State v. Taylor

• Decision Date: 14 January 2003
• Docket Number: No. 2001-KA-1638.,2001-KA-1638.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Michael TAYLOR.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

838 So.2d 729

STATE of Louisiana v. Michael TAYLOR.

No. 2001-KA-1638.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

January 14, 2003.

Rehearing Denied March 21, 2003.

Carol A. Kolinchak, New Orleans, Counsel for Applicant.

Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, Don M. Burkett, District Attorney, Helene M. Sugar, Counsel for Respondent.

TRAYLOR, J.

On January 27, 1999, a DeSoto Parish grand jury indicted Michael Taylor, defendant herein, for the first degree murder of Chester Howell, in violation of R.S. 14:30. After a trial by jury, defendant was found guilty as charged on July 16, 2000, and was sentenced to death. Defendant now directly appeals his conviction and sentence, raising nineteen assignments of error, variously combined into sixteen arguments.¹

FACTS

On January 7, 1999, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Brenda Green heard a gunshot while driving on Missile Base Road in DeSoto Parish. She then observed two young white males standing on a bridge before they fled in a white sports car, leaving behind the body of Chester Howell. Ms. Green immediately drove to a nearby body shop and called 911. The victim was pronounced dead shortly thereafter with three gunshot wounds to his arm, chest, and lower back.

Investigating officers learned the victim's identity from identification in his wallet which also included business cards from the Morgan Pontiac car dealership. Later, the police further learned that earlier in the day two young white males arrived on foot at the dealership and requested to test drive a white Pontiac Firebird. The victim accompanied the two men on the test drive, but never returned. A description of the vehicle was subsequently broadcast by the police.

The next day, Sergeant Morris, an officer with the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Department, received a call from the Missouri State Police indicating the stolen vehicle had been found abandoned after two young white males committed a bank robbery in Lamoni, Iowa, and then engaged in a high speed chase which resulted in the non-fatal shooting of the Lamoni police chief. Footprints left in the snow near the vehicle led police to a burglarized body shop which was also missing a service truck. Five days later, officers found a Winchester Model .22 caliber rifle and a Ruger Super Blackhawk Model.44 magnum handgun near the abandoned Firebird. The guns matched the description of the weapons used in the bank robbery. Through DNA testing, three cigarette butts recovered from the Firebird were matched to defendant. In addition, two fingerprints lifted from the vehicle were matched to defendant. Shortly thereafter, the stolen service truck was located at a Marriott Hotel in Overland Park, Kansas. After receiving information that co-defendant Timothy Taylor² checked into the hotel using his Louisiana driver's license, DeSoto Parish deputies located Timothy Taylor's father's address in Shreveport, Louisiana, and learned defendant's mother had been by the apartment in search of her son. A neighbor also told the police Timothy Taylor and defendant were seen at the apartment a few hours after the victim's murder. Arrest warrants for defendant and Timothy Taylor were subsequently issued on January 13, 1999.

Two days later, on January 15, 1999, U.S. Customs Inspector Jeffrey Garner was working at the United States Border Station in Laredo, Texas. Around 4:30 p.m. two young white males approached him and volunteered that the Mexican officials had sent them back because they did not have the proper documentation to travel into Mexico. After the two men stated they had nothing to declare, Agent Garner searched their bags. In Timothy Taylor's backpack, the agent found a large amount of cash secured in bank rolls, totaling $87,898.13. At this point, Agent Garner explained that currency in excess of $10,000 must be declared to U.S. Customs. In light of their evasive answers about the amount and origin of the money, Agent Garner patted down both men and found $38,496.75 in defendant's pants pocket. After running their names in the National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") computer, Agent Garner discovered both men were wanted for homicide and robbery.

Agent Garner placed defendant and Timothy Taylor in separate holding cells and, subsequently, they individually made handwritten statements concerning the instant offense. In his first statement, defendant denied any involvement in the murder of Chester Howell; however, he admitted to his involvement in the Lamoni, Iowa bank robbery and the shooting of the police chief during the high speed chase. Defendant later made a second statement in which he indicated he accompanied Timothy Taylor to the car dealership. During the test drive, defendant told the victim not to move because Timothy Taylor, who was sitting in the back of the vehicle, had a gun. Defendant then drove to a bridge on Missile Base Road and let the victim out of the car. According to defendant, after Timothy Taylor shot the victim twice, defendant took the gun and fired the last shot into the victim's back. However, in his statement, Timothy Taylor claimed defendant fired all of the shots at the victim. After the statements were taken, both men were subsequently transported to DeSoto Parish.

