State v. Minor

• Decision Date: 26 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 52,091-KA,52,091-KA
• Citation: 254 So.3d 1278
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Steven MINOR, Appellant
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

254 So.3d 1278

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Steven MINOR, Appellant

No. 52,091-KA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered September 26, 2018.

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT By: Peggy J. Sullivan, Monroe, Counsel for Appellant

ROBERT S. TEW, District Attorney, JOHN G. SPIRES, STEPHEN T. SYLVESTER, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee

Before BROWN, MOORE, and GARRETT, JJ.

GARRETT, J.

After a bench trial, the defendant, Steven Minor, was convicted of attempted second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that his sentence was excessive. We affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

On April 22, 2016, the City of Bastrop police were dispatched to Austin Street in reference to a shooting. When police arrived, they found the victim, Rolandus Vaughn, under the carport of a home. He had suffered gunshot wounds to his hip, stomach and wrist. The victim was transported to the hospital by helicopter. Fortunately, he recovered from his injuries, but the bullet in his hip apparently could not be removed.

Based upon eyewitness accounts, police developed the 18-year-old defendant as the shooter. The eyewitnesses saw the two men argue and the defendant draw a gun before firing shots at the victim. The defendant admitted shooting the victim, but insisted that he only wanted to scare him and did not intend to hurt or kill him. The defendant was arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder.

After the defendant waived his right to a jury trial, a bench trial was held in June 2017. After considering the evidence and testimony, the trial court found the defendant guilty as charged of attempted second degree murder. In August 2017, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to 20 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.¹ A timely motion to reconsider, which only requested the imposition of a sentence of no more than 10 years at hard labor, was summarily denied by the trial court. The defendant appealed.

SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE

The defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to convict him because the state failed to prove that he had the requisite specific intent to kill necessary to support the verdict of attempted second degree murder. He argues that he should have been convicted of only aggravated battery.

The state argues that the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the state, was clearly sufficient to satisfy any rational trier of fact that the defendant possessed the specific intent to kill the victim and to support the verdict of attempted second degree murder. The state asserts that the victim's testimony that the defendant pointed a gun at his head and then shot him several times was alone sufficient to establish the crime. Further, the eyewitness accounts corroborated that the defendant approached the victim, argued with him, pulled out a gun, and shot the unarmed man. The state contends that this evidence is sufficient to establish that the defendant faced the victim when he first shot him and then continued to shoot at him after the victim turned to run away. The state points out that further evidence showed that the defendant admitted to arming himself after an incident with the victim the night before the shooting and to waiting at a stop sign with the gun the following morning until he saw the victim approach. This evidence, according to the state, was sufficient to support the verdict.

Law

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim 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 (1979) ; State v. Tate , 01-1658 (La. 5/20/03), 851 So. 2d 921, cert. denied , 541 U.S. 905, 124 S. Ct. 1604, 158 L.Ed. 2d 248 (2004) ; State v. Robinson , 50,643 (La. App. 2 Cir. 6/22/16), 197 So. 3d 717, writ denied , 16-1479 (La. 5/19/17), 221 So. 3d 78. This standard, now legislatively embodied in La. C. Cr. P. art. 821, does not provide the appellate court with a vehicle to substitute its own appreciation of the evidence for that of the factfinder. State v. Pigford , 05-0477 (La. 2/22/06), 922 So. 2d 517 ; State v. Robinson , supra . The appellate court does not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh evidence. State v. Smith , 94-3116 (La. 10/16/95), 661 So. 2d 442. A reviewing court accords great deference to the factfinder's decision to accept or reject the testimony of a witness in whole or in part. State v. Robinson , supra ; State v. Moss , 48,289 (La. App. 2 Cir. 11/20/13), 127 So. 3d 979, writ denied , 13-2975 (La. 8/25/14), 147 So. 3d 697.

Where there is conflicting testimony about factual matters, the resolution of which depends upon a determination of the credibility of the witnesses, the matter is one of the weight of the evidence, not its sufficiency. State v. Robinson , supra ; State v. Randle , 49,952 (La. App. 2 Cir. 6/24/15), 166 So.3d 465.

