State v. Bass

47 So. 3d 541, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1135, 2010 WL 3156817
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 11, 2010
Docket45,298-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 47 So. 3d 541 (State v. Bass) 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. Bass, 47 So. 3d 541, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1135, 2010 WL 3156817 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

STEWART, J.

_JjThe defendant, Michael Bradford Bass, pled guilty to attempted first degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 years at hard labor without benefits of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The defendant now appeals. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the defendant’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS

On June 25, 2007, at approximately 5:00 p.m., officers with the Monroe Police Department responded to a multiple car accident that occurred at a busy intersection in Ouachita Parish. Corporal Doug Lambert, one of the responding officers, was investigating the driver of the vehicle who caused the initial collision, Ginny Ettredge. Based on his experience and training, he determined that Ettredge was driving under the influence, and placed her in his patrol car in order to direct his attention to the collision and resulting traffic jam.

Several bystanders informed Corporal Lambert that they had seen a man approach Ettredge’s vehicle and take a black bag from the car. He then left in his red Mercedes convertible. Corporal Lambert noted the information but continued with his investigation because this person was no longer present. Shortly thereafter, the same individual returned in the red Mercedes convertible and signaled to Corporal Lambert. As Corporal Lambert ap[543]*543proached the red Mercedes, he realized that this man, who was later identified as Michael Bradford Bass, was the same man that removed the black bag from Et-tredge’s vehicle.

12Corporal Lambert looked down and saw a black bag on the passenger seat of the man’s car. As he went to grab the bag, Bass pulled the bag in the opposite direction, causing Corporal Lambert to fall into the car. Bass accelerated the vehicle, with Corporal Lambert still inside, whereupon a police chase ensued. The car ultimately came to a stop after crashing into a brick building. Bass was subsequently arrested and the black bag was taken into evidence.

On July 26, 2007, Michael Bradford Bass, the defendant, was charged by bill of indictment with the following four counts: (1) attempted first degree murder; (2) obstruction of justice; (3) possession of a Schedule II, Controlled Dangerous Substance (cocaine) with intent to distribute; and (4) possession of a Schedule I, Controlled Dangerous Substance.

On August 5, 2008, the trial court heard the defense’s motions to quash and to suppress. At the hearing, the state called its first witness, Corporal Lambert. He testified that on June 25, 2007, at approximately 5:00 p.m., he responded to a traffic accident involving a city bus at a busy intersection in Ouachita Parish.

Corporal Lambert testified that as he approached one of the vehicles involved in the accident, a dark blue Saturn, he observed that the driver, Ginny Ettredge, appeared to be under the influence and lethargic. When Corporal Lambert began to inquire about her insurance, the defendant, Michael Bass, approached and began to answer his questions. Corporal Lambert identified the defendant in open court as the same individual who approached him on that date. Because it appeared that DUI charges might |sarise, Corporal Lambert placed Ettredge in the back of his patrol car for further questioning.

Several bystanders then motioned to Corporal Lambert to come over and talk to them. One bystander, Russell Galyean, told Corporal Lambert that the defendant disregarded Ettredge’s well being and searched the car frantically. He then exited with a black bag, which he placed in a red car and drove away. Galyean identified the defendant by name, as he was a previous employee of the defendant.

At this point, Corporal Lambert believed that because the red car was gone, there was nothing he could do with this information. He testified that he went to investigate another vehicle that was involved in the collision and was approached again by one of the bystanders who reiterated the black bag story. Lambert started to return to the Saturn, but was interrupted when he saw the defendant parked in a red Mercedes convertible nearby. The car was parked with the engine running and the top down. When he observed the defendant in the red car, he explained his thought process:

Well, everything clicked. Because when ... when the eyewitness ... used the name “Bass” had taken the bag, it ... you know, it all kind of came together. This was the same guy that I had talked to about the insurance information and the towing company. And it all dawned on me, this is the same guy. This is the guy that they’re talking about.

At this point, Corporal Lambert testified that the defendant hollered something to the effect of “Hey, where’s my girl?” Lambert approached the car on the passenger side to explain that Ettredge was in the back of the patrol car and to see if the black bag was visible in the defendant’s car. Eventually, |4he was standing [544]*544right next to the red convertible, with his thigh touching the passenger side door.

Corporal Lambert testified that when he saw the black bag in the passenger seat, he reached down to grab it. The defendant jerked the bag in the opposite direction, and in doing so, pulled Lambert into the car, head first. Simultaneously, the defendant hit the gas pedal and accelerated the vehicle at a high rate of speed. Lambert repeatedly yelled at the defendant to stop the car, but to no avail. The defendant’s only response Lambert’s pleas to stop was that “he could not go back” (to jail presumably).

The defendant continued at a high rate of speed, swerving back and forth in an attempt to throw Corporal Lambert from the car. Lambert testified that he reached down to the floor shifter and jerked it down to a low gear, which resulted in the car still going forward but the tires moving at a slower rate. Although the car was in a low gear, the defendant continued to accelerate in spite of Lambert’s pleas. When Lambert looked up, the defendant was accelerating directly toward a telephone pole which, had it been struck, would have impacted the passenger side where Lambert was located. Lambert was able to grab the steering wheel and veer the vehicle away from the telephone pole, whereupon the car spun around several times in the road.

Through the spinning, Corporal Lambert lost control of the wheel and following a brief pause, the defendant drove the Mercedes into a brick building at a high rate of speed. Lambert was thrown into the windshield as the car continued into the building. The defendant attempted to reverse the [ scar out of the building. However, the defendant’s getaway was thwarted when he crashed his car into a patrol car parked behind him.

Although in a contorted position, Corporal Lambert was able to unholster and deploy his Taser into the defendant’s side. Following a brief struggle, the defendant was arrested and handcuffed. The defendant took the bag with him but Lambert told the officers to secure the bag. As a result of this ordeal, Lambert testified that he suffered a contusion to his lower leg bone and ankle bone. He also testified that he believed he was going to be killed.

On cross, Corporal Lambert explained why he reached for the black bag in the defendant’s convertible:

Because in my opinion he had illegally removed the bag from what was a crime scene. I did not know if I would be able to get it back. I did not know even if I called a car and tried to have him stopped, if we would ever ... after that point if it would ... if we would be able to get control of it again.

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State v. Bass
47 So. 3d 541 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 So. 3d 541, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1135, 2010 WL 3156817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bass-lactapp-2010.