State v. Anthony

971 So. 2d 1219, 2007 WL 4181893
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 27, 2007
Docket07-KA-204
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 971 So. 2d 1219 (State v. Anthony) 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. Anthony, 971 So. 2d 1219, 2007 WL 4181893 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

971 So.2d 1219 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Jamal J. ANTHONY (multiple-billed as "Jamal Anthony") and Jamon J. Anthony.

No. 07-KA-204.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

November 27, 2007.
Rehearing Denied January 14, 2008.

*1221 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry Boudreaux, Anne Wallis — Appellate Counsel, Vincent Paciera, Jr. — Trial Counsel, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Mary E. Roper, Attorney at Law, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, LA, for Appellants, Jamal J. Anthony and Jamon J. Anthony.

Panel composed of Judges MARION F. EDWARDS, SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and GREG G. GUIDRY.

*1222 SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

On March 3, 2006, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office filed a bill of information charging defendants, Jamal J. Anthony and Jamon J. Anthony, with possession of heroin, a violation of La. R.S. 40:966(C), and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. 40:967(A). The State subsequently nolle prossed the possession of heroin charge against Jamon Anthony and agreed not to file a multiple offender bill of information.[1] At their arraignments, both defendants pled not guilty.

Jamon Anthony filed a Motion to Suppress the Evidence, which the trial court denied. Subsequently, Jamal Anthony filed an omnibus motion that included a Motion to Suppress Confession, Identification, and Physical Evidence, which the trial court denied.

On June 28, 2006, both defendants withdrew their former pleas of not guilty and entered guilty pleas pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976).[2] The trial court sentenced Jamon Anthony for possession with intent to distribute cocaine to fifteen years at hard labor, ordering the first two years to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The trial court sentenced Jamal Anthony to 8½ years for possession of heroin and 15 years, with the first two years to be served without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Both sentences were to be served at hard labor and to run concurrently.

The State thereafter filed a multiple offender bill alleging Jamal Anthony was a second felony offender. Jamal Anthony admitted to the allegations in the multiple offender bill. The trial court vacated the sentence originally imposed for the possession of heroin conviction, which was count one of the original bill of information, and sentenced the defendant to 8½ years at hard labor without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence to run concurrently with his other sentences.

Facts

Because both defendants' convictions were obtained as a result of guilty pleas, the following facts were obtained from testimony at the hearing on defendants' motions to suppress evidence. Detective Wayne Williams of the Gretna Police Department testified that, on February 3, 2006, he received a telephone call from a confidential informant with a tip that a *1223 black male nicknamed "Twin" would be delivering crack cocaine to the Oasis Motel located at 70 Westbank Expressway in Gretna that afternoon. The informant stated that "Twin" would be driving a newer-model, black Pontiac Grand Prix with chrome rims. Detective Williams stated that, in that past, the informant's tips had been used successfully to affect apprehensions and convictions.

When Detective Williams ran the nickname "Twin" through the computer, he received several names, but he could not remember if the defendants were included. Twenty or thirty minutes after receiving the call, Detective Williams and other members of the Gretna Police Department Criminal Investigation Division set up surveillance of the location using unmarked vehicles. At about 3:20 p.m. that day, Detective Williams observed a black Grand Prix on the Expressway just before it pulled into the parking lot of the Oasis Motel. When Detective Williams rode behind the vehicle, he observed that the vehicle had an expired, temporary license plate in the rear window.[3] The black Grand Prix then entered the motel's parking lot and parked. All three of the vehicle's occupants remained in the car.

Detective Williams informed the other officers via radio that this was the vehicle. When the officers converged on the vehicle, they stated that they were the police, ordered the driver to turn off the vehicle, and ordered the occupants to exit the car. Detective Williams agreed that basically his "officers approached the vehicle, guns drawn." The driver of the black Grand Prix attempted to flee by putting the vehicle into reverse and quickly backing out of the parking spot while officers stood behind the vehicle. The driver also revved the car's engine, "as though he was going to . . . strike one of the officers." Finally, the driver turned off his vehicle and "threw his hands up."[4]

When the driver opened his hands, Detective Williams, who was within ten feet from the car, saw the driver drop a white object from his right hand into the backseat. Detective Williams believed that the white object was narcotics. Because the officers were concerned that the men might be armed, all three men were removed from the vehicle and detained. The driver was identified as defendant, Jamal Anthony. The front-seat passenger was identified as defendant, Jamon Anthony. The backseat passenger was identified as Morris Clark.[5]

After the men were removed from the vehicle, Detective Williams checked the backseat of the vehicle and found a clear, plastic baggie that contained several off-white rocks on the floorboard of the driver's side. After the rocks field-tested positive for cocaine, Jamal Anthony was placed under arrest. In a search incident to his arrest, the officers found a foil packet containing some "brownish powder" in Jamal's possession. The powder field-tested positive for heroin.

Detective Richard Russ of the Gretna Police Department testified that, because he was in the direct path of the vehicle driven by the suspects, he was forced to draw his weapon when the vehicle continued "inching" towards him while its engine was being revved. Detective Russ testified *1224 that all the occupants of the vehicle were placed under arrest after narcotics were found inside the vehicle and no one claimed ownership of the contraband. Detective Russ searched Jamon Anthony incident to his arrest and found him in possession of a clear plastic bag containing an off-white rock-like substance, which field-tested positive for cocaine.[6]

In their sole assignment of error, the defendants argue the trial court erred in denying their motions to suppress because the police did not corroborate the information supplied by the confidential informant before they converged on their vehicle, blocked it from leaving the parking lot, and ordered them to exit. The defendants claimed that they were detained solely on information received about the model of the car and the nickname of one of the male occupants. Although the defendants admit that the information regarding the arrival of the described vehicle at the described location was accurate, they claim that the police did not witness any corroborating criminal behavior that suggested that they were in possession of drugs or engaged in criminal or illegal activity before converging on the vehicle and seizing them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
971 So. 2d 1219, 2007 WL 4181893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-anthony-lactapp-2007.