State of Louisiana v. Victor Wayne Loyd

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 5, 2019
DocketKA-0018-0968
StatusUnknown

This text of State of Louisiana v. Victor Wayne Loyd (State of Louisiana v. Victor Wayne Loyd) 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. Victor Wayne Loyd, (La. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

18-968 STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS VICTOR WAYNE LOYD FRR ICK ON APPEAL FROM

THIRTY-FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT GRANT PARISH, NO. 18-346 HONORABLE WARREN D. WILLETT, DISTRICT JUDGE

ek ee Rk VAN H. KYZAR

JUDGE

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Court composed of Sylvia R. Cooks, John E. Conery, and Van H. Kyzar, Judges.

CONVICICTION AFFIRMED. SENTENCE VACATED. REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING WITH INSTRUCTIONS. Douglas Lee Harville

Louisiana Appellate Project

P.O. Box 52988

Shreveport, Louisiana 71135-2988

(318) 222-1700

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT: Victor Wayne Loyd

James P. LeMoine

District Attorney

Renee W. Nugent

Assistant District Attorney

Thirty-Fifth Judicial District

200 Main Street

Colfax, Louisiana 71417

(318) 627-2971

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana KYZAR, J.

Defendant, Victor Wayne Loyd, appeals his conviction for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a violation of La.R.S. 14:68.4. For the reasons set forth herein, Defendant’s conviction is affirmed, the sentence is vacated, and the case remanded for resentencing with instructions.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

On May 21, 2018, the State filed a bill of information charging Defendant with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, in violation of La.R.S. 14:68.4. On July 5, 2018, Defendant pled not guilty and waived his right to a trial by jury. The district court heard evidence and argument on August 9 and took the matter under advisement.

The evidence adduced at trial revealed that, in September of 2017, Carol Spotsville, a relative of Defendant, made a verbal agreement with him to repair a dented area on her 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe. She agreed to have Defendant do the repair work chiefly because he was charging her a low price. Also, he told her he would have the job done by noon the next day. Defendant drove the victim’s car from her house to the area he was using as a body shop. The next day, he called to tell her he could not have the car ready by noon, but that it would be ready by 3:00 p.m. She testified that she repeatedly called him after the car was not returned after 3:00 but got no answer. She did not hear from him until approximately 8:30 p.m., when she called, and he answered only to tell her he had driven the car into Alexandria and collided with another vehicle.' The victim testified that Defendant was not authorized to drive the vehicle; she thought his girlfriend (his wife by the

time of the trial) was going to drive it.

| While the victim testified that Defendant provided the information about the accident in response to her call, Defendant stated that he called the victim some 30 minutes after the accident to tell her what had occurred. On August 16, 2018, the court found Defendant guilty as charged. On September 13, the court sentenced Defendant to two years at hard labor, to run consecutively to any other term. Also, he was ordered to pay a fine of seven hundred and fifty dollars and restitution to the victim. The trial court recommended work release, if available.

Defendant now seeks review by this court and assigns as a single error that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In his sole assignment of error, Defendant argues the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Specifically, he argues the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his use of the victim’s vehicle was unauthorized. The general analysis for insufficiency claims is well-established:

When the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 8.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, rehearing denied, 444 U.S. 890, 100 S.Ct. 195, 62 L.Ed.2d 126 (1979); State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La.1983); State v. Duncan, 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982); State v. Moody, 393 So.2d 1212 (La.1981). It is the role of the fact finder to weigh the respective credibility of the witnesses, and therefore, the appellate court should not second guess the credibility determinations of the triers of fact beyond the sufficiency evaluations under the Jackson standard of review. See State ex rel. Graffagnino, 436 So.2d 559 (citing State v. Richardson, 425 So.2d 1228 (La.1983)). In order for this Court to affirm a conviction, however, the record must reflect that the state has satisfied its burden of proving the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

State v. Kennerson, 96-1518, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/7/97), 695 So.2d 1367, 1371. Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle is defined by La.R.S. 14:68.4(A), which

states in pertinent part: “Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle is the intentional

2 taking or use of a motor vehicle which belongs to another, either without the other’s consent, or by means of fraudulent conduct, practices, or representations, but without any intention to deprive the other of the motor vehicle permanently.” The key issue that arose at trial was whether Defendant’s use of the Hyundai was unauthorized. The victim testified that he was not authorized to drive the vehicle at any time; she expected his girlfriend, Doris Loyd, to drive if there was any need. Doris and Defendant both testified that he was authorized to drive the Hyundai. Defendant testified that the victim’s husband saw him drive the Hyundai when Defendant picked it up at the victim’s residence. Thus, resolution of the issue, and ultimately the verdict, hinged upon a credibility determination. The trial court explained its ruling at some length:

BY THE COURT: You can have a seat over there. Counsel, last week we had a bench trial on a charge of Unauthorized Use of a Movable, um, after the conclusion of the trial, the Court um, recessed the trial to allow me to research the jurisprudential handling of consent, which I think was the primary - - one of the primary issues in the case, was whether um, or not [Defendant], had the consent of Ms. Spotsville to use her vehicle - - her SUV uh, on the - - at the time in question.

And um, the Court uh, did - - the Court has researched the jurisprudence involving the Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, the Court has - - also received a case that was submitted by Mr. Wilson for the Court’s consideration.

And the - - the jurisprudence um, the jurisprudence seems to focus on - - due to the fact that it is a crime that re - - requires intent, uh, the jurisprudence seems to focus on the Defendant’s intent in connection with the consent. Um, and from a civil standpoint, I think for both parties to have an agreement, they both have to have an understanding of what is happening, they have uh, - - to form the consent, both have to have a similar understanding, and I’m not saying that doesn’t exist in a criminal standpoint, but, in the context of these cases, the cases - - the court seem to have focused on what was the Defendant’s intent or understanding of his use of the vehicle.

And um, | think there were - - there had been similar cases in the past, uh, one, would be State vs. Varnado, [01-367 (La.App. 5 Cir. 9/13/01), 798 So.2d 191], in that particular case a uh, an employee had use of a transport van to haul employees from one location to another,

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
State v. Dunbar
978 So. 2d 899 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2008)
State v. Kennerson
695 So. 2d 1367 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
State v. Fussell
941 So. 2d 109 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Richardson
425 So. 2d 1228 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
State v. Varnado
798 So. 2d 191 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Muller
351 So. 2d 143 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1977)
State v. Spencer
707 So. 2d 119 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Bias
400 So. 2d 650 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
State v. Hatch
964 So. 2d 394 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Santee
834 So. 2d 533 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State Ex Rel. Graffagnino v. King
436 So. 2d 559 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
State v. Kahey
436 So. 2d 475 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
State v. Baylor
998 So. 2d 800 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Duncan
420 So. 2d 1105 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Fussell
974 So. 2d 1223 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2008)
State v. Moody
393 So. 2d 1212 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
State v. Wolfe
738 So. 2d 1093 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Joseph
921 So. 2d 1060 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Kelley
128 So. 2d 18 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1961)

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State of Louisiana v. Victor Wayne Loyd, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-louisiana-v-victor-wayne-loyd-lactapp-2019.