State v. Addison

551 So. 2d 687, 1989 WL 119595
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 11, 1989·No. KA 88 1497·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

551 So.2d 687 (1989)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Tommie Lee ADDISON.

No. KA 88 1497.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

October 11, 1989.

*688 Barbara Cole, Asst. Dist. Atty., Amite, for plaintiff-appellee.

Mike Nunnery, Hammond, for defendant-appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, CRAIN and LeBLANC, JJ.

CRAIN, Judge.

Tommie Lee Addison was charged by bill of information with possession with intent to distribute pentazocine, a violation of La. R.S. 40:967. After trial by jury, defendant was found guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced defendant to imprisonment at hard labor for a term of seven years *689 without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, and to pay a fine of fifteen thousand dollars.

FACTS

Initially, we note that, in defendant's motion for appeal and designation of the appellate record, defendant did not designate that the testimony adduced at trial be transcribed. In accordance with defendant's designation of the record, the record of the trial itself is essentially limited to a transcript of the portion of the trial relating to the opening statements of the prosecutor and defense counsel. However, the record does include a transcript of a November 26, 1986, pre-trial hearing pertaining to defendant's preliminary examination and his motion to suppress a search warrant (which authorized a search of his residence) and the evidence seized pursuant to that warrant.

The record does reveal that, at trial, the state introduced in evidence the search warrant, i.e., state exhibit S-4. S-4 reflects that the warrant was issued on January 23, 1986, at noon. It authorized the search of defendant's Hammond, Louisiana, residence for controlled dangerous substances and associated paraphernalia. The warrant included the affidavit of Officer Mike Sticker of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office disclosing the facts which provided probable cause for issuance of the warrant. Those facts were as follows: On January 23, 1986, Sticker received information from a confidential informant (C.I.) that defendant had about two hundred sets of T's and Blue's in his possession. The C.I. had been present at defendant's residence within the preceding forty-eight hours; and, while there during that time frame, the C.I. had seen the sets and had seen defendant sell sets at defendant's residence. Sticker's affidavit concluded with a statement that the C.I. had proven to be reliable in the past and that the C.I.'s information had led to the arrest and conviction of numerous individuals for felonies in the past.

At trial, the state also introduced into evidence a receipt bearing the same date as the warrant. The receipt lists various items seized as a result of the warrant. Sticker's testimony at the November 26 pre-trial hearing reveals that, during the January 23, 1986, search of defendant's residence, Sticker and other officers conducted the search and seized the following: one hundred seventy-four (empty) zip-lock bags, several "medicine type" bottles that appeared to be labeled with ordinary pharmaceutical labels, two zip-lock bags each containing suspected sets of T's and Blue's, and one thousand three hundred eighty-five dollars in cash.

According to Sticker, defendant and Ms. Dorothy Reeves (defendant's roommate) were arrested when the two bags containing the suspected sets were found inside a closet in defendant's kitchen. At that time, both were advised of their constitutional rights.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NOS. ONE AND TWO:

By means of these assignments, defendant asserts that, contrary to La.C.Cr.P. art. 770(2), the prosecutor referred in her opening statement to another crime (distribution of pentazocine) alleged to have been committed by him as to which evidence was not admissible. Defendant contends that, pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 770, the reference to the alleged other crime mandated a mistrial and that the trial court's refusal to grant his motion for mistrial constituted reversible error.

The record reveals that the reference (upon which these assignments are based) occurred during the prosecutor's opening statement, as follows:

On January 23rd, 1986, a confidential informant notified Detective Stricker, (sic) at the sub-station in Hammond, which is part of the Sheriff's Department, that he had some information concerning the possession of large amounts of a street drug called T's and Blues, in the possession of one Tommie (sic) Lee Addison. That he had seen these drugs in the possession of Tommie (sic) Lee Addison in the last forty-eight hours. Needless to say, Detective Stricker (sic) was interested in hearing about that.
*690 This confidential informant went to the sub-station, and he shared the information, and what he had viewed with Detective Stricker (sic). When Detective Stricker (sic) heard this, he knew that he needed more information, if he was to do anything about this allegation. And as such, and as is done in this type of criminal activity, this confidential informant offered to go buy some sets, and that's what they're called, sets of T's and Blues from Tommie (sic) Lee Addison. Detective Sticker gave the informant the money, to go buy these sets; he searched that informant, and he searched that informant's car. That informant got in his car; Detective Sticker got in his car, and he followed that informant to Tommie (sic) Lee Addison's house. When they got to Tommie (sic) Lee Addison's house, the informant got out of the car, he went into the residence of Mr. Addison, and he purchased three sets of T's and Blues.

At this juncture, defense counsel moved for a mistrial. The jury was removed from the courtroom; and, out of the jury's presence, defense counsel argued that the reference to an alleged sale between defendant and the C.I. constituted a reference to another crime prohibited by La.C.Cr.P. art. 770, requiring that a mistrial be granted. The state countered that the alleged drug sale was within the res gestae and that evidence of the alleged transaction was admissible to show defendant's intent to distribute (pentazocine). The trial court then ruled that the alleged sale was not part of the res gestae, since it would constitute a crime totally separate from the instant offense. However, the trial court found that evidence of the alleged sale was admissible to show defendant's criminal intent as to the instant offense. On the basis of that finding, the court concluded that defendant's motion for mistrial was not well-founded and denied the motion for mistrial. Additionally, the trial court ruled that, if the state intended to introduce evidence of the alleged offense, it would order and direct that the identity of the C.I. be disclosed to permit the effective exercise of defendant's constitutional right to confrontation. Accordingly, the trial court further ruled that the state had a choice of either producing the C.I. or not introducing evidence of the alleged drug sale and that, if the state chose not to introduce evidence of the alleged sale, the court would admonish the jury to disregard the state's remarks in its opening statement referring to the alleged transaction.[1] The defense objected to the denial of its motion for a mistrial on the basis that an admonishment was insufficient. The record reflects that the state indicated to the court its choice not to introduce the evidence and that, upon being returned to the courtroom, the trial court admonished the jury to disregard the prosecutor's remarks in her opening statement referring to the a

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State v. Addison, 551 So. 2d 687, 1989 WL 119595 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

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