State v. Couvillion7/26/2005
Panel composed of Judges Edward A. Dufresne, Jr., Susan M. Chehardy, and Walter J. Rothschild
AFFIRMED
On March 14, 2002, the St. Charles Parish Grand Jury issued a bill of indictment charging defendant, Calvin Couvillion, with second degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. Brandon Stein and Timothy Prudhomme were charged as co-defendants. Defendant was arraigned on April 3, 2002, and entered a plea of not guilty. The charges against the three defendants were severed and each defendant was to be tried separately.
After the filing of various pretrial motions, Calvin Couvillion's trial commenced on February 9, 2004, and concluded on February 13, 2004. The twelve-person jury returned a responsive verdict of guilty of manslaughter. On May 14, 2004, after denying defendant's motion for new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, the trial judge sentenced defendant to imprisonment at hard labor for 25 years, to run consecutively to his simple escape sentence. In addition, the trial judge ordered that defendant receive credit for time served and noted that defendant was not eligible for good time and must serve eighty-five percent of his sentence before parole. On May 18, 2004, defendant filed a motion for appeal.
Thereafter, defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which was denied on June 2, 2004.
Facts
Dr. Wayne Rogers, a Laplace veterinarian, testified that on Mardi Gras night in 2002, his son, James Rogers ("Jim"), a high school senior, left their house at about 8:00 p.m. to go play video games with his friend, Brandon Stein. When Jim left, he was driving a white Ford Ranger truck. Jim's parents expected him either to telephone them or to return home by midnight. At about 2:00 a.m., Mrs. Rogers awakened Dr. Rogers to tell him their son had not returned home. Dr. Rogers waited until daylight and began to search for Jim. As part of his search, Dr. Rogers paged Brandon Stein several times but did not receive call back. After failing to find Jim, Dr. Rogers telephoned the St. John the Baptist Sheriff's Office at about 1:00 p.m. on February 13, 2002, to report Jim missing.
That afternoon, Dr. Rogers with the help of several of Jim's friends, discovered a telephone number for Brandon Stein's mother. When Dr. Rogers spoke with Stein's mother, she said that Brandon had been baby-sitting the previous night. When Dr. Rogers spoke with Brandon immediately thereafter, Brandon said that Jim was supposed to meet up with him and his cousin but that Jim never showed up. Dr. Rogers knew there was a discrepancy so he, with the help of Jim's friends, found Brandon. When Dr. Rogers confronted Brandon in person, Brandon told Dr. Rogers another story. After hearing the conflicting stories and observing Brandon's demeanor, Dr. Rogers went to the police department in St. John Parish and relayed Brandon's stories to Major Robert Hay. Dr. Rogers also told Major Hay that Jim was supposed to pick up Timothy Prudhomme, Brandon's cousin, and then go pick up Brandon.
Major Hay testified that, after speaking with Jim's parents at the office, he realized that the truck that Jim had been driving matched the description of an abandoned truck found that day in a vacant lot in St. John Parish. The truck's stereo, CDs, and speakers were gone.
Major Hay testified that, on this same day, February 13, 2002, officers from the St. John Parish Sheriff's Office interviewed Timothy Prudhomme with his mother present. On the following day, officers interviewed Brandon Stein. Because of inconsistencies found in statements given by Brandon and Timothy, Timothy was interviewed again, with his father present, on February
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