Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. James C. WILLIAMS
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1980-03-03
Citations: 392 So. 2d 619
Docket Number: No. 64987
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. James C. WILLIAMS.
Judges: DIXON, C. J., dissents, disagreeing with treatment of Assignments of Errors 3 and 8 and believing the parish-wide (not statewide) sentence review inadequate.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 392
Pages: 619–640

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. James C. WILLIAMS.
No. 64987.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
March 3, 1980.
On Rehearing Sept. 12, 1980.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie B. Brown, Dist. Atty., Tim M. Screen, Kay Kirkpatrick, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appel-lee.
L. Wayne Paxton, Nathan Wilson, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.
Richard E. Shapiro, New Orleans, amicus curiae, for Southern Prisoners Reform Committee.

Opinion:
BLANCHE, Justice.
The defendant, James C. Williams, was convicted of first degree murder in violation of R.S. 14:30 and sentenced to death. On appeal, he urges eight assignments of error.
On August 3, 1977, at approximately 12:45 a. m., a man armed with a pistol approached the manager, Elmo Plains, of the Stadium Exxon station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and demanded the cash that he had in his hand. Mr. Plain refused and started to walk away when the robber shot him, grabbed the money from his hand, and then ran. James Williams was arrested the following day and at a line-up, he was positively identified by three of the eyewitnesses.
Assignment of Error Number 1
By this assignment, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motion to quash the indictment, and in permitting the state's amendment of the indictment filed against him. The defendant was indicted by the East Baton Rouge Parish Grand Jury on October 26, 1977, and the bill of indictment states in pertinent part:
". . . James C. Williams committed the offense of first degree murder as defined by Louisiana Revised Statute Title 14; Section 30(1) in that he committed first degree murder of Elmo Plain ."
By Act No. 109, § 1, the legislature, in 1973, amended La.R.S. 14:30 to provide in pertinent part as follows:
"First degree murder is the killing of a human being: (1) when the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm and is engaged in the perpetration of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape, or armed robbery; ."
In 1976, R.S. 14:30 was amended again by Act No. 657, § 1 to read as follows:
"First degree murder is the killing of a human being when the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm ." (As amended by Acts 1976, No. 657, § 1).
Clearly, there was an improper citation in the indictment since the effective law at the time of the offense was the 1976 amendment. In order to correct this citation, the indictment was amended prior to trial to read "14:30" rather than "14:30(1)". La.C.Cr.P. art. 464 establishes the rule regarding improper citations as follows:
"The indictment shall be a plain, concise and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged. It shall state for each count the official or customary citation of the stat ute which the defendant is alleged to have violated. Error in the citation or its omission shall not be ground for dismissal of the indictment or for reversal of a conviction if the error or omission did not mislead the defendant to his prejudice."
There must be a showing of prejudice by the defendant, State v. Brown, 338 So.2d 686 (La.1976), and none has been shown. The charge of first degree murder is clearly stated in the body of indictment. Further, counsel for the defendant was fully aware that R.S. 14:30(1) was no longer in effect at the time of the offense, and since there was no showing of prejudice to the defendant, the court properly allowed the amendment of the indictment prior to trial. La.C.Cr.P. art. 487; State v. de la Beckwith, 344 So.2d 360 (La.1977).
This assignment is without merit.
Assignment of Error Number 2
By this assignment, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in not forcing the state to reveal the identity of Officer Gill's confidential source. On direct examination by the state, Officer Gill stated that the name of the defendant as a possible suspect had first come to his attention through a confidential source. He also noted that the informant had not been a witness to the offense. The defendant claims that the court's refusal to allow disclosure of the informant denied him his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him.
