State v. Cotton

379 So.3d 224

55,435 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1/10/24)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Carlin Tremell COTTON, Appellant

No. 55,435-KA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered January 10, 2024.

Appealed from the First Judicial District Court for the Parish of Caddo, Louisiana, Trial Court No. 386,171, Honorable Christopher T. Victory, Judge,

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT By: Edward K. Bauman, Counsel for Appellant

JAMES E. STEWART, SR. District Attorney SAMUEL S. CRICHTON, TOMMY J. JOHNSON, Assistant District Attorneys Counsel for Appellee

Before STONE, ROBINSON, and MARCOTTE, JJ.

MARCOTTE, J.

₁This criminal appeal arises from the First Judicial District Court, Parish of Caddo, the Honorable Chris Victory presiding. Defendant Carlin Tremell Cotton appeals his conviction for second-degree murder and his sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without benefits. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On, February 16, 2022, Cotton was charged by bill of indictment with second-degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. The crime occurred on August 18, 2021, in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the victim was Cedric Cemoyne Fuller ("Fuller"), Cotton’s alleged half-brother. Cotton pled not guilty. A jury trial was held January 23-26, 2023, where the following evidence was adduced.

Brenretta Richardson-Anderson ("Richardson") testified that she was at her mother’s house on the day of the shooting. Her mother lived behind the home of Gloria Fuller ("Gloria"), Fuller’s mother. Gloria lived at 4206 Baxter Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. From inside her mother’s home Richardson heard several gunshots, a brief period of quiet which she described as "a pause," and then three to four more shots. She saw, from her mother’s home, a white Chevy Impala pull out of the driveway at or near 4206 Baxter Street. Shortly thereafter, a neighbor informed her that ₂there had been a shooting. Richardson walked toward Gloria’s house and saw Fuller on the ground.

Richardson stated that Fuller and Cotton had the same father, and she saw a white Chevy Impala at Gloria’s house often. She said that Fuller went by the nicknames "Maniac" or "Yak," but she did not know why. Richardson testified that she did not hear anything prior to hearing the shots, such as a verbal argument. She did not know Fuller to wear brass knuckles, but stated that they only saw each other in passing.

Fuller’s sister, Tomiko Cain ("Cain"), testified that Fuller was living and working in Texas at the time of the shooting, but he had come to Shreveport to visit his mother on the day of his death. She said that Fuller was first called "Maniac" or "Yak" when he was a child. Cain stated that the front of her mother’s home included a carport which Gloria had enclosed in plastic sheeting.

Cain stated that Cotton was alleged to be Fuller’s, half-brother. She arrived at Gloria’s house after her brother was shot and transported to the hospital to find her mother in a state of distress and being treated by paramedics. She said that she never knew Fuller to wear brass knuckles. Cain knew her brother, was arrested in 2019, but she did not know that he was arrested for attempted possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

₃Gloria testified that Fuller was 45 years old when he died and that he got the nickname "Maniac" when he was a child. Gloria owned a 2015 Cadillac Escalade, which only Fuller was allowed to drive. Fuller came to Shreveport on the day of his death, August 18, 2021, and was inside Gloria’s house on Baxter Street when Cotton arrived. She said that it rained prior to the shooting and there was a puddle in her yard.

Gloria was inside her carport/patio that she had enclosed with plastic sheeting when Cotton arrived. She first realized Cotton was there when she saw the plastic sheet shaking, meaning someone was touching it. Gloria asked who was outside and Cotton identified himself and entered the carport.

Gloria first met Cotton when her husband, Ray Fuller ("Ray"), Fuller’s father and Cotton’s alleged father, was alive. Gloria stated that Ray died in 2010, and Cotton would come to her house often to see him. and the victim. Fuller and Cotton referred to each other as brothers. Gloria said that she was unaware of any financial arrangement between Fuller and Cotton.

Gloria said that Cotton was not acting normal that day and his eyes were red. While Cotton was speaking with Gloria, Fuller entered the carport from the house and walked past his mother and Cotton out to the driveway, where the ₄Escalade was parked at an angle. Gloria testified that Cotton and Fuller did not speak to each other, and she heard nothing while she was sitting in the carport. A few minutes later, Cotton left the carport and went toward the driveway; Gloria also left the carport, entered her house, and went into the den.

