Opinion ID: 63774
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: factual background and state conviction

Text: Bruce Taylor was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder of Leroy Batiste and sentenced to life in prison without parole. See generally State v. Taylor, 836 So.2d 709, slip op. at 1-9 (La.Ct.App.2002). In New Orleans on May 4, 2001, Leroy Batiste was shot in the leg. After an investigation, Anthony and Alfred Moliere Petitioner Taylor's brotherswere arrested in connection with the shooting. They were released after the next shooting we describe. Batiste's mother testified that animosity existed between the Molieres and her son because of a dispute over a borrowed screwdriver. Ten days after Batiste was wounded, New Orleans police again answered a call about a shooting. Leroy Batiste was found unresponsive and bleeding, having sustained six gunshot wounds. At least two of the gunshot wounds were fatal, causing Batiste to die of spinal cord shock. Detective Fred Bates investigated the homicide. By the time Bates arrived on the scene, the victim had been taken to the hospital. The victim's vehicle had three bullet holes in it from the shooting ten days before. Seven .380 caliber cartridge casings, made by two different manufacturers, were recovered at the scene. An eighth casing was discovered the next day. While at the scene the day after the murder, Bates said a citizen slipped him a note indicating he wanted to talk with the officerelsewhere. Bates spoke with that person several blocks from the scene. Due to hearsay objections, testimony on what Bates was told was minimal and elliptical. We do know that, based on the conversation with the individual, Bates developed Bruce Taylor as a suspect and prepared a photo lineup. Bates's testimony about this witness, unnamed and of course not cross-examined, is the claimed error in this case. According to Bates, another witness to the crime, Osborne Parker, also came forward. Parker identified Taylor by name, saying he had grown up with him. Bates showed Parker the photo lineup he had prepared, and Parker immediately selected Taylor's photo. A search of Taylor's home did not yield any weapons or clothing connected to the case. At trial, Parker testified that he once lived near both Taylor and the victim Batiste. He had known Taylor almost his entire life, but they were not close friends. Batiste had not been a good friend, either. According to Parker, on the night of the murder, he saw Taylor sitting in his doorway. Parker was looking for his friend Keyoka Riley. He asked Taylor if he had seen her. Taylor replied that he had not seen her, and then told Parker that I'm just kind of messed up, I'm just kind of fu____ up right now in the head. Parker found Keyoka Riley, and they walked to a store across the highway. On the way back, Parker heard gunshots. He looked towards the sounds and saw someone standing over the victim and shooting. The shooter ran through a cut in the apartment complex, but he was not running towards Taylor's apartment, which was perhaps two apartment buildings away from the scene of the shooting. Parker said he went to his own apartment immediately after the shooting to telephone the police, then went back to comfort the victim, who was still conscious. Parker described the perpetrator as wearing the same clothing that he had just seen the Defendant wearingblack jeans and a dark shirt, with a bandana around his neck. He admitted that he did not immediately recognize the Defendant. Twenty minutes after the shooting, Parker saw Taylor again. It was at that time that he thought about it, i.e., that the shooter might have been Taylor. By this time, Taylor was wearing a white shirt and shorts. Taylor said he had been in the shower at the time of the shooting. Parker felt that Taylor's shower explanation seemed contrived. In light of what had happened between Batiste and the Defendant's brothers, he thought Taylor was lying. Parker conceded on cross examination that the shooter only basically looked like the Defendant. When asked whether that meant the shooter looked like the Defendant, was similar to him, could have been him, or maybe was him, Parker replied [a]ll of that. When pushed as to how definite he was, Parker said that it was him. Defense counsel pointed out that basically did not mean it was him, to which Parker responded, okay. Although Parker gave his name to police when he called 911 immediately after the shooting, he spoke to no officers at the scene. He told no one that night that Taylor was the shooter. Parker testified on redirect examination that he did not contact Detective Bates immediately because he did not want to get involved and because he felt that the police would solve the crime, considering the feuding between Bruce Taylor's brothers and the victim. Parker admitted that the district attorney's office gave him money to rent a house. He denied that was why he got involved in the case. Parker stated that he did not want to get involved in the first place. He emphasized that he had seen the victim dying on the ground and that it had greatly disturbed him. That experience is what prompted his action. At the time of the shooting, Osborne Parker lived with Keyoka Riley in Riley's mother's apartment. Riley confirmed Parker's testimony that they had gone to the store and heard shots on their way back. Riley stated that Parker ran into their apartment, entered before her, and held the door open for her to bring in her daughter. But Riley testified that she did not see anyone shooting and did not believe Parker could have seen anything from where they were. She also stated that if Parker had seen a person, he could not have made an identification because of darkness. She said that Parker never told her that he saw Bruce Taylor shoot the victim, despite the fact that they generally talked about everything. Significantly, Riley also indicated that she did not think it was a good idea for Parker to testify. In addition, Parker testified on rebuttal that Riley told him that she was going to testify for the defense because she did not want anything to happen to Parker. Taylor lived in an apartment with his parents and his two brothers. His parents and fiancée testified as alibi witnesses. These witnesses supported Taylor's explanation that he had been in the shower when they learned from someone else about the shooting. Testimony varied about how long a witness could confirm Taylor was in the apartment, though one witness said he had been there from a time long before the shooting. A jury convicted Taylor of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Louisiana Court of Appeal affirmed, and the Louisiana Supreme Court denied his writ applications.