The informer privilege is a right which the state has to withhold the identity of one who supplies information to law enforcement officials concerning crime. It is founded upon public policy and seeks to advance the public interest in effective law enforcement. State v. Williams, 347 So.2d 184 (La.1977). However, the privilege must give way where the disclosure of an informant's identity or of the contents of his communication is relevant and helpful to the defense of an accused, or to the fair determination of an issue before the court. State v. Dabon, 337 So.2d 502 (La.1976); see also Roviaro v. U. S., 353 U.S. 53, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957). Disclosure of the informant's identity in this case would in no way be relevant to the defendant's case because it would have no bearing on the issue of his guilt or innocence. The confidential source here was not a witness to, or a participant in, any act for which the defendant was on trial. Therefore, the defendant was not entitled to the identity of the confidential source since this information was neither relevant nor helpful to his defense. See State v. Dabon, supra; State v. Beal, 344 So.2d 1012 (La.1977).
This assignment lacks merit.
Assignment of Error Number 3
By this assignment, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to call three defense witnesses on the ground that the defense had failed to advise the state that said witnesses would be called to support the defendant's alibi.
Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 727, provides in part as follows:
"A. Upon written demand of the district attorney stating the time, date and place at which the alleged offense was committed, the defendant shall serve within ten days, or at such different time as the court may direct, upon the district attorney a written notice of his intention to offer a defense of alibi. Such notice by the defendant shall state the specific place or places at which the defendant claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom he intends to rely to establish such alibi."
The purpose in providing for discovery in this area is to prevent surprise and delay at the trial level. The article provides for reciprocal discovery by the defendant of the state's witnesses who tend to prove the defendant's presence at the scene of the crime. As an enforcement measure, C.Cr.P. art. 727 provides for the exclusion of undisclosed witnesses as follows:
"D. Upon the failure of either party to comply with the requirements of this rule, the court may exclude the testimony of any undisclosed witness offered by such party as to the defendant's absence from or presence at, the scene of the alleged offense. This rule shall not limit the right of the defendant to testify in his own behalf."
The defendant's proof of alibi is based upon his testimony that he had left his girlfriend's home earlier in the evening and had gone to his mother's home. There, he watched television with the three witnesses in question. He also testified that he left there at 11:30 p. m. and went directly to Shelby's Bar, where he stayed until approximately 2:00 a. m., at which time he was picked up by his girlfriend. His girlfriend testified that after having stepped out for a while, she returned to find a message to call the defendant at Shelby's Bar. After having returned his call, she drove to the bar and picked him up.
The defendant called Mildred Douzier, one of the barmaids at Shelby's Bar. She testified that the defendant did not arrive at the bar until 1:45 a. m., and further testified that she did not receive a phone call for the defendant at any time that night. Emanuel Campbell, the owner of Shelby's Bar, was also called by the defendant. He testified that he was sleeping that night and never saw Mr. Williams in the bar. Mildred Price, the defendant's girlfriend's daughter, testified that she received three phone calls from the defendant that night in which he stated that he was at Shelby's Bar.
The trial judge's decision that the witnesses were alibi witnesses is not erroneous. Defendant's sole defense was that he was somewhere else when the crime was committed. To support counsel's argument that they could not be alibi witnesses, he asserted to the court that the witnesses had no idea as to the whereabouts of the defendant at the time of the commission of the crime, and had not known of his whereabouts for one hour and fifteen minutes.
When questioned as to the relevance of the testimony, counsel replied he could show that as a mitigating circumstance, the defendant had been drinking that night with the witnesses. Whatever possible advantage could have come from the mitigating nature of this testimony was later destroyed when the defendant took the stand and testified that he was not drunk. Thus, if the purported testimony to be elicited was relevant, it was later repudiated by defendant's own testimony, and no possible harm could have resulted from its exclusion.
In brief, however, defendant's argument, and one not made to the trial judge, takes a different course. Here, it is asserted that the testimony of these witnesses would corroborate the defendant's statement as to the time he left his mother's home (45 minutes before the commission of the crime), and where he was going (Shelby's Bar), the manner in which he was dressed, and his hairstyle. Defendant testified that he had on blue slacks and a red and blue tank shirt, and that his hair was braided. However, the witnesses at the scene of the crime described the perpetrator of the crime as having worn blue jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a cap with a zipper.
If the testimony was to show that someone who perpetrated the crime was dressed differently than defendant so, therefore, he could not have been the one at the scene of the crime, then such testimony would have been in support of his alibi that he was not there, and was properly excluded for failure to comply with La.C.Cr.P. art. 727.
