State v. Davis, 115 So. 3d 68

Defendant Dominique Davis was charged by Jefferson Parish Grand Jury with eight counts: four counts of second degree murder, one armed robbery, one illegal use of weapons, one attempted second degree murder, and one conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Trial resulted in guilty verdicts on all eight counts after a four-day jury trial in 2011; sentencing included four life terms for murders and long terms for other offenses, ordered to run concurrently.
The court later vacated portions of the life sentences and remanded for resentencing, applying Miller v. Alabama constraints for a juvenile offender.
Evidence showed a pattern of armed robberies and killings tied to a group sharing weapons, including the January 2009 Kings Road murder and the April 2009 Monterey Court triple homicide.
Ballistics, fingerprint, and witness testimony connected the crimes; Wilson testified against Davis, describing shared weapons and kit-for-robberies across Jefferson Parish.
The court ultimately affirmed convictions on all counts but vacated the life-sentences portions for counts 1, 4, 5, and 6 and remanded for resentencing consistent with Miller v. Alabama.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Severance of counts challenged	Davis argues joinder prejudiced him	Joinder would cause prejudice and confusion	No abuse; joinder affirmed for judicial economy; prejudice mitigated
Sufficiency and admissibility of conspiracy evidence and other-crimes testimony	Evidence showed Davis conspired; Wilson’s acts admissible under 404(B) and res gestae	Evidence of Wilson’s crimes was prejudicial and insufficient to prove conspiracy	Conspiracy evidence sufficient; other-crimes evidence admissible with harmless-error analysis
Double jeopardy between armed robbery and conspiracy	Constitutional protections violated by charging both	Conspiracies and substantive offenses are separate offenses	No double jeopardy violation; offenses remain distinct under Blockburger and same-evidence tests

State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La. 1992) (sufficiency; evidentiary standards for review of trial rulings)
State v. Williams, 28 So.3d 357 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2009) (balancing probative value against prejudice under 404(B))
State v. Merritt, 877 So.2d 1079 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2004) (prejudicial-joinder and abuse of discretion standard)
State v. Jackson, 625 So.2d 146 (La.1993) (exceptions to 404(B); res gestae concept)
United States v. Felix, 503 U.S. 378 (1992) (conspiracy and substantive offense not same offense for double jeopardy)