Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Richard Glen NAAS
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1981-06-22
Citations: 409 So. 2d 535
Docket Number: No. 80-KA-2446
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Richard Glen NAAS.
Judges: DENNIS, J., dissents with reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 409
Pages: 535–549

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Richard Glen NAAS.
No. 80-KA-2446.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
June 22, 1981.
Dissenting Opinion July 21, 1981.
On Rehearing Dec. 14, 1981.
Rehearing Denied Feb. 19, 1982.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., J. Carl Parker- son, Dist. Atty., John R. Harrison, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.
James D. Sparks, Jr., Monroe, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
CALOGERO, Justice.
Richard Glen Naas was charged by bill of indictment on March 30, 1978, with second degree murder, a violation of R.S. 14:30.1. Trial was held before a jury of twelve and a conviction was returned by an eleven to one vote. The court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without probation or suspension of sentence, and without parole eligibility for forty years. Defendant appeals his conviction to this Court on the basis of numerous assignments of error.
At trial, the following facts were adduced. In the early morning hours of March 8,1978, officers of the Monroe Police Department were called by the manager of the local Ramada Inn to investigate a possible homicide at that motel. Upon entering room 428, the officers discovered the body of the victim, John J. Mirambell, Jr., submerged in the bathtub. The victim's hands were tied behind his back and, according to the pathologist's report, the victim had received multiple cuts, bruises, and lacerations, along with two non-fatal stab wounds to the back and a fatal gunshot wound to the left temple.
The victim was a resident of the New Orleans area and had been in Monroe on business. At the time of his death, he was engaged to be married to Ms. Amanda Keller, also of the New Orleans area. Ms. Keller had previously dated the defendant, Richard Naas, but had broken off her relationship with him. On March 4, 1978, several days before the murder, Ms. Keller announced to the defendant her plans to marry Mirambell.
The state's case against defendant consisted of the following: the testimony of several witnesses that the defendant several days after the homicide had a black eye, suggestive of the possibility that shortly before, he was involved in some sort of fracas, or struggle; a money clip found in possession of the defendant which several witnesses said was similar to one owned by the victim; the testimony of one Mary Kelly, a waitress at Monroe's Kokomo Restaurant, who identified the defendant as having been present in that establishment on the evening prior to the murder; the testimony of Sylvester Grant, a cellmate of the defendant following defendant's arrest for the instant crime, that the defendant admitted committing the Ramada Inn murder; the testimony of the victim's mother, sister, and receptionist that they had received telephone calls shortly before the murder from an unknown male inquiring concerning the whereabouts of the victim; and the testimony of Amanda Keller's roommate that she had received a call from the defendant on the night of the murder which in her opinion sounded as if it was being made long distance.
Because we find merit in defendant's assignment of error number 40-A, pertaining to the Motion for New Trial, and reverse on that grounds, discussion of defendant's other assignments of error is unnecessary.
In connection with defendant's Motion for New Trial, a post-trial hearing was conducted at which pertinent testimony from the following witnesses was given: Gene Juergens, who was a co-worker of defendant, stated that he had informed Detective Cummings upon being asked by the officer to inspect a money clip seized from the defendant's apartment that the clip appeared to be the one belonging to the defendant ; Paul Scoriels, an acquaintance of defendant, testified that he had seen defendant at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse on Monday, March 6, 1977, one day before the murder, and had at that time observed defendant to be sporting a mustache; Kenneth Walker and Johnny Jackson, both former cellmates of Sylvester Grant and of defendant, testified that they heard Grant brag repeatedly that he himself had committed the homicide at the Ramada Inn; Connie Naas, defendant's ex-wife, stated that the money clip taken by police from the defendant's apartment was a gift to defendant from his employer in New Orleans some years prior to the homicide; Trudy Defrene, a waitress at the Round Table Lounge in Gretna, Louisiana, testified that she had told police a week after the murder that she saw defendant in the Round Table between 8:30 and 10:00 p. m. on Tuesday, March 7, 1978.
The law pertaining to the granting of Motions for New Trial is set out in C.Cr.P. art. 851, which provides:
The motion for a new trial is based on the supposition that injustice has been done the defendant, and, unless such is shown to have been the case the motion shall be denied, no matter upon what allegations it is grounded.
