State v. Cormier

487 So. 2d 1237, 1986 La. App. LEXIS 6267
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 5, 1986
DocketNo. CR 85-734
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 487 So. 2d 1237 (State v. Cormier) 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. Cormier, 487 So. 2d 1237, 1986 La. App. LEXIS 6267 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

KNOLL, Judge.

Defendant, Gregory Cormier, was indicted by the grand jury and later convicted by a twelve member jury for the following offenses: attempted second-degree murder; aggravated crime against nature; and armed robbery, violations of LSA-R.S. 14:27 and 14:30.1, 14:89.1, and 14:64 respectively. The sentencing court imposed the following sentences, to run consecutively: 50 years at hard labor for the conviction of attempted second-degree murder; 15 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the conviction of aggravated crime against nature; and 50 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the conviction of armed robbery. Defendant appeals, urging seven assignments of error and requesting a review for errors patent. It is court policy to conduct an errors patent review on all cases pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 920(2); therefore, it is not necessary to raise errors patent as an assignment of error.

FACTS

On the night of October 13, 1982, defendant and Michael Owen, a co-defendant, broke into the home of the 51 year old victim who resided alone. The victim was beaten, stabbed, dragged through her blood, sexually assaulted and robbed by defendant and Owen. Money and coins, including old silver collectors’ coins, which were kept in a mayonaise jar in an old hat box, were taken from the residence. Defendant and Owen also forced the victim at knife point to perform oral sex. After they left the residence at approximately 1:15 a.m., the victim telephoned her son whose residence was located three blocks away. She related the incident to him and described her assailants as two men, one dark-haired and the other a bit taller and blond-haired; she identified one of them as the “Owens boy.”

Lt. McCann of the Sulphur Police Department received a call at approximately 1:30 a.m. on October 14,1982, reporting the events. The victim’s son stated that Owen once lived in a trailer with Carl Evans on North Crocker Street in Sulphur. Lt. McCann dispatched Officer Johnson to Evans’s residence to ascertain whether Evans knew Owen’s whereabouts. Officer Johnson arrived at Evans’s residence, located approximately five blocks from the crime scene, at approximately 2:30 a.m. He saw someone looking out of the window of the trailer as he pulled up. Soon thereafter, the lights in the trailer went off. He repeatedly knocked on the front door and identified himself as a police officer. Although he heard movement inside, no one answered the door. After speaking with Lt. McCann, Lt. Carroll returned to the trailer and knocked once more; still no one answered. He and the other officers then entered the trailer without a warrant and awakened the occupants, including defendant and Owen. Carl Evans signed a consent form to search the premises. A search revealed a small amount of marijuana and several items missing from the victim’s residence, including old coins and her [1240]*1240medicine bottles. Defendant and Owen were subsequently charged with crimes committed in connection with this incident.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In this assignment defendant contends the trial court erred in permitting the State to amend its answer to his discovery motion on the day of the scheduled trial to include fingerprint analysis reports which were available twenty months earlier.

The State’s duty to disclose evidence is a continuing one and if the State, subsequent to the ordered disclosure, discovers additional evidence or decides to use a particular item as evidence, it must notify the defendant of the existence of the additional evidence or its intended use at trial. State v. Ray, 423 So.2d 1116 (La.1982). Since the reports were not disclosed to defendant prior to trial, it is apparent that the State, at the time of trial, decided to use the reports as evidence and disclosed such information to defendant in compliance with LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 729.3. If the State intentionally failed to disclose the reports, the trial court had discretion to impose any one of several sanctions. State v. Knighton, 436 So.2d 1141 (La.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1051, 104 S.Ct. 1330, 79 L.Ed.2d 725 (1984).

LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 729.5 provides in pertinent part:

“A. If at any time during the course of the proceedings it is brought to the attention of the court that a party has failed to comply with this Chapter or with an order issued pursuant to this Chapter, the court may order such party to permit the discovery or inspection, grant a continuance, order a mistrial on motion of the defendant, prohibit the party from introducing into evidence the subject matter not disclosed, or enter such other order, other than dismissal, as may be appropriate. (Emphasis added.)

In the instant case, the trial court granted defendant a continuance of three weeks. The remedy granted defendant was one specifically authorized by Article 729.5 and clearly within the trial court’s discretion. Since the State has otherwise complied with defendant’s discovery motion and defendant was granted a continuance, we find the trial court committed no reversible error in allowing the State to amend its answer to defendant’s discovery motion. Accordingly, we find this assignment of error without merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWO

Defendant contends the trial court erred in failing to grant his motions for mistrial made during trial because there was a legal defect in the proceedings which would make any judgment entered upon a verdict reversible as a matter of law. Defendant complains that the State’s failure to introduce syringes and marijuana paraphernalia seized when searching Evans’s trailer constituted a legal defect. Defendant further complains that he was not allowed to cross-examine police officers as to why charges were not filed in connection with the seizure of marijuana paraphernalia. We fail to find any error in this procedure. The State correctly withheld the introduction of marijuana paraphernalia and syringes when such evidence could be prejudicial to defendant, and further, it is irrelevant and immaterial to the prosecution of the charges. Finally, the search and seizure issue has already been ruled upon by this court, and is reported in State v. Cormier, 438 So.2d 1269 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1983), affirmed, 453 So.2d 1202 (La.1984).

Accordingly, we find the trial court correctly denied defendant’s motions for mistrial; therefore, this assignment of error lacks merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER THREE

In this assignment, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion in limine wherein he sought to exclude scientific reports relating to Owen and evidence of Owen’s whereabouts when the [1241]*1241incident occurred, and erred further in not granting defendant’s various attempts to restrict evidence presented to the jury as to his guilt or innocence. Defendant argues that the introduction of such evidence, in light of the seriousness of the crimes charged and the conviction of Owen, would confuse the jury and that the prejudicial effect of such evidence would outweigh its probative value.

The trial court’s ruling as to the relevancy of evidence should not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of discretion. State v. Walker, 394 So.2d 1181 (La.1981). If evidence is relevant and otherwise admissible, the fact that it is prejudicial does not bar its admission. State v. Smith, 418 So.2d 515 (La.1982); State v. Clift,

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Related

State v. Cormier
489 So. 2d 244 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
487 So. 2d 1237, 1986 La. App. LEXIS 6267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cormier-lactapp-1986.