State of Louisiana v. Kadeem J. Fisher

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 2, 2024
Docket55,850-KA
StatusPublished

This text of State of Louisiana v. Kadeem J. Fisher (State of Louisiana v. Kadeem J. Fisher) 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 of Louisiana v. Kadeem J. Fisher, (La. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

Judgment rendered October 2, 2024. Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by Art. 922, La. C. Cr. P.

No. 55,850-KA

COURT OF APPEAL SECOND CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA

*****

STATE OF LOUISIANA Appellee

versus

KADEEM J. FISHER Appellant

Appealed from the Forty-Second Judicial District Court for the Parish of DeSoto, Louisiana Trial Court No. 22-CR-32814

Honorable Nicholas E. Gasper, Judge

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT Counsel for Appellant By: Chad M. Ikerd

CHARLES B. ADAMS Counsel for Appellee District Attorney

RHYS E. BURGESS EDWIN L. BLEWER, III NANCY F. BERGER-SCHNEIDER Assistant District Attorneys

Before PITMAN, THOMPSON, and ROBINSON, JJ. PITMAN, C. J.

Defendant Kadeem Fisher appeals his conviction of first degree

robbery and his sentence of 33 years at hard labor without benefit of parole,

probation or suspension of sentence. He also raises as error the trial court’s

decision to allow the introduction of evidence of a knife found on himself

after the robbery and a toy gun found in his truck, neither of which was

proven to be at the scene of the robbery. For the following reasons,

Defendant’s conviction and sentence are affirmed

FACTS

The state filed a bill of information charging Defendant with first

degree robbery of Progressive Bank in Logansport, Louisiana, in DeSoto

Parish, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64.1, in that he intentionally took property

having value from the person of another or which was in the immediate

control of another, by use of force or intimidation when the offender leads

the victim to believe he is armed with a dangerous weapon. The bill of

information also charged that he committed the offense of false personation

of a peace officer, a violation of La. R.S. 14:112.1(A)(2), but this charge was

later dropped.

Prior to trial, the state expressed its intent to introduce evidence that

Defendant was arrested with a pocketknife in his pocket and that a toy gun

was found in his truck. Defendant’s attorney argued the evidence was

irrelevant to the state’s case, because it never alleged he had a weapon on his

person or that any witness saw what they believed to be a weapon. He

argued that the state sought to prove the victim reasonably believed he had a

weapon based on the placement of his hands, as opposed to seeing the

outline of a knife or gun in his pocket. The trial court overruled the objection and noted defense counsel’s objection in the record. The trial was

held on July 25 and 26, 2023.

Cody Greer, former DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy, testified

that he was on patrol duty on July 20, 2022, working in Logansport in

DeSoto Parish when he received a call from Progressive Bank that it had

been robbed. The dispatcher described the vehicle associated with the

robbery as a maroon Chevrolet truck with a Texas license plate. Greer went

to the bank and secured the scene. He spoke to the teller who told him that a

black male had entered the bank. He was not wearing a hat or gloves, and

he did not say anything, but passed her a note. She handed him money and

then he left. The teller did not tell Greer whether she saw a weapon. She

only stated she saw a note and complied with the note.

Deputy Hunter Martinez, DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office patrol

deputy, testified that he was informed that the suspect left in a red pickup

truck with a Texas license plate. The description given of the suspect was

that he was wearing a black shirt, blue jeans and Jordan shoes.

Dep. Martinez testified that he drove around Logansport looking for the

vehicle and found it on Price Street in the northwest side of town. He stated

that it was parked in a driveway of a house on the corner, was a red or

maroon pickup truck with the last name Fisher across the back and it had a

Texas license plate. He parked his patrol unit behind the truck so that it

could not be moved.

The state played a video, which Dep. Martinez identified and narrated

sporadically. Dep. Martinez testified that as he approached the house, other

law enforcement arrived, and Defendant came out of the front door wearing

the same clothes as previously described. He was taken into custody and 2 advised of his Miranda rights. Dep. Martinez handcuffed Defendant,

searched his pocket and found his wallet that contained his identification

(“ID”). He patted down Defendant, who also had some keys and a knife in

his pocket. Dep. Martinez asked him where the money was, and Defendant

replied, “In my wallet.” The deputy found $1,793 in the wallet.

The video showed Dep. Martinez counting the money, taking pictures

of Defendant’s ID and license plate and relaying the information to run the

registration on the vehicle. He put the money and driver’s license in a bag,

and it was seized as evidence. He testified that his body camera, two

frontward car cameras and one camera in the back seat of his unit all ran

simultaneously.

The back-seat video showed Defendant speaking to Dep. Martinez; he

admitted that the red truck was his and that it was the vehicle he used to go

to the bank that morning. The deputy asked Defendant where the rest of the

money was that was taken from Progressive Bank, and Defendant told him

he had bought gas and cigarettes and some other items at the truck stop in

Logansport. Dep. Martinez asked him if he had a receipt for the items he

bought at the truck stop, but Defendant said he did not. Dep. Martinez

relayed this information to Detective Cody Bailey. Dep. Martinez took

Defendant to the jail.

Clayton Clark, assistant vice president of Progressive National Bank,

testified that all the banks are equipped with security surveillance cameras

and that he is in charge of recovering any footage from the bank’s cameras.

After receiving a call that a robbery had occurred in Logansport, he helped

the police recover the footage from that day. He identified the video he

provided to the police. 3 Det. Cody Bailey of the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, Criminal

Investigation Division (“CID”), testified he watched the security footage at

the bank. He identified the footage from the bank as the state’s attorney

played it in the courtroom. He stated that the person in the video was

Defendant, wearing the same clothes that matched the description he had

been given, and then he identified Defendant in the courtroom.

Det. Bailey also identified Lafrita Garrett, the teller with whom

Defendant interacted. Another teller, identified as Ms. Rambin, was sitting

to Ms. Garrett’s right. As the video played, Det. Bailey narrated and said

that Defendant put a note on the counter, and Ms. Garrett pulled it toward

herself to read it. When she realized what the note said, she handed

Defendant $2,000, and he turned and walked away. The video from another

angle showed that Ms. Garrett attempted to keep the note, but Defendant

pulled it away from her. Det. Bailey identified Defendant’s red Chevrolet

truck with aftermarket wheels and a push bumper on the front. The video

continued and Defendant could be seen leaving the bank and getting into the

truck. A camera from an ATM machine showed the truck leaving the lot

and turning toward U.S. Highway 84.

Det. Bailey stated that they had just dusted Ms. Garrett’s workplace

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Bluebook (online)
State of Louisiana v. Kadeem J. Fisher, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-louisiana-v-kadeem-j-fisher-lactapp-2024.