State v. Harris

Vieux, J.:

In January 1997, a number of persons gathered at a private home for a birthday party. One of the attendants of the party showed up with six to eight of his friends. Included among those friends were the defendant Roscoe Harris and the victim Kevin Garrett.

While at the party, the killing of Joey Dowdy, a cousin of Craig Roland, whose birthday was being celebrated, was a topic of discussion. Roland became very emotional when he spoke of Dowdy’s death. Another cousin, LaRonda, who attended the party, testified that she had given a previous statement to the police that Roland stated all…