State v. Baptiste

875 So. 2d 833, 2004 WL 943772
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 28, 2004
Docket2003-KA-2075
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 875 So. 2d 833 (State v. Baptiste) 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. Baptiste, 875 So. 2d 833, 2004 WL 943772 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

875 So.2d 833 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Toney D. BAPTISTE.

No. 2003-KA-2075.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

April 28, 2004.
Rehearing Denied July 15, 2004.

Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General State of Louisiana, Darryl W. Bubrig, Sr., District Attorney of Plaquemines Parish, Belle Chasse, LA, and Gilbert V. Andry IV, Assistant District Attorney of Plaquemines Parish, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellant.

(Court composed of Chief Judge JOAN BERNARD ARMSTRONG, Judge JAMES F. McKAY III, Judge DENNIS R. BAGNERIS SR.).

JAMES F. McKAY III, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On March 19, 2003, the State filed a bill of information charging the defendant Toney Baptiste with two counts of armed robbery, violations of La. R.S. 14:64. The defendant was arraigned and entered pleas of not guilty on March 31, 2003. On June 9, 2003, the defendant pro se filed a motion to quash on double jeopardy grounds. On July 9, 2003, the court heard oral argument on the motion to quash and took it under advisement.[1] On July 11, 2003, the court rendered a written judgment granting the motion to quash. The State moved for an appeal on August 4, 2004, which was granted by the trial court.

*834 STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

The facts of this case are evidenced in the record only by documents attached to the State's answers to the defense discovery motions. The report prepared by the sheriff's office reflects that on August 19, 2002, the victims, Hubert Cole and Leonard Broussard, were driving on Lake Hermitage Road toward a marina when a blue Oldsmobile passed them, then turned around and cut them off. The passenger of the Oldsmobile exited and approached the victims and ordered them to exit their truck, which they did. The perpetrator was armed with a revolver. At that time, the driver of the Oldsmobile also exited his vehicle, but the victims were unable to say whether he also had a weapon. The first suspect obtained the wallet of one of the victims, Mr. Broussard, which contained cash, credit cards, and his driver's license. The other victim, Mr. Cole, gave his wallet, his hunting knife, and the keys of his vehicle to the driver of the Oldsmobile. The driver told the victims not to move, and both robbers then left the scene in the Oldsmobile. The victims flagged down a passing St. Charles Sheriff's deputy and told him of what had occurred. The deputy told the victims to call the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's office to report the robbery, which they did.

Later the same day, one of the victims, Leonard Broussard, called the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's office and reported that his bank had called to tell him someone was trying to use his card at an ATM machine at a food mart in Luling. Also, the cashier at the food mart called the police because she had noticed that the person using the card, the defendant, was African-American, but had a white man's driver's license. Furthermore, the defendant had aroused the cashier's suspicions because of questions regarding how many times he could use the ATM machine before it stopped him. Deputies from the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's office responded to the scene and arrested the defendant after a struggle. A second person on the scene, which fit the description of the second robber, fled the food mart and has never been apprehended or identified.

At the time of his arrest, the defendant was found in possession of Mr. Broussard's driver's license and two credit cards. He also discarded narcotics. He was subsequently charged in St. Charles Parish with several offenses. On August 21, 2003, after Mr. Broussard positively identified him in a photographic line-up as one of the robbers, an arrest warrant was issued in Plaquemines Parish. That warrant was not executed until February 25, 2003, when St. Charles Parish authorities notified Plaquemines Parish that the defendant was ready to be transferred.

DISCUSSION

In this appeal by the State, the sole issue is whether the trial court erred when it granted the defendant's motion to quash. The motion was based on the allegation that the prosecution was barred by double jeopardy. The basis for the double jeopardy claim was that the defendant pled guilty to violating La. R.S. 14:69, relative to the illegal possession of stolen property, in St. Charles Parish; the stolen property were the items taken from Leonard Broussard, one of the victims of the armed robberies in the instant case.

Before addressing the legal principles, it should be noted that the State initially argued at the hearing that charges to which the defendant entered pleas in St. Charles Parish and was sentenced were possibly not possession of stolen property but rather were unauthorized use of an access card. The defense responded that it had provided the court with certified copies of the minutes from the St. Charles Parish proceedings. These minutes reflected *835 pleas of guilty to nine counts of unauthorized use of an access card and one count of illegal possession of stolen property. On the latter count the defendant was sentenced to 121 days in prison to run concurrently with the other counts. The State dismissed a charge of possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute. In its written judgment, the trial court explicitly stated that the conviction in St. Charles Parish was for possessing property stolen in the instant case. In its brief, the State concedes these facts, arguing only that the trial court misapplied the law to the facts.

In its written judgment the trial court relied on State v. Robertson, 386 So.2d 906 (La.1980). In that case, the defendant was charged in separate bills of information with armed robbery and receiving stolen things. The defendant entered a guilty plea to the charge of armed robbery first and was sentenced. He then filed a motion to quash the bill of information charging him with receiving stolen property. The property listed in the bill was the identical property, a vehicle, which was also listed in the bill of information on the armed robbery charge. In discussing whether the defendant could be punished for both offenses, the court first noted that armed robbery was defined in part as "the theft of anything of value,"[2] and thus theft was an element of the armed robbery charge. Robertson, 386 So.2d at 907. La. R.S. 14:69 defined receiving stolen property in part as the intentional procuring, receiving, or concealing of anything of value which has been the subject of any robbery or theft. The court then cited La. C.Cr.P. art. 482(A), which provides:

A. An indictment for theft may also contain a count for receiving stolen things, and the defendant may be convicted of either offense. When two or more persons are jointly indicted for these offenses, any or all of the persons indicted may be found guilty of either of the offenses charged. The district attorney shall not be required to elect between the two offenses charged.

The court further reviewed the comments to Art. 482, which reflected that it was designed to provide for a situation where the prosecution may be unsure which crime the evidence would establish at trial. The court recognized that Robertson had not been charged in a single indictment; however, the armed robbery conviction included theft as an essential element, and the object of the theft was the same as the thing received in the stolen property charge. The court thus concluded:

For the same reasoning that caused the enactment of art.

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Related

State v. Roe
151 So. 3d 838 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
STATE EX REL. BRADLEY v. State
1 So. 3d 459 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2009)
State v. Baptiste
995 So. 2d 1242 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
875 So. 2d 833, 2004 WL 943772, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baptiste-lactapp-2004.