State v. Black

627 So. 2d 741, 1993 WL 492509
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 1, 1993
Docket25,527-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 627 So. 2d 741 (State v. Black) 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. Black, 627 So. 2d 741, 1993 WL 492509 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

627 So.2d 741 (1993)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Lee Cizer BLACK, Appellant.

No. 25,527-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 1, 1993.

*743 Indigent Defender Office by John M. Lawrence, Richard E. Hiller, Shreveport, for appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, Paul J. Carmouche, Dist. Atty., Hugo A. Holland, Jr., Tommy J. Johnson, Asst. Dist. Atty., Shreveport, for appellee.

Before SEXTON, NORRIS and VICTORY, JJ.

VICTORY, Judge.

Lee Cizer Black was found guilty as charged of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, and sentenced as a second felony offender to eight years at hard labor. On appeal he complains that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support a conviction and that the trial court erred in issuing sentence. For the reasons given, we affirm the conviction, vacate the sentence, and remand for resentencing.

FACTS

During the early morning hours of October 2, 1992, Anna Mae Richardson's barking dogs drew her attention to a neighboring home at 7226 Liberty Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Upon investigating, she noticed three men lurking around a shed in the backyard of the home. She also noticed that the three men crouched down, as if trying to hide, when an oncoming automobile shined its lights upon them. After the car passed, two of the men left, carrying either a sack or another object which Richardson could not clearly identify.

Richardson, who lived at 7222 Liberty Street, was a personal acquaintance of Sandra Law, who was renting the home at 7226 Liberty Street and was in the process of moving out. Upon observing the suspicious activity at the residence, Richardson reached Law at her mother's house by telephone. Law informed Richardson that no one was supposed to be in the house. At Law's request, Richardson called the Shreveport Police Department to report the incident.

When Richardson returned from making the telephone calls, the lights in the kitchen at 7226 Liberty Street, which had previously been off, were on; and she saw a black man removing curtains from the kitchen window.

Shortly thereafter, the police arrived. After conducting a search of the house, they found the defendant, Lee Cizer Black, lying on the floor in a back bedroom acting as if he were asleep. He was arrested and charged with simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. After trial, a jury convicted the defendant as charged.

The defendant filed a motion for Post-Verdict Judgment of Acquittal, which was denied by the trial court. Therein, the defendant claimed that his conviction should be set aside because the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that: (1) the house at 7226 Liberty Street was inhabited at the time of the incident; (2) the defendant's entry into the house was unauthorized; and (3) at the time of entry, the defendant intended to commit either a felony or a theft.

After a sentencing hearing, the defendant was found guilty of being a second felony *744 offender. He was sentenced to eight years at hard labor, the first year without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The defendant filed a Motion to Reconsider the sentence imposed as excessive, claiming that in deviating from the sentence recommended by the guidelines grid, the trial court improperly considered certain aggravating circumstances, without considering related mitigating factors. The trial court denied the motion to reconsider.

Defendant appeals, complaining that the trial court erred in denying the Motion for Post-Verdict Judgment of Acquittal and the Motion to Reconsider Sentence.

DISCUSSION

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In the Motion for Post-Verdict Judgment of Acquittal, the defendant alleged that the prosecution did not present evidence sufficient to support the conviction. The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); and State v. Washington, 606 So.2d 838, 841 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992), writ denied, 612 So.2d 56 (La. 1993). The Jackson standard, now codified as part of LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 821, is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. An appellate court reviewing the sufficiency of evidence in such cases must resolve any conflict in the direct evidence by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the direct evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence and inferred from the circumstances established by that evidence must be sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. Washington, supra.

LSA-R.S. 14:62.2 defines simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling as "... the unauthorized entry of any inhabited dwelling, house, apartment or other structure used in whole or in part as a home or place of abode by a person or persons with the intent to commit a felony or theft therein...." In order to convict an accused of this crime, the prosecution must prove three essential elements, namely, that: (1) there was an unauthorized entry; (2) the structure was inhabited at the time of entry; and (3) the defendant intended, at the time of entry, to commit a felony or theft.

To satisfy the unauthorized entry element, the prosecution must show that the defendant did not have permission to enter the house. Law testified, unequivocally, that she did not give the defendant permission to enter her house, and that she did not give anyone permission to remove things from her house. She clearly still had control of the premises. The unauthorized entry element has been satisfied.

To satisfy the intent element, the prosecution must show that the defendant had the specific intent to commit a felony or theft at the time of his unauthorized entry. Specific intent, being subjective in character, need not be proven as a fact and may be inferred from the circumstances of the transaction. State v. Burns, 471 So.2d 949, 953 (La.App. 2d Cir.1985). Using an inference to prove an essential element of the crime triggers the use of the circumstantial evidence rule of LSA-R.S. 15:438. State v. Jacobs, 504 So.2d 817 (La.1987). As an evidentiary rule, LSA-R.S. 15:438 restrains the fact finder, as well as the reviewer on appeal, to accept as proven all that the evidence tends to prove and then to convict only if every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. Whether circumstantial evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis of innocence presents a question of law. State v. Shapiro, 431 So.2d 372, 384 (La.1982); State v. Hammontree, 363 So.2d 1364, 1373 (La. 1978).

The circumstantial evidence rule of LSA-R.S. 15:438 does not establish a stricter standard of review than the more general Jackson standard; but, a hypothesis of innocence that is sufficiently reasonable and strong must necessarily lead a rational fact *745 finder to entertain a reasonable doubt about guilt. State v. Sutton, 436 So.2d 471 (La. 1983); State v. Lott, 535 So.2d 963 (La.App. 2d Cir.1988).

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Bluebook (online)
627 So. 2d 741, 1993 WL 492509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-black-lactapp-1993.