State v. Campbell

960 So. 2d 363, 2007 WL 1760669
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 20, 2007
Docket42,099-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 960 So. 2d 363 (State v. Campbell) 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. Campbell, 960 So. 2d 363, 2007 WL 1760669 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

960 So.2d 363 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Arthur Stephens CAMPBELL, Appellant.

No. 42,099-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

June 20, 2007.

*364 Laura M. Pavy, Louisiana Appellate Project, for Appellant.

Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, J. Dhu Thompson, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, GASKINS and CARAWAY, JJ.

GASKINS, J.

Following a bench trial, the defendant, Arthur Stephens Campbell, was convicted as charged of armed robbery and simple kidnapping. The trial court adjudicated him to be a second felony offender. As such, he was sentenced to 51 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on the armed robbery charge. He was given a concurrent sentence of five years at hard labor on the simple kidnapping charge. The defendant appealed. We affirm the defendant's convictions and sentences.

FACTS

On April 23, 2004, the victim, Oliver Foster, was at the Disco Nine Thousand Club in Shreveport when he met Charlene Johnson, Gregory Johnson, and the defendant. The victim agreed to give Charlene Johnson and the defendant a ride from the club. Gregory Johnson followed behind in another vehicle with some friends. After leaving the club, they arrived at the residence of William Campbell, the defendant's brother.

Upon arriving at the residence, the victim, Charlene Johnson, and the defendant exited the victim's vehicle. The next thing that the victim recalled was being hit by two males. The victim was beaten with the butt of a rifle and robbed of $35 by William Campbell and the defendant.

After the beating, the victim was forced into the backseat of his vehicle by the defendant. Gregory Johnson got in the driver's seat while Charlene Johnson got in the front passenger seat. As they drove along, the defendant and the victim began to struggle in the backseat. The defendant yelled for help, and Charlene Johnson took a knife from her purse and began stabbing the victim's leg repeatedly. Thereafter, Gregory Johnson stopped the vehicle, and the victim was thrown out of the vehicle. After his attackers fled in his vehicle, the badly beaten victim flagged down a police officer and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. At some time during the ordeal, the victim's bottom lip was badly lacerated.

The police developed Charlene Johnson, the defendant, and William Campbell as suspects after Gregory Johnson came forward with information about the incident. While the victim was unable to pick the defendant out of a photo lineup, he was able to identify Charlene Johnson from one. She was arrested and eventually gave a statement detailing what happened on the night of the attack.

The defendant was arrested on charges of simple kidnapping and armed robbery. *365 In September 2005, he waived his right to a jury trial, opting to be tried by a judge alone. Following a bench trial in December 2005, he was convicted of both offenses.

The state filed a second felony habitual offender bill asserting that the defendant had a 2000 felony conviction of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for which he had been sentenced to six and a half years at hard labor without benefits.[1] The defendant's motion to quash the habitual offender bill was denied, and the trial court adjudicated him to be a second felony offender. The defendant also filed a motion for judgment of acquittal which was denied, as was a motion to deviate from the habitual offender sentence.

The trial court sentenced the defendant to 51 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence as a second felony offender on the armed robbery charge. A sentence of five years at hard labor was imposed for the simple kidnapping charge. The court directed that the sentences be served concurrently. A timely motion to reconsider sentence was denied.

The defendant appealed, asserting three assignments of error.

SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE

Law

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); State v. Cummings, 95-1377 (La.2/28/96), 668 So.2d 1132; State v. Murray, 36,137 (La.App.2d Cir.8/29/02), 827 So.2d 488, writ denied, 2002-2634 (La.9/5/03), 852 So.2d 1020. This standard, now legislatively embodied in La. C. Cr. P. art. 821, does not provide the appellate court with a vehicle to substitute its own appreciation of the evidence for that of the fact finder. State v. Robertson, 96-1048 (La.10/4/96), 680 So.2d 1165. The appellate court does not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh evidence. State v. Smith, 94-3116 (La.10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442. The reviewing court accords great deference to the judge or jury's decision to accept or reject the testimony of a witness in whole or in part. State v. Morrison, 40,852 (La.App.2d Cir.4/12/06), 927 So.2d 670.

The Jackson standard 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 circumstantial 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. State v. Sutton, 436 So.2d 471 (La.1983); State v. Owens, 30,903 (La.App.2d Cir.9/25/98), 719 So.2d 610, writ denied, 1998-2723 (La.2/5/99), 737 So.2d 747.

In the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence, one witness's testimony, if believed by the trier of fact, is sufficient to support the requisite factual conclusion. *366 State v. Burd, 40,480 (La.App.2d Cir.1/27/06), 921 So.2d 219, writ denied, XXXX-XXXX (La.11/9/06), 941 So.2d 35.

In cases involving a defendant's claim that he was not the person who committed the crime, the Jackson rationale requires the state to negate any reasonable probability of misidentification in order to carry its burden of proof. State v. Powell, 27,959 (La.App.2d Cir.4/12/96), 677 So.2d 1008, writ denied, 96-1807 (La.2/21/97), 688 So.2d 520. Positive identification by only one witness may be sufficient to support a defendant's conviction. State v. Davis, 27,961 (La.App.2d Cir.4/8/96), 672 So.2d 428, writ denied, 97-0383 (La.10/31/97), 703 So.2d 12.

La. R.S. 14:64 defines armed robbery as the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, while armed with a dangerous weapon.

Discussion

The defendant asserts that the testimony of Charlene Johnson and Gregory Johnson was "simply insufficient" to convict him on the charge of armed robbery because they were "compromised" and trying to "save" themselves.

A review of the evidence shows that the victim left the club with Charlene Johnson and the defendant and that Gregory Johnson followed in another car.[2]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
960 So. 2d 363, 2007 WL 1760669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-campbell-lactapp-2007.