State v. Carter

167 So. 3d 970, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0742, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 575, 2015 WL 1361134
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 25, 2015
DocketNo. 2014 KA 0742
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 167 So. 3d 970 (State v. Carter) 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. Carter, 167 So. 3d 970, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0742, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 575, 2015 WL 1361134 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

CRAIN, J.

12The defendant, George Adonis Carter, was charged by bill of information with armed robbery by use. of a firearm, a violation of Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:64 and 14:64.3, and with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon, a violation of Louisiana Revised Statute 14:95.1. After pleading not guilty, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the pretrial identification and any subsequent in-court identification, which was denied. After a trial by jury, the defendant was found guilty as charged on both counts.1 Motions for new trial, postverdict judgment of acquittal, and in arrest of judgment were denied. The defendant was sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for ninety-nine years for the armed robbery conviction, plus an additional five years pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statute 14:64.3, and twenty years at hard labor for the felon in possession of a firearm conviction. All of the sentences were ordered to be served consecutively. The defendant now appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress, the sufficiency of the evidence, the constitutionality of the sentences, the denial of the motion in arrest of judgment, and the State’s use of a prior juvenile conviction as a predicate offense. We affirm the convictions, vacate the sentences, and remand for resentencing.

FACTS

A robbery was committed by three perpetrators on July 19, 2011, at Pablo’s Truck Stop, a New Roads convenience store and casino. At about 2:30 a.m., three individuals entered the casino through an entrance that was being monitored and [973]*973controlled by a security guard, Robert Carter. One of the perpetrators entered the building wearing a bandana over his face, which Carter immediately demanded that he remove. When his instructions were ignored, Carter reached for his gun, | abut one of the perpetrators drew a gun, pointed it at Carter’s head, and ordered him to put his hands on his head. Carter was then forced at gun point onto his knees with his hands behind his back. Two of the perpetrators took Carter’s gun and keys, then bound his hands with duct tape. The perpetrator wearing the bandana used- the keys to open cash drawers located behind a counter, from which the perpetrators removed approximately eight thousand dollars in cash.

COUNSELED AND PRO SE ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In counseled and pro se assignment of error number one, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the identification of the defendant by Carter. Carter positively identified the defendant and the codefen-dant, Travis Isaac, as being the two perpetrators without masks.2 The defendant contends that the photographic lineup unduly focused the attention of Carter on the defendant and increased the likelihood of misidentification, because the same photographs used for the photographic lineup for Isaac were dsed again for the photographic lineup for the defendant, except that the defendant’s photograph was substituted for Isaac’s. In support of his argument that the identification was not reliable, the defendant points out that Carter admitted to being mistaken about the height, weight, and possible age of the perpetrators.

To suppress an identification, the defendant must prove the identification procedure was suggestive and that the totality of circumstances presented a likelihood of misidentification. State v. Sparks, 88-0017 (La.5/11/11), 68 So.3d 435, 477, cert. denied, El-Mumit v. Louisiana, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1794, 182 L.Ed.2d 621 (2012). An identification procedure is suggestive if it unduly focuses a witness’s attention on the suspect. Sparks, 68 So.3d at 477; State v. Neslo, 433 So.2d 73, 78 (La.1983). However, the suggestive nature of an identification does not per se preclude admissibility unless the identification is untrustworthy under the totality of the circumstances. The central question in determining the admissibility of an identification is whether the actual identification was reliable. Sparks, 68 So.3d at 477.

In determining whether the reliability of an identification outweighs the suggestiveness of the identification procedure, the court is directed to look to several factors: (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the perpetrator at the time of the crime; (2) the witness’s degree of attention; (3) the accuracy of the witness’s prior description of the perpetrator; (4) the level of certainty demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation; and (5) the length of time between the crime and the confrontation. Sparks, 68 So.3d at 477.

A trial court’s determination of the admissibility of identification evidence is entitled to great weight and will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of an abuse of discretion. State v. Kimble, 10-1559 (La.App. 1 Cir. 3/25/11), 62 So.3d 782, 789. When a trial court denies a motion to [974]*974suppress, factual and credibility determinations should not be reversed in the absence of a clear abuse of the trial court’s discretion, that is, unless such ruling is not supported by the evidence. See State v. Green, 94-0887 (La.5/22/95), 655 So.2d 272, 280-81. However, a trial court’s legal findings are subject to a de novo standard of review. See State v. Hunt, 09-1589 (La.12/1/09), 25 So.3d 746, 751.

Detective Shael Stringer of the New Roads Police Department assisted in the investigation and testified at the suppression hearing and at trial.3 He assisted in the robbery investigation. After arriving at the crime scene, he observed video | ^surveillance and interviewed witnesses, including Carter, who provided a description of the three perpetrators. Carter recognized the two unmasked perpetrators as having previously been to the casino.

Later on the morning of the robbery, an informant advised the police that the defendant and Isaac were two of the assailants. The officers then constructed a six-person photographic lineup consisting of two rows of three photographs with a photograph of Isaac in the middle position on the second row. Detective Stringer presented the photographic lineup to Carter, who positively identified Isaac. The next day Detective Stringer showed Carter a second photographic lineup, which included the photograph of the defendant in the middle position on the first row of photographs. The photograph of Isaac was not in the photographic lineup of the defendant, but the remaining photographs were the same as had been included in the photographic lineup of Isaac, only in a different order. Carter positively identified the defendant as the second unmasked perpetrator.

When questioned about this procedure, Detective Stringer explained, “Because [of] the photo lineup pictures that we ha[d], at the time, we had to use subjects that were in close proximity with physical characteristics; race, skin color, hair, that type— those types of things in order to have all of [them] appear the same so it’s not subjective.” According to Detective Stringer, Carter knew the defendant, presumably from his previous appearance at the casino, and was “very” certain in his identification.

Carter testified at the suppression hearing and at trial. He started working as a security officer at Pablo’s over a year before the robbery and had been in the security business for twenty-four years.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 So. 3d 970, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0742, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 575, 2015 WL 1361134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carter-lactapp-2015.