State v. Emerson
Louisiana Court of Appeal
722 So. 2d 373 (1998)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
The State of Louisiana (plaintiff) charged Terry Emerson (defendant) with second-degree murder based on the stabbing death of Jerome Hudson. At Emerson’s trial, witnesses testified that Emerson and Hudson had been fighting in a parking lot, but the fight had broken up, and Emerson and Hudson had gone into a building. Two witnesses further testified that once inside the building, Emerson approached Hudson with a large kitchen knife and stabbed Hudson in the chest. One of the witnesses testified that Hudson was unarmed at the time, and the other testified that the witness did not notice whether Hudson had anything in his hands when Emerson approached him with the knife. Emerson attempted to present testimony from Rachelle Price about a phone conversation she had with Emerson an hour after the stabbing. The prosecution objected on hearsay grounds, and the trial court sustained the objection. To preserve the issue for appeal, Emerson proffered Price’s testimony that during the phone conversation, Emerson told Price that he had not been trying to hurt Hudson, but people had crowded him, and he had acted in self-defense. The jury ultimately found Emerson guilty, and he appealed to the Louisiana Court of Appeal.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Williams, J.)
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