On the other hand, if the testimony was merely to corroborate the defendant's testimony concerning when he left his mother's home, his place of destination and his dress, such testimony was, in fact, elicited from his girlfriend, who picked him up at Shelby's Bar at 2:00 a. m. She also corroborated his testimony regarding his dress by stating that he did not wear blue jeans, nor did she see him wearing a blue cap with a zipper. Testifying differently than defend ant, she described his hairstyle as a "bush". Although the preferred testimony from the defendant's three relatives was purportedly for purposes of corroboration, it was likewise for the purpose of strengthening the defendant's alibi. Thus, its exclusion for mere corroboration as to time, destination and dress was, in fact, harmless, and if otherwise to strengthen his alibi, there again it was properly excluded for failure to comply with C.Cr.P. art. 727.
Defendant also argues in the alternative that the trial judge is given discretion under art. 727(E) to grant an exception "for good cause shown to any of the requirements of subsections A through D" and that he abused that discretion where he excluded the witnesses' testimony.
A few days before trial, Mr. Achee, one of the defense counsel, withdrew from the case, and Mr. Nathan Wilson was appointed to represent the defendant at trial. Mr. Wilson was first contacted about the trial on October 17, 1978, and first conferred with the defendant on October 20, 1978, three days before the trial. On October 22, 1978, Mr. Wilson learned from co-counsel of the existence of three witnesses who could testify that the defendant was drinking at his mother's home until 11:30 p. m. At trial, after the state had completed its casein-chief, Mr. Wilson attempted to use these three witnesses.
Although defense counsel maintains that he was not aware of the existence of these three witnesses until the day before the trial, his co-counsel was apparently aware of their existence before that time. Further, even upon discovery of these witnesses, the defendant failed to give the state any type of notice, and chose, rather, to maintain silence as to their existence until the completion of the state's case-in-chief. Under these facts, we can not say that the trial court abused its discretion.
For these reasons, we find this assignment is without merit.
Assignments of Error Numbers 4 and 5
By these assignments, the defendant urges that the trial court erred in denying his motion in arrest of judgment and his motion for a new trial. The defendant maintains that by excluding those jurors who absolutely refused to impose a sentence of death, he was denied his right to a fair and impartial trial on the merits. La.Const. art. 1, § 16.
In Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968), the United States Supreme Court dealt with a similar argument. In Witherspoon, the defendant challenged the exclusion of jurors who indicated, that they had reservations about imposing a sentence of death. With-erspoon had maintained that such a jury, unlike one chosen at random from a cross-section of the community, must necessarily be biased in favor of conviction, for the kind of juror who would be unperturbed by the prospect of sending a man to death is the kind of juror who would too readily ignore the presumption of innocence and return a verdict of guilty.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument in stating:
"The data adduced by the petitioner however are too tentative and fragmentary to establish that jurors not opposed to the death penalty tend to favor the prosecution in the determination of guilt. We simply cannot conclude, either on the basis of the record now before us or as a matter of judicial notice, that the exclusion of jurors opposed to capital punishment results in an unrepresentative jury on the issue of guilt or substantially increases the risk of conviction." 391 U.S. at 517-18, 88 S.Ct. at 1774-1775.
The defendant, however, maintains that Witherspoon is not dispositive of the instant case because here, we are dealing with a bifurcated trial. We conclude that this distinction is without merit. In both this case and in Witherspoon, the same jury which decided the defendant's guilt also decided the issue of the sentence. The only significant difference between the procedure in Witherspoon and this case is that the bifurcated scheme provides for consideration by the jury of additional evidence at the sentencing portion. Such a difference would not make Witherspoon and its rationale inapplicable to this case.
These assignments are without merit.
Assignment of Error Number 8
By this assignment of error, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in allowing the systematic exclusion of jurors who expressed reservations about imposing the death penalty. It is well established that challenges for cause are properly allowed where the prospective juror refuses to impose the death penalty under any circumstances. See Witherspoon v. Illinois, supra; Davis v. Ga., 429 U.S. 122, 97 S.Ct. 399, 50 L.Ed.2d 339 (1976).
