State v. Cowart

862 So. 2d 225, 2003 WL 22799745
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 25, 2003
Docket03-KA-880
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 862 So. 2d 225 (State v. Cowart) 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. Cowart, 862 So. 2d 225, 2003 WL 22799745 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

862 So.2d 225 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Michael P. COWART.

No. 03-KA-880.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

November 25, 2003.

*228 Prentice L. White, Baton Rouge, LA, for Appellant.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Appellate Counsel, Juliet Clark, Counsel of Record on Appeal, Bradley Burget, Trial Counsel, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Appellee.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., SOL GOTHARD and JAMES L. CANNELLA.

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

The Defendant, Michael Cowart, appeals his conviction of possession of hydrocodone and his sentence of seven years imprisonment at hard labor, as a second felony offender. We affirm and remand.

The Defendant was charged on April 12, 2002 with violating La.R.S. 40:967(C), possession of hydrocodone. He pled not guilty and filed a motion to suppress the evidence, which was denied after a hearing. On December 3, 2002, a six-person jury found him guilty as charged. On January 6, 2003, after denying the Defendant's *229 motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, the trial judge sentenced the Defendant to five years imprisonment at hard labor. The State subsequently filed a habitual offender bill of information, alleging the Defendant to be a second felony offender. The Defendant responded with objections to the habitual offender bill through counsel and pro se. After a hearing, the trial judge took the matter under advisement. On May 2, 2003, the trial judge found the Defendant to be a second felony offender, vacated his original sentence, and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. The trial judge ordered the first nine months of the enhanced sentence to be served concurrently with the Defendant's parole violation sentence, and the remaining six years and three months to be served consecutively with the parole violation sentence. The Defendant filed a motion to reconsider the sentence, which was denied.

On March 23, 2002, Deputy Shenandoah Jones of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was driving south on Carrollton near the intersection of Hyacinth in Jefferson Parish at approximately 2:48 p.m. Deputy Jones observed the Defendant back his car out of a driveway on Hyacinth and drive north on Carrollton. As Deputy Jones passed the Defendant's vehicle, he noticed that the Defendant's inspection sticker was expired, so he turned his car around to pursue the Defendant. When the officer approached the Defendant, the Defendant had already stopped, exited his car and was standing near the rear of the vehicle with his hands cupped at his waist. Deputy Jones asked the Defendant for his driver's license. The Defendant told the Officer that he had no license or identification. According to Deputy Jones, the Defendant was pacing between the car and the curb and held his hands cupped at waist level. Officer James could not see if the Defendant had anything in his hands. Based on these circumstances, Deputy Jones became concerned for his safety and decided to conduct a pat-down search for weapons.

Deputy Jones asked the Defendant to place his hands on the back of the car, but the Defendant refused. Instead, the Defendant pressed his body against the car and kept his hands clenched at his waistband. Deputy Jones repeatedly asked the Defendant to place his hands flat on the car, but the Defendant refused. When the Officer attempted to open the Defendant's hands, the Defendant "bucked back and pushed" him, knocking the Officer backward several steps. As a result, Deputy Jones requested assistance from another police unit. Deputy James continued to attempt to move the Defendant's hands, he noticed an object in one hand that "resembled ... the barrel of a handgun." After another unsuccessful attempt to part the Defendant's hands, Deputy Jones used a "take-down" maneuver to restrain the Defendant until backup arrived.

Deputy Urissa[1] responded to the call. When he arrived on the scene, he and Deputy Jones managed to separate and open the Defendant's hands and discovered that the Defendant had been clenching a pipe. The Defendant was handcuffed, arrested for battery upon a police office, and advised of his rights. Other officers also arrived. Thereafter, Deputy Jones removed the Defendant's wallet to determine his identity. The wallet contained a Louisiana identification card and a white pill stored in one of the plastic dividers. Deputy Jones recognized the scoring on the pill and suspected that the tablet was vicodine. It was later determined that the *230 pill was hydrocodone (vicodine).[2] During the transportation of the Defendant to jail, the Defendant told Deputy Jones that he had obtained the hydrocodone from a friend and that he did not have a prescription for the pill.[3]

On appeal, the Defendant first contends that the trial judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence because the investigatory stop was clearly based solely on an expired inspection sticker that the Deputy could not have seen from ten feet away while driving over twenty miles an hour. Second, the Defendant contends the trial judge erred in denying his motion for a mistrial based on the comments made in closing arguments by the prosecution that referred to his failure to testify. Third, the Defendant asserts that the sentence is illegal because it is awkwardly divided and made both concurrent and consecutive to the time remaining on his sentence for parole violation.

MOTION TO SUPPRESS

The Defendant contends that the trial judge improperly denied his motion to suppress the evidence because the discovery of hydrocodone was the fruit of an illegal investigatory stop and pat down search.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution protect individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. However, the right of law enforcement officers to stop and interrogate a person reasonably suspected of criminal activity is recognized by state and federal jurisprudence and codified in La.C.Cr.P. art. 215.1. See: Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Belton, 441 So.2d 1195, 1198 (La.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 953, 104 S.Ct. 2158, 80 L.Ed.2d 543 (1984); State v. Robertson, 97-2960, p. 2 (La.10/20/98), 721 So.2d 1268, 1269; State v. Camese, 00-1479, p. 4 (La.App. 5th Cir.4/11/01), 786 So.2d 763, 765. The trial judge's determination on the motion to suppress will not be disturbed on appeal unless it is clearly wrong. State v. Casey, 99-0023, p. 12 (La.1/26/00), 775 So.2d 1022, 1029, cert. denied, 531 U.S. 840, 121 S.Ct. 104, 148 L.Ed.2d 62 (2000)

The Defendant asserts that the traffic stop was illegal because it was made without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and was pre-textual. However, the decision to stop an automobile is reasonable where the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred. Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 810, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 1772, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996);[4]State v. Waters, 00-0356 (La.3/12/01), 780 So.2d 1053, 1056. The standard is purely objective and does not take into account the subjective beliefs or expectations of the detaining officer. Whren, 517 U.S. at 813, 116 S.Ct. at 1774.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
862 So. 2d 225, 2003 WL 22799745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cowart-lactapp-2003.