The court, on motion of the defendant, shall grant a new trial whenever:
(1) The verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence;
(2) The court's ruling on a written motion, or an objection made during the proceedings, shows prejudicial error;
(3) New and material evidence that, notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable diligence by the defendant, was not discovered before or during the trial, is available, and if the evidence had been introduced at the trial it would probably have changed the verdict or judgment of guilty;
(4) The defendant has discovered, since the verdict or judgment of guilty, a prejudicial error or defect in the proceedings that, notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable diligence by the defendant, was not discovered before the verdict or judgment; or
(5) The court is of the opinion that the ends of justice would be served by the granting of a new trial, although the defendant may not be entitled to a new trial as a matter of strict legal right.
Defendant's motion is grounded on C.Cr.P. art. 851(3). It is urged that the testimony offered post-trial constitutes new and material evidence, which was not discovered before or during trial, defendant's diligence notwithstanding, and which would probably have changed the verdict. The motion is further based on C.Cr.P. art. 851(4), the defendant's position being that a newly discovered error or defect is present by reason of the state's knowledge of and failure to disclose the statements of Gene Jurgens and Trudy Dufrene, which statements are arguably exculpatory in nature.
While defendant's claims as they relate to C.Cr.P. art. 851(4) and to the Brady motions are not entirely without merit, the state's failure to disclose the arguably exculpatory statements was not "prejudicial error" as would be required by the statute. Furthermore, the new evidence offered in the form of Paul Scoriels' testimony that defendant was in the Jefferson Parish Courthouse on March 6, 1978, while material and substantial, cannot conclusively be said to "probably have changed the verdict or judgment of guilty if introduced at trial." C.Cr.P. art. 851(3). However, because in our view the single most damaging piece of evidence against defendant was Sylvester Grant's account of the defendant's admission of guilt, we hold that the impeaching testimonies of Kenneth Walker and Johnny Jackson are evidence which, if given at trial, would have cast serious doubt upon the credibility of Grant and would probably have changed the verdict or judgment of guilty. C.Cr.P. art. 851(3).
We need not find that Grant probably committed the murder, rather than defendant. Rather, it suffices that these accounts of Grant's own confessions strongly impeach Grant's testimony.
Our holding with regard to newly discovered evidence requires that such evidence "... notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable diligence by the defendant, was not discovered before or during trial." C.Cr.P. art. 851(3). Discussion of the defendant's reasonable diligence requires mention of another of his arguments to this Court, namely, the one dealing with the pre-trial Prayer for Oyer.
The defense, in preparation for trial, made a Motion for Prayer for Oyer toward the end of April, 1978. The motion was granted by the trial judge under C.Cr.P. art. 716B in response to a prayer asking "... the State to furnish (defendant) copies of all oral, taped and/or written confessions, statements, and/or admissions allegedly made by the Defendant either before or after his arrest for the alleged offense for which he is charged herein." On April 26, 1978, the state answered the prayer with a transcript of the recording of a statement made by the defendant to the police. Sylvester Grant was placed in the Ouachita Parish Jail with defendant on May 25, 1978, and approached the police with his account of defendant's confessions on June 2, 1978. At that time, Grant's statement was recorded and transcribed as was a similar statement made by him to police several days later, on June 5th. Testimony of witnesses at trial indicate that the District Attorney was made aware of the content of both of Grant's statements within a week of their having been made to the police. The defense was not informed of the existence of this purported confession made by defendant to Grant until February 5, 1979, the very first day of trial, when the state in accordance with C.Cr.P. art. 768 related its intention to use the statement at trial.
C.Cr.P. art. 729.3 provides:
"If, subsequent to compliance with an order issued pursuant to this Chapter and prior to or during trial, a party discovers additional evidence or decides to use additional evidence and such evidence is or may be, subject to discovery or inspection under the order issued, he shall promptly notify the other party and the court of the existence of the additional evidence, so that the court may modify its previous order or allow the other party to make an appropriate motion for additional discovery or inspection."
In the defendant's argument relative to these assignments, it is correctly stated that the prosecution neglected its continuing duty to disclose, as set out in C.Cr.P. art. 729.3, by failing to apprise the defendant during the eight months prior to trial of the existence of Sylvester Grant's account of the defendant's confession. It is only because defendant did not object on these specific grounds to the introduction of Grant's statement at trial that we do not reverse the conviction on the basis of this egregious omission by the state.
It is one thing to say that defendant cannot complain of the introduction of Grant's damning testimony because defendant did not object on the appropriate grounds. It is entirely another, however, for this Court to find that defendant's lack of diligence caused him not to discover before conclusion of trial the witnesses who would later impeach Grant, in a situation where the state has withheld whether in- tentionally or negligently, until the first day of trial, information which for eight months they had- a duty to disclose. On the contrary, we find that defendant's late discovery of the evidence was not the result of any lack of diligence on his part.
