State v. Willie
| Decision Date | 27 June 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-KA-0242,81-KA-0242 |
| Citation | 436 So.2d 553 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Robert Lee WILLIE. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
William J. Guste, Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Marion Farmer, Dist. Atty., William R. Alford, Jr., Abbott Reeves, Margaret A. Coon, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.
S. Austin McElroy, Covington, Thomas Ford, Franklinton, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant, Robert Lee Willie, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. On initial appeal his conviction was conditionally affirmed; the sentence vacated; and the case remanded: (1) to determine whether a printed note found near the murder scene created a reasonable doubt about his guilt; and, if not, (2) to hold a new penalty hearing by a jury, as provided by LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 905.1(B). State v. Willie, 410 So.2d 1019 (La.1982).
The facts of the crime are set out in the original opinion as follows:
"On May 28, 1980, at approximately 4:30 a.m., Robert Lee Willie and Joseph Vaccaro offered a ride to the victim, Faith Hathaway, outside of the Lakefront Theatre, a disco in Mandeville, Louisiana. Miss Hathaway, an 18 year old woman, had been celebrating her last night as a civilian before entering the United States Army. Instead of taking the victim to her home in St. Tammany Parish, as she had requested, Willie and Vaccaro took Hathaway to Fricke's Cave, a heavily wooded, secluded gorge south of Franklinton in Washington Parish. Willie or Vaccaro, or both, raped the young woman there. Afterwards, one of the men repeatedly stabbed the victim in the throat while the other held her hands. Hathaway's clothes and purse were found approximately one hundred fifty yards from her body on June 1st, 1980. Her body was discovered on June 4, 1980.
The trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing in regard to the note found near the scene of the crime. The crime occurred at Fricke's Cave, a "big wash" filled with trees, brush and swamp. (Transcript on Remand, Vol. II, p. 125) After some of Faith Hathaway's clothes were located on a Monday, three private individuals aiding in the search for her body found the note on Tuesday. The body was discovered on Wednesday "three or four hundred feet south" of the clothes "down toward the swamp". (Transcript on Remand, Vol. II, p. 126) The note is an unsigned and printed message on a scrap of paper which reads "you never find her". Tests revealed no fingerprints. Willie denied printing the note. Willie's counsel did not engage a handwriting expert, because investigation indicated it would be futile. Vaccaro is illiterate. There was no evidence: (1) connecting the note with the crime or Willie; (2) showing who wrote the note; or (3) when it was left.
The trial court, after hearing the evidence, found that the note had no significance and did not create a reasonable doubt about Willie's guilt.
Immediately thereafter, the trial court commenced a new sentencing hearing. A jury was impaneled and evidence was presented by both the state and the defense. Following arguments by counsel and instructions by the court, the jury retired to deliberate. The jury found two aggravating circumstances: (1) that the defendant was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated rape; and, (2) that the offense was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner. The recommendation of the jury was that the defendant be sentenced to death.
On appeal from the proceedings on remand, the defendant assigns eight errors by the trial court. 1
Defendant argues that the court erred in not allowing him to call the original twelve jurors to establish what effect the note might have had on their decision.
The murder occurred in Fricke's Cave, a large gorge. The wadded up note was discovered some distance from the actual murder scene at the bottom of a steep embankment leading to the cave area. The note was found the day before the victim's body was located. Nothing was produced at the hearing which connected defendant or the crime with the note.
There is no authority for recalling jurors to examine them as to the effect some newly discovered article of evidence might have had upon them. On the contrary, the statutory law specifically prohibits impeachment of a verdict by a member of the jury.
"No juror, grand or petit, is competent to testify to his own or his fellow's misconduct, or to give evidence to explain, qualify or impeach any indictment or any verdict found by the body of which he is or was a member; but every juror, grand or petit, is a competent witness to rebut any attack upon the regularity of the conduct or of the findings of the body of which he is or was a member." LSA-R.S. 15:470.
The ruling of the trial court was correct. There is no merit to this assignment.
Defendant argues that the court erred in not considering the possible effect the note might have had at the sentencing phase of the original trial. The ruling of the trial court was precise:
Transcript on Remand, Vol. II, pp. 36-37.
The trial court was correct in its appreciation of the remand order: the sentence was set aside for other reasons. There was no requirement that the trial court consider what impact the note might have had on the jury at original sentencing. 2
This assignment lacks merit.
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in not defining for the jury the phrase "in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner". LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 905.4.
In instructing the jury, the trial court noted that the state relied on two aggravating circumstances. The first, aggravated rape, was defined for the jury but the second, that the crime was committed "in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner" was not defined.
Defendant relies principally on State v. Sonnier, 402 So.2d 650 (La.1981). While Sonnier indicates that it is desirable for the trial court to instruct the jury about what constitutes a heinous crime, the square holding of that case does not mandate such an instruction. When the evidence reflects that, in fact, there was torture, or the pitiless infliction of unnecessary pain on the victim, the jury has correctly interpreted the meaning of this aggravating circumstance.
Faith Hathaway was taken in the early morning hours on a lengthy ride, held prisoner, disrobed, forced to walk naked and blindfolded down a steep gorge, raped with the use of sufficient force to damage the skin on the inside of her thighs and to tear her vaginal region, held with her legs in a spread eagle position and her throat slashed by repeated knife thrusts. The evidence in defendant's own statement reflected that the killing took place as follows:
Original Hearing, Vol. III, p. 385.
The defendant's description of the killing and repeated "jugging" 3 does not comport with the evidence in one respect. The pathologist, Dr. Paul McGeary, testified that Faith Hathaway was found lying on her back with her legs spread as wide as possible and the arms extended over her head. The doctor stated that she must have been held in this position while dying and probably to the point of death. Otherwise, her legs would not have remained extended and her arms would not have been held over the head; there is a natural tendency to draw the limbs closer to the body and curl up in a fetal position. The pathologist confirmed that injuries to the inner thighs, the genital area and the vaginal opening indicated forceful rape prior to death. Faith Hathaway also had a defensive wound on the right hand. Dr. McGeary testified that the victim would have required some minutes to die as a result of the cut throat and said her death would have been a painful one. A chain and medallion were embedded in her neck.
The jury correctly concluded that the crime was a heinous one; it involved the pitiless infliction of unnecessary pain on the victim. Since the jury's finding is supported by the evidence, failure to instruct the jury as to the definition of especially heinous, atrocious or cruel has no significance.
Further, since there was clear proof of one aggravating factor found by the jury, any error in charging the jury as to another factor is harmless. State v. Narcisse, 426...
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