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Judgment rendered April 14, 2010. Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by Art. 922, La. C. Cr. P.

No. 45,127-KA COURT OF APPEAL SECOND CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA *****

STATE OF LOUISIANA versus JEMARIO Q. FREEMAN

Appellee

Appellant

***** Appealed from the First Judicial District Court for the Parish of Caddo, Louisiana Trial Court No. 255,858 Honorable John Mosely, Jr., Judge ***** LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT By: W. Jarred Franklin CHARLES REX SCOTT, II District Attorney DAMON DANIEL KERVIN TOMMY J. JOHNSON Assistant District Attorney Counsel for Appellant Counsel for Appellee

*****

Before CARAWAY, MOORE and LOLLEY, JJ.

MOORE, J. Jemario Freeman was charged by bill of information with armed robbery and attempted second degree murder arising from a robbery and shooting at a liquor store. After a bench trial, Freeman was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to 65 years at hard labor as a second felony offender on the armed robbery, and to a concurrent 45 years at hard labor on the attempted second degree murder. He now appeals his convictions and sentences; we affirm. Factual Background On the evening of October 6, 2004, two black men entered the Thrifty Liquor store on Hollywood Avenue at St. Vincent in Shreveport's Caddo Heights neighborhood. The shorter man, wearing a black hat or hood, pulled a handgun and fired a shot into the ceiling. One of the cashiers, Tracy Harrison, turned around and tried to run to the rear of the store, but the gunman fired a shot that ripped through her buttocks and groin; she immediately fell to the floor, bleeding profusely. The taller robber grabbed money from three of the cash registers; the men then fled toward Woodrow Street. Corporal Mason testified that officers searched the area but could not locate the suspects. Arriving within minutes, Shreveport police officers and EMT personnel initially thought Ms. Harrison was dead, but they managed to revive her on the stretcher. She was driven to LSU Health Sciences Center and underwent emergency surgery to repair a severed femoral artery; without the operation she would have died. She testified that she spent eight days in the hospital and now walks with a limp.

Detective McConnell testified that Ms. Harrison apparently was popular with her customers; Shreveport Crime Stoppers was virtually inundated with calls, many of which implicated "Mario" and "Gregory" as the robbers. With this information, Det. McConnell captured Gregory Jenkins, who gave a statement implicating the defendant, Jemario Freeman. Officers then located and arrested Freeman, who gave a recorded statement on October 9. In his statement he implicated himself and three associates, Gregory Jenkins, Kerry Colbert and Christopher "G Face" Kimble, in planning and executing the robbery and ultimately splitting the money. Procedural History The state initially charged Freeman, Colbert, Jenkins and Kimble with one count of armed robbery. The other three conspirators pled guilty and received sentences of 10 to 15 years with no multiple billing. The state then filed an amended bill charging Freeman with armed robbery and attempted second degree murder. Prior to trial in January 2007, the state rejected Freeman's pro se offer to plead guilty in exchange for a 15-year sentence, and Freeman elected a bench trial. The shooting victim, Tracy Harrison, and three other eyewitnesses testified about the robbery and shooting; their accounts contained slight discrepancies as to minor details. Ms. Harrison described two men entering the store, the shorter of whom fired a shot into the ceiling and told her, "B****, I got you now

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