State v. Russell

• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana
• Citation: State v. Russell, 966 So.2d 154 (La. App. 2007)
• Decision Date: 26 September 2007
• Docket Number: No. 42,479-KA.,42,479-KA.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Ryan D. RUSSELL, Sr., Appellant.
• Writing for the Court: Stewart

966 So.2d 154

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Ryan D. RUSSELL, Sr., Appellant.

No. 42,479-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

September 26, 2007.

Louisiana Appellate Project by Annette F. Roach, Lake Charles, Ryan D. Russell, Sr., for Appellant.

William R. Jones, District Attorney, Robert E. Bethard, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before STEWART, GASKINS and PEATROSS, JJ.

STEWART, J.

The defendant, Ryan Russell, Sr. ("Russell"), was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 40 years at hard labor. The defendant now appeals. Finding no merit in his claims, we affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

Most of the material facts are uncontroverted. On August 21, 2004, the defendant shot his stepfather, John Shoebroek, twice in the head after the two men had a heated argument. The defendant and his son, Ryan, Jr. (then age 8) had been living with Shoebroek and Russell's mother for several months prior to the shooting. Russell's daughter, Halie (then age 6), had been living with his mother her entire life.

The events giving rise to the shooting began a few months earlier when Russell became suspicious that Shoebroek may have engaged in inappropriate behavior with Halie. Notwithstanding Shoebroek's and Halie's denial that anything inappropriate had occurred, Russell's suspicions festered and ultimately led to defendant's final confrontation with Shoebroek on August 21, 2004. On that day, Russell was watching a movie with his two children inside the home when he decided to again confront Shoebroek about his concerns. Shoebroek was outside the home near the shed apparently doing some welding work. The conversation between Russell and Shoebroek quickly escalated. Russell grabbed a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle and shot Shoebroek once above the ear and once in the middle of the forehead. Russell claims he shot Shoebroek in self-defense because Shoebroek was approaching him with a machete. There were no other witnesses to the shooting.

Russell admitted that he lied to his mother, Rhonda Shoebroek, when she later asked the whereabouts of her husband. As the week passed, Ms. Shoebroek became increasingly concerned and on August 30, 2004, she went to the police to file a report. When police searched the Shoebroek property (with Rhonda's consent), they arrested Russell on an unrelated outstanding warrant. The next day, Shoebroek's body was found buried in a shallow grave in the woods near the home.

While in custody, Russell eventually waived his Miranda rights and gave both a verbal and written confession to police. He admitted killing Shoebroek, burying Shoebroek's body, and destroying much of the evidence.

After Shoebroek's body was unearthed, it was taken to Forensic Pathologists, Inc. in Shreveport, where an autopsy was conducted on September 2, 2004 by Caddo Parish Coroner, Dr. George McCormick, with the assistance of lab director Lisa Hayes. Dr. McCormick prepared and signed a coroner's report confirming that Shoebroek died of two gunshot wounds to the head. Dr. McCormick died in September 2005, prior to the trial in this matter.

The defendant was charged with second degree murder. A jury trial was held October 2-4, 2006. Chief Deputy Tracy Scott of the Red River Sheriff's Office testified that he investigated the crime scene and took the defendant's statements while he was in custody. Chief Deputy Scott read both his report on the defendant's oral confession as well as the written statement given by Russell, who also testified at trial.

The defendant admitted dragging Shoebroek's body approximately 390 feet from the area where the shooting was considered to have occurred and burying the body in a shallow grave. The grave was approximately three feet deep. Russell camouflaged the gravesite with dirt and leaves to make it appear consistent with its natural surroundings. At the site of the alleged confrontation, Scott testified that there was no physical evidence of any struggle between the defendant and Shoebroek. Russell admitted that he destroyed Shoebroek's wallet and burned Shoebroek's shoes and cell phone after the killing. Russell also testified that he put the machete back in the shed and vacuumed the shell casings to hide evidence of the shooting. Chief Deputy Scott testified that a machete was found in the shed, but police were unable to collect any fingerprints from it because the material it was constructed with was not conducive to holding fingerprints.

