State v. Barabin

124 So. 3d 1121, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0334, 2013 WL 5014679, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1856
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 11, 2013
DocketNo. 2013-KA-0334
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 124 So. 3d 1121 (State v. Barabin) 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. Barabin, 124 So. 3d 1121, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0334, 2013 WL 5014679, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1856 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

JOY COSSICH LOBRANO, Judge.

|;The State of Louisiana charged the defendant, Dannell Barabin, with illegal possession of stolen goods valued at least $500 but less than $1500, a violation of La. R.S. 14:69B(2). The defendant pled not guilty. After the trial court denied the defendant’s motions to suppress the evidence and statement, he withdrew his guilty plea and pled guilty to the charge pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976), reserving his right to appeal the denial of his two motions. The trial court sentenced the defendant to serve one year at hard labor. He timely appealed. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the defendant’s guilty plea and sentence.

The only facts of the offense were adduced at the hearings on the motions to suppress the evidence and his statement. At the first hearing, Detective Angel Wilson testified that she responded to a call concerning an automobile burglary that occurred at 5400 Magnolia Street. The victims told her that an iPad and other property had been stolen from their car, and they were tracking the location of the stolen iPad through an app that they had on another iPad. They told her that the signal on the stolen iPad indicated that it was at General Pershing and Magnolia Streets. Det. Wilson called for backup and went to that location, which was a four-plex apartment building. The officers knocked on several doors but got no |2response, and Det. Wilson returned to the victims’ house, while the other officers remained on the scene where the stolen iPad had been tracked. Det. Wilson testified that the other officers eventually contacted her and told her that they had found the stolen iPad and the other stolen items. The officers told her that they had received permission at the scene from the defendant’s father to search the residence. Det. Wilson relocated to the defendant’s apartment, where the defendant had already been detained. She was directed to his bedroom, where the officers found the iPad, a gold Coach wallet, an iMac computer, and a credit card in the name of one of the victims.

At the second hearing, Detective Sa’Bri-na James testified that she was one of the backup officers who responded to Det. Wilson’s call. The victims told her that they had arrived at their residence late the night before from out of town and had not bothered to unload their vehicle. The next morning, they discovered that someone had burglarized the car, taking several items, including the iPad. She and other officers tracked the iPad to 2794 Gen. Pershing, Apt. B. She stated that no one answered the door when they first knocked at the apartment, and they went to the neighbors’ apartment. After the neighbors indicated that they thought someone was in the other apartment, the officers returned to the apartment.

Det. James testified that the door to the apartment was open, and they saw a small child and a man sweeping the floor, whom they learned was the defendant’s father. The officers identified themselves and ex[1123]*1123plained that they were investigating a burglary that had led to the apartment. .They asked if anyone else was in the apartment, and the man responded that his son, the defendant, was in the rear bedroom. In response to the officers’ request that the man have his son step out and speak with them, the man went to the back bedroom and knocked on the Rdoor. After a time, the defendant answered the bedroom door and then entered the living room of the apartment where the officers were waiting. The officers advised the defendant of the investigation, including a summary of some of the items taken, and he became nervous and began pacing back and forth toward a storage room, stating that the only computer in his bedroom was his HP computer. The officers asked the defendant’s father if he would consent to a search of the bedroom, and the father agreed and signed a consent to search form. At that point, the defendant stated that the victims’ property was in his bedroom. The officers went into the bedroom and saw an iPad, an iMac computer, a LSU debit card in the name of one of the victims, a Coach wallet, and luggage that was found to contain the victims’ clothing. The officers then advised the defendant of his Miranda warnings, placed him under arrest, seized the stolen property, and transported him to the police station.

Det. James testified that the officers handcuffed the defendant in the living room, before his father consented to a search of the bedroom, because he kept pacing toward a storage room that abutted the room, and they were concerned for their safety. She explained that the officers did not ■ ask the defendant for his permission to search the bedroom. She stated that the officers advised the defendant of his rights when they found stolen items and again at the police station, after which he gave a statement wherein he insisted that he had gotten the items from a private seller on Craig’s List.

The defendant testified only on the subject of the suppression of the evidence. He stated that he was twenty years old and employed at a library. He testified that he did not share his bedroom with anyone else; he was the only person authorized to enter the room; and he kept the door locked at all times. He | 4 insisted that the door was locked when his father knocked on it on the morning of his arrest. He testified that the officers did not ask his permission to enter the bedroom, and he did not consent to their entry. On cross-examination, he testified that he was sleeping when the officers arrived, and when he emerged from the room, he closed but did not lock the door. He admitted that he saw his father sign the consent to search form, but he explained that they did not “exactly know that was a consent to search” form. He admitted, however, that he knew that the officers were about to search the room. He also admitted that he told the officers that the stolen iPad was in the room before his father signed the consent form.

A review of the record reveals no patent errors.

By his first assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress the statement. Although he gave a statement at the police station after twice being advised of his rights, the defendant makes no argument as to that statement. Rather, his claim is addressed only to his admission that the stolen property was in his bedroom, made after his father signed the consent to search form.. He asserts that he was in custody at the time he made his statement, and the officers did not advise him of his Miranda rights until after he made the statement. In addition, he argues that the officers did not have, reasonable suspicion to detain him at the time that he made his statement. The defen[1124]*1124dant’s argument fails for two reasons: (1) the evidence in the record does not indicate that he was “in custody” for Miranda purposes at the time he made the statement, and (2) the statement was not the product of a custodial interrogation.

As per La.C.Cr.P. art. 703D, the State had the burden of showing that the defendant’s statements were admissible. In addition, La. R.S. 15:451 provides: “Before what [purports] to be a confession can be introduced in evidence, it must |Bbe affirmatively shown that it was free and voluntary, and not made under the influence of fear, duress, intimidation, menaces, threats, inducements or promises.” See State v. Gradley, 97-0641, p. 9 (La.5/19/98), 745 So.2d 1160, 1166. As noted in State v. Vigne, 2001-2940 (La.6/21/02), 820 So.2d 583, in order for a statement made by a suspect in custody

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Bluebook (online)
124 So. 3d 1121, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0334, 2013 WL 5014679, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1856, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barabin-lactapp-2013.