State v. Kyles, 233 So. 3d 150

On June 10, 2010 Crystal St. Pierre (also known as Crystal Roper) was last seen at an Algiers apartment complex and later found shot in the head; autopsy and entomology placed death during daylight hours of June 10.
Chicwanda Forbes (co-defendant) pleaded to second-degree kidnapping and testified that defendant Curtis L. Kyles forced the victim into a car, drove to a field, pushed the victim to her knees and shot her in the head with a .38 revolver.
Corroborating evidence included Winn-Dixie surveillance of attempted use of the victim’s food-stamp card, eyewitness testimony (apartment neighbors) of the victim being forced into Kyles’s vehicle and that Kyles appeared armed, Kyles’s cell-site records tracking movement from the store to the apartment area toward where the body was found, tire-track matching to Kyles’s vehicle, and .38-caliber ammunition recovered from Kyles’s residence consistent with the projectile recovered from the victim.
Kyles was indicted for second-degree murder (short-form indictment), tried in September 2015, convicted by a unanimous jury, and sentenced to life at hard labor without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
Kyles filed pretrial motions to quash the indictment as constitutionally deficient (claiming the short form failed to specify the theory of second-degree murder) and a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge on appeal; both claims were rejected by the court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to support second-degree murder conviction	State: Evidence (Forbes’s testimony plus corroborating physical and circumstantial evidence) permits a rational jury to find Kyles guilty beyond a reasonable doubt	Kyles: Conviction rests primarily on untrustworthy accomplice/co-defendant Forbes, whose plea deal renders her testimony insufficient and unreliable	Court: Affirmed — Forbes’s testimony was not incredible on its face, was corroborated by multiple independent items of physical and circumstantial evidence, and satisfied Jackson review
Validity of short-form indictment (motion to quash)	State: Short-form indictment under La. C.Cr.P. art. 465 is proper; discovery gave Kyles adequate notice of the theory and details	Kyles: Short-form indictment is constitutionally deficient because it did not specify whether prosecution proceeded on specific-intent or felony-murder theory	Court: Affirmed — indictment conformed to art. 465; defendant received fair notice via discovery and bill-of-particulars procedure; trial court did not abuse discretion

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for sufficiency review: whether any rational trier of fact could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt)
State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La. 1992) (when appellate review raises sufficiency and trial error, first decide sufficiency under Jackson)
State v. Draughn, 950 So.2d 583 (La. 2007) (prosecution must prove defendant’s identity; state must negate reasonable probability of misidentification)
State v. Neal, 796 So.2d 649 (La. 2001) (conviction may be based on accomplice’s or plea‑bargained witness’s testimony unless it is incredible or insubstantial)
State v. Chairs, 106 So.3d 1232 (La. App. 5 Cir.) (short-form indictment constitutional where defendant received adequate discovery and fair notice)
State v. Page, 28 So.3d 442 (La. App. 5 Cir.) (post-verdict attacks on indictments fail unless indictment gives no fair notice or does not set forth an identifiable offense)