3rd Circuit upholds former Evergreen police chief's murder conviction

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and life sentence of Charles Mayeux for the March 2015 murder of his wife, Shelly Mayeux.

“The decision was certainly welcomed by us,” District Attorney Charles Riddle said.

Mayeux was the police chief and assistant fire chief of Evergreen when he called 911 to report a fire at his residence on March 21, 2015. His wife’s body was found in their bedroom.

They had been married only 10 months.

Experts concluded Shelly Mayeux was dead before the fire started.

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

Mayeux’s attorney, Annette Roach of the Louisiana Appellate Project, raised five issues in the appeal.

She claimed the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mayeux was guilty of 2nd degree murder of his wife.

The 3rd Circuit disagreed.

While there was no direct evidence that Mayeux killed his wife and then set the fire, there was significant circumstantial evidence that Shelly Mayeux died before the fire and the fire was intentionally set.

The appeals court said these conclusions were presented to the jury and the jury heard defense counsel’s challenge of those conclusions.

“It was rational for the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt” that the state had proven its case of 2nd degree murder “and all reasonable hypotheses of the defendant’s innocence had been excluded.”

‘BAD ACTS,’ HEARSAY

The appeal also claimed the trial court erred in allowing evidence of prior “bad acts” by Mayeux and provided incorrect or insufficient instructions to the jury concerning the evidence submitted at trial.

The “bad acts” referred to were reports from Mayeux’s ex-wife and a former girlfriend that Mayeux physically abused them. There was also testimony from Shelly Mayeux’s co-workers that she told them her husband abused her.

The 3rd Circuit said those arguments “lacked merit.”

Another ground for appeal was that Mayeux’s defense attorney was ineffective because he failed to object to a State Fire Marshal’s report that included hearsay statements by Shelly Mayeux’s co-workers.

The appeals court judges deemed that argument not pertinent to the question concerning the verdict.

The fifth basis for appeal was that Deputy Fire Marshal Chase Hawthorne should not have been accepted as an expert in the cause and origin of fires.

The court found the trial court “did not abuse its discretion” in accepting Hawthorne as an expert witness in the areas of cause and origin of fires and fire investigation.

It is expected that the 3rd Circuit ruling will be appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court.