Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Warren Keith JACKSON
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1992-11-12
Citations: 608 So. 2d 949
Docket Number: No. 92-KK-1000
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Warren Keith JACKSON.
Judges: CALOGERO, C.J., concurs in part, dissents in part and assigns reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 608
Pages: 949–966

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Warren Keith JACKSON.
No. 92-KK-1000.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Nov. 12, 1992.
Marilyn M. Fournet, Anthony M. Bertuc-ci, Richard A. Curry, Rubin, Curry, Colvin & Joseph, Baton Rouge, for applicant.
Richard P. Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., Doug Moreau, Dist. Atty., Thomas C. Walsh, Lori L. Nunn, Asst. Dist. Attys., for respondent.
Ernest L. Caulfield, New Orleans, for Louis Martinet Soc., amicus curiae.
Robert S. Glass, New Orleans, for Louisiana Ass’n of Crim. Defense Attys., amicus curiae.
Nicholas J. Trenticosta, John Holdridge, New Orleans, pro hac vice, for Loyola Death Penalty Research Center, amicus curiae.
Helen G. Berrigan, New Orleans, for Jefferson Parish Indigent Defender Bd., ami-cus curiae.

Opinion:
LEMMON, Justice.
This is a death penalty case which is in the pretrial stage. The principal issue is whether and under what circumstances the prosecutor, in the penalty phase of the bifurcated trial, may present evidence of unrelated criminal conduct by defendant. Specifically at issue is the admissibility of some twenty-four alleged acts committed by defendant while a juvenile as well as while an adult, some of which resulted in delinquency adjudications in juvenile court or convictions in district court and some of which remain unadjudicated.
Facts
Defendant was indicted for the first degree murder of a seventy-four year old woman who was stabbed several times with a knife outside her Baton Rouge home during the course of an aggravated burglary and/or armed robbery. Pretrial proceedings have focused on defendant's mental condition, both as to the affirmative defense of insanity in the guilt phase and as to the mitigating circumstance of mental disease or defect in the penalty phase.
During the pretrial proceedings the prosecutor notified the defense, as required by State v. Hamilton, 478 So.2d 123 (La.1985), that he intended to introduce evidence at the penalty hearing of the following crimes allegedly committed by defendant:
Unadjudicated Juvenile Conduct
1. Simple Burglary on January 27, 1969
2. Simple Burglary on October 3, 1970
3. Theft on October 3, 1970
Delinquency Adjudications in Juvenile Court
1. Simple Burglary on February 4, 1969
2. Theft on February 4, 1969
3. Simple Burglary on February 9, 1969
4. Theft on February 9, 1969
5. Attempted Simple Burglary on February 9, 1969
6. Theft on February 9, 1969
7. Attempted Simple Burglary on November 15, 1973
8. Simple Battery on February 15, 1974
9. Simple Robbery on February 15,1974
10. Criminal Trespass on February 15, 1974
11. Simple Burglary on May 8, 1974
12. Theft on May 8, 1974
13. Armed Robbery on January 8, 1975
Unadjudicated Adult Conduct
1. Robbery on March 12, 1988 (California)
2. Aggravated Battery on July 23, 1989
3.Simple Burglary of an Inhabited Dwelling on August 10, 1989
Convictions in District Court (All in California)
1. Assault on April 17, 1980
2. Grand Theft on April 17, 1980
3. Marijuana Distribution on May 3, 1981
4. Marijuana Possession on May 3, 1981
5. Petty Theft on November 11, 1988
Defense counsel moved to exclude or to limit the evidence of the other crimes. Counsel also filed related motions, including motions to require a hearing on the admissibility of other crimes evidence either prior to trial or outside the presence of the jury and to obtain the police reports of the other crimes and the names and addresses of the witnesses to those crimes.
The trial judge denied all defense motions and ruled that all of the other crimes evidence was admissible. The court of appeal denied defendant's application to review the rulings. This court granted cer-tiorari. 596 So.2d 542.
Admissibility of District Court Convictions
In Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 189, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 2932, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976) the Court held that, under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, a jury's discretion to impose a death sentence must be "suitably directed and limited so as to minimize the risk of wholly arbitrary and capricious action." The Louisiana Legislature thereafter enacted a capital sentencing scheme which requires a separate sentencing hearing after an accused has been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a specific intent homicide in the guilt phase of the trial. La.Code Crim.Proc. art. 905 and 905.1. Article 905.3 further requires that the jury in the sentencing hearing find beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of at least one of the aggravating circumstances listed in Article 905.4 in order to recommend a death sentence, a recommendation which can only be made after consideration of any mitigating circumstances. As to evidence and procedure in the sen- fencing hearing, Article 905.2 provides as follows:
The sentencing hearing shall focus on the circumstances of the offense and the character and propensities of the offender. The hearing shall be conducted according to the rules of evidence. Evidence relative to aggravating or mitigating circumstances shall be relevant irrespective of whether the defendant places his character at issue. Insofar as applicable, the procedure shall be the same as that provided for trial in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The jury may consider any evidence offered at the trial on the issue of guilt. The defendant may testify in his own behalf. In the event of retrial the defendant's testimony shall not be admissible except for purposes of impeachment, (emphasis added).
