State v. Cyrus

97 So. 3d 554, 2011 La.App. 4 Cir. 1175, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 943, 2012 WL 2629226
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 5, 2012
DocketNo. 2011-KA-1175
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 97 So. 3d 554 (State v. Cyrus) 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. Cyrus, 97 So. 3d 554, 2011 La.App. 4 Cir. 1175, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 943, 2012 WL 2629226 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

TERRI F. LOVE, Judge.

|, Defendant Christopher R. Cyrus was charged as follows: Count One — aggravated burglary, a violation of La. R.S. 14:60; Count Two — simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, a violation of La. R.S. 14:62.2; Count Three — aggravated burglary;

[556]*556Count Four — aggravated burglary; and Count Five — simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. Defendant Cyrus pled not guilty at his arraignment. In respective competency hearings, Defendant Cyrus was found incompetent to proceed, but in subsequent hearings, he was declared competent to proceed.

Defendant Cyrus filed a motion to suppress the identification which was denied by the trial court.

A motion in limine to exclude evidence was filed by Defendant Cyrus, but was denied, in part, by the trial court. This Court denied Defendant Cyrus’ application for supervisory review of that ruling.1 Trial by a twelve-person jury commenced regarding Counts Three and Four, each charging one count of aggravated burglary. Defendant Cyrus was found not guilty as charged as to Count Three and guilty as to Count Four.

|gThe trial court denied Defendant Cyrus’ motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal as to his aggravated burglary conviction in Count Four, and subsequently sentenced him to twenty-five years at hard labor. Defendant Cyrus pled guilty to being a habitual offender as to Count Four, and the trial court vacated the original sentence and resentenced him to the same sentence previously imposed — twenty-five years at hard labor.

Defendant Cyrus also pled guilty to Count One, aggravated burglary, and Counts Two and Five, both counts charging simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, and was sentenced to twenty-five years at hard labor on Count One, and twelve years at hard labor on each count as to Counts Two and Three. In the same proceeding, Defendant Cyrus pled guilty to being a third-felony habitual offender as to Counts One, Two and Five. The trial court vacated the original three sentences imposed as to those counts and resen-tenced Defendant Cyrus to the same sentences previously imposed — twenty-five years at hard labor on Count One, and twelve years at hard labor on each count as to Counts Two and Five. All sentences were to run concurrently and with any other sentences.

Defendant Cyrus filed an appeal, and after review, we affirm his conviction and sentences for the reasons to follow.

FACTS

New Orleans Police Department Detective Jeff Keating testified that he investigated an aggravated burglary that occurred at 831 Olga Street, at approximately 7:30 a.m. The victim was Dr. Daniel Hogan. The victim’s automobile, a Jaguar, which was later recovered, his handgun and three hundred ($300.00) in cash were taken during the burglary. Det. Keating testified that unsuccessful attempts were made to obtain latent fingerprints from the victim’s ] .^residence and his car. Dr. Hogan assisted in developing a computer-generated composite sketch of the perpetrator, a copy of which was identified by Det. Keating and was introduced into evidence. Defendant Cyrus was developed as a suspect. Det. Keating stated that upon comparing a photograph of Defendant to the composite sketch, he noticed very similar facial characteristics.

While at the scene of Dr. Hogan’s aggravated burglary, Det. Keating learned of another aggravated burglary that occurred approximately two blocks away on Taft Place at approximately 5:20 a.m. on the same morning. The detective subsequently compiled a six-photo lineup and displayed separate lineups to Dr. Hogan and [557]*557Michele Landry, the victim of the Taft Place burglary. As a result, the detective secured arrest warrants for Defendant Cyrus for the two aggravated burglaries.

Det. Keating confirmed on cross-examination that Defendant Cyrus was never found in possession of any property stolen from Olga Street, and that when he was arrested, he did not have a gun on his person. Det. Keating testified that Defendant Cyrus’ height and weight on the front sheet of his report were provided by Defendant Cyrus. When asked on cross-examination whether he ever tried to rule out any other possible suspects, Det. Keat-ing replied that he had no other suspects.

During cross-examination, Det. Keating replied in the affirmative when defense counsel asked whether, during the course of his investigation, he recovered a black sweatshirt near the recovery site of Dr. Hogan’s car. Det. Keating confirmed that the sweatshirt was collected as evidence. Det. Keating replied in the affirmative when defense counsel asked whether the reason he put the sweatshirt into evidence was because he thought perhaps the individual who had |4stolen the car may have been wearing it and thrown it down. He confirmed that he never had that sweatshirt tested for hairs or DNA.

Michelle Landry, the victim of the aggravated burglary on Taft Place, testified regarding the circumstances of the burglary at her residence. She confirmed that after being confronted by the intruder in her bedroom in the early morning darkness, and after fleeing out of a window and running down the street frantically knocking on doors seeking assistance, and finally being let into a neighbor’s residence, she told a 911 operator that the perpetrator was wearing a mask. However, she testified that what she meant was that the perpetrator had a hood that covered the sides of his face; there was nothing eover-ing the front of his face. Ms. Landry identified the six-photo lineup presented to her by Det. Keating, and pointed out the photo she identified. She said she made her identification in seconds. Det. Keating asked her over and over again if she was certain, and she kept saying yes, she was.

Ms. Landry admitted on cross-examination that she had come into the courtroom earlier that morning and sat down. When asked on redirect examination whether coming into the court earlier that morning had affected her testimony in any way, she replied: “Yeah¡ No. It — helped it. Cause I was very sure when I walked in the courtroom what I saw.”

Dr. Daniel Hogan testified that at approximately 7:20 on the morning of the burglary, he went out the back of his residence through his kitchen door, closing it but leaving it unlocked, to retrieve his newspaper from the front of his residence. He returned inside to find an individual he identified in court as Defendant Cyrus, standing four to five feet away behind the refrigerator in his sunlit kitchen, pointing a gun at him. Nothing was covering the man’s face. Defendant Cyrus [shad a hoodie on and, underneath the hoodie, he was wearing what Dr. Hogan described as a “skull” cap. Dr. Hogan asked Defendant Cyrus “what in the hell” he was doing there. Defendant Cyrus demanded the keys to Dr. Hogan’s Jaguar, which was parked underneath his post-Hurricane Katrina raised home. Dr. Hogan said he kept staring at Defendant Cyrus, focusing on his eyes, hoping that his eyes would give him some inclination of what he was going to do. Dr. Hogan’s car keys were inside his briefcase, which was located in his office at the front of his cottage. He walked down the hallway to his office, with Defendant about three feet behind him, pointing the gun at him. When Dr. Hogan got to his office he picked up his car keys [558]*558and turned around to face Defendant Cyrus, again looking at him very closely.

Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
97 So. 3d 554, 2011 La.App. 4 Cir. 1175, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 943, 2012 WL 2629226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cyrus-lactapp-2012.