On January 27, 1999, a DeSoto Parish grand jury returned an indictment charging defendant and Timothy Taylor with first degree murder. Their cases were severed and defendant's trial was moved to Winn Parish based on the extensive media coverage in DeSoto Parish.³ At defendant's trial, the state presented thirty witnesses from various states who testified to defendant's involvement in the instant offense and his eventual apprehension and return to Louisiana. The defense conceded defendant's guilt, but argued the crime more properly fit second degree murder. After a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder, the penalty phase ensued.

At the sentencing hearing, the state presented victim impact evidence from the victim's two daughters, his wife, two of his co-workers, and a family friend. Next, the defense called defendant's mother and father, his cousin, an ex-girlfriend, and his best friend. Defendant also testified in his own behalf. Finally, the defense presented the testimony of Dr. Mark Vigen, a forensic psychologist, who described defendant's family history and his findings with respect to defendant's personality and IQ.

Following the penalty phase, the jury returned with a death recommendation after finding the sole aggravating circumstance urged by the state, i.e., defendant was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an armed robbery. The trial court formally sentenced defendant to death by lethal injection on October 10, 2000. Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence, raising nineteen assignments of error.

DISCUSSION

A. Pre-Trial Phase Issues

1. Motion to Suppress. (Assignments of Error Nos. 2 and 11).

Defendant contends the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress his statements because Customs Inspector Garner lacked probable cause to detain and search defendant at the border.

A search conducted without a warrant issued upon probable cause is per se unreasonable subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). Border searches constitute one of the exceptions to the probable cause and warrant requirements of the Fourth Amendment. The border search exception permits a government officer at an international border to conduct a routine search and seizure, "without probable cause or a warrant, in order to regulate the collection of duties and to prevent the introduction of contraband into this country." United States v. Montoya de Hernandez, 473 U.S. 531, 105 S.Ct. 3304, 87 L.Ed.2d 381 (1985); United States v. Rivas, 157 F.3d 364, 367 (5th Cir.1998)("Under the border-search doctrine, government agents may conduct a `routine search' at the international border or its functional equivalent without probable cause, a warrant, or any suspicion to justify the search.") Furthermore, pat-downs and frisks, the removal of outer garments or shoes and the emptying of pockets, wallets, or purses are all routine searches, and "require no justification other than the person's decision to cross our national boundary." United States v. Sandler, 644 F.2d 1163, 1169 (5th Cir.1981); See also United States v. Vega-Barvo, 729 F.2d 1341, 1345 (11th Cir.1984)

(luggage search, pat-down, and frisk are routine searches because they "intrude only slightly on a person's privacy"). Thus, contrary to defendant's argument that Inspector Garner was without authority to pat him down after discovering a large amount of undeclared cash in Timothy Taylor's backpack, defendant's detention and pat-down were permissible as a border search, even in the absence of probable cause. Consequently, this claim fails on the merits.

Defendant further argues the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress because Customs and FBI agents interrogated him after he had already invoked his right to remain silent.

A review of the transcript from the motion to suppress hearing indicates defendant was placed in a holding cell at approximately five o'clock p.m. After Agent Matthew Schmitt from Customs, accompanied by Inspector Garner, verbally advised the defendant of his Miranda rights, defendant refused to talk to the officers. At this point, the officers immediately left the holding cell. Shortly thereafter, Agents Bradley Manning and Ronald Mesa from Customs arrived on the scene. Agent Schmitt informed the officers he had read defendant his Miranda rights; however, he did not mention defendant had invoked his right to remain silent. According to Agent Manning, he entered defendant's holding cell for the sole "administrative" purpose of obtaining defendant's signature on a Miranda advisement form. At 5:50 p.m., defendant was given his Miranda warnings by...