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State v. Desilva12/9/1998
min) was already fleeing toward Rampart Street. By that time, a reasonable Conclusion was that the defendant had moved away from the victim.
Furthermore, the defendant's claim that she was not involved in the shooting might have had more credibility if she had not taken the victim's wallet. The defendant contends that she just took the wallet for safekeeping. However, she did not turn over the wallet to the first, the second, or even the third officer who arrived on the scene. Instead, she waited until the officers had placed her in their vehicle after she gave her initial statement before surrendering the wallet. Contrary to the defendant's argument, the jury could very well have concluded that the defendant intended to keep the wallet and then surrendered it only after being detained by the police.
The defendant argues that it was just as likely that she took the opportunity to take the victim's wallet after he had been shot and Ms. Benjamin fled. Apparently, the jury rejected this hypothesis. A factfinder's credibility decision should not be disturbed unless it is clearly contrary to the evidence. State v. Morgan, 94-2586 (La.App. 4 Cir. 3/14/96), 671 So.2d 998 ; State v. Cashen, 544 So.2d 1268 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1989). Given the facts of this case and the defendant's multiple versions of how the shooting occurred, we do not find that the jury abused its discretion by rejecting the defendant's claim that she did not know Ms. Benjamin planned to shoot and rob the victim. Therefore, we conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence to support the initial charge of second degree murder, and thus under Elaire and Bowman, the evidence supports the lesser included verdict of manslaughter. This assignment has no merit.
Accordingly, we affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.
AFFIRMED.
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