State v. Corry

610 So. 2d 142, 1992 WL 353122
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 24, 1992
Docket92-KA-601
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 610 So. 2d 142 (State v. Corry) 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. Corry, 610 So. 2d 142, 1992 WL 353122 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

610 So.2d 142 (1992)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Tim CORRY, a/k/a Tim Curry

No. 92-KA-601.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

November 24, 1992.

*143 John M. Mamoulides, Dorothy A. Pendergast, Robert Grant, Asst. Dist. Attys., Gretna, for plaintiff/appellee.

John D. Rawls, Indigent Defender Bd., Gretna, for defendant/appellant.

Before GAUDIN, DUFRESNE and GOTHARD, JJ.

GOTHARD, Judge.

The defendant Tim Curry a/k/a Tim Corry was charged, by bill of information, with simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62.2. After a jury trial on May 9—10, 1991 the defendant was found to be guilty as charged.[1] On May 29, 1991 the State filed a multiple bill of information charging defendant with being a fourth felony offender. The trial court began a hearing on the multiple bill allegations *144 on September 23, 1991 and continued the matter to allow the State time to file an application for supervisory writs concerning the admissibility of testimony by the defendant's former attorney. After this court granted the writ, ruling the testimony to be admissible,[2] the trial court completed the hearing on January 24, 1992 and found the defendant guilty as charged on the multiple bill. Thereafter, the defendant waived delays and was sentenced to serve twelve years at hard labor, the first five years without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on the current conviction for simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. At the same time the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve thirty years at hard labor without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence on the multiple bill. Defendant was given credit for time served on both sentences. Defendant appeals his conviction and sentence. We affirm the conviction but vacate the sentence and remand the matter to the trial court.

Facts

On the morning of February 2, 1990, Francis Crochet was walking near his home on Bonnie Ann Street in Marrero. As he passed in front of the home of a neighbor, Bill Henry, he noticed the curtains moving. He then observed a man, later identified as the defendant, emerge from the side door of the residence carrying a bundle of clothes. Knowing that both Mr. and Mrs. Henry were employed and are not normally home at that hour, Mr. Crochet became suspicious and followed the man down the street.

When Mr. Crochet called out, the defendant began to run away. Crochet called out to his wife to call 911 and report the incident to police. He continued to follow the intruder but lost sight of him at the corner.

Shortly thereafter Officers Kerwin and Adams of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office arrived on the scene in response to Mrs. Crochet's summons. Officer Adams took a description of the intruder and an explanation of the circumstances from Mr. Crochet and subsequently broadcasted the physical description of the suspect over the radio to all police units nearby.

The officers approached the house and discovered a side door had been forced open. Upon further investigation the officers discovered that, in one of the bedrooms drawers were open and ransacked and an empty jewelry box was laying open on the floor.

At this point Officer Kerwin returned to his vehicle to search for the subject while Officer Adams began a search of the area on foot. When Officer Adams walked to a canal nearby he noticed there were slide marks on the banks on either side, indicating that someone had recently crossed the canal on foot. He also observed one pair of jeans in the canal and several other pairs on the bank of the far side of the canal.

At that time Officer Stephanie LeGlue, who was patrolling the area, spotted a man matching the subject's description sitting in a truck parked in a supermarket lot separated from the victim's home by a canal. She radioed for assistance. Both Officers Kerwin and Adams responded to the call. They approached the subject and asked him to get out of his truck. When he responded to the request the officers noticed the subject was wearing blue jeans caked with wet mud from the knees down. The officers also observed several pieces of jewelry on the floor of the truck. Shortly afterward Mr. Crochet identified the defendant as the perpetrator and an arrest was made. Subsequently, Bill Henry identified as his property the jeans found in the canal and the jewelry found in defendant's truck.

The defendant assigns four errors on appeal. In the first, he argues that he was arrested as a result of an illegal stop.[3] His argument is based on the description given by Mr. Crochet. At trial Mr. Crochet described the man he saw running from Mr. Henry's house as "about six foot tall, kind *145 of blondish, had a receding hair line, and had a white shirt on and blue denim pants." In his testimony at trial Mr. Crochet made no mention of a beard. The defendant, at the time of the arrest was barefoot, shirtless and had a full beard.

Officer Adams testified both at the motion to suppress hearing and at trial that immediately after the incident Mr. Crochet described the suspect as having a beard. Officer Kerwin testified that the description of the suspect he put out over the police radio at the time included a beard. Officer LeGlue verified that, in response to her inquiry just before the defendant was stopped, she was informed that the suspect had a beard.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. However, the right of law enforcement officers to stop and interrogate one reasonably suspected of criminal conduct is recognized by LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 215.1, as well as by both state and federal jurisprudence. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Belton, 441 So.2d 1195 (La.1983), cert. denied, Belton v. Louisiana, 466 U.S. 953, 104 S.Ct. 2158, 80 L.Ed.2d 543 (1984). Reasonable cause for an investigatory stop is something less than probable cause and must be determined under the facts of each case by whether the officer had sufficient knowledge of facts and circumstances to justify an infringement on the individual's right to be free from governmental interference. State v. Belton, supra; State v. Rosales, 537 So.2d 850 (La.App. 5th Cir.1989). The right to make an investigatory stop and question the particular individual detained must be based upon reasonable cause to believe that he has been, is, or is about to be engaged in criminal conduct. State v. Belton, supra.

Furthermore, knowledge that an offense has been committed is often a critical element in establishing reasonable cause. When the officer making the stop knows a crime has been committed, he has only to determine whether the additional trustworthy information justifies a man of ordinary caution to suspect the detained person of the offense. State v. Bickham, 404 So.2d 929 (La.1981).

We believe in this instance the officers had reasonable cause to justify a stop. They knew that a crime had been committed about one and one-half blocks from where defendant's truck was parked and he fit the description given at that time. The fact that the defendant was not wearing a shirt at the time he was stopped is of no moment since shirts are easily removed.

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Bluebook (online)
610 So. 2d 142, 1992 WL 353122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-corry-lactapp-1992.