The case of State v. Sawyer, 422 So.2d 95 (La.1982), presented the issue whether the prosecutor in the case-in-chief in a capital sentencing hearing may introduce evidence of a defendant's unrelated convictions for crimes other than those specifically enumerated as aggravating circumstances in Article 905.4(c). The prosecutor in the case-in-chief had introduced evidence of defendant's prior conviction in Arkansas of involuntary manslaughter. Objecting on the basis that the involuntary manslaughter conviction did not qualify as a prior conviction of "an unrelated murder" under Article 905.4(c), the defense argued that the aggravating circumstances specified in Article 905.4(c) constituted an exclusive listing of those aspects of the character of the accused on which evidence may be introduced during the prosecutor's case-in-chief in a capital sentencing hearing. Otherwise, according to the defense, evidence of the defendant's character may be introduced only if the defendant places his character at issue.
This court rejected that argument, holding that because the sentencing statute creates a penalty phase of the bifurcated trial in which the focus is on the character and propensities of the defendant (as well as the circumstances of the crime), "the defendant's character is at issue and indeed is one of the principal issues." 422 So.2d at 104 (emphasis in original). The decision reasoned that "the usual prohibition against the prosecution's initiation of the inquiry into defendant's character is simply not applicable in the penalty phase, where the focus on character is one of the statutory means of channeling the jury's sentencing discretion." Id. at n. 18.
The Sawyer decision was criticized in George W. Pugh & James R. McClelland, Developments in the Law, 1982-83-Evidence, 44 La.L.Rev. 335 (1983), which predicted that a logical extension would authorize an inquiry into many unrelated aspects of the past life of the accused. Defense counsel in the present case argues that the worst case scenario looms here with the possible introduction of twenty-four prior criminal acts ranging back to 1969 when defendant was nine years old.
We reaffirm our basic holding in Sawyer that a conviction of first degree murder puts the defendant's character at issue in the sentencing hearing. See also State v. Jordan, 440 So.2d 716 (La.1983). The purpose of the enumerated aggravating circumstances in the original sentencing statute was not to control admissibility of evidence; rather, the purpose was to impose a required jury finding in the penalty phase so that only those first degree murderers against whom a statutory aggravating circumstance could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt were even eligible for consid eration for capital punishment. As long as one statutory aggravating circumstance is proved, the prosecutor can introduce other evidence relevant to and probative of the circumstances of the murder and the character and propensities of the murderer. The linchpin for admissibility is relevance.
Evidence of convictions of serious unrelated crimes is extremely probative of and relevant to the character and propensities of the defendant and may be useful for the jury to evaluate in performing its awesome task of deciding whether or not to recommend execution. Nevertheless, because evidence of every conviction, no matter how minor the crime, may tend to inject an arbitrary factor into the hearing, some limitations are necessary. Since this court in Sawyer has interpreted the capital sentencing statute expansively to allow evidence of convictions of crimes other than those enumerated in Article 905.4 A(3) and since the statute contains no defined limitations, it is appropriate for this court to set limitations. We recognize that trial courts need more specific guidance in these highly charged cases in order to avoid reversals that become necessary when the imposition of a death sentence is influenced by arbitrary factors.
Focusing on the seriousness of the crime, we limit the convictions on which the prosecutor may introduce evidence during the case-in-chief to crimes classified as felonies. The classification reflects a legislative determination that the conduct was serious enough to warrant imprisonment at hard labor.
Further, we limit the evidence supporting the conviction to the document certifying the fact of conviction and to the testimony of the victim or of any eyewitness to the crime, and we specifically prohibit evidence of the original charge when the conviction is for a lesser offense.