To sustain a conviction for attempted second degree murder, the state must prove that the defendant: (1) intended to kill the victim; and (2) committed an overt act tending toward the accomplishment of the victim's death. La. R.S. 14:27 ; 14:30.1. Although the statute for the completed crime of second degree murder allows for a conviction based on "specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm," La. R.S. 14:30.1, attempted second degree murder requires specific intent to kill. State v. Bishop , 01-2548 (La. 1/14/03), 835 So.2d 434. Proof of specific intent to inflict great bodily harm is insufficient for a conviction for attempted second degree murder. State v. Lewis , 51,672 (La. App. 2 Cir. 11/15/17), 245 So.3d 233 ; State v. Patterson , 50,305 (La. App. 2 Cir. 11/18/15), 184 So.3d 739, writ denied , 15-2333 (La. 3/24/16), 190 So.3d 1190.

Specific intent is that state of mind which exists when the circumstances indicate that the offender actively desired the prescribed criminal consequences to follow his act or failure to act. La. R.S. 14:10(1). Such state of mind can be formed in an instant. State v. Murray , 49,418 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1/14/15), 161 So.3d 918, writ denied , 15-0379 (La. 4/8/16), 191 So.3d 582. Specific intent may be inferred from the circumstances surrounding the offense and the conduct of the defendant. State v. Bishop , supra . Specific intent to kill may also be inferred from the extent and severity of the victim's injuries, and the defendant's use of a deadly weapon to produce those injuries, which involved serious risk of death. State v. Washington , 50,424 (La. App. 2 Cir. 3/16/16), 188 So.3d 350, writ denied , 16-0718 (La. 4/13/17), 218 So.3d 119. The discharge of a firearm at close range and aimed at a person is indicative of a specific intent to kill. State v. Patterson , supra . The determination of whether the requisite intent is present is a question for the trier of fact. State v. Lewis , supra ; State v. Patterson , supra .

Trial Testimony

At trial, testimony was given by the defendant and the victim, as well as several Austin Street residents who witnessed the shooting. Although all of the witnesses agreed that the defendant shot the victim, the details varied in several respects.

The victim testified that the defendant's cousin stole a television from his friend, Mike Lyons. The victim identified the thief to Mike, and a verbal confrontation ensued between the cousin, the defendant, and Mike on the night before the shooting. The victim indicated that he was present at the altercation but did not participate in it. At about 9 o'clock the next morning, as he walked on Austin Street, the victim was approached by the defendant, who wanted him to walk down a nearby secluded trail. The victim told the defendant to go on and get out of his face. The defendant pulled a gun on the unarmed victim, aiming it at his head. The victim testified that he raised his hands and told the defendant to put down the gun and "get on down the road." The defendant lowered the gun and shot the victim first in the left hip and then in the right side of his abdomen. The victim testified that he turned to run and that the defendant shot at him a third time, striking him in his right wrist. The victim then fled down the street to a house, where he collapsed in the carport. He testified that the defendant turned and walked off.

Larry Nix, an Austin Street resident, said that the victim had been sitting with him in his carport before the shooting. The victim walked in one direction to go home and Mr. Nix walked in the other to head to the grocery store. He walked past the defendant. He stopped when he heard the victim and the defendant arguing; the victim told the defendant to go on down the road. The defendant then produced a gun and pointed it at the victim's body. Mr. Nix heard three gunshots. The second shot was fired after the unarmed victim ran. After the third shot, the victim hollered and fell down. The defendant ran past Mr. Nix and got in a gray car, which he believed was a Marquis. Mr. Nix went to help the victim, who has been shot at least twice.

Another neighbor, Jerome White, was walking his dog when he saw the defendant walking "up and down the road." When the victim walked out of Mr. Nix's driveway, Mr. White saw the defendant approach the victim. According to Mr. White, the defendant pulled out a gun and told the unarmed victim to get down the road. The defendant first pointed the gun at the victim's head; the victim told him to go on about his business while dodging side to side. The defendant dropped the gun to waist level and fired two times. The victim was facing the defendant for the first shot but not the second...