State v. Spears

• Decision Date: 11 December 2019
• Docket Number: NO. 18-KA-663,18-KA-663
• Citation: 286 So.3d 1064
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. John SPEARS
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

286 So.3d 1064

STATE of Louisiana

v.John SPEARS

NO. 18-KA-663

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 11, 2019

COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, Paul D. Connick, Jr., Terry M. Boudreaux, Juliet L. Clark

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT, JOHN SPEARS, Cynthia K. Meyer

COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Jeffrey M. Landry, J. Taylor Gray

Panel composed of Judges Fredericka Homberg Wicker, Marc E. Johnson, and Robert A. Chaisson

JOHNSON, J.

Defendant/Appellant, John Spears, appeals his conviction and life sentence for second-degree murder from the 24^th Judicial District Court, Division "C". For the following reasons, Defendant's conviction and sentence are affirmed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 18, 2016, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Defendant with the second degree murder of Anthony Tardo, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. Defendant pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on February 19, 2016. On May 17, 2016, Defendant withdrew his not guilty plea and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Trial commenced on June 13, 2017, before a 12-person jury.

At trial, Officer Mark Stein of the Kenner Police Department testified that he responded to a shooting inside of Houston Marine, in Kenner, Louisiana, on December 4, 2015. Defendant was standing outside of the business next to his car with his hands above his head and an unloaded gun on top of the car. Officer Stein described Defendant as calm and cooperative. With the aid of Officer Gregory Alphonso, Defendant was detained and while being handcuffed, stated, "he's in the building ... the man was messing with me."

Officer Joshua Wilkerson, also of the Kenner Police Department, arrived at the scene shortly after Officer Stein and discovered that the victim, Anthony Tardo, had been shot and killed in his office.¹ Officer Wilkerson noted that a cartridge casing was in the hallway leading to the victim's office.

Sergeant Herbert Hille was the lead detective on the case for the Kenner Police Department. He testified that after the shooting, Defendant exited the building and waited next to his vehicle for the police to arrive. He explained that Defendant had ejected the magazine and the round of ammunition from the gun and placed them on top of his vehicle. Sergeant Hille testified that a spent casing and a projectile were recovered inside the building where the victim was shot. After ballistics testing was performed, it was concluded that the cartridge casing found in the hallway outside the victim's office was fired by the gun located on top of Defendant's vehicle.

Leonard Sampson, an employee and instructor at Houston Marine, testified that on the afternoon of the shooting, he passed Defendant in the parking lot and recalled telling Defendant that he was leaving early to pick up his son, to which Defendant replied, "I'm just going to go into the building and shoot everybody." Mr. Sampson described Defendant as a quiet employee but believed that there was "something going on." Mr. Sampson also described the victim as a superior supervisor, noting that he never personally knew of any disputes between Defendant and the victim.

Andrew Plack, also an employee at Houston Marine, testified that he was in the file room near the front of the building when he heard the victim say, "what the f—k," and then heard a loud bang. When Mr. Plack went into the hallway to investigate, he observed Defendant standing outside the doorway to the victim's office. Mr. Plack testified that initially his attention was focused on the ground where he observed an object spinning in the middle of the hallway. Believing the noise he heard was a CO₂ powered car they played with in the office, he asked Defendant if the noise was "the toy car," to which Defendant responded, it "wasn't the stupid car." Eventually Mr. Plack realized that the spinning object was a cartridge casing and that Defendant had a gun in his hand. Defendant, who was expressionless, then stated to Mr. Plack that the victim was "going to need some first aid," before leaving the building. When Mr. Plack entered the victim's office, he noted that the victim was lying face down. In his statement to the police, Mr. Plack indicated that Defendant "had something weird going on," testifying that Defendant had "some strange ways of doing things and he used to yawn a lot at inappropriate times."² Mr. Plack was also unaware of any work-related issues that might have been going on between the victim and Defendant.

Patrick O'Carroll Jr. was also an employee at Houston Marine and had seen Defendant that morning. Mr. O'Carroll noted that it was out of the ordinary that Defendant had not shaved in a day or two. At the time of the shooting Mr. O'Carroll was not in the building but recalled receiving a phone call concerning the shooting later that afternoon. Mr. O'Carroll testified that he had a conversation with Defendant about "how crazy the world was getting," in reference to their discussion regarding a shooting that had just occurred in San Bernardino, California the day before the shooting.

