State v. Austin

113 So. 3d 306, 2013 WL 950882
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 18, 2013
DocketNo. 12-KA-629
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 113 So. 3d 306 (State v. Austin) 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. Austin, 113 So. 3d 306, 2013 WL 950882 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

HANS J. LILJEBERG, Judge.

pOn February 11, 2010, defendant, Joseph Christopher Austin, was charged in a fourteen-count indictment with nine counts of illegal possession of stolen things (counts 1-9), in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:69, and five counts of simple burglary (counts 10-14), in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62. He was arraigned and pled not guilty to all charges. Thereafter, the State amended the indictment, dismissing counts 1 through 9 and 11, and proceeded to trial on counts 10, 12, 13, and 14.1 On July 27, 2011, a six-person jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on all counts.

The State filed a multiple offender bill of information alleging defendant to be a fourth felony offender. On September 14, 2011, after a hearing, the trial court found defendant to be a second felony offender. Defendant was sentenced to six years at hard labor on each count, to run consecutively, for a total of twenty-four years.2 Defendant appeals.

UFACTS

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on July 25, 2009, Deputy Daniel Bergeron of the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office responded to a report of a Lexus vehicle crashing in a parking lot of an apartment building on [310]*310Lakewood Drive in Luling, Louisiana. A witness informed the officer that she had séen two white males fleeing the vehicle. The vehicle did not have a license plate on it, but had a temporary tag affixed to the rear window. It was determined that the temporary tag had been stolen from a car dealership in Jefferson Parish. A check of the vehicle identification number (VIN) revealed that it was registered to Cherie Suhor.

Approximately two hours later, Deputy Bergeron responded to a report of a vehicle burglary on Willowdale Boulevard, where the victim informed the officer that a black Mizuno bag, among other things, had been taken from his vehicle. Deputy Bergeron recalled that he had just seen a black Mizuno bag in the crashed vehicle he had investigated hours before. Deputy Bergeron testified that the owner of the bag accompanied him back to the scene of the crash where he identified the bag as his own.

David Boudry testified that his Toyota Corolla was burglarized on the evening of July 25, 2009, at his residence on Willow-dale Boulevard in Luling. A pair of Nike shoes, trash bags, baseballs, and a Mizuno duffel bag were taken from the vehicle. He stated that he did not authorize defendant or anyone else to enter his vehicle.

Eric Berteau testified that his Toyota Tacoma was burglarized on the evening of July 25, 2009, at his residence on Lakewood Drive in Luling. A laptop computer, an iPod and accessories, a book, and a pair of running shoes were taken from the vehicle. He stated that he did not authorize defendant or anyone else to enter his vehicle.

| Jonathan Warren testified that his vehicle was burglarized on the evening of July 25, 2009, at his residence on Beaupre Drive in Luling. A book of CD’s, a half carton of cigarettes, and a red flashlight were taken from the vehicle. He stated that he did not authorize defendant or anyone else to enter his vehicle.

Randy St. Blanc testified that his Toyota Sequoia was burglarized on the evening of July 25, 2009, at his residence on Beaupre Drive in Luling. A pair of sunglasses and a change holder were taken from the vehicle. He stated that he did not authorize defendant or anyone else to enter his vehicle.

Cherie Suhor testified that she had known defendant since they were children and that defendant lived with her from April 2009 to January 2010. In July 2009, Suhor lived in Metairie with her two sons, defendant, defendant’s girlfriend, and defendant’s baby. At the time, Suhor owned a Lexus, and she and defendant each had a set of keys for the vehicle.

Errol Falcon, Jr. testified that he was defendant’s friend and had known him for 16 or 17 years. Falcon testified that on the morning of July 24, 2009, he met defendant at his residence, and they went to some stores. Defendant had to bring Su-hor to work later that day, so Falcon brought defendant back home before he left for Biloxi, Mississippi. When Falcon arrived back in Louisiana later that night, defendant was at Falcon’s house. Defendant told Falcon that he had committed several vehicle burglaries, that the police were after him, and that he had to ditch the Lexus in the Lakewood area. Defendant had to pick up Suhor from her job in Gramercy, and because he did not have a vehicle, Falcon drove defendant in his vehicle to pick her up.

Meanwhile, earlier in the evening, around 9:43 p.m., Suhor had called her boyfriend, Damien Schnyder. Thereafter, he came to her place of work. Later, in the early morning hours of July 25, 2009, when Suhor finished work, defendant | sand [311]*311Falcon picked her and Schnyder up. According to Falcon, on the way back home, defendant plotted a course of action, and they decided to report the Lexus stolen.

At approximately 6:30 a.m., Suhor reported the Lexus stolen. The vehicle had been towed to the detective bureau and Detective Joseph Dewhirst contacted Su-hor to identify the vehicle. Suhor positively identified the vehicle as' her own and gave consent for the officers to search it. During the course of the search, the trunk was opened which revealed a license plate registered to Suhor and the Lexus. Additionally, a prescription pill bottle in defendant’s name was recovered from the vehicle. Detective Dewhirst testified that once Suhor saw the stolen property in her vehicle, “she knew in her heart that it was Joey Austin that did the burglaries.” At trial, when Suhor was shown several photographs of the interior of her vehicle, she stated that the items depicted in the photographs were not in her vehicle when defendant dropped her off at work on July 24,2009.

On January 8, 2010, Detective Jody Fah-rig interviewed defendant. After he was advised of his rights, defendant waived his rights and gave a statement. He denied burglarizing any vehicles on July 24-25, 2009.

On July 8, 2011, Detectives Pitchford, Fahrig, and Dewhirst conducted an interview with Damien Schnyder. Schnyder told the detectives that he received a phone call from Suhor around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. on July 25, 2009, telling him that her car was stolen and that she needed him to pick her up from work because she did not have a ride. Schnyder said he picked her up and they left around 2:00 or 2:30 a.m. At trial, Detective Pitchford testified that he thought this statement was inaccurate, because the investigation revealed that Su-hor did not know anything about her car until well after 2:30 a.m., when the car had been received by the sheriffs office. Furthermore, Suhor’s cell phone records introduced into evidence |6do not show that Schnyder received a call from Suhor around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. Suhor did not report her Lexus stolen until 6:30 a.m.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

In his first assignment of error, defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove the elements of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. He claims that because the evidence did not support the verdict, the trial court erred in denying his post-verdict judgment of acquittal.

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

Related

State of Louisiana v. Joseph Dewayne Brown
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State of Louisiana Versus Willie Youngblood
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2022
State of Louisiana Versus Howard Burl, Jr.
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019
State v. Cole
182 So. 3d 1192 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
Baker v. State
117 A.3d 676 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2015)
State v. Bychurch
148 So. 3d 664 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Austin
146 So. 3d 716 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Muth
145 So. 3d 495 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Coleman
142 So. 3d 130 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
113 So. 3d 306, 2013 WL 950882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-austin-lactapp-2013.