State v. Bourgeois

388 So. 2d 359
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedSeptember 3, 1980
Docket66656
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 388 So. 2d 359 (State v. Bourgeois) 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. Bourgeois, 388 So. 2d 359 (La. 1980).

Opinion

388 So.2d 359 (1980)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Roger S. BOURGEOIS.

No. 66656.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

September 3, 1980.
Rehearing Denied October 6, 1980.

*360 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Abbott J. Reeves, James Maxwell, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

Michael S. Fawer, Matthew H. Greenbaum, Jean Williams, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

MARCUS, Justice.

Roger S. Bourgeois was charged by bill of information with possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of La.R.S. 40:967. Defendant filed a motion to suppress the 44 grams of cocaine found during a search without a warrant of his suitcase at New Orleans International Airport. After a hearing, the trial judge denied the motion, finding that defendant had consented to the search. Defendant withdrew his former plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty as charged, reserving his right to *361 appeal the ruling of the trial judge denying the motion to suppress. State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976). After determining that the plea was made voluntarily and with understanding of the nature of the charge, the trial judge accepted the plea of guilty. A presentence investigation was ordered. Subsequently, defendant was sentenced to serve fifteen years at hard labor. On appeal, defendant relies on two assignments of error for reversal of his conviction and sentence.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

Defendant contends the trial judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the 44 grams of cocaine found during a search without a warrant of his suitcase at New Orleans International Airport.

At the suppression hearing, Raymond Egan, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Orleans, testified that he was informed by Officer Bill Johnson of the Dade County Sheriff's Office in Miami, Florida, on February 1, 1978, that Johnson had spoken to defendant at the Miami Airport and that defendant exhibited signs of nervousness and changed his story when questioned. Johnson told Egan that he observed defendant check his suitcase at the ticket counter and that it was thereafter placed on a plane bound for New Orleans. Johnson described the suitcase as a "dark bag with a red letter `N' on it" and informed Egan of the claim check number of the bag. Due to heavy fog, planes were rerouted and people were transferred from one plane to another. Neither defendant nor his bag could be located that night.

The next morning, Egan received another call from Miami informing him that defendant would be arriving in New Orleans at 5:00 p. m. aboard a National Airlines flight. Defendant's suitcase arrived in New Orleans about 2:00 p. m. that afternoon. A K-9 dog, trained in sniffing for narcotics, signalled the presence of drugs in the bag. The bag was kept under surveillance. Defendant arrived at about 5:00 p. m. as expected. He proceeded to the baggage area where he remained standing near the exit door looking nervously in all directions. Despite the fact that his bag came around twice on the conveyor belt, he did not retrieve it. Defendant suddenly turned and "bolted" through the exit door. Egan pursued and stopped him in the parking lot. He identified himself as a federal agent and in response to defendant's inquiry about the reason for the stop, Egan told him that he must have either left his bag behind or lost it on a flight. Defendant replied that he had no bag with him. Egan then asked defendant to accompany him to his office inside the terminal to determine if the bag referred to by Egan did in fact belong to defendant.

Egan and defendant returned to the terminal where they were met by another agent carrying the suitcase. Egan advised defendant of his Miranda rights upon entry into the building. The two agents accompanied defendant to the third floor office which was used jointly by DEA and the local sheriff's office. Enroute to the office, defendant denied ownership of the bag. Once inside the office, Egan began preparing an application for a warrant to search defendant's suitcase. As he was doing so, defendant continued to deny ownership of the bag and asked questions. Egan informed defendant that he was preparing an application for a search warrant. Egan testified that he prepared the warrant application because he did not expect defendant to consent to a search of the bag due to his repeated denials of ownership. Defendant asked to make a phone call to an attorney but Egan would not allow him to do so, advising defendant that he could make the call after the search.

In response to defendant's repeated denials of ownership of the bag, Egan informed defendant that he did not have to say anything and that he (Egan) would rather that he did not. Egan then asked defendant if he wanted to cooperate with the authorities as they knew the bag belonged to him. Defendant inquired as to what such cooperation entailed. Egan replied that he would have to sign a consent to search form and *362 give them information regarding the source of the drugs. Defendant then asked, "What good would it do me? What will you give me for it?" Egan replied, "I can't give you anything. All I can tell you is that we work with the District Attorney and I will let the District Attorney know what you did. I will let the presiding judge know what you did." Defendant then stated, "O.K. fine, I will cooperate with you. What form I have to sign?" At that point, defendant signed a consent to search form which was admitted in evidence at the suppression hearing. After defendant signed the form, the suitcase was opened. It contained 44 grams of cocaine, several other drugs and some clothing.

In response to defendant's request to be released, Egan asked, "What kind of bond can you make?" Defendant replied by seeking release on a "P.R. bond." Egan replied that he would have to make "some kind of bond." Egan stated that defendant got "huffy and puffy, and he got mad and didn't want to talk to us anymore." Defendant then called his attorney. Egan stated that, after the suitcase was open, defendant no longer denied its ownership. Although defendant never affirmatively admitted ownership of the bag, he clearly acknowledged its ownership by agreeing to cooperate, signing the consent to search form, and informing the officer of the identity of a drug found in the bag.

Defendant's testimony differed from that of Agent Egan in that he testified that an agent had already unzipped the bag and pulled out a pair of trousers at the time he signed the consent to search form and that he was not orally informed of his Miranda rights. Defendant admitted that he denied the bag belonged to him, that Egan informed him that he was going to procure a warrant to search the bag, and that the consent to search form was not produced until later when his cooperation was discussed.

Unreasonable searches and seizures are prohibited by the fourth amendment to the federal constitution and by section 5 of article 1 of our state constitution. It is well settled under the fourth and fourteenth amendments that a search conducted without a warrant issued upon probable cause is "per se unreasonable ... subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions." Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 83 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967).

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388 So. 2d 359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bourgeois-la-1980.