State v. Taylor

• Decision Date: 18 October 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81-KA-2298,81-KA-2298
• Citation: 422 So.2d 109
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Johnny TAYLOR, Jr.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 109

422 So.2d 109

STATE of Louisiana v. Johnny TAYLOR, Jr.

No. 81-KA-2298.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Oct. 18, 1982.

Concurring Opinion Nov. 9, 1982.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 19, 1982.

Opinion of Marcus, Justice

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Abbott J. Reeves, Art Lententi, William C. Credo, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

Maurice S. Bell, Montgomery, Ala., James Manning, Metairie, for defendant-appellant.

DIXON, Chief Justice.

Defendant, Johnny Taylor, Jr., was indicted for first degree murder (R.S. 14:30). After a jury trial, he was found guilty as charged. The jury unanimously recommended the death penalty finding two aggravating circumstances: (1) the accused was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of armed robbery at the time he killed the victim; (2) the offense was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner. C.Cr.P. 905.4(a), (g).

On February 8, 1980 the victim, David Vogler, received a telephone call around 8:45 p.m. from a black male about an automobile which Vogler had placed for sale in the parking lot of Barker's in Kenner, Louisiana. Vogler left his home in his Cadillac to show the red 1976 Buick Regal to the inquirer. He was not seen alive again by Mrs. Vogler. Around 12:45 a.m. Mrs. Vogler went to the parking lot in search of her husband along with her sister and her sister's boyfriend. The red Buick was missing; the Cadillac was parked in the lot. Mrs. Vogler looked in the Cadillac window and saw her husband's coat on the front seat. She saw two police cars stopped in the lot and asked the officers if they had seen the Buick. They assured her that they would be on the look out for it. Mrs. Vogler then returned to her mother's house where she spent the night. At 9:00 o'clock the next morning she returned to the parking lot with her brother-in-law, Larry Huesman. Huesman looked inside the Cadillac and saw blood on the upholstery. Fearing foul play, Huesman dropped Mrs. Vogler off and called the police. He met Officer Averett back at the parking lot and gave the officer Mrs. Vogler's extra set of keys. When Officer Averett opened the trunk, he saw the body of David Vogler. An autopsy revealed that David Vogler died from multiple stab wounds.

Detectives William Fayard and Nick Congemi of the Kenner Police Department conducted an investigation. Customers and employees of the nearby businesses were interviewed with no success. Due to the rainy weather on the night of February 8 and the morning of the 9th, the car was towed to a security garage to dry out. On February 10 technician Joseph Deidrich dusted the car for latent fingerprints. Black hairs were recovered from the ceiling of the automobile, the sun visors and the inside trunk ledge. Deidrich also vacuumed the vehicle to collect debris.

On June 14, 1980 Chief Jimmy Acton stopped the accused in Millry, Alabama for a traffic violation. He was driving the Buick Regal. His cousin, Samuel Young, and his girl friend, Linda Pugh, were with him. A check on the automobile indicated that it was stolen and that the occupants might have been involved in a murder in Kenner, Louisiana. Defendant fled from the officer under the pretext of needing to urinate; his companions were arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle. On June 15, 1980 Detectives Fayard and Congemi drove to Millry and interviewed Young and Pugh. They compared the "vin" number on the automobile to the number of the vehicle registration form to determine that this vehicle was the one stolen from the Voglers. The detectives opened the trunk and found receipts dated March 16, 1980 and May 3, 1980 bearing the name "James Taylor" for body work done on the Buick at Terry's Body Shop. Congemi and Fayard drove to Pritchard, Alabama and questioned Terry Webb, the owner of the repair garage. Webb gave them his copy of an estimate sheet dated February 9, 1980 which itemized repairs to be done to the car and a paint job requested by defendant. ¹ The Buick was driven back to Kenner, Louisiana.

Defendant was subsequently arrested on June 17, 1980 for an unrelated auto theft and incarcerated in Butler, Alabama. Detectives Fayard and Congemi drove to Butler on June 18 to question Taylor. Two statements were given by Taylor; neither statement satisfactorily explained how the accused came into possession of the Buick Regal. Eddie Slayton of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation took defendant's finger and palm prints and gave them to Detective Fayard. These prints, along with those taken from the Cadillac, were sent to the FBI by registered mail on June 23, 1980. Ronald Young, a latent fingerprint specialist with the FBI, compared the two sets of prints and concluded that Taylor's left palm print matched the partial palm print from the outside trunk lid based on forty points of identification. Samples of head hair taken from defendant during the interview showed similar characteristics to the hairs found in the Cadillac.

