State of Louisiana v. Jason L. Slaydon

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided February 1, 2006·No. KA-0005-0794·Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

KA 05-794

STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS JASON L. SLAYDON

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APPEAL FROM THE

THIRTY-SIXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF BEAUREGARD, NO. CR-696-03 HONORABLE STUART S. KAY, JR., DISTRICT JUDGE

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BILLY HOWARD EZELL

JUDGE

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Court composed of Marc T. Amy, Michael G. Sullivan, and Billy Howard Ezell, Judges.

CONVICTION AND SENTENCE AFFIRMED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

David W. Burton District Attorney - 36th Judicial District Court Richard Alan Morton Assistant District Attorney P. O. Box 99 DeRidder, LA 70634 (337) 463-5578 Counsel for Appellee State of Louisiana

Leslie R. Leavoy, Jr. Attorney at Law P. O. Box 1055 DeRidder, LA 70634 (377) 462-6051 Counsel for Defendant/Appellant Jason L. Slaydon

EZELL, JUDGE.

On December 16, 2003, the State filed a bill of information charging the Defendant, Jason Slaydon, and his brother, Billy J. Slaydon, with simple burglary and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The Defendant and his brother both entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment on December 16, 2003. The State subsequently filed an amended bill of information on January 26, 2004, charging the Defendant and his brother with one count of simple burglary in violation of La.R.S. 14:62, one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in violation of La.R.S. 14:68.4, and one count of possession of methamphetamine in violation of La.R.S. 40:967(C). Pursuant to the amended bill of information, the Defendant was re-arraigned on February 24, 2004, and entered pleas of not guilty.

The Defendant subsequently filed a motion to suppress any evidence procured in a search of his vehicle at the time of his arrest. On September 30, 2004, the trial court conducted a hearing and denied the motion, finding that the arresting officer’s discovery of drug paraphernalia in the Defendant’s pockets during a search incident to his arrest gave the officers the authority to search his vehicle.

On November 15, 2004, the Defendant entered a Crosby Plea1 to the charge of attempted possession of methamphetamine and the State, in turn, dismissed the charges for burglary and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. In association with his Crosby Plea, the Defendant reserved the right to challenge the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress.

The trial court held a sentencing hearing on January 3, 2005, and subsequently sentenced the Defendant on January 10, 2005, to serve thirty months at hard labor, consecutive to any sentence previously imposed. The trial court suspended the thirty-

1 Pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976), an accused may enter a guilty plea but reserve his right to appellate review of pre-plea assignments of error.

month sentence, and placed the Defendant on three years of supervised probation subject to the following conditions:

1) $1,500.00 fine plus costs and fees on a pay plan set by the defendant’s probation officer;

2) $50.00 monthly probation supervision fee;

3) $5.00 monthly assessment fee, as required by La.Code Crim.P.

art. 895.1(F);

4) Prohibition from the use of drugs or alcohol;

5) Random drug and alcohol screens at the defendant’s expense;

6) Substance and alcohol abuse evaluation, with the evaluator’s recommendations becoming conditions of probation;

7) “90 days in the Beauregard Parish Jail with credit for time served prior to the imposition of this sentence. Further, this jail time shall be credited toward the 60-month . . . sentence herein imposed and suspended should that suspension subsequently be vacated as a result of a subsequent probation revocation.” The trial court allowed the defendant to serve the ninety days after the completion of his college degree in May/June 2005.

The trial court denied the Defendant’s subsequent motion for reconsideration of the sentence. The Defendant now appeals, alleging that the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress was erroneous. The Defendant also asserts that the trial court erred in requiring him to spend ninety days in the Beauregard Parish Jail as a condition of his probation; and that the ninety-day period is constitutionally excessive.

We find that the assigned errors lack merit.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The following facts were adduced at the hearing on the motion to suppress. On the evening of October 18, 2003, Lieutenant Greg Hill and Officer Reese Martin, both of the DeRidder City Police Department, responded to a call at Hickory Creek Trailer Park (“Hickory Creek”). Daniel Hernandez had placed the call, alleging that the

Defendant and his brother, Billy Slaydon, were attempting to steal his car. Mr. Hernandez testified that he had previously rented a trailer at Hickory Creek and had left a Ford Taurus there but that he returned occasionally to check on it. Mr. Hernandez stated that he happened to be visiting with a friend who lived in Hickory Creek on October 18, 2003, when he looked up and saw someone driving his vehicle down the street.

Mr. Hernandez testified that he stopped the vehicle, which was being driven by the Defendant. Mr. Hernandez stated that he and the Defendant argued over the ownership of the vehicle and that he called the police. He said that the Defendant then left the scene in a vehicle which Billy Slaydon had been driving behind Mr. Hernandez’s vehicle.

Billy Slaydon testified that he and his brother returned to their uncle’s home briefly and then decided to leave Hickory Creek. They had to pass the scene to exit Hickory Creek, and they stopped as they passed Mr. Hernandez and the vehicle still in the roadway. The police officers were also arriving on the scene at that time.

Lieutenant Hill testified that the Defendant told them that his uncle rented a unit there and wanted to dispose of an abandoned vehicle on his rental property. Lieutenant Hill stated that he read the Defendant his Miranda rights immediately because he realized the possibility that a crime was occurring, and the Defendant did not provide additional details until after he had been advised of his Miranda rights. Lieutenant Hill also stated that the Defendant told him that he was taking the vehicle to the sheriff’s office. However, Mr. Hernandez told him that the Defendant was attempting to steal the vehicle and had damaged it in the process of gaining entry and starting it. Lieutenant Hill testified that, after speaking to both the Defendant and Mr. Hernandez, he arrested the Defendant for criminal damage to property, vehicular

trespassing, and unauthorized use of a moveable.

After the Defendant had been arrested and handcuffed, Officer Martin searched his person and found a pen cap in his pocket that contained a substance the officers believed to be narcotics. Officer Martin testified that he then placed the Defendant in the back of his patrol vehicle. After his arrest, Officer Hill and another officer searched the Defendant’s vehicle, wherein they discovered methamphetamine in a smokeless tobacco can and three additional pen caps which contained a substance the officers believed to be narcotics.

Before we discuss the merits of the case, we do find one error patent worth consideration. The trial court failed to establish a payment schedule for the fine and costs ordered as conditions of probation. When the trial court imposed these fines and costs, it ordered that they be paid “on a pay plan set by [the Defendant’s] probation officer.” “This court has found error patent when the trial court fails to establish a payment plan for fees ordered as conditions of probation.” State v. Theriot, 04-897, 04-898, p. 7 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/9/05), 893 So.2d 1016, 1021. The court remands the case to the trial court with instructions to establish a payment plan for the fine and costs ordered as conditions of the Defendant’s probation.

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