State v. Ceaser

187 So. 2d 432, 249 La. 435, 1966 La. LEXIS 2339
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 6, 1966
Docket48002
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 187 So. 2d 432 (State v. Ceaser) 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. Ceaser, 187 So. 2d 432, 249 La. 435, 1966 La. LEXIS 2339 (La. 1966).

Opinion

SUMMERS, Justice.

Prien Ceaser was charged in a bill of information dated March 12, 1965 with “receiving stolen things” (a calf), as denounced by Article 69 of the Criminal Code. He was convicted by a five-man jury and sentenced to the State Penitentiary for one year. On this appeal he relies upon five bills of exceptions taken to errors alleged to have been committed during the trial.

Ceaser was arraigned on the charge in Calcasieu Parish in April 1965, at which time he was represented by his employed attorney Mr. Phillip St. Romain, law partner of Mr. Jack Rogers. The latter tried this case and now represents Ceaser on this appeal.

After his arraignment, but prior to trial, Ceaser was summoned as a witness by the State to testify in Cameron Parish at the trial of the brothers Wilson, George and Wilfred Celestine, who were being tried for the theft of the calf Ceaser was then charged with having received.

At the trial of the Celestine brothers Ceaser gave testmony which was clearly incriminating. His testimony disclosed that he knew the Celestines; that he received the calf which they had stolen in Cameron Parish and delivered to him in Calcasieu Parish for resale; that he shot and butchered the calf at his home and retained a hind quarter and the liver for his work, which officers confiscated along with the calf hide found on the premises. He further identified a picture of his house and a smokehouse in the back yard where the hind quarter of the calf was found hanging. Some knives, a saw and a rifle used to slaughter the calf were identified by Ceaser as his property. These disclosures and the objects mentioned are referred to by Ceaser’s counsel as the fruits of his testimony and of an illegal search and seizure.

*441 Thereafter, prior to his own trial, on September 13, 1965, Ceaser’s counsel filed a motion by which he sought to have suppressed all of the fruits of his testimony at the Celestine trial.

He argues in support of the motion that failure to advise him that he need not testify, and that if he did testify what he said might be used against him, was a violation of his constitutional right against self incrimination. And, furthermore, not informing him that he had a right to the advice of counsel before answering the questions propounded to him as a witness deprived him of an important constitutional right. It is asserted that, because the interrogation was conducted in disregard of these alleged constitutional rights, the fruits of the interrogation are the product of an illegal search and seizure under the Federal and State Constitutions and should be suppressed. The trial judge overruled the motion, and Bill of Exceptions No. 1 was reserved.

During his trial which followed, Ceaser objected to the introduction of any evidence given by him previously in the Celestine trial on the ground that the motion to suppress the fruits of that interrogation had been erroneously denied. He asked that the objection be made general to any evidence obtained by virtue of that interrogation which the State might seek to introduce. This objection was overruled and Bill of Exceptions No. 6 was reserved.

Under these circumstances the burden is upon the defendant to establish that the evidence he sought to suppress was actually used against him, otherwise he has no cause to complain. La.Code Crim.Proc. art. 557. For this reason we cannot fail to observe at the outset that the partial record filed in this court fails in any manner to disclose that the fruits of the interrogation at the Celestine trial were actually used in Ceaser’s trial. But, since the district attorney opposed the motion to suppress, and as the trial judge refused to suppress the evidence, we may infer that some or all of that evidence was used to convict Ceaser. We will, therefore, proceed to a consideration of the legality of the evidence obtained as a result of Ceaser’s interrogation at the Celestine trial.

First, Ceaser’s contention that he was not advised of his right against self incrimination is without foundation. Apparently when Ceaser’s counsel requested an extract of his testimony from the reporter of the Celestine trial, the judge’s advice against self incrimination, which appeared in the transcript immediately preceding Ceaser’s testimony, was omitted either through inadvertence or as the result .of a belief that it did not constitute a part of that testimony. Evidently counsel’s contention that Ceaser was not advised of his rights against self incrimination stems from this omission. Suffice it to say, upon the trial of the motion to suppress, the State’s *443 .attorney filed a certified copy of an extract from the transcript in the Celestine trial, which supplements the extract obtained by ■Ceaser’s counsel, and which we quote as follows:

“(Prien Ceaser was called as a witness on behalf of the State. Before taking the witness stand to testify the following remarks were addressed to him by the Court.)
“THE COURT: Before you start to testify, under the Constitution of our State and of the United States you. are not obliged to give any evidence that might tend to incriminate you. However, if you do go ahead and testify and give any evidence that might do so, then, of course, it could be used against you. Do you understand that?
“PRIEN CEASER: Yes, sir.
“MR. JONES: Thank you, Judge.”

This indisputable evidence disposes of 'Ceaser’s contention that he was not advised ■of his right against self incrimination. Defense counsel’s brief seems to concede this issue now, but he persists in the contention that the motion to suppress was erroneously denied because “at no time did the judge or district attorney even suggest or hint that he had a right to consult with an attorney (or ask could he afford one) before testifying.”

This argument is difficult to understand as the record unmistakably discloses that counsel, or a member of his firm, was employed by Ceaser and represented him after his arrest long before he was summoned as a witness in the Celestine trial. These same attorneys have represented Ceaser since the Celestine trial and still represent him. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude, in the absence of a showing to the contrary, that they represented Ceaser in the interim at the time of the Celestine trial. Argument to this effect has been advanced by the district attorney and has not been refuted.

Undoubtedly, the State had a right to summon Ceaser as a witness. And Ceaser had ample opportunity, after receipt of the summons and prior to appearing at the Celestine trial, to consult with his attorneys regarding his appearance and whether he should claim the right against self incrimination. If he chose not to consult his employed counsel in this instance he had that right, and, if he did in fact consult counsel on this question, we can discover no error simply because counsel was not in attendance with him. Viewed in light of the fact that the judge unequivocally advised Ceaser of his right against self incrimination, which right he chose not to assert, the contention has no substance.

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Bluebook (online)
187 So. 2d 432, 249 La. 435, 1966 La. LEXIS 2339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ceaser-la-1966.