A warrant for defendant's arrest was executed on June 17, 1980. A copy of the warrant was given to the authorities in Alabama. Taylor was indicted on August 28, 1980 and subsequently extradited to Louisiana.

Assignment of Error No. 1

Defendant urges that the trial court erred in denying his writ of habeas corpus on the ground that he was unconstitutionally transferred from Alabama to Louisiana without a pre-transfer hearing, without being advised of the nature of the offense for which he was indicted and without the benefit of counsel. See U.S. Const.amend. VI; Ala.R.S. 15-9-38; C.Cr.P. 267.

Taylor was arrested on an unrelated auto theft charge and incarcerated in Butler, Alabama. On June 17, 1980 an arrest warrant was issued in Jefferson Parish for second degree murder, armed robbery and theft. He was indicted for first degree murder on August 28, 1980; on October 23, 1980 a copy of the indictment, minute entry, arrest warrant and commitment for Taylor were sent to the Alabama authorities. On November 7, 1980 a formal request was made to the Governor of Alabama to extradite defendant to Louisiana to stand trial for murder. Taylor was surrendered on November 26, 1980.

An illegal arrest or detention does not void a subsequent conviction. Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U.S. 519, 72 S.Ct. 509, 96 L.Ed. 541 (1952). Although a detained suspect may challenge his confinement for probable cause, a conviction will not be vacated on the ground that the accused was detained pending trial without a determination of probable cause. Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S.Ct. 854, 43 L.Ed.2d 54 (1975).

The case relied upon by the defense, Cuyler v. Adams, 449 U.S. 433, 101 S.Ct. 703, 66 L.Ed.2d 641 (1981), is inapposite. In Cuyler, the defendant had been convicted and was imprisoned in Pennsylvania. New Jersey sought to extradite the defendant for trial on charges there. The accused was extradited, tried, convicted and sentenced. There had been no pre-transfer hearing as required by the Uniform Extradition Act. Defendant sought declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983. The court held that the defendant had stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. There was no suggestion that the New Jersey conviction was invalid because of any irregularities in the extradition process.

This argument is without merit.

Assignments of Error Nos. 2 and 4

Defendant argues that he was denied a fair trial because the state destroyed or lost evidence favorable to him in contravention of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Specifically, he contends that the state improperly discarded two prints lifted from the seat belt guards and "lost" an additional print.

The state counters that routine police procedure was followed in handling the prints from the Cadillac. Further, since Taylor's left palm print matched the palm print taken from the outside trunk lid, it is irrelevant whether or not additional prints existed because defendant's presence at the trunk of the Cadillac is established.

The suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material to either guilt or punishment. Brady v. Maryland, supra. The test for materiality is whether the suppressed evidence creates a reasonable doubt that does not otherwise exist. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976); State v. Hicks, 395 So.2d 790 (La.1981); State v. Falkins, 356 So.2d 415 (La.1978), cert. denied 439 U.S. 865, 99 S.Ct. 190, 58 L.Ed.2d 175 (1978).

Technician Deidrich lifted one partial palm print from the outside trunk lid, one partial palm print from the inside trunk lid, two fingerprints from the seat belt guards, and four fingerprints from an inside passenger window; a total of eight prints. These notations are found on the outside of a small white envelope dated "2-10-80," bearing item number B-4602-80. ² Fingerprint technician Larry Rolfes testified that he examined the "lifts" made by Deidrich. ³ He determined that three of the prints were good and these prints were preserved; four remaining prints did not contain enough points for identification. Rolfes discarded the two prints taken from the seat belt guards which were on one lift. When asked on cross-examination about the seeming disappearance of one print, Rolfes explained that occasionally a technician may not be able to read what he is lifting and a mistake is made in his count. In any event, Rolfes testified that he examined all four lifts (which supposedly had eight prints according to Deidrich's computations) and threw away one lift containing two prints from the seat belt guards, leaving three lifts. Thus, no prints were inadvertently lost.

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINS TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

The officers testified that the standard procedure is for prints to be placed in an...