State v. Widenhouse
| Decision Date | 21 June 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 22525-KA,22525-KA |
| Citation | 582 So.2d 1374 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Bryan Wayne WIDENHOUSE, Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Mills, Timmons & Flowers by Peter Flowers, Shreveport, for appellant.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, James M. Bullers, Dist. Atty., Minden, for appellee.
Before NORRIS, VICTORY and STEWART, JJ.
In this appeal from his conviction by a unanimous jury of second degree murder, defendant Bryan Wayne Widenhouse seeks to overturn his conviction, presenting eight arguments encompassing nineteen assignments of error. 1 Specifically, defendant contends his confession was improperly replayed to the jury in rebuttal, juror challenges for cause were improperly denied, a state psychiatric witness was improperly allowed to discuss the law of insanity and to mention defendant's refusal to talk to him, the trial court prevented him from effectively presenting a defense, and the evidence was insufficient to sustain the finding of guilty or to overcome the insanity defense presented.
Finding no reversible error for reasons hereinafter assigned, we affirm defendant's conviction and sentence.
This case involves the August 15, 1989 murder of 17-year-old Bramante "Monty" Smith by defendant Widenhouse and Frank Dwayne Moseley, who were also 17 years old. Defendant Widenhouse and Moseley were tried and convicted of second degree murder in separate proceedings. 2
The basic facts leading up to their crime and subsequent convictions are not disputed. On August 14, 1989 the victim, Monty Smith, was questioned by Bossier Parish law enforcement authorities about a series of burglaries and thefts that had been committed in Bossier Parish. Smith implicated defendant Widenhouse and Moseley, telling Bossier Parish sheriff deputies they had committed thefts and burglaries in the parish and were storing stolen property at the Moseley home, where both defendant Widenhouse and Moseley were living.
Law enforcement authorities, having been told by Smith that he had only helped plan some of the crimes, secretly believed Smith had actively participated in the crimes but refused to admit it. Authorities, not wanting Smith to "tip" Widenhouse and Moseley off to their investigation, requested and Smith agreed to wear a radio transmitting device and go to the Moseley home to look for stolen items. Sheriff deputies were looking particularly for an H & K assault rifle which Smith had informed them was stolen in one of the crimes.
That day, law enforcement authorities dropped Smith near the home where defendant and Moseley lived to retrieve the stolen rifle. While there, Smith asked defendant and Moseley if he could borrow the rifle, promising to return it the next day. The defendant and Moseley told Smith the weapon was hidden in the woods and asked him to return the next day when they would retrieve the rifle.
The next day, August 15, Smith again met with Bossier Parish sheriff deputies, who again attached a radio transmitter to him and took him to meet with defendant and Moseley at their residence. The transmissions were covertly monitored and recorded by one deputy maintaining surveillance near the home.
After briefly talking inside, the three young men left the home together in a vehicle driven by defendant Widenhouse. As he was being followed, defendant Widenhouse apparently (but perhaps unwittingly) performed a counter-surveillance maneuver which caused the trailing undercover deputy to lose sight of and radio contact with them. The deputy then radioed for help and began looking for the vehicle.
Some 45 to 110 minutes later, defendant's vehicle was spotted by a patrol officer, who stopped the vehicle. Its only occupants then were the defendant and Moseley. Shortly after the defendant and Moseley were given their Miranda rights, the parish deputy in charge of surveillance arrived and questioned them.
Both defendant and Moseley initially denied the victim had been with them. When confronted with the deputy's knowledge that they were all together, however, they changed their story, telling the officer they had all been shooting in the woods but that on their way to football practice, they dropped Smith off on Sligo-Caplis Road in Bossier City. Smith, they claimed, had a lot of money and was on his way to Florida.
Two rifles were visible in the car. Defendant and Moseley allowed the patrol officer to see and run a check on the weapons. Since the rifles had not been reported as stolen, the weapons were not seized. After further questioning, defendant Widenhouse and Moseley were allowed to go to football practice. Meanwhile, parish deputies continued their search for Smith.
