State v. Robinson

• Decision Date: 14 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2002-KA-1869.,2002-KA-1869.
• Citation: 874 So.2d 66
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Darrell James ROBINSON.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

874 So.2d 66

STATE of Louisiana v. Darrell James ROBINSON.

No. 2002-KA-1869.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

April 14, 2004.

Rehearing Denied June 25, 2004.

Danalynn Recer, J. Michael Small, Alexandria, Clive Adrian Safford Smith, New Orleans, for applicant.

Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, James C. Downs, District Attorney, Thomas R. Wilson, Michael W. Shannon, for respondent.

JOHNSON, Justice.

Defendant was convicted in the 9th Judicial District Court, Parish of Rapides, George Metoyer, J., of four counts of first degree murder in violation of La. R.S. 14:30. This is a direct appeal from the aforementioned convictions and sentence of death, pursuant to La. Const. Art. V § 5(D).¹ The principal issues of this appeal involve: (1) whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support defendant's conviction/evidence was sufficient to establish defendant's identity as the perpetrator, (2) whether the trial court erred in failing to suppress the testimony of a jailhouse informant, (3) whether the trial court was warranted in denying defendant's challenges for cause of prospective jurors, and further, erred in excusing jurors for cause whose views did not impair their ability to impose the death penalty, (4) whether African-American jurors were discriminatorily purged from the panel, (5) whether the admission of photographs from the crime scene violated defendant's right to a fair trial, and (6) whether the imposition of a death sentence was disproportionate.

We affirm defendant's conviction.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 28, 1996, at approximately 12:10 p.m., Doris Foster arrived at the home of her cousin, Billy Lambert, on Guy Peart Road, in Poland, Louisiana, having made plans to have lunch with him, his sister Carol Hooper, Carol's daughter Maureen Kelly, and Maureen's infant son, Nicholas Kelly. Ms. Foster found the front door locked, which was unusual as it was daytime and because Billy was expecting several members of his family to join him. After retrieving her key and unlocking the front door, Ms. Foster entered the living room and discovered the bodies of her four relatives, all shot in the head and lying in pools of their own blood. Billy had been shot twice, and the other victims had all been shot once.

At trial, Ms. Foster testified that she heard a noise coming from the rear of the house; she therefore left immediately and drove to the nearby Town & Country store to call for help. After the clerk called 911, Ms. Foster returned to the house with the police. Ms. Foster stated at trial that although she had only been gone from the scene a matter of minutes, she noticed that Billy's brown Ford truck, which had been parked adjacent to Maureen's car when she arrived, was now gone.

Defendant, Darrell J. Robinson, had come to live with Billy approximately eight days before the murders, after the two met at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center ("V.A.") where they were both being treated for alcoholism. While the two were still in treatment, Billy invited defendant to live with him in exchange for performing chores on his farm. Several witnesses, including Andrew Dunn, testified at trial that within days of his release, defendant began drinking again. The clerk at the local Town & Country store testified that the defendant purchased a bottle of vodka at approximately 8:30 a.m. on the morning of the murders.

At trial, Gary Normand, who was trimming trees for CLECO on Highway 1, testified that he saw a light brown Ford truck spinning its wheels as it turned off Guy Peart Road at approximately 12:15 p.m. Similarly, Farrell Scallan, who was eating his lunch at the Mini Barn on Guy Peart Road, testified that he saw a light brown Ford truck being driven erratically by a young man with dark hair on Guy Peart Road at approximately 12:15 p.m. Shortly thereafter, and about 11 miles away, Michael Poole encountered the truck on Bayou Bouef Road. Poole testified that the man, whom he later identified as the defendant, was traveling at high speed when he swerved into his lane and side-swiped his own truck, knocking off his driver's side mirror. When the defendant did not stop, Poole pursued him, and solicited the aid of Steve Halbert, a friend and neighbor he passed along the way, to help.

Thereafter, the truck stalled and Poole approached the defendant; subsequently, the two engaged in a heated exchange. Poole testified that he told defendant that he was going to call the police. According to Poole's trial testimony, defendant appeared nervous upon hearing that the police were being summoned, and he continued to try to start the truck. When he finally succeeded, defendant fled the accident scene. Poole signaled to Halbert to follow the vehicle, and Halbert pursued the defendant while Poole called 911 to report the accident. The 911 dispatcher testified that Michael Poole's call reporting the hit-and-run came in at 12:44 p.m.

