CLINTON — A state district judge said Tuesday he will decide by the end of the month on exactly what the Louisiana Legislature intended when lawmakers said “justifiable homicide” does not apply when someone is killed during an illegal drug transaction.
The issue was raised by attorneys for two Hammond men, Anthony Manzella, 19, and Andrew Robertson, 23, who were on one side of an alleged drug deal in Clinton on July 24, and the attorney for Johnny Barnes, 27, of Jackson, who was on the other side.
Barnes’ companion, Jeral Wayne Matthews Jr., 21, of Clinton, allegedly struck Manzella, in the head with a rifle butt before the deal was finished, and Manzella shot and killed Matthews with a .40-caliber handgun, Clinton police said in July.
Manzella was indicted with first-degree murder, and Robertson and Barnes were indicted for principal to second-degree murder.
Twentieth Judicial District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla said he interprets a section of the law dealing with justifiable homicide to preclude self-defense in drug deals that result in a homicide.
Benn Hamilton, Barnes’ attorney, said such an interpretation deprives his client of the right to argue “that he could not be principal to a homicide.”
“He cannot defend himself,” Hamilton said, saying the victim was armed and was shot in self-defense.
Robert Gill, Robertson’s attorney, told 20th Judicial District Judge George H. Ware Jr. that the language about drug deals appears in the second paragraph of a statement that a homicide is justified when a person is lawfully in a dwelling and believes the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the unlawful entry of the person into the dwelling.
The words, “The provisions of this Paragraph …” refers to that one specific instance for which a homicide is justified, not for the other three reasons outlined in the entire statute, Gill and Manzella’s attorney, Gary Jordan, argued.
Ware took the arguments under advisement but questioned whether the Legislature may have meant to apply the drug-deal section “all the way back to the top” in the reasoning that homicide is justified in three other circumstances.
Ware said the Legislature “may have been saying, ‘We don’t want to give the coverage of self-defense in a drug transaction.”
The judge said he is certain the matter is headed to an appellate court review regardless of how he rules, because no Louisiana court has ruled on the question.
