Opinion ID: 1928051
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: assignments or error numbers fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen

Text: These assignments of error relate to the question of whether the State established a prima facie case of conspiracy, as required by LSA-R.S. 15:455. [3] The State proceeded on the theory that Tobe Roberts hired Johnny Lawrence and Dave Albert to murder his wife while providing himself with an alibi trip to Florida. The trial court correctly concluded that the State proved a prima facie case of a murder conspiracy. Massive evidence, both direct and circumstantial, was adduced before the trial court ruled that a prima facie case of conspiracy had been established. State v. Kaufman, 331 So.2d 16 (La., 1976). Defendant Albert was charged only with murder and not with conspiracy to murder but the conspiracy aspect was essential to show the motive for the crime. The evidence showing the conspiracy was cumulative and must be considered as a whole. Bobbie Walden, a close friend of the deceased, testified that Barbara Roberts exhibited a nervous and frightened state of mind prior to her death, looking exhausted and terrible. She had been at her home only a few minutes on the morning when she was killed. Her car was still running outside the door with her purse on the seat. According to the investigation of Deputy Roberts, the murder was not committed in the course of a burglary. The medical testimony was that there was no evidence of sexual assault, thus eliminating another common motive for violent crime. Lawrence assisted police officers in recovering a pair of blue jeans with Tobe Roberts' name written inside, a glove which was a mate to one found at the murder scene, and other clothing identified by Lawrence as being that worn by him and Albert when the crime was committed. Albert, on August 2, 1977, admitted that he had watched Barbara Roberts at her home on many nights at the instructions of her husband and was often armed on these occasions. A .357 magnum pistol was found in the Vidalia canal at a location pointed out by Johnny Lawrence. It was stipulated that the .38 caliber bullet found near Barbara's body on the morning of her death was fired from that pistol. Charlotte Jenkins testified to an occasion when Barbara Roberts was so badly injured that Charlotte spent the night with her in the hospital. Barbara Roberts appeared frightened and terrified. At approximately 4:00 A.M., Tobe Roberts came in the room with a pistol pointed in his hand. Approximately a month before the Roberts separated, Charlotte Jenkins went to the home and saw Dave Albert squatting in a semi-hidden condition inside. He appeared to be hiding from her. James Sweeny, a neighbor of the Roberts, testified that he saw Tobe Roberts and a black man running out of the Roberts' home early one morning in April of 1977. Roberts had a gun in his hand and the two appeared to be searching for someone. Sweeny could not identify the black man with Tobe Roberts because his attention was focused on the gun. Attorney Lloyd Love testified that Barbara Roberts had asked him to proceed with a divorce in July, the month of her death. A property settlement proposed by her husband was rejected as insufficient on July 22, 1977, the last date on which a divorce could be obtained before the summer court recess. Trooper John Patrick of the Louisiana State Police testified that he examined Tobe Roberts' bank account and ascertained that Roberts paid Dave Albert checks totaling $1,890 for labor between April 30, 1977, and August 7, 1977. Roberts' account also showed a cash withdrawal of $6,000 on July 22, 1977, and a cash deposit of $4,000 on August 2, 1977, the first being approximately five days prior to the murder and the second approximately five days afterward. Walter Davis, III, testified that he leased 1,100 acres to Tobe Roberts and had traded Roberts a .357 magnum pistol in exchange for a Winchester rifle on April 16, 1974. He identified the serial number on that gun as 4K9125, the number on the gun found in the Vidalia canal. Davis also testified that he observed that gun or a similar one in Dave Albert's truck in April of 1977. He observed Dave Albert and Johnny Lawrence together on Sunday, July 24, preceding the murder on July 27. Eddie Housley testified that he had not had any improper relationship with Barbara Roberts prior to her death. Wayne Roberts testified that he had seen a weapon similar to the murder weapon in Dave Albert's truck prior to the murder. Jesse White, Jr., testified that, about a week after the murder, Albert asked White to go with him to search for a rifle he said he had lost in the Vidalia canal. Dorothy Richardson testified that two men, one of whom she recognized as Dave Albert, caught a ride with her on the day of the murder. Both were wet and muddy and claimed that they were fleeing from a game warden. She subsequently learned that the other man was Johnny Lawrence. There was testimony that there were no game wardens on duty that day anywhere in the area. Tammy Roberts testified that Albert was regarded as a member of her family. Both he and Lawrence were armed and on guard at the Roberts' home prior to her mother's death. On one occasion, Dave Albert was inside the house and jumped out (Tr. 1147) at her with a gun in his hand when she came home from school. She identified the blue jeans with her father's name inside as similar to those worn by her father and given to Albert. Sherry Freeman said she first met Albert early in 1977 at the Roberts' residence about 5:00 A.M. He was in a truck with a shotgun leaning out of the window. On the Saturday of the Florida departure she observed Roberts exhibit a wallet containing about $10,000 to Albert and Lawrence. Roberts then gave Albert something (Tr. 1163). At this point, the trial court ruled, out of the jury's presence, that the State had established a prima facie case of conspiracy. Sherry Freeman was then allowed to testify that: Tobe said, `We won't have to worry about her when we get back, she'll be gone'. There was overwhelming evidence of a conspiracy. See State v. Sheppard, 350 So.2d 615 (La., 1977); State v. Bell, 346 So.2d 1090 (La., 1977). These assignments of error are without merit.