State v. Chairs

780 So. 2d 1088, 2001 WL 139116
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 7, 2001
Docket99-KA-2908
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 780 So. 2d 1088 (State v. Chairs) 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. Chairs, 780 So. 2d 1088, 2001 WL 139116 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

780 So.2d 1088 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Hansel M. CHAIRS, a/k/a Anthony White, a/k/a Larry Johnson.

No. 99-KA-2908.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

February 7, 2001.

*1091 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Nicole Brasseaux Barron, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Gwendolyn K. Brown, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, LA, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant.

Court composed of Judge PLOTKIN, Judge WALTZER, Judge TOBIAS.

PLOTKIN, Judge.

Hansel Chairs was convicted of two counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, and sentenced to life imprisonment as a multiple offender. He appeals his convictions and sentence, asserting five assignments of error. We affirm the convictions and amend the sentence as to Count 2, for the reasons below.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

By bill of information dated April 1, 1998, defendant was charged with three counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, to which he pleaded not guilty. On October 28, 1998, a twelve-member jury found defendant guilty as charged on Counts 1 and 2. The State entered a nolle prosequi as to Count 3. On February 8, 1999, in response to a multiple bill, the trial court sentenced defendant to twelve years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on both counts, with the sentences to run concurrently. On March 4, 1999, defendant was found to be a third offender. The trial court vacated the sentence on Count 1 and resentenced defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The trial court denied defendant's motion for reconsideration of sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

Officer Jimmy Slack testified that on January 22, 1998, at around 11:50 a.m., he and Officer Greg Patrolia went to 9035 Pritchard Place to assist two other officers in the investigation of a burglary. Officer Slack further testified that he and Officer Patrolia went to the rear of the residence and found that the perpetrator, whom Officer Slack identified as defendant, had entered the house through a back window. Officer Slack stated that after additional officers arrived and secured the perimeter, he and Patrolia decided to enter the house. Officer Slack said that he entered halfway through the window and saw defendant in the kitchen making a sandwich. Defendant saw Officer Slack, then ran to the front of the house where he was subsequently arrested by other officers.

Officer Kenny Temple testified that on January 22, 1998, he and his partner responded to the call of a burglary at 9035 Pritchard Place. Officer Temple stated that he, his partner, and another officer secured the front of the residence while other officers went to the rear. He and two other officers at the front of the house arrested defendant when he came through the front door. Officer Temple stated that a coin purse and jewelry were found on defendant's person.

Carmencia Edwards testified that she lived at 9035 Pritchard Place and that on January 22, 1998, she received a call from the police while she was away from home. She returned to her home soon thereafter and saw defendant in the back of a police car. Edwards identified a gold chain around defendant's neck as belonging to her. She also identified the coin purse and jewelry that had been previously found on defendant as hers. Edwards testified that the jewelry had been in a jewelry box in her bedroom, and she identified photographs showing that the drawers to the jewelry box and a dressing table had been pulled out. She further noted that food had been taken out of her refrigerator and left on the table. She testified that she had never seen defendant before and that he did not have permission to be in her house.

*1092 Janice Vallery testified that she lived at 3118 Mistletoe Street and that on the morning of January 12, 1998, after returning home from taking her granddaughter to school, she opened the door and saw defendant on the stairs. Vallery stated that she did not know defendant. When she saw defendant in her house, she first thought that defendant was a roof repairman that had been let in by her son. Vallery soon realized that if he was the repairman, her son would have been in the house with him, and her son was not there. She testified that she walked defendant outside, and after she pointed to holes in the roof that needed to be repaired, he ran away. Vallery further testified that defendant entered her house by removing a windowpane and shimmying over a bar in her den. She stated that the drawers in her bathroom were in disarray, but the only thing missing from her home was a flashlight and some candy. Vallery later identified defendant in a photographic lineup.

DISCUSSION

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals an error patent with regard to defendant's sentence on Count 2 which was imposed without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for the entire sentence. Under La. R.S. 14:62.2, only the first year of the sentence is to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Therefore, the sentence must be amended to provide that only the first year of the sentence is to be without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. There are no other errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In his first assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial when the trial judge referred to defendant's two aliases in the presence of the jury. Defendant argues that the judge's reference to the aliases set forth in the bill of information was prejudicial because the aliases had no probative value and alluded to the fact that defendant had a prior criminal record.

Following the first round of voir dire, defendant moved for a mistrial based on the trial judge's reading the bill of information containing defendant's name and two aliases. The trial judge stated that his instructions to the jurors were that the bill of information is not evidence and means nothing. Defendant then argued that he was not informed that the State amended the bill of information to include the two aliases. The trial judge denied the motion for mistrial.

Defendant reurged the motion for mistrial after the completion of voir dire. The trial judge stated that the law allows aliases to be listed; however, she told the minute clerk not to read the aliases. The trial judge further stated "[i]f you wanted a voir dire on the aliases and their perception of what an alias means you certainly had the opportunity to. You chose not to."

La.C.Cr.P. art. 466 provides:

In an indictment it is sufficient for the purpose of identifying the defendant to state his true name, or to state the name, appellation, or nickname by which he is known, or if no better way of identifying him is practicable, to state a fictitious name, or to describe him as a person whose name is unknown, or in any other manner. In stating the true name or the name by which the defendant is known or a fictitious name, it is sufficient to state a surname, a surname and one or more given names, or a surname and one or more abbreviations or initials of a given name or names.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
780 So. 2d 1088, 2001 WL 139116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chairs-lactapp-2001.