Unadjudicated Conduct after Majority
The case of State v. Ward, 483 So.2d 578 (La.1986), presented the issue whether the prosecutor in the case-in-chief in a capital sentencing hearing may introduce evidence of defendant's unrelated criminal conduct on which no conviction has been obtained. The defendant had shot his wife's mother and stepfather, killing one and seriously wounding the other. During the sentencing hearing the prosecutor introduced evidence in the case-in-chief of the defendant's convictions of attempted burglary, misdemeanor rape, third degree assault, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (his sister-in-law), and cruelty to a juvenile (his daughter). Many of these convictions resulted from guilty pleas to reduced charges involving sexual misconduct and violence with family members, and the original charges were also introduced. Further, defendant's wife and sister-in-law testified about various sexual encounters between defendant and the wife's relatives, and the wife and her brother testified that each had been violently beaten by defendant.
Relying on Sawyer and Jordan, this court unanimously refused to set aside the death sentence because of the introduction of evidence both of the convictions and charges and of the conduct for which de fendant was neither charged nor convicted (the latter being crimes of sex and violence identical to those charges resulting in plea bargains). The court concluded that the overall evidence relating to convictions and unadjudicated conduct portrayed an entire family that was either physically or sexually abused by the defendant, so that there was no surprise, undue prejudice or arbitrary factor injected into the jury's deliberations. The concurring opinion suggested that admission of the evidence of charged but unadjudicated crimes (bills of information) was harmless error and the admission of the uncharged and unadjudicated criminal conduct was admissible under proper safeguards similar to those used for other crimes evidence in non-capital trials.
In State v. Brooks, 541 So.2d 801 (La. 1989), the defendant had been indicted for eight unrelated murders. In the trial on the first four counts the jury was unable to reach an unanimous verdict, and the court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. In the trial on two of the remaining counts the defense sought to exclude the evidence both of the four murder convictions and the two other charged but unadjudicated murders. As to the charged but unadjudicated criminal conduct, this court held that evidence of unad-judicated crimes by defendant may be relevant and helpful to the jury in determining the appropriate sentence. Such evidence is admissible once the trial judge determines: (1) the evidence of defendant's connection with commission of the unrelated crimes is clear and convincing, (2) the proffered evidence is otherwise competent and reliable, and (3) the unrelated crimes have relevance and substantial probative value as to the defendant's character and propensities, which is focus of the sentencing hearing under Article 905.2.
In the present case we reaffirm our holding in Brooks, but again deem it necessary to place a limitation on this type of evidence in order to insure that due process is not violated by the injection of arbitrary factors into the jury's deliberations and to prevent a confusing or unmanageable series of mini-trials of unrelated and unadjudi-cated conduct during the sentencing hearing.
As to the seriousness of the crime, we limit the criminal conduct on which the prosecutor may introduce evidence in the case-in-chief in the capital sentencing hearing to that which involves violence against the person of the victim. The propensity to commit first degree murder is the focus of the capital sentencing hearing. While crimes of violence against the person indicate moral qualities and character traits pertinent to the propensity to commit first degree murder, other types of crimes are not necessarily probative of that propensity and are less relevant in a capital sentencing hearing.
Recognizing that remoteness of the conduct may also bear on relevance, we further limit the criminal conduct on which the prosecutor may introduce evidence to that conduct for which the period of limitation for instituting prosecution had not run at the time of the indictment of the accused for the first degree murder for which he is being tried. This limitation prevents a capital defendant from having to defend criminal charges that the prosecutor would not otherwise have been able to bring, while also achieving efficiency by allowing the prosecutor in the sentencing hearing to use evidence of recent criminal conduct without burdening the system by a requirement that the prosecutor obtain a conviction for that conduct prior to using evidence of that conduct in the penalty phase of the first degree murder trial.
Delinquency Adjudications in Juvenile Court
Citing Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702 (1988), and In the Interest of Dino, 359 So.2d 586 (La.1978), the defense argues that delinquency adjudications while the defendant was a juvenile should be excluded from a capital sentencing hearing on a policy basis, since the law does not hold a minor fully responsible for the consequences of his immaturity. However, criminal conduct by the defendant while he was a juvenile may be relevant to the character and moral quality issues in a capital sentencing hearing if the time of the conduct is not too remote from the first degree murder and if the nature of the conduct bears significantly on the accused's propensity to commit serious crimes.
Since In Re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967) and In Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), the fundamental due process rights of a criminal defendant, such as the right to counsel and the right to proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, have been required in juvenile delinquency proceedings. The integrity of the finding of guilt in a juvenile delinquency proceeding is therefore no longer subject to serious attack. Nevertheless, there are still policy reasons for not equating an adjudication of delinquency in juvenile court to a conviction of crime in district court. However, just as a defendant's juvenile record may be considered in non-capital sentencing hearings, a capital defendant's juvenile record of recent or repeated serious crimes may be probative in the jury's evaluation of the defendant's true character and propensities.