Russell testified that he shot Shoebroek in self-defense. He identified several purported threats that Shoebroek previously directed toward others, but it was undisputed that no threats were ever directed toward Russell or his children. Russell also admitted that Shoebroek never hit him. Regarding the events of August 21, 2004, he admitted at trial that he had been drinking that day and that he drank five or six beers before his confrontation with Shoebroek. Lastly, Russell testified that when Shoebroek allegedly approached him with a machete, defendant grabbed the rifle and pressed the end of the rifle barrel against Shoebroek's forehead to "push him back" and that the subsequent two gunshots were a "sudden reaction."

The parties stipulated at trial that Shoebroek was shot twice in the head and that he died of these gunshot wounds. The state also introduced Dr. McCormick's coroner's report into evidence over defendant's objections made in both pretrial motions and at trial. The trial court held a hearing outside the presence of the jury on October 2, 2006, to determine whether the report should be excluded. After hearing testimony from Lisa Hayes, Dr. McCormick's lab director, the trial court allowed the report:

Lisa Hayes said she remembered this case because the body was buried and badly decomposed. She said that Dr. McCormick supervised the details of the autopsy of the victim in this case. Her testimony was very convincing with regard to this case. The problem with the testimony of Lisa Hayes is that she had inconsistencies with regard to many required procedures. She admitted that many cases were done without proper supervision of Dr. McCormick. The procedures which were used by Dr. McCormick with regard to autopsies is very disturbing to this Court. Although the testimony of Lisa Hayes is not credible on numerous details, this Court can not [sic] say anything was done wrong which could affect the outcome of this particular autopsy.

This Court has given great consideration to the decision reached in this ruling, but based on the testimony and evidence, the defendant's motion is denied. The autopsy of Dr. McCormick is allowed into evidence.

Only portions of Dr. McCormick's report were read to the jury by the state's expert forensic pathologist, Dr. Frank Peretti. Specifically, Dr. Peretti gave his opinion as to Shoebroek's death and cause of death based on his review of Dr. McCormick's autopsy report and photographs of the bullet wounds. Defendant's counsel had the opportunity to fully cross-examine Dr. Peretti as to the bases of his opinions. Dr. Peretti testified that the forehead wound was a tight "contact" wound, meaning that the gun barrel had been "firmly against" the victim's head when the trigger was pulled. Dr. Peretti testified that the other gunshot wound was fired from a distance of at least two feet away.

Following trial, the jury convicted the defendant of the responsive verdict of manslaughter. On December 20, 2006, the trial court sentenced defendant to 40 years in prison at hard labor, with credit for time served. The trial court denied defendant's motions for post verdict judgment of acquittal and reconsideration of sentence. This appeal follows.

DISCUSSION

Motion for Post Verdict Judgment of Acquittal

The defendant argues that his actions in killing John Shoebroek were justified because he was in fear of receiving great bodily harm or possibly death if he did not stop the "machete-wielding" Shoebroek. Russell further contends that the state failed to meet its burden that his actions were not justified.

The state argues that the evidence supports the jury's verdict of manslaughter and that the evidence demonstrates that the defendant's actions were not justified.

When sufficiency of the evidence and one or more trial errors are raised as issues on appeal, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence. The reason for reviewing sufficiency first is because the accused may be entitled to an acquittal under Hudson v. Louisiana, 450 U.S. 40, 101 S.Ct. 970, 67 L.Ed.2d 30 (1981), if a rational trier of fact, reviewing the evidence in accord with Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), in the light most favorable to the prosecution, could not reasonably conclude that all of the elements of the offense have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La.1992); State v. Bosley, 29,253 (La.App. 2d Cir.4/2/97), 691 So.2d 347, writ denied, 97-1203 (La.10/17/97), 701 So.2d 1333.

La. R.S. 14:31 defines manslaughter, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. Manslaughter is:

(1) A homicide which would be murder under either Article 30 (first degree murder) or Article 30.1 (second degree murder), but the offense is committed in sudden passion or heat of blood immediately caused by provocation sufficient to deprive an average person of his self-control and cool reflection. Provocation shall not reduce a homicide to manslaughter if the jury finds that the offender's blood had actually cooled, or that an average person's blood would have cooled, at the time the offense was committed;

* * * *

On August 21, 2004, La. R.S. 14:20 provided, in pertinent part:

A homicide is justifiable:

(1) When committed in self-defense by one who reasonably believes that he is in imminent danger of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm and that the killing is necessary to save himself from that danger.

(...