State v. Robinson4/14/2004
king off his driver's side mirror. When the defendant did not stop, Poole pursued him, and solicited the aid of Steve Halbert, a friend and neighbor he passed along the way, to help.
Thereafter, the truck stalled and Poole approached the defendant; subsequently, the two engaged in a heated exchange. Poole testified that he told defendant that he was going to call the police. According to Poole's trial testimony, defendant appeared nervous upon hearing that the police were being summoned, and he continued to try to start the truck. When he finally succeeded, defendant fled the accident scene. Poole signaled to Halbert to follow the vehicle, and Halbert pursued the defendant while Poole called 911 to report the accident. The 911 dispatcher testified that Michael Poole's call reporting the hit-and-run came in at 12:44 p.m.
Halbert testified that during the chase defendant ran other vehicles off the road. Eventually, the truck turned onto a gravel road in Evangeline Parish, where Halbert testified that he saw the truck drive through a fence and then park behind a house. Once he had hidden the vehicle, defendant disappeared into the nearby woods.
The police arrived soon after and began searching the woods for defendant. Two detectives from the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, Mike Stephens and Joe Bartlett, located defendant in the woods, crouching behind a mound of dirt. The officers approached defendant with their guns drawn and ordered him onto the ground. According to the trial testimony of Det. Stephens, upon defendant's apprehension, he blurted out: "I'm not armed. I don't have a gun." In addition, Det. Stephens testified that while he and Det. Bartlett were placing defendant in handcuffs, he further volunteered, "I'm on medication for violent tendencies." Det. Stephens' statements were corroborated by the trial testimony of Det. Bartlett.
After apprehending the defendant, the officers conducted a safety pat-down; during their search they recovered a yellow pocket knife, however, no firearms were found. Although authorities searched the route between the crime scene and the place where defendant was arrested extensively, the murder weapon was never located.
After his arrest, the police seized defendant's clothing for testing. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was performed, which detected gunshot residue particles on defendant's t-shirt, the waistband of his blue jeans, and on the shorts he was wearing under his blue jeans. Further, two drops of blood, matching the DNA of victim Nicholas Kelly, were found on Defendant's left shoe and shoe lace.
Based upon this and other evidence, defendant was indicted on four counts of first degree murder on June 20, 1996 in connection with the deaths of Billy Lambert and his family. On June 21 and 22, 1996, in response to defendant's motion to set bail, the trial court held a preliminary hearing. At the conclusion of that hearing, defendant's motion was denied, and he was incarcerated at the Rapides Parish Detention Center while awaiting trial. Throughout 1999 and 2000, the trial court held hearings on various pretrial motions. On no less than four occasions, defendant moved for a change of venue. On September 7, 1999, the trial court revisited the issue and granted defendant's motion for change of venue, and allowed a jury to be selected from St. Landry Parish.
While incarcerated at the Rapides Parish Detention Center, defendant was assigned to share a cell with Leroy Goodspeed on October 29, 1997. On November 11, 1997, according to Goodspeed's testimony, defendant confessed to him, "I did those people, a man, two women and a small child, and threw the gun off a bridge." On November 14,
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