When Moseley and defendant Widenhouse were again questioned later that afternoon during football practice, they admitted to authorities their participation in the burglaries. They then went with sheriff deputies to the Moseley home, where the stolen property was retrieved. Still unaware Smith had been killed, the authorities released the youths, but asked them to report to the police station the following morning.
The next morning, August 16, defendant, Moseley and several others met at the sheriff's office. Before talking to them, deputies spoke with one of boys' father, who had overheard the young men talking about killing Smith one week earlier. Initially thinking Widenhouse and Moseley were joking, the father informed police of his concern that Smith was still missing and his belief their threats had been carried out.
After again giving defendant and Moseley their Miranda rights, law enforcement authorities decided to interrogate the youths again about Smith's whereabouts. Moseley, questioned first, confessed to the killing and later took the deputies to Smith's body. Armed with Moseley's confession, deputies then questioned defendant Widenhouse, who admitted his participation in the murder and detailed the events of the previous three days.
Smith's body, riddled with numerous bullet wounds, was found in a densely wooded area near Taylortown. Four of the bullet wounds were consistent with the .38 caliber revolver admittedly carried by defendant to the scene on the day of the murder.
On August 28, 1989, defendant Widenhouse entered a combined plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Seeking to suppress certain physical evidence and oral and recorded inculpatory statements he had given to police on August 16 and inculpatory statements he had made to school friends, defendant filed various motions to suppress, which the trial court denied after an evidentiary hearing.
As jury selection began on February 26, 1990, defendant again sought to suppress his August 16 confession, claiming it was coerced or, alternatively, involuntarily given as a result of defendant's claimed mental illness. This motion was denied without an additional hearing.
At trial, defendant was convicted by unanimous verdict of second degree murder and later sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
Defendant formally made 66 assignments of error, 47 of which have been expressly abandoned in brief. At issue herein are the following assigned and briefed errors:
1. Whether the trial court erred in denying the additional motion to suppress defendant's confession without first conducting an evidentiary hearing; (Assignment of Error No. 20).
2. Whether the trial court erred in refusing to excuse a potential juror challenged for cause on the grounds of inability to understand the presumption of innocence and the legal principles relevant to an insanity defense; (Assignment of Error No. 34).
3. Whether the trial court erred in refusing to excuse a potential juror challenged for cause on the grounds of having a spouse who worked with the victim's father; (Assignments of Error Nos. 35, 36 & 37).
4. Whether the trial court prevented the presentation of evidence deemed by defense counsel to be essential to understanding defendant's perceptions of the victim and the Dungeons and Dragons game, and witnesses' perceptions of defendant, so as to prevent defendant from effectively presenting a defense; (Assignments of Error Nos. 38, 54, 55 & 56).
5. Whether the trial court violated defendant's Fifth Amendment rights by allowing the prosecutor to question defendant's psychiatric witness about defendant's refusal to talk to the State's psychiatrist; (Assignments of Error, Nos. 45, 46, 47 & 49).
6. Whether the trial court erred in allowing one of the state's expert witness, a psychiatrist, to tell the jury how to define and apply the law on insanity; (Assignments of Error Nos. 59, 60 & 61).
7. Whether the trial court erred in allowing the replaying of defendant's confession during the state's rebuttal, to show defendant's emotional demeanor, when the jury had heard the tape in its entirety during the state's case-in-chief; (Assignments of Error Nos. 62 & 63).
8. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's unanimous determinations of guilt and defendant's sanity, despite conflicting medical testimony about his mental condition. (Supplemental Assignment of Error No. 66).
In this assignment, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying the additional motion to suppress defendant's confession without hearing. Filed on the first day of trial and based on psychiatric reports received by defense counsel after the first motion to suppress his confession had been heard and denied, defendant's motion claimed that due to defendant's alleged mental defects, including schizoid-avoidant personality, he was unable to knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waive his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. 3
Although recognizing defendant's motion was untimely, the trial...
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