State v. Amos

192 So. 3d 822, 2016 WL 1375735
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 6, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-KA-0954
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 192 So. 3d 822 (State v. Amos) 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. Amos, 192 So. 3d 822, 2016 WL 1375735 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

BELSOME, Judge.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

liThe facts giving rise to the charged offenses occurred on or about August 25, 2014, at approximately 4:30 a.m. at a Wal-greens location in Chalmette, Louisiana, At the time, three Walgreens employees and one customer were inside the store. Lan Nguyen, a service clerk at the Wal-greens, testified that she was working the overnight shift in the photo department when she heard the front door chime and observed an African American man, later identified as the defendant, Ben Amos, run towards her with a gun. Ms. Nguyen was speaking with customer, Jacob Schiro, when the defendant entered the store. Both Ms. Nguyen and Mr. Schiro testified that the defendant approached the two of them with his gun drawn, and ordered [825]*825them to the back of the store in search of the store’s safe.

As the defendant violently directed the victims down an aisle toward the rear of the store, they encountered another Wal-greens service clerk, Todd Robert. The defendant proceeded to point his gun at Mr. Robert and demand he proceed with 12them to the back of the store. At this time, the three victims observed a second gunman approach, point a gun, and echo the defendant’s orders.

The gunmen eventually directed all three victims through the back of the store to the employee break room. Ms. Nguyen and Mr. Robert testified that they were told to lie face down on the floor, at which time they were patted down. Mr. Robert removed a wallet from his pocket, and the gunmen took a cellphone from Ms. Nguyen. The testimony also indicates that the defendant and his accomplice forced Mr. Schiro on the ground and attempted to secure his hands with zip-ties.

While in the break room, the gunmen continuously demanded that the victims open the store’s safe. Ms. Nguyen and Mr. Robert advised the perpetrators that neither of the clerks had the combination to the safe. The gunmen proceeded to repeatedly threaten the lives of the victims if the safe was not opened. At some point during this exchange, a customer loudly broadcasted over the intercom and demanded to be checked out. Startled, upon healing this, the defendant ran out of the room, and never returned.

Moments later, the defendant’s accomplice fled through the back exit. Officers waiting outside the back entrance to the store were able to apprehend the defendant’s accomplice immediately. Other Of-fleers positioned in the parking lot witnessed the defendant fleeing from the front of the store and, after setting up a perimeter, were able to apprehend him behind a store located across the street from the Walgreens. Ms. Nguyen estimated that the victims were held captive in the break room for a total of forty-five minutes to an hour.

|sThe police were called by Chris Mum-phrey, the overnight store manager. Upon realizing that his store was being robbed, Mr. Mumphrey exited the store, unnoticed by the gunmen, and called 911. After the incident, Mr. Mumphrey provided the police with surveillance tapes, which were played for the jury.

Deputy Donald Shriver responded to a call from dispatch about an armed robbery in progress at the store. While questioning an individual in the parking lot, Deputy Driver witnessed another individual with dreadlocks run out of the front of the store.1 Deputy Driver pursued the individual on foot and, after briefly losing visual, apprehended the defendant upon finding him in a trash dumpster behind a business across the street from the Wal-greens. Detective Ryan Melerine was also on the scene when the defendant was arrested, and advised him of his Miranda rights before the defendant indicated that he had left his weapon in the Walgreens.

Sergeant Cory Beebe also responded to the scene. Upon arrival, Sergeant Beebe entered the store through the front door. While positioned inside the store, he witnessed an individual, with dreadlocks and black clothing, flee through the front door. Sergeant Beebe identified the defendant as the individual he observed fleeing through the front entrance of the store. After [826]*826being advised by Detective Melerine that ■the defendant had left' his weapon in the store, Sergeant Beebe located and seized the weapon from a store aisle.

DOn April 8, 2014, the defendant was charged by bill of indictment with three counts, of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of armed robbery with a firearm, in violation of La. R.S. 14:44 and La. R.S. 14:64.8, respectively. The defendant appeared before .the trial court on April 14, 2015, and pled not guilty to the charges. Additionally, the defendant filed several pre-trial motions, including a motion to suppress statement, which was ultimately denied. The matter proceeded to trial on June 2, 2015, and a jury found the defendant guilty on all three counts of aggravated kidnapping, while finding him guilty of armed robbery with a firearm as to one count and guilty of attempted armed robbery with a firearm on the remaining two counts. •

The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence ior each count of aggravated kidnapping. Further, the defendant was sentenced to fifty years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for the armed robbery charge; and fifteen years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence as to the two counts of attempted armed robbery.2 The defendant objected, to the sentences and filed a motion for appeal, which the trial court granted.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

1. The State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of aggravated kidnapping.

k2. There is- insufficient evidence to support the defendant’s convictions for armed robbery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery with a firearm.

3. The trial court imposed unconstitutionally excessive sentences.

4. The defendant received ineffective ■ assistance, of counsel.

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals an errors patent with regard to the defendant’s sentences for armed robbery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery with a firearm. In the bill of indictment, the .State invoked the firearm sentence provision of La. R.S. 14:64:3, which provides1 that when a firearm is used in the commission of an armed robbery or attempted armed robbery, the “offender shall be imprisoned for an additional period of five years without benefit of’parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.”

The tidal court sentenced the defendant to fifty years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for the one count of armed robbery with a firearm; and fifteen years without benefits for the two counts of attempted armed robbery with a firearm.3 The.trial court did. not, however, specify whether those sentences included the enhanced term of imprisonment under La. R.S. 14:64.3.

[827]*827This Court has previously held that a sentence is indeterminate, when the trial court fails to impose a consecutive five-year enhancement as mandated by La. R.S. 14:64.3. State v. Burton, 2009-0826, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/14/10), 43 So.3d 1073, 1076.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Louisiana v. Jermal Williams
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State of Louisiana Versus Alexsy Mejia
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State of Louisiana v. Jarvis Brown
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2022
State of Louisiana v. Hugh Gilliam
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2022
State of Louisiana in the Interest of D.F..
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2020
State of Louisiana v. Alan J Boner Jr
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2020
State v. Trung Le
243 So. 3d 637 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Harrison
239 So. 3d 406 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Brown
219 So. 3d 518 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
State v. De Gruy
215 So. 3d 723 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
State v. Chambers
212 So. 3d 643 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
State v. Dowell
198 So. 3d 243 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Gibson
197 So. 3d 692 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 So. 3d 822, 2016 WL 1375735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-amos-lactapp-2016.