State v. Alvey

839 So. 2d 395, 2002 La.App. 4 Cir. 1741, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 172, 2003 WL 257388
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 29, 2003
DocketNo. 2002-KA-1741
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 839 So. 2d 395 (State v. Alvey) 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. Alvey, 839 So. 2d 395, 2002 La.App. 4 Cir. 1741, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 172, 2003 WL 257388 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

1 MAMES F. McKAY III, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The defendant Macy Alvey III was charged by bill of information on December 4, 2001, with theft of property valued at five hundred dollars or more, a violation of La. R.S. 14:67(B)(1). The defendant pleaded not guilty at his December 19, 2001 arraignment. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the statement and evidence on January 11, 2002. The defendant was tried by a six-person jury on February 7, 2002, and found guilty of the lesser offense of theft of property valued at three hundred dollars or more but less than five hundred dollars. On March 8, 2002, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal. That same date the defendant pleaded guilty to being a second-felony habitual offender and was sentenced to eighteen months at hard labor, without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for appeal on March 15, 2002, permitting the defendant to remain free on an appeal bond. The defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence on March 28, 2002, which the trial court denied.

\ .FACTS

The defendant was convicted of the theft of a truck bed coyer belonging to Willie T. (jujdry

New Orleans Police Officer Brian Rei-necke arrested the defendant on October [398]*39817, 2001.1 Officer Reinecke was dispatched to a disturbance call at the defendant’s address. Upon arrival, the victim, Willie Guidry, informed officers that parts to his truck, which had been stolen the previous day, were in the defendant’s backyard. The defendant advised officers that he had taken a truck bed cover off an abandoned truck. The defendant took the officers into his backyard and showed them the truck cover. They arrested him for possession of stolen property. Officer Reinecke acknowledged that the defendant did not offer any resistance. Officer Rei-necke admitted that he did not see the victim’s truck.

Officer Eddie Demma testified similarly to Officer Reinecke. He responded to the disturbance call at the defendant’s residence, and was advised by the defendant that he took the truck bed cover because he thought it was an abandoned vehicle.

Willie Guidry testified that in October 2001 he lived on Haynes Boulevard, and owned a 1993 Chevrolet pickup truck. He reported his truck stolen on October 16, 2001. Police notified Guidry the next day that his truck had been recovered — in a vacant lot located around the corner from the defendant’s residence. Guidry asked around and was directed to the defendant’s residence, located approximately one-and-a-half miles from his own residence. Gui-dry knew the defendant by name and face; he had known the defendant’s father, who often had his children with 13him. Guidry said the defendant had complimented him once on his truck. After his truck was stolen, Guidry went to the defendant’s residence. He observed his truck bed cover in the back yard, and notified police. Gui-dry said his customized truck was in beautiful condition, similar to show quality condition. It was in that condition the night before he discovered it had been stolen. He estimated the price of the truck cover at $675; he purchased it the previous May.

The defendant testified on his own behalf. He admitted a 1999 conviction for possession of stolen property. He passed by the truck sitting in an open field as he took his mother to work. It had no taillights, the windows were down, and grass was growing up around it. He said it looked like the truck had not been “messed with” in a while. There were piles of trash at the site, such as tires and old automobile gas tanks. The defendant characterized the area as a dump site. It was approximately five blocks from his residence. The defendant said he was a “Chevrolet man,” that he had Chevrolet trucks in his backyard, and indicated that he knew the truck bed cover would fit one of his trucks, i.e., “the parts are interchangeable.” After dropping off his mother at work, the defendant returned and removed the truck bed cover, put it on top of his car, and drove it back to his residence.

The defendant admitted knowing Willie Guidry through the defendant’s father. However, he denied ever having talked to Guidry about Guidry’s truck. The defendant explained that he had a brother one year younger than him who was the “spitting image” of him, and said they were always being confused for one another. The defendant indicated that it had been at least a couple of years since he had last seen Guidry. The defendant said he would not have taken anything from the truck had he known it belonged to Guidry. He had no grudge against Guidry, |4and acknowledged that Guidry was a friend of [399]*399the family. The defendant replied in the negative when asked whether he had any hardware to mount the truck bed cover.

The defendant stated on cross-examination that he had never seen Willie Guidry’s truck before. He had known Guidry to have either a gray Blazer or an old gray and red Chevrolet pickup truck. Guidry and the defendant’s father, both mechanics, used to work for the same man. The defendant said he had handed Guidry tools, indicating that he had helped out Guidry in his work. He had known Guidry since he was thirteen or fourteen years old. The defendant replied in the affirmative when asked whether this was the first time he had stopped and taken something from a vehicle he saw. He said he did not pass by the site where the truck was located everyday, but noted that it was always full of junk.

Willie Guidry was recalled by the defendant as a witness. He admitted that the defendant and his brother looked alike. However, Guidry said he knew the defendant better than he knew the defendant’s brother. While he did not see them very much anymore, at one time he used to see them everyday. Guidry was questioned as to whether it could have been the defendant’s brother who complimented him on his truck one day. Guidry first said, “No; not really.” He said that he would have known one from the other, although he conceded that their features were alike.

Willie Guidry said on cross-examination by the State that there was no doubt it was the defendant who complimented him on the truck sometime after May 2001. Guidry said his truck was one of a kind, and noted that the point of customizing it was to make it look unique.

\ ^ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In his first assignment of error, the defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, specifically, that the evidence was insufficient to show that he had the requisite specific intent to permanently deprive Willie Gui-dry of the truck bed cover.2

This Court set out the well-settled standard for reviewing convictions for sufficiency of the evidence in State v. Ragas, 98-0011 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/28/99), 744 So.2d 99, as follows:

In evaluating whether evidence is constitutionally sufficient to support a conviction, an appellate court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Green, 588 So.2d 757 (La.App. 4 Cir.1991).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
839 So. 2d 395, 2002 La.App. 4 Cir. 1741, 2003 La. App. LEXIS 172, 2003 WL 257388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alvey-lactapp-2003.