In summary, Kenneth Walker's and Johnny Jackson's recitals that Grant had confessed his own commission of the Mirambell murder was discovered after the verdict of guilty; that late discovery came about notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable diligence on the part of defendant; and had such evidence been introduced at the trial it would probably have changed the verdict of guilty. Therefore, defendant is entitled to a new trial. C.Cr.P. art. 851.
Decree
For these reasons, we hold that the trial court should have granted defendant's Motion for New Trial. Accordingly, the conviction is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial.
REVERSED; REMANDED; NEW TRIAL ORDERED.
DENNIS, J., dissents with reasons.
WATSON, J., dissents.
. Mary Kelly's identification of defendant is questionable in light of a photographic show-up to which Ms. Kelly was initially exposed. In defendant's assignment of error No. 26, which we do not reach, the identification is challenged as a product of the unduly suggestive show-up. As evidence of suggestiveness, defendant cites that a single photo was shown to the witness, instead of a group of photos from which the witness would be allowed to pick one recognizable to her, and that the sole photo was further highlighted by its depicting defendant's black eye.
. Among the items of evidence offered by the state at trial was that money clip taken from the possession of the defendant some days af ter the homicide, along with the testimony of several witnesses that the clip was very similar to one which they had known the victim to carry.
. This evidence tends to discount the testimony of the state's witness, Mary Kelly, the waitress who stated at trial that she served the defendant in the Kokomo Restaurant in Monroe on the evening of the murder. Kelly claims that the man she served was clean-shaven. Scor-iels' testimony, coupled with the photographs of the defendant taken by police several days after the crime clearly showing the defendant to have a mustache, casts doubt on Kelly's identification.
. Since the homicide took place in the very early morning hours of Wednesday, March 8, 1978, Ms. Dufrene's testimony casts doubt on whether defendant could have been in Monroe in time to commit the crime.
.Defendant's pre-trial Brady motion for exculpatory evidence was answered by the state without reference to this particular aspect of the statement of Gene Jurgens (referring to Jurgens' identification of the money clip as one similar to one belonging to the defendant). See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). However, the record reveals that the statement of Trudy Dufrene establishing defendant's alibi was noted by the state in paragraph 9-10 of its Answer to Motion for Bill of Particulars, filed April 26, 1978.
. The record also indicated that Sylvester Grant had been previously convicted of Forgery in an Arkansas court, and that pending against him at the time of trial were three counts of Forgery and one count each of Theft and Bond Jumping. Further, there is evidence that all charges against Grant were dismissed in the state court after defendant Naas' conviction. Prosecution was taken up in the Monroe City Court where Grant drew a total of forty days imprisonment for all of the above mentioned charges.
. This first of defendant's arguments deals with assignments of error numbers 2A, 3, 8, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 52, and 53.
. C.Cr.P. art. 716B reads:
"Upon motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to inform the defendant of the existence, but not the contents, of any oral confession or statement of any nature, made by the defendant, which the district attorney intends to offer in evidence at the trial, with the information as to when, where and to whom such oral confession or statement was made."
. In the transcript furnished to the defense, defendant made numerous statements denying his involvement in the murder.
. The second of Grant's statements was ruled inadmissible at trial.
. C.Cr.P. art. 768 reads:
"If the state intends to introduce a confession or inculpatory statement in evidence, it shall so advise the defendant in writing prior to beginning the state's opening statement. If it fails to do so a confession or inculpatory statement shall not be admissible in evidence."
. The reasoning of State v. Bonanno, 373 So.2d 1284 (La.1979), is applicable to the instant case. In Bonanno, a petitioner who had failed to object at trial to the state's non-compliance with the discovery statutes was es-topped from complaining on appeal because petitioner by his silence had deprived the trial judge of the chance to rectify the inequity by application of the sanctions of C.Cr.P. art. 729.-5, which provides in pertinent part:
A. If at any time during the course of the proceedings it is brought to the attention of the court that a party has failed to comply with this Chapter or with an order issued pursuant to this Chapter, the court may order stich party to permit the discovery or inspection, grant a continuance, order a mistrial on motion of the defendant, prohibit the party from introducing into evidence the subject matter not disclosed, or enter such other order, other than dismissal, as may be appropriate. (Emphasis provided)
In the instant case, the defendant's timely objection on appropriate grounds would have afforded the court the opportunity to have excluded the introduction of Grant's testimony at trial.
. The evidence is that the District Attorney was aware of the testimony of Sylvester Grant no later than June of 1978. Defendant was first noticed of this testimony on the first day of trial, February 5, 1979.