State v. Anderson

753 So. 2d 321, 2000 WL 202305
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 26, 2000
Docket99-KA-1407
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 753 So. 2d 321 (State v. Anderson) 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. Anderson, 753 So. 2d 321, 2000 WL 202305 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

753 So.2d 321 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Sandra M. ANDERSON.

No. 99-KA-1407.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

January 26, 2000.

*323 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Susan Erlanger Talbot, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Laura Pavy, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Defendant-Appellant.

(Court composed of Judge WILLIAM H. BYRNES, III, Judge MOON LANDRIEU, Judge JAMES F. McKAY, III).

WILLIAM H. BYRNES, III, Judge.

On July 19, 1996, the defendant, Sandra Anderson, was charged by bill of information with purse snatching in violation of La. R.S. 14:65.1. The defendant entered a plea of not guilty at her arraignment on July 23, 1996. After a motion hearing on September 23, 1996, the trial court found probable cause and denied defendant's motion to suppress identification. A jury trial was held on February 13, 1997. The defendant was found guilty of simple robbery. On June 13, 1997, the defendant filed a motion for new trial, a motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal and a motion in arrest of judgment. The trial court sentenced defendant to serve five years at hard labor on September 12, 1997. The State subsequently filed a multiple bill of information alleging the defendant to be a fourth felony offender. A multiple bill hearing was held on August 28, 1997. Testimony from Officer Loosemore was taken that date and the matter was left open. On September 19, 1997, the trial court adjudicated the defendant to be a fourth felony offender and sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.[1] The trial court granted defendant's motion for appeal and set a return date of November 17, 1998.

The appeal record was lodged in this Court on June 7, 1999. The defendant filed her appellate brief on September 28, 1999. On October 18, 1999, this Court ordered the trial court to consider the defendant's post-trial motions filed on June 13, 1997. The trial court denied defendant's post-trial motions on October 25, 1999. The State filed its appellate brief on November 17, 1999.

On May 18, 1996, Mrs. Caroline Christenberry was walking home from the dry cleaners when the defendant approached her and asked for directions. Mrs. Christenberry was across from her house at 932 Governor Nicholls Street. After Mrs. Christenberry gave the defendant directions, the defendant grabbed Mrs. Christenberry's purse. Mrs. Christenberry did not let go of the purse, and the defendant dragged her over the steps of a neighbor's house. The victim injured her head and her ribs. She let go of the purse and the defendant ran off. Mrs. Christenberry called for help. Mr. Robear ran out of his yard. Mrs. Christenberry told him that the defendant had stolen her purse and pointed out the defendant to Mr. Robear. The defendant was approximately twenty feet from Mrs. Christenberry and *324 Mr. Robear. Mr. Robear pursued the defendant. Mrs. Christenberry and Mrs. Robear followed behind them. As Mrs. Christenberry and Mrs. Robear approached Rampart and Barracks Streets, they saw that Mr. Robear had apprehended the defendant and retrieved Mrs. Christenberry's purse. Mrs. Christenberry stated that she had several twenty dollars in her purse, which were not there when Mr. Robear retrieved the purse. Mrs. Christenberry identified the defendant at trial as the person who robbed her.

Mr. Ronald Robear, Mrs. Christenberry's next door neighbor, testified that he and his wife were working in their garden at approximately 11:30 a.m. on May 18, 1996. At about that time, they heard Mrs. Christenberry screaming for help. He walked outside his gate. Mrs. Christenberry pointed to a woman running down the street and told him that the woman had stolen her purse. The woman was approximately twenty feet from them. Mr. Robear pursued the woman. She ran past Rampart Street to St. Claude Avenue and turned right. Mr. Robear yelled at the woman to drop the purse. As she was running, she was taking items out of the purse and throwing them on the ground. She then threw the purse on the ground. Mr. Robear stopped to pick up the items and the purse. He put the items back in the purse and continued his pursuit of the woman. He was eventually able to apprehend her. A security guard at a nearby funeral home lent him a pair of handcuffs to restrain the woman. After he apprehended the woman, he met up with his wife and Mrs. Christenberry near the intersection of Rampart and Barracks Street. They called for the police and waited for the police at a nearby church. Mr. Robear identified the defendant at trial as the person he pursued and apprehended. The witness stated that he received injuries to his feet as a result of the incident. He had been barefoot when he heard Mrs. Christenberry's call for help and had run through the streets barefoot. He underwent two surgeries to repair the injuries to his feet.

Officer Patrick Evans responded to the call on May 18, 1996. When he arrived on the scene, the defendant was in handcuffs and sitting inside a church. The officer took statements from Mrs. Christenberry and Mr. Robear. The officer later learned that Mrs. Christenberry had suffered a broken rib as a result of the incident.

A review of the record for errors patent reveals several errors. The first error occurred when the trial court failed to rule on defendant's post-trial motions prior to sentencing. The defendant filed a motion for new trial, a motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal and a motion in arrest of judgment on June 13, 1997. However, the trial court failed to rule on the motions prior to sentencing the defendant on September 12, 1997. The trial court did not rule on the motions until October 25, 1999, after being ordered to do so by this Court. The trial court denied defendant's motions on October 25, 1999. Defendant's sentence must be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing because the sentence was imposed before the motions were disposed of in violation of La.C.Cr.P. arts. 821, 853 and 873. State v. Randolph, 409 So.2d 554 (La.1981); State v. Smith, 553 So.2d 934 (La.App. 4 Cir.1989).

The trial court also committed error when it adjudicated the defendant to be a fourth felony offender. Initially, the State filed a multiple bill of information alleging the defendant to be a fourth felony offender. However, on August 28, 1998, the date of the first multiple bill hearing, the State filed an amended multiple bill alleging defendant to be a third felony offender. The State produced documentation supporting the allegations of the amended bill at the multiple bill hearing on August 28, 1998. After the testimony of Officer Loosemore and the introduction of evidence of defendant's prior convictions, the trial court recessed the hearing and *325 stated that the matter would be held open. On September 17, 1998, a subsequent multiple bill and sentencing hearing was conducted. The trial court adjudicated the defendant to be a fourth felony offender and sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. As the State only produced evidence of two prior convictions at the multiple bill hearing, the trial court erred in adjudicating the defendant to be a fourth felony offender. The evidence supported an adjudication of a triple offender. However, the trial court's error does not affect the defendant's sentence. The multiple offender statute, La. R.S.

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

Related

State of Louisiana v. Jeremy Dillion
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2026
State of Louisiana v. Orlando Brown
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2025
State of Louisiana Versus Mishanda L Reed
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State v. Brazell
245 So. 3d 15 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Cavalier
171 So. 3d 1117 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Hackett
122 So. 3d 1164 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State v. Lomax
81 So. 3d 788 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Proctor
80 So. 3d 527 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Causey
67 So. 3d 697 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Andrews
61 So. 3d 121 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Norwood
802 So. 2d 721 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Davis
792 So. 2d 126 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Williams
788 So. 2d 515 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Harris
787 So. 2d 420 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Allen
788 So. 2d 62 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Jackson
814 So. 2d 6 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Powell
779 So. 2d 67 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Smith
777 So. 2d 584 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Carter
773 So. 2d 268 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Melbert
776 So. 2d 499 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
753 So. 2d 321, 2000 WL 202305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-anderson-lactapp-2000.