Houston Marine instructor, William Klein, was in the building at the time of the shooting. He testified that he was sitting in the office next to the victim's office with his back to the door. While talking to another co-worker, Mr. Klein heard a loud pop. When Mr. Klein went into the hallway, he observed Defendant standing there with a gun in his hand. He recalled that Defendant calmly told him someone was hurt and to call 9-1-1. Upon entering the victim's office, Mr. Klein observed the victim lying on the floor under the desk. Mr. Klein testified that Defendant did not appear shocked but was calm and seemed almost dazed.

Gretchen Vallon, another co-worker, testified Defendant was acting "a little different than usual" and noted that he did not look like himself on the day of the shooting. She testified that Defendant was unshaven and not dressed in his usual work attire.³ When she heard the gunshot, Ms. Vallon testified that she ran to the victim's office where Defendant was standing in the doorway holding a gun. When she asked Defendant what was going on, he told her that the victim needed an ambulance.⁴ Her co-worker, Vickie Twilbeck, corroborated Ms. Vallon's testimony and further noted that, after the shooting, it appeared that Defendant had no remorse. However, on cross-examination, Ms. Twilbeck testified that she told the police that it did not appear that Defendant wanted anything permanent to happen to the victim and that he appeared to be in "disbelief." Co-worker James Gilless also added that after the shooting, Defendant's face was stoic and expressionless.

Shirley Andrews testified that she worked with Defendant, and that, on the morning of the shooting, she asked Defendant about his upcoming birthday. She recalled that Defendant did not respond at first but then told her, "it doesn't matter." Ms. Andrews testified that Defendant had a "blank stare" when talking to her; however, she did not find this strange as "that's the way he was all the time." She stated that Defendant was not a man of many words, but on that particular day, he appeared as though he was "confused almost." Ms. Andrews also testified Defendant was not a very social person and did not have a lot of motivation. Ms. Andrews further recalled a time when Defendant told her that the victim did not like him and that is why Defendant "just comes into the office, does his job, and then goes home."

Mary Wooten confirmed that Defendant was always well-groomed but appeared "real rough" and "scruffy" on the day of the shooting. Ms. Wooten testified that on the day of the shooting, Defendant neglected to sign in as required for all instructors; thus, Ms. Wooten reported Defendant to her boss—the victim. Ms. Wooten also spoke to Defendant regarding the unsigned form and was told by Defendant he would get to it later. Later that day, Defendant went into Ms. Wooten's office and signed the form. Ms. Wooten confirmed that the victim often encouraged Defendant, as he did all of the employees at Houston Marine, to better themselves and to learn as much as possible. She testified that she assisted the victim with the scheduling of classes, and she occasionally requested that certain instructors "shadow" a class being taught by another instructor. Ms. Wooten recalled that, on a couple of occasions, Defendant would refuse to shadow the class to which he was assigned; so, she had to report Defendant to the victim.

After the shooting, Defendant was transported to the Kenner Police Department, where a health and property screening was conducted. Pursuant to the health screening, Defendant was asked about any medical conditions he may have had, and Defendant indicated that he had diabetes

, high cholesterol, kidney issues, and depression. He further indicated that he was on medication for his diabetes, cholesterol, and kidneys. It did not appear to the booking officer, Caitlin Wadsworth, that Defendant was down or depressed, hearing voices, reacting strangely, disoriented, or suicidal. Officer Wadsworth testified that Defendant was calm and polite during their interaction. Defendant had in his possession several different medications for his diabetes

and high blood pressure, including Metformin, Pioglitazone, Lisinopril, Glipizide, Lantus, and NovoLog.

While in jail, Defendant placed a phone call to his wife. During the phone call, he told his wife that he "f--ked up. Mother f--ker just kept aggravatin' me and aggravatin' me, and aggravatin' me." When his wife questioned him as to why he did not "just walk away," Defendant responded, "[w]ell that's what I say now, that's what I say. I say, I say that every day. I say f--k, I say I bring my coun ... my son to counselin' to handle, to ... to be able to deal with his anger and yet I go off and do sumpin it ... an ... and this...