State v. Black

786 So. 2d 289, 2001 WL 487573
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 9, 2001
Docket34,688-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 786 So. 2d 289 (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, 786 So. 2d 289, 2001 WL 487573 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

786 So.2d 289 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Harold Joe BLACK, Appellant.

No. 34,688-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 9, 2001.

*291 J. Ransdell Keene, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Donna Frazier Hall, Tommy J. Johnson, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee.

Before NORRIS, CARAWAY & PEATROSS, JJ.

PEATROSS, Judge.

Defendant, Harold Joe Black, was convicted of Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance ("CDS") Schedule II (cocaine) and sentenced, as a second felony offender, to 15 years at hard labor and ordered to pay costs or, in default of payment, to serve 25 days in the parish jail with the 25 days to run concurrent with the hard labor sentence, from which he now appeals. For the reasons stated herein, *292 Defendant's conviction and sentence are affirmed.

FACTS

On January 14, 1998, Agents April Wright and Rick Farris, deputies of the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office, were working undercover with a confidential informant ("C.I.") in the Lakeside area of Shreveport. The officers and the C.I. had been working the area for several months. On this particular day, the deputies and the C.I. had a tentative plan to go to a house on Laurel Street and purchase narcotics from a suspected dealer with the street name "Boss Hogg."

At trial, Deputy Farris testified that it was approximately 7:00 p.m., and dark, when they arrived at the house on Laurel Street. Deputy Farris, wearing an audio wire, and the C.I. went to the house. Deputy Wright remained in the vehicle, which was positioned across the street from the house, where she could observe any drug buy and respond in case of any problem. The audio wire which Deputy Farris had on his person was being monitored by Deputy Wright and two other officers at another location.

The house was devoid of electricity, but electricity was being "bootlegged" from an auto garage next door. The occupants had run an extension cord from the garage into the house, which powered a single light hanging in the middle of one of the rooms.

Deputy Farris and the C.I. met Defendant on the front porch and accompanied him into the house, but "Boss Hogg" was not in the house. The only occupants in the house were Defendant and a female.

Deputy Farris testified that he asked Defendant for $100 worth of crack cocaine. He was told that there were no drugs in the house. Apparently, there had been a shooting the night before at a nearby house, known to be a crack house, so the drugs were now kept at another house. According to Deputy Farris, Defendant offered to go get the "eight ball" of crack cocaine from "Boss Hogg."[1]

Deputy Wright testified that she saw an individual, whom she identified at trial as Defendant, leave the house and walk around the street corner. She estimated he was gone only a few minutes. She notes, however, that she was distracted by someone who approached the vehicle several times and she may have lost track of time. Deputy Farris estimated that Defendant was gone about twenty minutes. Deputy Farris testified that he and the C.I. spent most of that time talking with the unidentified woman about the recent shooting and checking on Deputy Wright.

Both deputies testified that Defendant returned to the house. Deputy Wright testified that she did not actually see any drug transaction, but heard it over the surveillance transmitter. Deputy Farris testified that, after Defendant returned, Defendant handed him an "eight ball" of crack cocaine, and Agent Farris handed Defendant $100. Defendant then wanted a piece of the "rock" as payment for going out to get it.[2] Deputy Farris testified that he instead gave Defendant an extra $5, for a total of $105. Deputy Farris explained that, once he had made the buy, he could not give a portion back to Defendant because that would have constituted distribution of a CDS on his part. Thereafter, the officer and the C.I. left.

*293 As Deputy Farris rejoined Deputy Wright, he told her that the man from whom he had purchased the drugs was identified as "Harold Joe Black."[3] Agent Farris testified that he had seen Defendant on several other occasions prior to the buy. The rock was tested and found to contain 1.9 grams of crack cocaine with a street value of $190.

Defendant was arrested two months later at his mother's home. The deputies testified that, prior to Defendant's arrest, his identity was confirmed through further investigation in the area. The sworn affidavit in support of the arrest warrant was signed by Deputy Wright. The affidavit contained a handwritten notation that Deputy Wright had witnessed the drug buy. Under cross examination at trial, Deputy Wright admitted that she had not visually witnessed the drug buy, but that the presiding judge had written the statement on the affidavit after ascertaining that she had heard the transaction over the surveillance equipment.

The surveillance audio tape was played at trial. The quality of the tape was very poor, but Deputy Farris testified as the tape was played in court and identified who was speaking. At a point on the tape where a male voice was discussing an "eight ball," Deputy Farris testified that the voice was that of Defendant.

Deputy Farris identified Defendant as the one who handed him the "eight ball" of crack cocaine and who was given the money. Deputy Wright identified Defendant as the individual she saw on the front porch of the house when they initially arrived and later leave and return to the house. She testified that she had seen Defendant on several occasions in the past and had seen him answer to "Harold Joe Black." The State did not call the C.I. to testify.

Defendant called several witnesses. The first group of witnesses, which included one of his former teachers and other residents of the community who knew him, testified that they had listened to the surveillance tape, and the voice discussing the "eight ball" was not Defendant's voice. Although Defendant's mother testified regarding the details of Defendant's arrest, she was never asked by defense counsel if the voice on the audio tape was her son's.

Defendant then called the C.I. who had been present at the January 14, 1998 drug buy. The C.I. testified that he had assisted the police on 200-300 drug buys. He testified that he had known Defendant all of his life and that he was his friend. He testified that he had listened to the voice on the surveillance tape discussing the "eight ball," and it was not Defendant's voice, but thought the voice was "myself." The C.I. further testified that Defendant was present at the drug buy, but the C.I. did not see him hand any drugs to Agent Farris in the house. Instead, the C.I. said it was the unidentified woman. He further testified, however, that it was Defendant who had left to find "Boss Hogg" to get the drugs. The C.I. also identified Defendant as a user of drugs.

At the beginning of the third day of the trial, Thursday, March 23, 2000, counsel for Defendant notified the trial court that, at 2:00 p.m. the previous day, he was given a note by another attorney that Agent Farris might be the same "Agent Farris" who had filed an affidavit in another *294 drug case which misidentified a particular person who had sold drugs to him. The person whom Agent Farris named in his affidavit in the other case was actually incarcerated at the time of the alleged drug deal and could not have possibly been the seller.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
786 So. 2d 289, 2001 WL 487573, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-black-lactapp-2001.