State v. Barber

749 So. 2d 917, 1999 WL 1267756
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 30, 1999
Docket32,894-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 749 So. 2d 917 (State v. Barber) 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. Barber, 749 So. 2d 917, 1999 WL 1267756 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

749 So.2d 917 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Richmond BARBER, Appellant.

No. 32,894-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 30, 1999.

*919 Louisiana Appellate Project by Amy C. Ellender, Mer Rouge, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Madeline M. Slaughter, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee.

Before BROWN, PEATROSS and DREW, JJ.

DREW, J.

Richmond Barber was convicted of the February 2, 1996 armed robbery of a Toddle House employee in Monroe and sentenced to 25 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Barber was charged by a Bill of Information as an Habitual Felony Offender, but a hearing was apparently never held. Barber appeals his conviction and sentence, arguing that the trial court erred in failing to suppress an out-of-court identification, the evidence is insufficient and the sentence is excessive.

We affirm the conviction and sentence.

FACTS

Rebecca Ferris was employed as a cook at the Toddle House restaurant in Monroe. She was the only employee working the 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift on the date of the robbery. When Ferris began her shift, there was about $75 in the cash register, consisting mostly of $45-$65 in bills. Until Richmond Barber walked in the restaurant around 4:00 a.m. on February 2, 1996, there had been no sales during Ferris's shift. Monroe was in the middle of an ice storm at the time.

Barber entered the restaurant and told Ferris that he was cold and wanted something to drink. Ferris gave Barber coffee. Ferris recalled that when Barber came into the restaurant, he told her his name was "Rick." Barber asked Ferris where the bathroom was. Ferris watched Barber as he walked towards the bathroom. After several minutes, Barber returned to his seat. Ferris began preparing Barber's breakfast order. As she placed bacon on the grill, Barber walked behind her and stuck a knife against her back. She was able to see the knife handle. Barber told Ferris, "Bitch, I don't want to kill you. I just want your money." Ferris thought Barber smelled of alcohol.

Barber ordered Ferris to open the restaurant's cash register, and he removed the cash and placed it in his pockets. He then told Ferris that he needed to do something with her, but did not know what. Tying Ferris's hands with an electrical cord from a restaurant calculator, Barber ordered her to the back of the restaurant. The knife was kept to her back as they walked. Ferris testified that when they reached the rear of the restaurant, Barber threw her up against a telephone and told her that "[h]is intentions were not to hurt anybody, but, at that point he was scared and he was going to prison anyway so, he figured he's just have to stab me 27 times and rape me before leaving me dead because he was going to go to prison anyway." Ferris took the threats seriously because Barber said he was scared and did not care.

Ferris estimated that she and Barber were in the rear of the restaurant for five to ten minutes. Barber moved the knife to Ferris' throat and slammed her against *920 the wall. With his other hand running down Ferris' shirt, Barber began kissing her. When she saw the knife in her face, Ferris thought she was dead so she slid down the wall.

As Barber began to undo the top two buttons of her shirt, Ferris begged him to stop and to leave. Barber, thinking that someone across the street had noticed him in the restaurant, told Ferris he was going to have to kill her. Ferris responded that the person probably thought he was just a customer and that everything would be alright if he just left the Toddle House. As Barber left the restaurant, his last words were, "If I go to prison I'll kill you." Barber left Ferris sitting on the floor in the rear of the restaurant with her hands tied behind her back. Because her hands were loosely tied, Ferris was able to free her hands as soon as Barber walked out of the restaurant. Ferris watched Barber as he walked across Louisville Street. She grabbed the phone and called 911, reporting the robbery and giving a description of the robber and the direction he was heading. Ferris sat back down on the floor, fearful of Barber's warning that he would kill her if she "raised up." Ferris testified that no one entered the restaurant from the time Barber left until the first officer arrived about 10 to 15 minutes after Ferris made the call. The initial call was dispatched at 4:02 a.m. The dispatcher announced to the officers that the suspect was a black male wearing light-colored jeans and a dark jacket with writing on the back.

Investigation and search for the suspect.

Officer Marty Glass went to the Toddle House after receiving the call. He received a description of the suspect from Ferris and relayed this description to the other police units responding to the call. The description was of a tall, heavyset black male wearing a dark jacket and faded jeans. He did not remember whether he said anything about a cap or gloves when broadcasting the description.

Monroe Police Officer James Marlowe, driving an unmarked police unit, observed Barber walking at a fast pace through a parking lot near the intersection of North Third Street and Pine. Marlowe noticed that Barber fit the description of the suspect who had robbed the Toddle House employee since he was a tall, heavyset black male wearing a dark jacket and light jeans. Marlowe, wearing his police uniform, exited his car, identified himself as a police officer and asked Barber to come to the car. Barber became belligerent and cursed the officer, saying he had not done anything wrong and did not have to talk to Marlowe. As Barber kept moving away, Marlowe drew his revolver. Barber continued moving away, went behind a van, knelt down and placed money under the tires. When he finished, Barber began walking back towards the officer. Marlowe noticed that Barber's attitude had suddenly changed, that Barber was now speaking in a polite manner.

Sgt. Mike Walker arrived to assist Marlowe. When he arrived, he found Marlowe with his weapon pointed at Barber and ordering Barber to put his hands and body on the hood of his police car. When Walker got behind Barber and tried to put him on the car in order to cuff him, Barber began struggling. Walker used his pepper spray to subdue Barber.

After Barber was placed in a police car, Marlowe and Officer Paul Brown searched the area near the van where Barber had knelt down. They recovered approximately $40 in bills. Some money was found wadded under a tire. Other money had been blown across the parking lot by heavy winds. Six $1 bills were later recovered from Barber's pants pocket after he had been booked.

Barber left footprints in the ice and snow which covered the ground. Officer Brown followed the footprints from where the money was found, through an alley and across Louisville Avenue to the Toddle House. There was only a single set of tracks. He first followed the footprints all *921 the way back to the restaurant before looking for a weapon. Then he again walked this path while searching for a knife. A knife was found in an alley behind an appliance store which is across the street from the restaurant. Brown could tell the footprints near the knife were coming from the Toddle House.

Monroe Police Sgt. Jim Gregory was accepted as an expert in fingerprint identification and crime scene analysis. Gregory did not fingerprint the cord used to tie Ferris's hands because he had never gotten prints from an electrical cord before.

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Related

State v. Tilmon
870 So. 2d 607 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Turner
859 So. 2d 911 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Sewell
811 So. 2d 140 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
749 So. 2d 917, 1999 WL 1267756, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barber-lactapp-1999.