State v. Bonanno

373 So. 2d 1284
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 25, 1979
Docket63393
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 373 So. 2d 1284 (State v. Bonanno) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bonanno, 373 So. 2d 1284 (La. 1979).

Opinion

373 So.2d 1284 (1979)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Joseph V. BONANNO and Roy J. Dorman, Jr.

No. 63393.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 25, 1979.
Rehearings Denied September 4, 1979.[*]

*1286 Edward M. Baldwin, New Orleans, Richard V. Burnes, Gravel, Roy & Burnes, Alexandria, for defendant-appellant Joseph V. Bonanno.

Donald R. Minor, Shreveport, for defendant-appellant Roy J. Dorman, Jr.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Patrick G. Quinlan, Glen R. Peterson, Asst. Attys. Gen., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.

CALOGERO, Justice.

Defendants Bonanno and Dorman were convicted after a jury trial of distribution of cocaine, a violation of R.S. 40:967B(1). Each defendant was sentenced to twenty-one years imprisonment. In seeking reversal of their convictions and sentences, Bonanno and Dorman present numerous assignments of error, many of which are urged by each of them. The arguments meriting lengthy discussion deal with the state's failure to provide defendant Dorman with discovery to which he was entitled (Dorman and Bonanno Assignments Nos. 13 and 16) and the trial court's sentencing of defendant Bonanno without adhering strictly to the requirement of Article 894.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that there be a record statement of the considerations taken into account and the factual basis therefor in imposing sentence. (Bonanno Assignments Nos. 37 and 38).

The drug transaction which culminated in the defendants' arrests had been preceded by months of planning by the undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents involved, during which time there were numerous contacts between them and the defendants. In December of 1976 undercover DEA Agent Hawkins established contact with defendant Dorman through a "borrowed" confidential informant. A series of telephone contacts between these men involving a possible cocaine sale ensued during the month of April and the early weeks of May, 1977. After the last telephone contacts on May 11, 1977, the agents met the defendants in a Shreveport motel and arrested them as soon as the defendants actually displayed the large amount of cocaine they brought to sell.

Prior to trial, Dorman's counsel filed a motion for discovery wherein he requested notice of the existence of any oral statement or confession of any nature made by the defendant which the state intended to offer as evidence at trial; the motion sought information as to when, where and to whom the confession or statement was *1287 made. In response to this portion of Dorman's discovery motion, the state took the position that an answer was not required. Seven months later, in the middle of trial, the state questioned DEA Agent Hall regarding the nature of a telephone conversation he had with Dorman prior to the date of the offense. Dorman's counsel objected to the inquiry, arguing that the information sought was irrelevant. The jury was removed, and Dorman's attorney further protested that the state's inquiry was improper redirect examination. In arguing his objections Dorman's counsel indicated his belief that the call to which the state referred was one of a series which took place during December, 1976. The state announced that its intent was to have the agent testify regarding a call which took place in April, 1977, the month preceding the offense. Counsel for Dorman then stated as additional grounds for his objection the fact that he was given no discovery whatsoever, no notice, of any phone call in April. The state countered that such discovery was not available and the trial court allowed the testimony.

Still later during trial when the state questioned DEA Agent Hawkins about the substance of telephone conversations with Dorman on May 9, 10 and 11, 1977, Dorman's counsel renewed his complaint that he had been given no discovery and therefore had no knowledge of any phone conversations, even though the defense had made a request prior to trial. Again the state responded that the law does not allow discovery of such conversations and the trial court again overruled the objection, allowing the state to elicit testimony concerning these conversations.

Throughout the trial proceedings, Dorman endeavored to convince the jury that he was merely a reluctant middle man, enticed into his part of the drug transaction at the urging of the "borrowed" confidential informant who introduced him to undercover Agent Hawkins. However, testimony setting forth the substance of various telephone conversations in which Dorman participated, as well as the fact that so many calls took place, was particularly damning, because unhesitating participation was thereby indicated.[1] The evidence was clearly important to the state's case.

The state's representation in response to Dorman's discovery motion that it is not required to give notice of oral statements intended for use at trial or relate information as to when, where and to whom the statements were made is patently erroneous. Code of Criminal Procedure Article 716 unequivocally provides that upon defense motion, "... the court shall order the district attorney to inform the defendant of the existence, but not the contents, of any oral confession or statement of any nature, made by the defendant, which the district attorney intends to offer in evidence at the trial, with the information as to when, where and to whom *1288... [it] was made." Because the type of notice contemplated by the statute is virtually identical to that required in connection with oral statements by Code of Criminal Procedure Article 768 as interpreted by State v. Sneed, 316 So.2d 372 (La. 1975), it is clear that notice is required, when sought by the defense, for the same reasons that the Article 768 notice is required.[2]

As in cases where the state has failed to give the notice required by Article 768 we would ordinarily determine whether, and to what extent, Dorman has shown he was prejudiced by the state's failure to provide the discovery to which he was entitled before deciding what consequences would flow from the state's non-compliance with the statutory mandate.[3]See e. g., State v. Qualls, 353 So.2d 978, 983 (La.1978). However, in the instant case, Dorman's arguments that the court erred in not excluding the evidence concerning his telephone statements or declaring a mistrial based on the state's failure to provide mandated pretrial discovery are unavailing. Notwithstanding his status as the moving party in connection with the discovery motion, the defendant did not provoke a hearing at which the trial court could have been called upon to judge the sufficiency of the state's response. Therefore, even though a defense request was couched in language which literally tracked the statute (clearly indicating entitlement to a response to the request for the information sought), Dorman did nothing to call to the court's attention the need for, and his entitlement to, an order mandating the discovery of the information sought. Dorman's inaction effectively deprived the trial judge of an opportunity to make a ruling which would have prevented the commission of error. Even though the discovery motion is a written motion, in connection with which an objection is ordinarily not required to permit the urging of error on appeal (C.Cr.P. art. 841), the accepted procedure utilized in connection with discovery motions, as in the case of applications for particulars,[4]

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Bluebook (online)
373 So. 2d 1284, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bonanno-la-1979.