Gloria then heard several gunshots, which she said sounded close. She went to her front door, opened it, and looked out, but did not see anything. She closed the door and proceeded down the hallway and then heard several more shots. Gloria "hollered" for Fuller, but he did not respond. She went outside to the Escalade, walked around it, and discovered Fuller lying face down beside it in a puddle. Gloria stated that she was the first person to find Fuller’s body and no one else was around. She ran inside her house, retrieved her cell phone, returned to Fuller, and called 911. She said that police arrived, pulled Fuller out of the puddle, and turned him over; paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital.

Gloria’s 911 call and her statement to the police were played for the jury. Gloria can be heard in the recording in extreme distress. The 911 operator had to repeatedly ask her for her address and information about who was shot; Gloria testified₅ that the 911 operator told her to apply pressure to Fuller’s wounds, but she testified, "I couldn’t do anything but scream." Gloria said that neither was she composed when the police arrived at her house and paramedics had to work on her to get her blood pressure down.

Gloria never knew her son to carry brass knuckles, and she did not see anyone disturb or remove brass knuckles from Fuller’s body. Gloria testified that she did not hear voices, talking, arguing, or screaming before, during, or after the shots rang out. She stated that, if there had been an argument in her driveway, she would have heard it. She said that the windows to her house were closed at the time of the shooting, and, no one else was present at her home when her son was shot. Gloria stated that she did not hear anyone say on August 18, 2021, "Mama, throw me my gun." She was not aware of any guns that Fuller kept in her home, she never saw him bring a gun into her home, and she had not found a gun in her home since her son died.

Officer A. Visciotti ("Off. Visciotti") was working patrol for the Shreveport Police Department ("SPD"), when he was dis- patched to the scene of Fuller’s murder on Baxter Street on August 18, 2021. Off. Visciotti received the call at approximately 6:00 p.m. when it was still light out; it had been raining earlier that day, but it was not raining at the time of the shooting. Off. Visciotti testified that he was the first officer to arrive, and he observed Fuller lying face down ₆on the left side of a Cadillac Escalade near the driver’s door in approximately three to five inches of water, which was tinted red. Fuller’s hands were in the water.

Off. Visciotti testified that he pulled Fuller’s body forward to get him out of the water and flipped him onto his back in order to perform life-saving measures. He stated that Fuller’s clothing and pockets were wet and he was bleeding. Off. Visciotti observed shell casings in the road, but he did not see any blood other than the blood around Fuller. The rear hatch to the Escalade was open and he saw a cell phone and brass knuckles placed there, side-by-side. Off. Visciotti stated that he arrived on the scene about 2 minutes and 15 seconds after he received the call about Fuller’s shooting and the crime scene was unattended during that time. He said that multiple people were walking around the scene and could have disturbed the evidence. Off. Visciotti said that Gloria was distraught when he arrived at her home, but she did not make a statement to him that she had removed brass knuckles or a phone from Fuller’s body.

The dash cam recording from Off. Visciotti’s patrol vehicle was played for the jury and confirmed his testimony. It was raining before he was dispatched to the scene. He received the call at 6:14 p.m., and he arrived at the scene at 6:16:09 p.m. When he arrived, several people there were moving around and in distress. Gloria could be seen ₇screaming, crying, wandering around, and in distress before she was ushered out of the dash cam’s view. Later, an officer could be heard requesting help from paramedics to attend a woman who fainted out of view of the camera.

Sergeant Hannah Clark ("Sgt. Clark"), a crime scene technician for SPD, testified that she responded to a reported shooting that occurred on Baxter Street on August 18, 2021. Sgt. Clark first went to the hospital where Fuller was transported to photograph his body. She stated that she took pictures of Fuller’s hands and knuckles and no bruising or cuts were present to indicate that he had participated in a fistfight before his death. The photographs were admitted. No bruising, cuts, or injuries to Fuller’s hands can be seen in the photos.

Sgt. Clark then went to the scene of the shooting. Upon arriving, Sgt. Clark noticed an SUV with its hatch door up parked at an angle in the driveway. There were also seven .40 caliber shell casings marked with numbered placards on the ground, west of the SUV. Sgt. Clark testified that there were two distinct sets of shell casings grouped together on the ground. There was also one, projectile on the ground near the SUV, and the driver’s side of the...