We conclude that the limitation on the nature of the offense that has been imposed by this opinion on the use of district court convictions in capital sentencing hearings is adequate to safeguard against the injection of an arbitrary factor into the jury's sentencing deliberations by the use of delinquency adjudications. We therefore hold that delinquency adjudications in juvenile court are not per se inadmissible, but that the admissibility of such adjudications is limited to adjudications based on an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult.
Unadjudicated Conduct as a Juvenile
Evidence of unadjudicated conduct as a juvenile, although sometimes arguably probative as to the character and propensities of the defendant, presents a greater risk of injecting arbitrary factors into a capital sentencing hearing. We therefore place a more stringent limitation on the prosecutor's use in the case-in-chief of a capital sentencing hearing of evidence of unadjudicated conduct as a juvenile. In addition to limiting the use of evidence of unadjudicated conduct as a juvenile to evidence of those crimes for which the statutory limitation for instituting proceedings against adults has not run and those crimes which would be a felony if committed by an adult, we further limit the use to evidence of those crimes enumerated in La. Ch. Code. arts. 305 and 857.
Juvenile Adjudication as an Aggravating Circumstance under Article 905. j A(3)
While evidence of some juvenile adjudications may be admissible, as discussed above, a juvenile adjudication based on armed robbery does not qualify as an aggravating circumstance under Article 905.4 A(3). Only prior convictions can be used to prove this aggravating circumstance. Therefore, the prosecutor cannot use defendant's juvenile adjudication of delinquency based on an armed robbery to fulfill Article 905.3's requirement of proving at least one statutory aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt in the capital sentencing hearing, but may introduce evidence of this adjudication in his case-in-chief to show defendant's character and propensities, subject to the limitations hereinabove set forth.
Rebuttal Evidence
The foregoing discussion centered on the admissibility of evidence during the prosecutor's case-in-chief in a capital sentencing hearing. The admissibility of evidence of defendant's unrelated criminal conduct as rebuttal evidence may also be a significant issue in this case. If the defense offers evidence in the sentencing hearing which warrants the prosecutor's rebuttal with evidence of bad character, the trial judge must determine the relevance of the rebuttal evidence according to the nature of the evidence brought by the defense.
Notice
Fundamental fairness requires that when a prosecutor intends to use evidence of unrelated conduct to prove the guilt of the accused for the charged crime or to increase the punishment for the charged crime, the accused must be notified in order that he may prepare to rebut or defend against the evidence which he would not otherwise know he must defend. State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La.1973) (at the defendant's trial for armed robbery, evidence of a subsequent armed robbery is only admissible if adequate notice is provided by the prosecutor); State v. Hamilton, 478 So.2d 123 (La.1985) (failure to notify the defendant that evidence of an unrelated armed robbery for which the defendant had been charged but not convicted would be introduced during the penalty phase of the first degree murder trial constituted reversible error); State v. Jackson, 480 So.2d 263 (La.1985) (enhanced penalties for firearm use in the commission of a crime could not be imposed without pretrial written notice to the defendant). We reiterate the due process requirement of notice when the prosecutor intends to use evidence of unrelated criminal conduct in the case-in-chief of a capital sentencing hearing. Adequate notice, sufficiently detailed to allow the defendant to know the exact unrelated conduct he must be prepared to meet in the sentencing hearing and sufficiently in advance of trial to allow reasonable preparation of a defense, is essential to provide meaning to the defendant's corresponding due process right of a reasonable opportunity to be heard at the capital sentencing hearing.
The prosecutor has provided notice in the present case. The defense moved for production of police reports and witness lists relating to evidence of other crimes on which the prosecutor intends to introduce evidence. Initial police reports are public records and subject to discovery. La.Rev.Stat. 44:3(A)(1) and (4); State v. Shropshire, 471 So.2d 707 (La.1985). The prosecutor's witness list generally is not discoverable in the absence of extraordinary circumstances. State v. Walters, 408 So.2d 1337 (La.1982).
Exculpatory Evidence and Prosecutorial Misconduct
Defense counsel filed several motions in the trial court relating to alleged prosecutorial misconduct. The only one warranting intervention by this court at this time is the motion for in camera inspection by the trial court of the prosecutor's file for mitigating evidence of defendant's mental illness or defect.
The prosecutor, upon request, must furnish to the defense any evidence favorable to the accused that is material to guilt or punishment Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). The prosecutor has not denied the existence of favorable information regarding defendant's mental illness, but has not disclosed the information considered not to be exculpatory. Moreover, defense counsel asserts that she fortuitously discovered a clinical psychologist consulted by the prosecutor who stated he could not testify as a prosecution witness because he believed defendant suffered from mental problems. Under these circumstances the trial court should conduct an in camera inspection of the prosecutor's file and should order disclosure of any information favorable to the accused that is material to the plea of insanity in the guilt phase or to the mitigating circumstance of mental illness or defect in the sentencing hearing.
