State v. Cotton

511 So. 2d 1207
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 19, 1987
Docket18736-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 511 So. 2d 1207 (State v. Cotton) 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. Cotton, 511 So. 2d 1207 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

511 So.2d 1207 (1987)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Carlin COTTON, Appellant.

No. 18736-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

August 19, 1987.

*1208 Benjamin Jones, Monroe, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara B. Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, James A. Norris, Jr., Dist. Atty., Michael Jedynak, Asst. Dist. Atty., Monroe, for appellee.

Before FRED W. JONES, Jr., NORRIS and LINDSAY, JJ.

*1209 LINDSAY, Judge.

The defendant, Carlin Cotton, was charged by bill of information with two counts of felony theft, violations of LSA-R.S. 14:67. The defendant was tried by a jury and found guilty as charged on both counts. The defendant was sentenced to serve five years at hard labor for count one and two years at hard labor for count two, with the sentences to run concurrently. The defendant has appealed his convictions. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On September 2, 1985, Clayton Copes, owner of the Copes I-20 Texaco gas station in Monroe, Louisiana, was approached by a black male who asked for $2.00 in change. Copes gave the man change and went outside the station to wait on a customer. When Mr. Copes returned, the man asked for an additional dollar in change. At that time, Copes noticed that the handle on his cash register was turned down, indicating that the cash register had been opened. Approximately $350.00 in currency was missing from the cash register. The black male had been the only person in the office while Copes was not present. Copes confronted the man about the loss of the money. The man denied taking the money, refused to wait until police were summoned and walked briskly away.

At about the time the black male was departing, Mr. Grady Kight drove up to the gas station. At Mr. Copes' request, Mr. Kight followed the man. Mr. Kight caught up with man, later identified as the defendant, and asked him to return to the service station. The man denied taking any money from the gas station and then got into a blue Chevrolet, being driven by another individual, and departed. Mr. Kight copied down the license number of the vehicle and turned this information over to the police.

The investigating officers learned that the blue Chevrolet was owned by David Banks. Mr. Banks stated he was approached by a black male who offered him $10.00 for a ride and Mr. Banks complied. Mr. Banks indicated that the man was wearing shorts and a striped shirt. Although the investigation of this theft continued, no arrest was made at that time.

On September 9, 1985, another theft occurred. On that date, at around 10:30 a.m., Michael Rawls, who was working at his father's business, the Mid City Exxon gas station, observed a black male walking near the station. A few minutes later, Mr. Rawls saw the same man, the defendant, walking out of the station. The defendant then walked back into the station and obtained one dollar in change from Mr. Rawls. About thirty minutes later, Mr. Rawls discovered that a bank deposit bag containing $852.00 was missing from its proper place. The bag contained five $100.00 bills, one $50.00 bill, several $20.00 bills and forty to fifty $1.00 bills. The bag was quickly found behind a desk, but $850.00 was missing. Mr. Rawls called the police and gave a detailed description of the suspect. The description was broadcast by police radio.

Soon after the discovery of the theft from Rawl's Mid City Exxon, and only a short distance away, police officers saw the defendant, who fit the description of the suspect, walking near a sporting goods store. The defendant was stopped for questioning and in a pat down search, a roll of forty-three $1.00 bills was found. The defendant agreed to accompany the police officers back to the gas station. When the defendant and the police officers returned to the gas station, Mr. Rawls identified the defendant as the individual who had been there earlier that morning. The defendant was then placed under arrest.

Pursuant to a search following the defendant's arrest, $645.00 was found in his right sock, including five $100.00 bills. $70.00 was found in the back pocket of the defendant's pants. It was also determined that the defendant had purchased a pair of jeans, a pair of shoes, and had eaten at a fast food establishment. Refunds were obtained for the jeans and shoes and a total of $844.00 was returned to Mr. Rawls.

Following the defendant's arrest, and as a part of the investigation of the theft from Copes I-20 Texaco station, a photographic lineup was prepared and shown to Mr. *1210 Copes and Mr. Banks. Mr. Copes was unable to positively identify the defendant from the photographic lineup, although he did identify the defendant at trial. However, Mr. Banks did identify the defendant as the person to whom he gave the ride immediately after the theft occurred.

The defendant was charged with two counts of high grade felony theft. At the conclusion of his trial, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged on each count. The defendant has appealed his convictions, urging several assignments of error.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR ONE

The defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence, contending that his arrest was illegal, as was the manner in which his pretrial identifications were obtained. Specifically, the defendant argues that he was arrested without probable cause and he argues that the identification procedures used in both the one-on-one confrontation and the photographic line-up were unconstitutionally suggestive. The defendant's arguments are meritless.

The defendant first argues that his arrest was invalid due to a lack of probable cause for the arrest and therefore all evidence obtained pursuant to the arrest should be suppressed. The defendant argues that he was not wearing unusual clothing on the morning he was stopped by police near the sporting goods store. He also argues that the fact that he was carrying a large roll of $1.00 bills did not provide probable cause to arrest him for theft.

The uncontroverted testimony in the record shows that the defendant was not arrested following his stop by police in front of the sporting goods store. After the report of the theft by Mr. Rawls on September 9, 1985, a detailed description of the suspect was broadcast to law enforcement officers. The suspect was described as a black male, in his early twenties, with short Afro type hair, wearing gray silky type pants and a striped pullover shirt. The defendant was stopped because he fit the description given by Mr. Rawls, the victim of the theft and, while detained, the defendant was found to be in possession of a roll of forty-three $1 bills.

Based upon the information possessed by the officers, they were clearly entitled to make an investigatory stop and pat-down search of the defendant pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 215.1. A valid investigatory stop is based upon reasonable suspicion, a somewhat lesser standard than probable cause to arrest. State v. Chaney, 423 So.2d 1092 (La.1982). Probable cause to arrest exists when a law enforcement officer has reasonable and trustworthy information about facts and circumstances sufficient to sustain the belief of a reasonable man that the person has committed or is committing a crime. LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 213, State v. Chaney, supra. In this case, the law enforcement officers possessed the requisite reasonable suspicion to make an investigatory stop and conduct a pat-down search of the defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
511 So. 2d 1207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cotton-lactapp-1987.