State ex rel. S.L.

94 So. 3d 822, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 883, 2012 WL 1415111, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 554
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 24, 2012
DocketNo. 11-KA-883
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 94 So. 3d 822 (State ex rel. S.L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. S.L., 94 So. 3d 822, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 883, 2012 WL 1415111, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 554 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

MARC E. JOHNSON, Judge.

^Defendant, S.L.,1 appeals his adjudications and dispositions for possession of marijuana, resisting arrest, illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile, simple burglary, and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance.2 For the reasons that follow, we vacate S.L.’s adjudication for possession of marijuana and reverse his adjudications and dispositions for illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile and resisting arrest. We further vacate his adjudications and dispositions on the charges of simple burglary and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and remand the matter for a new trial on these two charges.

IsPROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 26, 2011, defendant was charged by petitions in juvenile court with possession of marijuana in violation of La. R.S. 40:966(C) (Petition “G”); resisting an officer by flight in violation of La. R.S. 14:108 (Petition “H”); illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.8 (Petition “I”); simple burglary of a vehicle in violation of La. R.S. 14:62 (Petition “J”); and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance in violation of La. R.S. 14:95(E) (Petition “K”). Defendant proceeded to trial on June 22, 2011, and was adjudicated delinquent on all five counts.

At the time S.L. was charged with the present offenses, he was on probation for an unrelated obstruction of justice adjudication (Petition “C”). After his adjudication for the present offenses, S.L.’s probation officer filed a motion to revoke probation. On July 21, 2011, an ad hoc judge revoked S.L.’s probation and ordered that the suspended disposition of six months be imposed. On the same day, the ad hoc judge held a disposition hearing on the present adjudications and imposed two-year dispositions on each of the five offenses to run concurrently with each other and consecutively to the six-month disposition imposed as a result of the probation revocation on Petition “C.”

One week later on July 28, 2011, the trial judge who entered the adjudications on Petitions “G-K” entered an “Order Correcting Illegal Sentence.” In her order, the trial judge vacated S.L.’s two-year disposition as to the possession of marijuana adjudication on the basis of double jeopardy.3 The trial judge also modified [828]*828the dispositions for resisting an officer (Petition “H”) and illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile (Petition “I”) to six months on each offense after finding the previously imposed two-year dispositions were illegal. The trial [Judge noted the maximum disposition for these two offenses was six months. She ordered the dispositions to run consecutively to the six-month disposition on the obstruction of justice offense and concurrently with his present adjudications.

FACTS

On May 28, 2011, Joshua Franklin noticed his 2001 Honda Accord, which had been parked at the Westwind Apartment complex in Kenner, had been burglarized. He testified the vehicle’s back door was cracked and his hair pins were scattered on the driver’s side. He further stated items from inside his car were missing. Mr. Franklin did not call the police, but rather reported the burglary to a security guard because he was running late for work.

The record does not reflect who called the police.4 However, between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on May 28, 2011, several Kenner police officers responded to a radio dispatch regarding two juveniles burglarizing a vehicle at 341 Clemson and fleeing the area on bicycles. According to the radio dispatch, the juveniles were black males, one wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, and the other wearing a black t-shirt and camouflage shorts.

Within one to two minutes of the dispatch call, Sergeant Richie Arnold saw two juveniles matching the description of the perpetrators entering the eastbound ramp to the 1-10 on bicycles. He activated his lights and sirens and approached the juveniles, who turned and acknowledged his presence but refused to stop. According to Sgt. Arnold, the juveniles, one of whom was S.L., dropped their bicycles and began running down an alley separating the Ken-ner Police Complex and Susan Park playground towards Veterans Blvd. He yelled for the juveniles to stop, identified himself as “police,” and proceeded to chase the juveniles to [¡¡Veterans Blvd. where two other officers, Nicholas Hoffman and Charles Donovan, were waiting.

After Officer Hoffman heard the call that the suspects were running, he responded to the area and saw the juveniles cut through the parking lot of the Susan Park gym followed by Sgt. Arnold, who yelled “That’s them; that’s them.” Officers Hoffman and Donovan then “rode [the juveniles] to the ground” and detained them.

Within the next two to three minutes, Officer Hoffman walked the path the suspects had run and observed a black pistol in some bushes four to five feet off the side of the gym. The gun had six rounds in the magazine but nothing in the chamber. Another officer responding to the scene, but who arrived after the juveniles were detained, found a clear cellophane bag with green vegetable matter approximately seven feet from where the juveniles were detained. The contents of the bag later tested positive for 5.1 grams of marijuana.

Officer Donovan subsequently transported S.L. to lockup. Officer Donovan testified that S.L. appeared nervous and scared. As they waited for the officer in charge of the case to arrive at the police station, Officer Donovan developed a rap[829]*829port with S.L., who ultimately told him that he threw the gun while he was running, the marijuana found on the ground was his, and he attempted to break into five cars. Officer Donovan explained that when S.L. voluntarily gave this information, he was not being interrogated. However, Officer Donovan admitted asking follow-up questions to gain more details about the information S.L. provided. This conversation lasted approximately one hour, during which S.L. was never advised of his Miranda5 rights. Thereafter, S.L.’s mother arrived at the police station. Officer Donovan apprised her of what S.L. had already told him Land asked her to execute an Advice of Rights form with her son, which she refused to do.

ISSUES

Defendant raises several issues on appeal. He first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as to his adjudications for resisting arrest, illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile, simple burglary, and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Second, he contends his adjudications for illegal possession of a firearm by a juvenile and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance violates double jeopardy. Third, S.L. argues the trial court erred in allowing inadmissible hearsay and using the hearsay as substantive evidence of his guilt. Fourth, defendant contends his two-year dispositions on all his adjudications are excessive. And, finally, defendant asserts he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to conduct discovery, failed to file a motion to suppress his statement, failed to file a motion to quash the petition on the basis of double jeopardy, and failed to object to illegal dispositions.

DISCUSSION

Double Jeopardy

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
94 So. 3d 822, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 883, 2012 WL 1415111, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-sl-lactapp-2012.