The La.C.Cr.P. art. 798(2) incorporates the Witherspoon rationale as follows:
"(2) The juror tendered in a capital case who has conscientious scruples against the infliction of capital punishment and makes it unmistakably clear (a) that he would automatically vote against the imposition of capital punishment without regard to any evidence that might be developed at the trial of the case before him, or (b) that his attitude toward the death penalty would prevent him from making an impartial decision as to the defendant's guilt: ."
A review of the voir dire examination reveals that the challenges granted for cause met the standard of La.C.Cr.P. art. 798. For this reason, the challenges for cause were properly allowed by the trial court.
This assignment is without merit.
Assignments of Error Numbers 6 and 7
By these assignments, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that if a unanimous "life" or "death" verdict could not be reached that the defendant would be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The defense complaint centers around the following portion of the trial judge's instructions:
"I admonish you ladies and gentlemen that all twelve of you must concur to render a decision and I am sure in view of the gravity of this matter you will weigh the evidence carefully so that your decision will be consistent to justice to all parties concerned. If you need additional clarifying instructions, do not hesitate to ask for them through your foreman, as we did at the guilt determination phase of this trial."
After having deliberated for approximately three hours, the jury returned to the courtroom seeking additional instructions. The jury foreman asked again if the jury's recommendation had to be unanimous. In response, the judge stated, "Your recommendation, whatever as to the two, either death or life imprisonment without benefit — must be unanimous, must." The jury foreman then stated that they were deadlocked. The judge then asked if more time would help, and the foreman asked if they could deliberate thirty to forty minutes more. Subsequently, the jury returned a recommendation of death.
In brief, counsel for defendant urges that it was reversible error for the trial court to fail to instruct the jury as to the consequences of their failure to return a unanimous verdict.
Judge Covington's charge was a proper statement of the jury's role in the sentenc ing procedure. La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.6 does require a unanimous decision from the jury before it may make any recommendation. Thus, the trial court's instructions were a correct statement of the law as it applied to the jury's role. Counsel's complaint is that the trial judge failed to explain his duty under C.Cr.P. 905.8 to impose a sentence of life imprisonment absent a jury recommendation. A similar argument was made in State v. Myles, 389 So.2d 12, rehearing granted, and was rejected.
Just as there is no need to tell the jury at the guilt determination phase of the trial what the consequences are for a failure to reach a verdict (a mistrial), neither is there a need to inform them of the consequences if they should fail to make a recommendation (life imprisonment). Here, the jury was properly instructed as to their possible course of action. They were told that any recommendation they made must be unanimous. The jury was instructed that "In order to recommend the death sentence you must first find beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of at least one statutory aggravating circumstance." They were further instructed:
"After this impartial consideration of all that evidence, ladies and gentlemen, you are not convinced to a moral certainty that at least one of the aggravating circumstances existed at the time of the offense, then, of course, if the state does not prove that the existence of that one circumstance beyond that point, it is your duty to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence."
Thus, we conclude that it is clear from the judge's instructions that the jury could not return a recommendation for death without first finding beyond a reasonable doubt that at least one aggravating circumstance existed and that the presence of any mitigating circumstances did not render such a sentence inappropriate.
The trial court's instructions were clear. We will not assume that the jury ignored these instructions and their duty simply for the sake of convenience. See State v. Mathews, 380 So.2d 43, (La.1979).
For these reasons, we find the assignment is without merit.
Sentence Review
Rule 905.9.1 requires a mandatory review when the death penalty is imposed by this Court to determine if the sentence is excessive. The rule sets forth three criteria of review as follows:
"(a) whether the sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factors, and (b) whether the evidence supports the jury's finding of a statutory aggravating circumstance, and (c) whether the sentence is disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant."
We have reviewed the record and have not found any factors which would indicate that the sentence was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice or any other arbitrary factors. Both the defendant and the victim were black, and members of the defendant's race were represented on the jury. Although the victim's wife testified at the sentencing portion of the trial, we have previously found that such testimony is not an arbitrary factor influencing the jury's decision. State v. Prejean, 379 So.2d 240 (La.1979).
