State v. Alvarez

47 So. 3d 1018, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 558, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1204, 2010 WL 3504790
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 31, 2010
Docket08-KA-558
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 47 So. 3d 1018 (State v. Alvarez) 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. Alvarez, 47 So. 3d 1018, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 558, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1204, 2010 WL 3504790 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

GRAVOIS, Judge.

LThe defendant, Mike Alvarez, was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967(A), and possession of a firearm while in possession of cocaine in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95(E). After pleading not guilty, he filed a motion to suppress evidence, which was denied by the trial court. The defendant proceeded to trial by jury and was found guilty of the lesser charge of possession of cocaine and not guilty as to the firearm charge. After being adjudicated a second felony offender, the defendant was sentenced to ten years imprisonment at hard labor. On appeal, this Court found that the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to suppress and vacated his conviction and sentence. State v. Alvarez, 08-0558 (La.App. 5 Cir. *1020 1/13/09), 8 So.3d 50. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the State’s writ of certiorari, found that the trial court properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress, reversed this Court’s opinion, and remanded the case to this Court for consideration of the defendant’s remaining assignments of error. State v. Alvarez, 09-0328 (La.3/16/10), 31 So.3d 1022. On remand, for the following reasons, we affirm the defendant’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS

The following facts are taken from this Court’s prior opinion, State v. Alvarez, 8 So.3d at 52, 53:

On the evening of February 1, 2007, two Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office (JPSO) Reserve Officers, Sergeant Tim Mistretta, Captain Claude Wood, Jr., and JPSO Deputy Eric Lentz were patrolling the Woodmere Subdivision of Jefferson Parish in separate marked police cars. During their patrol, Sergeant Mistretta and Captain Wood stopped an individual for a traffic violation. Deputy Lentz arrived shortly after to offer assistance.
Sergeant Mistretta testified that he noticed defendant standing at the entry of an alleyway between two apartment complexes watching him conduct a traffic stop. Sergeant Mistretta explained that every time he made eye contact with the defendant, the defendant would ‘back off. Captain Wood testified that the defendant was going in and out between the two buildings and was fidgety.
Deputy Lentz testified that he noticed the defendant loitering between two apartment buildings. Deputy Lentz explained that he wanted to conduct an interview with the defendant out of concern for the other officers’ safety to find out what the defendant was doing and why he was walking around in a nervous manner. Deputy Lentz testified that he asked the defendant to come over to talk to him and defendant responded ‘Me’; when he repeated the request, defendant responded ‘Huh.’ Deputy Lentz and Captain Wood testified that when they approached the defendant from different directions, the defendant turned and fled. The officers chased him.
The officers testified that as they pursued the defendant, they saw the defendant remove a gun from his waistband and throw it into bushes in an alleyway between apartment buildings. The defendant then ran into an apartment and slammed the door shut. Officers Wood and Lentz then kicked the door down and entered the apartment. Sergeant Mistretta followed the other officers into the apartment. After a struggle, the defendant was handcuffed. The defendant was informed that he was under arrest and he was advised of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). When Deputy Lentz searched the defendant, he recovered a small bag containing a white rock substance from the defendant’s pants pocket. This substance tested positive for cocaine.
The defendant told the officers that he lived at the apartment with his girlfriend. He then signed a form consenting to a search of the residence.
14During the search, Deputy Lentz discovered several bags of rock-like objects inside the freezer in the kitchen. These items tested positive for cocaine. Also found were a razor with some white powdery substance on the end consistent with cocaine, and clear sandwich bags consistent with those used to wrap the drug. No drug paraphernalia was found, although the officers found magazines with 9 mm bullets, and two empty ammunition boxes.
*1021 The defendant testified. He stated that on the evening of the incident, Willie Hodges and Levita Jackson arrived at his apartment to watch a basketball game. At that time, he saw a black male dressed in black standing in the alleyway outside the apartment. Shortly after they arrived, Hodges and Jackson left to pick up something to eat. About five minutes later, the police kicked his door in and entered his apartment. He said he did not struggle, that he cooperated and got on the floor when they entered with guns drawn. After the officers handcuffed him, he complied with the officers’ request to sign a form consenting to the search of his apartment. Although they searched the apartment, he denied that they searched him.
The defendant denied knowing where the crack came from, and asserted he was not aware of any drugs in his home. The defendant said Ariana Paul lived with him at the time, and claimed that the freezer in which the drugs were found belonged to Ariana’s mother. He said that both her parents had a drug problem.
The defendant denied that he was chased down an alleyway, or that he discarded a gun. He testified that there were no bushes near his apartment and there was no ammunition in his house.
Ms. Jackson testified that she and Hodges saw a man standing in the alleyway when they arrived at the defendant’s apartment. According to Ms. Jackson, when she and Hodges left to get something to eat, their car was blocked by two police cars. At that time, she again saw someone standing in the alleyway next to the apartment building. Ms. Jackson testified that she watched as the unknown man ran through the alley when the police went to question him. She claimed that the person chased by the police was the same individual she and Hodges had seen earlier when they drove into the driveway.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court erred in failing to suppress the physical evidence gathered as a result of an illegal seizure. The Supreme Court has found that the trial court properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress. On remand this Court was instructed by the Supreme Court to address the defendant’s remaining assignment of error, which is excessive sentence. In this assignment of error, the defendant contends that he received the ^maximum sentence of ten years at hard labor for a second felony offender, which was excessive and violated his constitutional rights. He argues that the trial court gave inadequate reasons for imposing a maximum sentence, stating that his prior offense occurred ten years earlier and that at the time of this incident he was gainfully employed, working two jobs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 So. 3d 1018, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 558, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1204, 2010 WL 3504790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alvarez-lactapp-2010.