bedroom of the residence. They had been married for about ten months at the time of Shelly's death. After an investigation, Defendant was subsequently arrested. On July 16, 2015, he was charged by grand jury indictment with one count of second degree murder of his wife, which is a violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1. A jury trial was held August 28, 2017, through September 1, 2017.

Evidence introduced at trial indicated that Defendant was the only person present with Shelly in their residence at the time of her death. Although an autopsy was performed, the cause of Shelly's death was undetermined. All experts agreed, however, that Shelly died before the fire. The cause of the fire was also undetermined; however, the fire marshal concluded that the fire was intentionally set to cover up a homicide. His conclusion resulted from the suspicious timing of Shelly's death with the onset of the fire; the Defendant's lack of effort to try to rescue Shelly despite his training as a firefighter and despite the proximity of both the fire station and Defendant's firefighting gear; a history of violence between Defendant and Shelly; a history of abusive behavior by Defendant toward his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend; and Defendant's inconsistent statements as to the events leading up to the fire.

Following trial, Defendant was found guilty of second degree murder by a 10-2 jury verdict. He filed a Motion for New Trial on September 12, 2017, which was denied by the trial court. On September 12, 2017, the trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Defendant filed a notice of appeal on September 12, 2017, which was granted that same date. On appeal, Defendant states the following as assignments of error:

1. The evidence introduced at the trial of this case, when viewed under the Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) standard, was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Charles Mayeux committed the second degree murder of Shelly Mayeux.

2. The trial court erred in allowing evidence of other alleged other crimes/bad acts to be admitted at trial when no exception to the hearsay rule applied and/or the probative value of the evidence was far outweighed by the prejudicial effect the evidence would have on Charles Mayeux.

3. Counsel rendered assistance below that guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment and Charles Mayeux was prejudiced as a result of counsel's deficient performance when counsel failed to object to the admission into evidence of the investigative report prepared by Deputy State Fire Marshal Chase Hawthorne, which contained inadmissible hearsay and evidence.

4. The trial court erred in providing an incorrect and/or insufficient limiting instruction to the jury concerning evidence admitted at trial.

5. The trial court erred in accepting Deputy State Fire Marshal Chase Hawthorne as an expert in origin and cause and fire investigation.

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1

Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the second degree murder of his wife, Shelly Mayeux.

Standard of Review

The following jurisprudence sets forth the standard of review in this case:

When the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, rehearing denied , 444 U.S. 890, 100 S.Ct. 195, 62 L.Ed.2d 126 (1979) ; State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La.1983) ; State v. Duncan , 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982) ; State v. Moody , 393 So.2d 1212 (La.1981). It is the role of the fact finder to weigh the respective credibility of the witnesses, and therefore, the appellate court should not second guess the credibility determinations of the triers of fact beyond the sufficiency evaluations under the Jackson standard of review. See State ex rel. Graffagnino , 436 So.2d 559 (citing State v. Richardson , 425 So.2d 1228 (La.1983) ). In order for this Court to affirm a conviction, however, the record must reflect that the state has satisfied its burden of proving the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

State v. Kennerson , 96-1518, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/7/97), 695 So.2d 1367, 1371.

Thus, to affirm, the record must reflect that the State satisfied its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt all of the essential elements of second degree murder under the above standard. Louisiana Revised Statute 14:30.1(A)(1) defines, in pertinent part, second degree murder as "the killing of a human being ... when the offender has specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm[.]"

Because the instant case involves a conviction based upon circumstantial evidence, we are further mindful of the following in connection with our review:

When the conviction is based upon circumstantial evidence, La.R.S. 15:438 provides that the state "must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence" in order to convict. State v. Camp , 446 So.2d 1207, 1209 (La.1984). "Circumstantial evidence consists of proof of collateral facts and circumstances from which elemental factors may be inferred according to reason, experience and common sense." State v. Burns , 441 So.2d 843, 845 (La.App. 3 Cir.1983). However, La.R.S. 15:438 does not establish a stricter standard of review on appeal than the rational juror's reasonable doubt standard. The statute serves as a guide for the jury when considering circumstantial evidence. On appeal, the issue is whether a rational trier of fact, when viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, could find that all reasonable hypotheses of innocence were excluded. State v. Williams , 13-497 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/6/13), 124 So.3d 1236, writ denied , 13-2774 (La. 5/16/14), 139 So.3d 1024.

State v. Baumberger , 15-1056, pp. 10-11 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/1/16), 200 So.3d 817, 826–27, writ denied , 16-1251 (La. 5/26/17), 221 So.3d 859, cert. denied , ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S.Ct. 392, 199 L.Ed.2d 290 (2017).

While Defendant herein also challenges the admissibility of certain evidence introduced at trial, we will consider all of the evidence introduced at trial for purposes of reviewing the record for sufficient evidence. See State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731, 734 (La.1992) :

When issues are raised on appeal both as to the sufficiency of the evidence and as to one or more trial errors, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence. The reason for reviewing sufficiency first is that the accused may be entitled to an acquittal[.]... When the entirety of the evidence, including inadmissible evidence which was erroneously admitted, is insufficient to support the conviction, the accused must be discharged as to that crime ....

On the other hand, when the entirety of the evidence, both admissible and inadmissible, is sufficient to support the conviction, the accused is not entitled to an acquittal, and the reviewing court must then consider the assignments of trial error to determine whether the accused is entitled to a new trial.

Review of the Evidence

At the time of the incident, Defendant was the Chief of Police and the Assistant Fire Chief of Evergreen. Defendant testified at trial. He stated that on Friday, March 20, 2015, the day prior to the fire, his wife Shelly had woken up sick and was vomiting. Therefore, he stayed home with her, rather than going to work. According to Defendant, Shelly told him that she might be having a miscarriage. However, there was evidence reflecting that Shelly had previously had a tubal ligation; but, Defendant denied knowledge of that. Defendant testified that Shelly would not stop vomiting and that they drove to the hospital that morning. However, he could not make Shelly go inside the hospital; therefore, they left the hospital and stopped to get gas in Bunkie.

Defendant further testified that on March 20, 2015, he had responded to a police call regarding horses that were loose on the highway. He indicated that a horse was behind his house, so he searched for it on foot; however, he was unable to find it.

He stated that when he returned home from...