The jury found one aggravating circumstance:
"(a) The offender was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, or armed robbery."
The evidence amply supports this conclusion. The eyewitnesses testified that the assailant demanded money from the victim and when he refused to comply, shot him and took the money from the victim's hand. There is no evidence in the record to controvert their testimony as to the manner in which the offense was committed.
In compliance with Section 3 of Rule 28, the trial judge completed and filed a uniform sentence report. We have reviewed both this report and the pre-sentence inves tigation report provided by the Louisiana Department of Corrections. The defendant, at the time of the offense, was a 37-year-old black male, separated, with two children. He completed school through the tenth grade and has held several different jobs. Although the defendant had no juvenile record, he had as an adult been convicted on six misdemeanor charges. At the time of the offense, the defendant was on active probation after a conviction for simple burglary.
Although defense counsel argued at trial intoxication as a mitigating circumstance, the defendant's own testimony was that he was not drunk the night of the offense and was fully aware of his actions.
Section 4(b) of Rule 28 of this Court requires the district attorney to include in his sentence review memoranda a synopsis of each first degree murder case in the district in which the sentence was imposed after January 1, 1976. The purpose of this requirement is to aid this Court in determining whether the sentence is disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases.
Since January 1,1976, there have been 28 first degree murder indictments filed in East Baton Rouge Parish, with 12 resulting in guilty of first degree murder verdicts. Of these 12, 3 defendants received the death penalty. A comparison with these cases does not reveal that the sentence is disproportionate. In fact, although the East Baton Rouge juries have been reluctant to impose the death penalty, the only 3 cases in which the penalty was imposed were in first degree murders arising out of armed robberies. See State v. Williams, No. 65,563, appeal pending; State v. Clark, No. 66,573, appeal pending. In all three cases, the defendant was the one who actually did the killing. Thus, in those cases which are most similar to the defendant's, the same penalty was imposed. A review of the other first degree murder convictions in East Baton Rouge shows a dissimilarity between them and the instant case in that there were arguably no aggravating circumstances, or there were present mitigating circumstances which justified the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment.
After having considered the above factors, we are unable to conclude that the sentence imposed here is disproportionate to that imposed in other cases considering both the crime and the defendant.
DECREE
For the above reasons, the sentence and conviction of the defendant are affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
DIXON, C. J., dissents, disagreeing with treatment of Assignments of Errors 3 and 8 and believing the parish-wide (not statewide) sentence review inadequate.
CALOGERO, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
DENNIS, J., dissents with reasons.
. The trial judge had originally excluded Miss Price's testimony. However, she was later allowed to testify without objection.
. It should be noted that another provision of C.Cr.P. art. 727 provides for a continuing obligation to disclose newly discovered witnesses as follows: "C. If prior to or during trial, a party learns of an additional witness whose identity, if known, should have been included in the information furnished under Subsection A or B, the party shall promptly notify the other party or his attorney of the existence and identity of such additional witness."
. The defendant's allegation of error is raised for the first time on appeal. There is nothing in the record showing an objection at trial to the instruction given or a request that a contrary instruction be given. This Court has consistently held that the failure to object to an alleged irregularity at the time of the occurrence precludes the defendant from availing himself of any such irregularity after the verdict. State v. Knight, 323 So.2d 765 (La.1975); State v. Lee, 343 So.2d 1060 (La.1978). Although this would be dispositive of the issue, we prefer to reach the merits of the defendant's claim.
. Although both Michael Glover and Ralph Holmes, Jr. were convicted of first degree murder, they weren's sentenced to death. However, both were merely principals in their respective crimes with Colin Clark and Robert Williams.
. State v. Collins, 378 So.2d 928 (La.1979); State v. Allen, 380 So.2d 28 (La.1980); State v. Foote, 379 So.2d 1058 (La. 1980); State v. Norman Spooner, 368 So.2d 1086 (La.1979).
. State v. Edwards, 375 So.2d 1365 (La.1979); State v. Howard, 377 So.2d 1226 (La.1979); State v. Glover, 381 So.2d 832, No. 66,000 (La.1980); State v. Holmes, No. 65,846, appeal pending.