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State v. Desilva12/9/1998
tion. The defendant was in a van in which two co-defendants put the barely-alive victim after raping and severely beating him. The co-defendants eventually stopped the van, removed the victim from the van, beat him to death, and left him on the side of the highway. The Court found that this evidence did not show that the defendant counseled or procured the others to kill the victim or that he participated in the murder, and thus he could not be convicted as a principal to the killing.
In State v. Bellamy, 599 So.2d 326 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1992) , the defendant was identified as the man seen standing nearby and looking around while two armed men ran from the shadows and robbed the victim. The defendant and the two other men then fled together. The defendant admitted he was with the two robbers prior to, during, and after the robbery, but he claimed he did not know they were going to rob the victim. On review, the court rejected this argument, finding the defendant's actions showed he was the lookout for the other robbers.
In State v. Marshall, 94-1282 (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/29/95), 657 So.2d 1106, the defendant and another man were seen together at the time and place of the shooting. Both the defendant and the other man were armed, and one witness saw the other man shoot the victim. Some witnesses testified they heard two guns being fired. The defendant and the shooter fled together. On appeal, this court found this evidence showed the defendant was a principal to the shooting, even though the State was unable to prove that he fired the fatal shot.
In State v. Jasper, 28,187 (La.App. 2 Cir. 6/26/96), 677 So.2d 553 , the defendant and another man had argued earlier in the evening, and then the armed defendant was seen with a group of men who fired on a car in which the other man was riding. The defendant was seen firing shots at the fleeing car. The bullets missed the occupants of the car and struck a bystander, who was fatally wounded. On appeal, the court upheld the defendant's conviction as a principal to the shooting, noting that the defendant joined the others in shooting at the car.
Here, the defendant contends the State failed to prove that she was aware of Ms. Benjamin's intent to rob the victim. The jury heard one detective testify that she told him that she was unaware that Ms. Benjamin was armed or that she intended to rob the victim. However, the jury also heard that the defendant changed her story several times concerning the shooting, at first stating she was trying to lead the victim out of a dangerous area when he was shot by an unknown female, then stating that she recognized the female, then admitting that she and Ms. Benjamin were walking with the victim, whom they had picked up in the French Quarter, when Ms. Benjamin tried to rob the victim and shot him during the robbery.
Unlike many of the cases cited herein, the defendant did not flee with Ms. Benjamin after the shooting. Instead, she stayed with the victim. However, given the fact that Ms. Miller and Ms. Howard saw her on the scene just after the shooting and that Officer Powell apparently came upon the shooting scene shortly after it happened, it is very plausible that she considered it safer to remain on the scene, especially considering her initial statement that she was not involved in the shooting and was merely trying to lead the victim to safety when he was shot. In addition, her claim that she was not near the victim when the shooting occurred was not supported by Ms. Miller's statement. According to the detective's testimony concerning the statement, Ms. Miller indicated she did not look out her window until after both shots were fired, and at that point a female (supposedly Ms. Benja
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