State v. Bradford

745 So. 2d 800, 1999 WL 976539
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 27, 1999
Docket32,747-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 745 So. 2d 800 (State v. Bradford) 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. Bradford, 745 So. 2d 800, 1999 WL 976539 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

745 So.2d 800 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Arthur Dean BRADFORD, Appellant.

No. 32,747-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

October 27, 1999.

*802 Amy C. Ellender, Louisiana Appellate Project, Mer Rouge, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Donna F. Hall, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee.

Before NORRIS, C.J., and BROWN and PEATROSS, JJ.

NORRIS, Chief Judge.

The defendant, Arthur Dean Bradford, appeals his conviction of distribution of a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance, a violation of La. R.S. 40:967 A (1). Following the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal, the district court sentenced Bradford to five years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. He appeals, urging that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for distribution, and alternatively, that he was entrapped. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm.

Facts

Bradford was arrested as the result of a buy-bust undercover operation conducted by the Shreveport Police Department on August 7, 1998 in the Lakeside neighborhood of Shreveport. A buy-bust operation occurs when an undercover officer is equipped with an electronic transmitting device and drives through known and documented drug areas attempting to purchase narcotics from street dealers with photocopied SPD buy funds. The officer is followed by an arrest and surveillance team, which monitors the undercover officer's activities and makes the eventual arrest.

Officer Bryan Wynn of the SPD testified at trial that he was working street level interdiction on that date and made the buy from the defendant. He was dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt, was wired with an electronic transmitter system, and was driving a white, unmarked Toyota pick-up truck.

Wynn was in the westbound lane of the 2400 block of Laurel Street when one member of a group of black males standing in front of a house flagged him down by either whistling or yelling out to him. Wynn testified that after he turned around and went back to where the group was located, Bradford left the group and approached Wynn's vehicle. The two men then engaged in a brief conversation which began when Wynn asked the defendant, "Is anyone doing anything?" Bradford responded by asking Wynn, "What do you need?" Wynn told the defendant that he wanted a "twenty cent piece," referring to $20.00 worth of crack cocaine.

Once Wynn asked for the crack, Bradford got into Wynn's passenger seat, and directed him to drive to the 1700 block of Harvard Street, where Bradford told him to pull over near a small grocery/convenience store. After Wynn gave Bradford $20.00 of the SPD's buy money, Bradford exited the vehicle and walked north on Harvard Street, crossed Laurel and went to either the third or fourth house. He *803 remained there for approximately 3-5 minutes and then exited the same yard and returned to the truck.

According to Wynn, Bradford got back into the truck and laid a white paper towel on the seat between them. When Wynn picked it up and opened it, he saw two small pieces of suspected crack cocaine. Wynn then asked the defendant if it was "good stuff," which was the pre-arranged signal for the arrest team to approach. As the arrest team came from behind the truck, Bradford attempted to exit, but was stopped and placed under arrest.

Wynn accompanied the defendant and the rest of the undercover team to the police station where he field tested the suspected crack cocaine. It tested positive for cocaine, .2 grams, and Bradford was arrested for distribution of a schedule II CDS. The contraband was subsequently sent to the Northwest Louisiana Crime Lab where it tested positive for cocaine.

Officer J.C. Brook corroborated Wynn's testimony at trial. He was a member of the arrest team and he monitored the transaction between Bradford and Wynn via the electronic transmitting device that Wynn was wearing. He heard Wynn say that he had been flagged down by an unknown black male subject. Brook, along with Officers Mark Davis and David Rachia, followed Wynn and the defendant in a white, unmarked van until they were given the bust signal by Wynn ("is this good stuff).

Brook also testified that Bradford was advised of his Miranda rights by the officers once in custody. Brook testified that after being advised of his rights, Bradford stated that he was trying to "help out" the undercover officer to buy drugs so that he could buy some beer, because he was an alcoholic.

In his defense, Bradford took the stand at trial, offering a contradictory version of the events. He testified that he was standing and talking with three other men at 2325 Laurel Street when another man, who Bradford contended was not Wynn, approached them in a white pick-up and asked them, "Where can I get something to smoke?" The defendant testified that he asked this person, "What are you talking about? Crack?" The man, who Bradford maintained was not Wynn, said, "Yes."

Bradford further testified that he agreed to help this man buy crack as long as he could smoke some of it with him. According to Bradford, at that point, he got into the truck and the following conversation took place:

Well, when I got into the car I said, "I'm not going to smoke dope with no police officer. Are you a police officer." He said, "No, I'm not a police officer." I wouldn't be caught dead smoking no dope with no police officer. He said, "No, man, I'm not a police officer."

Bradford testified that this unknown man told him to get two rocks of crack cocaine to smoke. After the defendant again asked if he was a police officer and the man reiterated that he wasn't, the man gave him $20.00 to buy the crack.

According to Bradford, after he got the crack and brought it back to the truck, he never had a chance to actually get back into the truck and hand the crack to the man or even show it to him because after the man asked him if it was good stuff, the arrest team converged on him. He further claimed that at the time he was arrested, the crack was still in his hand.

Following a bench trial held on December 4 and 7, 1998, the district court found Bradford guilty of distribution of a Schedule II CDS. Following the denial of the defendant's motion for post-judgment verdict of acquittal, the trial court sentenced Bradford to five years at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. This appeal followed.

Discussion

The constitutional standard of review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction is whether, when *804 viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact could have found that the state proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Nealy, 450 So.2d 634 (La.1984); State v. Morris, 521 So.2d 1214 (La.App. 2d Cir.), writ denied, 530 So.2d 80 (1988). In doing so, an appellate court is required to review the evidence from the perspective of a hypothetical rational trier of fact in determining whether an unconstitutional conviction has occurred, but not to assess credibility anew or re-weigh evidence. State v. Robertson, 96-1048 (La.10/04/96), 680 So.2d 1165 (Jackson

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Related

State v. Zeigler
920 So. 2d 949 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
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Bluebook (online)
745 So. 2d 800, 1999 WL 976539, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bradford-lactapp-1999.