117 So. 3d 585
La. Ct. App.2013Background
- Two victims (Tracy Edmonds and Clinton Long) were shot and killed in their home shortly after midnight on Sept. 23, 2007; three children were present and one (Roshonda) identified Roderick Crossley as the shooter within minutes.
- Police showed Roshonda a driver’s license photo of Crossley to confirm the name she supplied; Crossley was located hours later at his girlfriend’s house, arrested, allowed to wash and dress, then transported to the station and given Miranda warnings.
- Evidence recovered: a black trash bag of clothes Crossley had worn (forensic testing found gunshot residue on some items), and the murder weapon wrapped in a pillowcase found a week later at a relative of the girlfriend.
- Crossley was evaluated twice for competency/insanity; initially found incompetent (2008), sent to a forensic facility where evaluators later concluded he was malingering and competent; by 2011 doctors concluded he knew right from wrong at the time of the offenses.
- At trial the defense argued misidentification (pointing to Jerome McHenry, a former boyfriend who resembled Crossley); jury convicted Crossley of two counts of second-degree murder and the court sentenced him to concurrent mandatory life terms without benefit.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence / identity | State: eyewitness ID (Roshonda), GSR on clothing, recovery of gun, incriminating statements and circumstantial evidence negate reasonable misidentification | Crossley: misidentification likely (Roshonda was a child at the time), McHenry had motive/opportunity, daughter’s testimony unreliable | Conviction affirmed — viewed in light most favorable to prosecution, evidence sufficient to negate reasonable probability of misidentification |
| Motion to suppress single-photo ID | State: Roshonda named Crossley before photo; photo shown only to confirm the name; witness was familiar with Crossley and had strong opportunity/attention | Crossley: single-photograph display was unduly suggestive and likely produced misidentification | Denied — court found procedure reliable under totality (Neil v. Biggers factors); no substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification |
| Spoliation of evidence (GSR swab, lost photos) | Crossley: lost/misplaced GSR swab from McHenry and missing 2006 photos deprived defense; sought adverse inference | State: loss not shown to be in bad faith; defense did not contemporaneously object or request jury instruction | Not remediable on appeal — defendant failed to raise at trial; no bad faith shown, claim without merit |
| Competency to stand trial / sanity at time of offense | Crossley: continued mental deficits; challenges competency and ability to distinguish right/wrong at time of offenses | State: sanity commissions and ELMHS treatment showed malingering initially, later restoration and evaluations found competence and knowledge of right/wrong | Trial court’s competency rulings affirmed — extensive medical record supports restoration to competency; sanity at time of offense was a juror issue and not litigated as a defense |
| Excessive sentence | Crossley: his limited mental capacity and alleged paucity of evidence make mandatory life terms excessive | State: mandatory life for second-degree murder is constitutional; court considered sentencing factors | Sentence affirmed — mandatory life not grossly disproportionate given facts and harm to victims/families |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (constitutional standard for appellate review of sufficiency of the evidence)
- Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188 (factors for evaluating reliability of eyewitness identifications)
- Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98 (reliability, not suggestiveness alone, determines admissibility of ID)
- Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (prosecution’s failure to preserve potentially useful evidence requires bad faith to violate due process)