Opinion ID: 1821869
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Risk of Death to More Than One Person:

Text: The state also failed to prove that the defendant created a risk of death or great bodily harm to more than one person. Art. 905.4(A)(4). While this aggravating circumstance does not require specific intent and while it encompasses a broader range of conduct than the first degree murder definition in [the parallel] R.S. 14:30(A)(3), State v. Robertson, 97-0177, (La. 3/4/ 98), 712 So.2d 8, 42, quoting State v. Johnson, 541 So.2d 818, 826 (La.1989), nevertheless, there is no conduct or behavior of the defendant's which supports the finding. The eye-witnesses testified uniformly that the defendant never threatened them and did not point the .38 revolver at them. His behavior towards them did not alter until much later, at a time when he, Owens and the two women were in the Lincoln. Then he turned and fired into the back seat occupied by Fort and Domengeaux. Firing a semi-automatic weapon inside a car occupied by four people creates the risk of death or great bodily harm to more than one person, but the conduct was removed geographically and temporally from the murder of John Smith. Accordingly, this aggravating circumstance is not established and cannot support imposition of the death penalty.