State v. Arceneaux

930 So. 2d 44, 2005 WL 3578089
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 27, 2005
Docket05-KA-338
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 930 So. 2d 44 (State v. Arceneaux) 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. Arceneaux, 930 So. 2d 44, 2005 WL 3578089 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

930 So.2d 44 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Richard J. ARCENEAUX.

No. 05-KA-338.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 27, 2005.

*46 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Desirée M. Valenti, Jackie Maloney, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Holli Herrle-Castillo, Louisiana Appellate Project, Marrero, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., CLARENCE E. McMANUS and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

CLARENCE E. McMANUS, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On January 9, 2004, defendant, Richard J. Arceneaux, along with Travis W. Cast, were charged by bill of information with simple burglary in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62. Defendant pled not guilty to this charge on January 12, 2004. On April 26, 2004, the trial court denied defendant's Motion to Suppress Identification. On this same day, defendant's jury trial commenced and he was found guilty as charged.

On May 13, 2004, defendant filed a motion for new trial which was denied. Thereafter, defendant was sentenced to serve seven years imprisonment at hard labor. On this same day, the State filed a multiple offender bill of information, alleging defendant to be a second felony offender, and defendant denied these allegations.

Defendant filed a motion for appeal on May 27, 2004, which was granted on June 1, 2004. On July 8, 2004, defendant executed a waiver of rights and guilty plea form, admitting that he was a second felony offender. Defendant's original sentence was vacated and defendant was resentenced as a second felony offender to seven years imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.

FACTS

On December 18, 2003 at approximately 2:00 a.m., Richard Myers was at his residence at 2600 Houma Boulevard in Metairie preparing to go deer hunting. He woke up, went outside of his apartment complex to put his 30/30 rounds and his tree stand into his truck, a white 2000 Nissan Frontier, and then returned inside to change his clothes, gather his things and call his hunting friend. Upon leaving his house, he noticed someone hunched over in the driver's seat of his truck. He watched one person removing things from his truck and another person at the back of his truck throwing the things he was handed by the other into the bed of another truck. He saw someone who was wearing a black hat hunched over the driver's side window which had been broken and saw him take his external speaker for his CB radio out of his vehicle. After observing this, he called 911. Myers stated that at first he did not realize the truck being burglarized was his because his neighbor's truck was in the parking lot and was the same year, make, model and color. The suspects left the scene in a red Ford Ranger. Then, he went to the truck to take an inventory of what was taken to report this to the dispatcher.

*47 He realized he was missing a brown leather bomber jacket which belonged to his grandfather and was issued in World War II, a green Army jacket which was bought at an Army surplus store, a CB radio and its external speaker and a K-bar, a Marine Corps combat knife. He also gave the dispatcher a description of the suspects: two males that appeared Hispanic. He said the driver of the vehicle was wearing a black hat and dark clothing. While standing in the parking lot waiting for the police, the red truck returned. Realizing the original description he had given of a red F150 truck was wrong, he called 911 again to inform them it was in fact a red Ford Ranger. When the suspects saw the victim in the parking lot, they threw the truck into reverse and quickly sped off, turning off onto Houma Boulevard. He reported their direction to the dispatcher.

About three to four blocks away, Deputy Donald Dubroc stopped a red truck which matched the description of the suspects' vehicle. Deputy Dubroc identified defendant in court and stated that he was the passenger of the truck he stopped and Cast, who he saw sitting outside the courtroom in the hallway, was the driver of the vehicle and was wearing a hat. He stated that both were wearing dark clothing. He also testified that a bag of various tools which he realized from past experiences were tools which could be used in burglaries were also found in the vehicle.

Deputy David Darwin took Richard Myers' statement at the apartment complex and then brought him to where the suspects were stopped three blocks away. The victim identified the two individuals as being responsible for burglarizing his truck and identified the vehicle as the truck that fled with his property. While at the scene, he realized more things had been taken out of his truck than he initially thought. He identified his things at the scene, and they were returned to him. Through photographs, he identified his things in court as well: 30/30 shells, a deer rifle, a lantern, a bomber jacket, an Army jacket, a CB radio, an external speaker, a K-bar, a CD case, a hatchet, a boot knife, a diamond knife sharpener and a deer drag.

Further, Richard Myers identified defendant in court. He testified that defendant was standing at the rear of his truck and taking things from the person who was in his truck and placing it into the bed of the red truck they were in.

Cast gave voluntary statements on December 18, 2003. Later, Cast testified at trial on defendant's behalf and stated that he had borrowed his roommate Steve West's truck, a red Ford Ranger, to go see his girlfriend and asked defendant to take a ride with him. He and defendant went to an apartment complex in Metairie to look for his girlfriend who was not there. As they were leaving the parking lot, he noticed a truck with its driver's side window busted and saw a CB antenna on the back of the truck. He admitted that he went into the truck and took the CB radio and a jacket. He testified that he parked the truck and walked over to the truck to take those things without saying anything to defendant. He claimed that defendant was asking him what he was doing and telling him to get back in the truck and that he was stupid. According to Cast, defendant remained in the truck the whole time. They left and were stopped by the police a couple of blocks away. Cast stated that he did give a voluntary statement which acknowledged that he did the crime, however, the statement reflects that he broke the window when actually he did not. Cast pled guilty to the burglary of the vehicle and stated that defendant did not participate in the burglary, did not act as a look out and did *48 not take things out of the vehicle. Cast testified that he took the CB and the leather jacket out of the truck and did not know how the other things got there.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

Defendant argues that the evidence presented by the State at trial was legally insufficient to support his conviction. Specifically he submits that no rational trier of fact could have found that the State bore its burden of proving possession beyond a reasonable doubt; therefore, the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion for new trial. Defendant asserts that co-defendant Cast assumed full responsibility for the burglary and consistently has stated that defendant was not involved in the burglary. Finally, defendant questions the credibility of the victim's recollections because at first he did not realize his own truck was being burglarized and due to his vague descriptions he gave of the suspects.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
930 So. 2d 44, 2005 WL 3578089, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-arceneaux-lactapp-2005.