State v. Alexander

904 So. 2d 855, 2005 WL 1277962
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 31, 2005
Docket04-KA-1209
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 904 So. 2d 855 (State v. Alexander) 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 v. Alexander, 904 So. 2d 855, 2005 WL 1277962 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

904 So.2d 855 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Dwight ALEXANDER.

No. 04-KA-1209.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 31, 2005.

*857 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Andrea F. Long, Assistant District Attorneys, Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Margaret S. Sollars, Attorney at Law, Louisiana Appellate Project, Thibodaux, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., JAMES L. CANNELLA, and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

The Defendant, Dwight Alexander, appeals from his conviction for possession of Diazepam (Valium), his finding as a second felony offender and his enhanced sentence. We affirm and remand.

The Defendant was initially charged with one count of distribution of heroin, La. R.S. 40:966(A), one count of possession of heroin, R.S. 40:966(C), and one count of possession of Diazepam (Valium), La. R.S. 40:969(C). He was tried by a jury on March 27 and 28, 2003, and found not guilty of the heroin charges and guilty of possession of Diazepam.

The Defendant was sentenced on April 7, 2003 to 5 years imprisonment at hard labor. On the same day, the State filed a habitual offender bill of information charging the Defendant as a second felony offender. The Defendant pled not guilty. Thereafter, Defendant filed a motion for appeal.

The hearing on the habitual offender charge was held on July 23, 2003. The trial judge found the Defendant to be a second felony offender, vacated the original sentence, and re-sentenced the Defendant to the enhanced sentence of ten years imprisonment at hard labor. Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which was denied, and a motion for appeal, which was granted.

On May, 17, 2002, Sergeant John Ladd and Agent Curtis Matthews, members of the Narcotics Division of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (JPSO), were conducting *858 surveillance on the Defendant based on information received from a confidential informant, Earnest M. Guillot.[1] The officers were observing the Defendant's residence at 124 Fredericks, Apartment A, in Terrytown from separate vehicles when they saw him leave the apartment and enter his vehicle. The officers followed him to a nearby grocery, where he went into the grocery for a couple of minutes before driving back home. Forty-five minutes to an hour later, they saw the Defendant again leave his residence. The officers again followed him to the same grocery. This time, he did not enter, but went to the driver's side door of a blue Saturn automobile and leaned into the window for ten to fifteen seconds. As he walked away, he stuffed money into his pocket. Both the Defendant and the Saturn then drove away. Agent Matthews followed the Defendant back to his apartment. Sergeant Ladd followed the Saturn and stopped it based on his conclusion that the transaction at the grocery was a narcotics sale. After watching the Defendant enter his apartment, Agent Matthew drove to Sergeant Ladd to assist him. The officers arrested Lori Blades (Blades), the driver of the Saturn, for possession of heroin and Oxycontin. Valium pills were also found in the vehicle. After her arrest, Blades stated that she had previously bought heroin from the Defendant on three different occasions.[2]

A search warrant of the Defendant's residence was applied for and executed that same night at 11:15 p.m. Sergeant Ladd, Agent Matthews, and Agent Frank J. Horn, a narcotics detective with the JPSO, participated in executing the warrant. After knocking on the door several times and announcing their presence, the officers entered the Defendant's residence by force. No one was in the residence at the time. Agent Horn searched the closet in the master bedroom, which contained both women's and men's clothing, and discovered in a shirt pocket, a driver's license in the Defendant's name that was due to expire at midnight,[3] numerous portions of cut baggies, a small plastic bag with a powder substance, and a small aluminum foil with a powder substance. A small digital scale and a roll of aluminum foil were discovered in the closet. Agent Horn testified that this type of digital scale is used by drug dealers to weigh narcotics for distribution purposes. In the apartment, the officers also found the Defendant's employment identification and paperwork, a pistol, a .38 revolver, and a bottle of Superior Mannitol, a substance commonly used to stretch different types of powdered drugs. In addition, a foil containing five blue Valium pills was found, marked with the same numbers as the Valium pills recovered from Blades.

Andrea Travis, an expert in the field of identification and analysis of controlled dangerous substances, tested the drugs taken from Blades and the Defendant's apartment.[4] She identified the blue pills *859 found in the Defendant's apartment as Valium. No controlled substances could be identified in the bag and piece of foil containing white powder. However, she testified that it was possible that a field test performed on suspected material could yield positive results, but might extinguish the residue so that it would test negative later at the lab. She also identified pills found in Blades car as Valium. The numbers on the pills matched the numbers on the pills found in the apartment.[5]

The Defendant testified that he was living at 124 Fredericks on May 17, 2002 with his wife. He said that he did not know Blades and denied any knowledge of Valium in his residence. The Defendant's wife, Latrice Alexander, testified that she purchased the digital scale to measure meat. She did not know how the Mannitol, Valium, and white powder got into her residence.

On appeal, the Defendant contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his sentence is excessive.

INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

The Defendant argues that his right to a fair trial was clearly affected when his counsel failed to file notice of his alibi defense that he was out of town at the time of the alleged crime. The Defendant contends that there is enough evidence in the record to address this issue on direct appeal.

A defendant is entitled to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 13 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. In assessing a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a two-pronged test is employed. The Defendant must show that (1) his attorney's performance was deficient, and (2) the deficiency prejudiced him. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); State v. LaCaze, 99-0584, p. 20 (La.1/25/02), 824 So.2d 1063, 1078, cert. denied, 537 U.S. 865, 123 S.Ct. 263, 154 L.Ed.2d 110 (2002). In order to show prejudice, the defendant must show that, but for his counsel's unprofessional conduct, the outcome of the trial would have been different. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S.Ct. at 2068.

The Sixth Amendment does not guarantee `errorless counsel [or] counsel judged ineffective by hindsight,' but counsel reasonably likely to render effective assistance. LaCaze, 99-0584 at 20, 824 So.2d at 1078. Claims of ineffective assistance are to be assessed on the facts of the particular case as seen from counsel's perspective at the time. LaCaze, 99-0584 at 20, 824 So.2d at 1078-1079.

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Related

State v. Tatum
40 So. 3d 1082 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State v. Bradshaw
920 A.2d 1228 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
904 So. 2d 855, 2005 WL 1277962, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alexander-lactapp-2005.