Sealing of Names of Subpoenaed Witnesses
The trial court denied defendant's motion to keep under seal the certificates required by La.Code Crim.Proc. art. 741 concerning a subpoena for witnesses outside the state. There was no abuse of discretion in ruling that the work product privilege did not apply to these documents.
Decree
The rulings of the district court on defendant's motion to limit other crimes evidence and related motions are set aside, and the case is remanded to the district court for reopened hearings on defendant's motions in accordance with the principles expressed in this opinion.
CALOGERO, C.J., concurs in part, dissents in part and assigns reasons.
WATSON, J., concurs in part and dissents in part.
COLE, J., concurs in part and dissents in part, with reasons assigned.
DENNIS, J., dissents with reasons.
. The admissibility of victim impact evidence, also a major issue in this case, has been treated in State v. Bernard, 608 So.2d 966 (La. 1992), also decided this day.
. The emphasized language was taken virtually verbatim from the Gregg decision's discussion of channeling jury discretion.
. Article 905.4(c), as originally enacted, provided:
The following shall be considered aggravating circumstances:
(c) the offender was previously convicted of an unrelated murder, aggravated rape, or aggravated kidnapping;
After the 1979 murder in Sawyer, Paragraph
(c) was redesignated as Subparagraph A(3), and aggravated burglary, aggravated arson, aggravated escape and armed robbery were added as unrelated crimes which constitute aggravating circumstances.
. La.Rev.Stat. 14:30, defining first degree murder, was amended after the original enactment of La.Code Crim.Proc. art. 905-905.9 to add as an essential element of the crime the existence of one of several of the most significant aggravating circumstances listed in Article 905.4. Therefore, the present law narrows in the guilt phase the category of murderers eligible for consideration of capital punishment, since any murder committed without the existence of at least one aggravating element of the crime is now second degree murder.
. The aggravating circumstances enumerated in Article 905.4 relate both to the circumstances of the offense and the character and propensities of the offender. While the existence of at least one of the aggravating circumstances must be proved to support a recommendation of death, nothing in the statute expressly excludes other evidence relevant to circumstances, character and propensities.
.Of course, if the accused introduces evidence in the penalty hearing relating to his good character or lack of criminal history or other evidence which puts his criminal history at issue, the prosecutor may introduce appropriate and relevant rebuttal evidence.
. This court further held that the convictions, although not final, may be introduced as evidence of the aggravating circumstance listed in Article 905.4 A(3).
. At a subsequent hearing in the present case the prosecutor will be required to establish the other fundamental requirements for admissibili- . ty set out in Brooks. The trial judge within his sound discretion may schedule the hearing either prior to trial or outside the presence of the jury during the course of the trial.
.The propensity to commit first degree murder is significant, not only in identifying the worst murderers for consideration of capital punishment (which is the basic function of the capital sentencing hearing), but also in showing "moral qualities" or character traits pertinent to the crime with which the accused is charged. Compare La.Code Evid. art. 404 A(l).
.The defense points to former La.Rev.Stat. 13:1580(5), which specifically stated that a juvenile shall not be deemed a criminal by reason of the adjudication and that the adjudication shall not be deemed a conviction. The defense notes that a juvenile cannot be held in custody on the basis of delinquency adjudications beyond his twenty-first birthday and that the same policy underlies the statutory confidentiality of juvenile proceedings.
. The right to trial by jury is the significant exception.
. These articles list the crimes the Legislature considered so serious that the prosecutor should be permitted to institute prosecution against juveniles in district court.
. Because first degree murder, as presently defined, requires the finding of at least one of the more serious statutory aggravating circumstances as an essential element of the crime, the jury in the penalty phase almost always finds the same aggravating circumstances in completing the recommendation form set out in Article 905.7. At least once, however, the jury did not list on the form one of the aggravating circumstances that it necessarily found in order to return a verdict of first degree murder in the guilt phase. See State v. David, 468 So.2d 1126 (La.1984), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1130, 106 S.Ct. 1998, 90 L.Ed.2d 678 (1986).
. The prosecutor asserts that the defense will attempt to prove defendant is a paranoid schizophrenic in order to imply that this murder was an uncharacteristic incident. If so, the prosecutor wants to rebut with evidence that defendant is a sociopath who has a consistent pattern of criminal behavior since childhood.