Halbert testified that during the chase defendant ran other vehicles off the road. Eventually, the truck turned onto a gravel road in Evangeline Parish, where Halbert testified that he saw the truck drive through a fence and then park behind a house. Once he had hidden the vehicle, defendant disappeared into the nearby woods.

The police arrived soon after and began searching the woods for defendant. Two detectives from the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, Mike Stephens and Joe Bartlett, located defendant in the woods, crouching behind a mound of dirt. The officers approached defendant with their guns drawn and ordered him onto the ground. According to the trial testimony of Det. Stephens, upon defendant's apprehension, he blurted out: "I'm not armed. I don't have a gun." In addition, Det. Stephens testified that while he and Det. Bartlett were placing defendant in handcuffs, he further volunteered, "I'm on medication for violent tendencies." Det. Stephens' statements were corroborated by the trial testimony of Det. Bartlett.

After apprehending the defendant, the officers conducted a safety pat-down; during their search they recovered a yellow pocket knife, however, no firearms were found. Although authorities searched the route between the crime scene and the place where defendant was arrested extensively, the murder weapon was never located.

After his arrest, the police seized defendant's clothing for testing. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was performed, which detected gunshot residue particles on defendant's t-shirt, the waistband of his blue jeans, and on the shorts he was wearing under his blue jeans. Further, two drops of blood, matching the DNA of victim Nicholas Kelly, were found on Defendant's left shoe and shoe lace.

Based upon this and other evidence, defendant was indicted on four counts of first degree murder on June 20, 1996 in connection with the deaths of Billy Lambert and his family. On June 21 and 22, 1996, in response to defendant's motion to set bail, the trial court held a preliminary hearing. At the conclusion of that hearing, defendant's motion was denied, and he was incarcerated at the Rapides Parish Detention Center while awaiting trial. Throughout 1999 and 2000, the trial court held hearings on various pretrial motions. On no less than four occasions, defendant moved for a change of venue. On September 7, 1999, the trial court revisited the issue and granted defendant's motion for change of venue, and allowed a jury to be selected from St. Landry Parish. While incarcerated at the Rapides Parish Detention Center, defendant was assigned to share a cell with Leroy Goodspeed on October 29, 1997. On November 11, 1997, according to Goodspeed's testimony, defendant confessed to him, "I did those people, a man, two women and a small child, and threw the gun off a bridge." On November 14, 1997, Leroy Goodspeed conveyed defendant's statements to Steve Wilmore, the lead investigator from the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, who subsequently informed the assistant district attorney assigned to the case of defendant's statements.

Jury selection commenced on February 12, 2001 in St. Landry Parish. After conducting individualized sequestered voir dire, a panel of twelve jurors and one alternate was chosen. Thereafter, the case was returned to Rapides Parish, where the trial took place in accordance with La. C. Cr. P. art. 623.1. Defendant's trial commenced on March 3, 2001. On March 12, 2001, the jury returned four verdicts of guilty as charged of first degree murder.

The penalty phase began on March 13, 2001, and the following day, the jury unanimously returned four recommendations for death. To support its recommendation regarding counts one, two and three, which involved the adult victims Billy Lambert, Carol Hooper, and Maureen Kelly, the jury found the one aggravating circumstance urged by the State, namely that the offender knowingly created a risk of death or great bodily harm to more than one person pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.4(A)(4). With regard to count four, which involved infant victim Nicholas Kelly, the jury found both aggravating circumstances urged by the State, namely that the offender knowingly created a risk of death or great bodily harm to more than one person pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.4(A)(4), and that the victim was under the age of twelve years pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.4(A)(10).

Defense counsel filed a motion for new trial, which was denied on April 9, 2001. Thereafter, the judge imposed the sentence of death in accordance with the jury's verdicts. Defendant now appeals his convictions and death sentence on the basis of 24 assignments of error.

DISCUSSION

This is a capital case in which all assignments of error are reviewed. This court has an independent obligation to examine the record for passion, prejudice, or arbitrary factors which may have contributed to the jury's recommendation of death, despite the lack of contemporaneous objection or the failure to brief an argument. State v....