State v. Diaz

635 So. 2d 499, 1994 WL 113055
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 6, 1994
DocketCR93-1309
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 635 So. 2d 499 (State v. Diaz) 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. Diaz, 635 So. 2d 499, 1994 WL 113055 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

635 So.2d 499 (1994)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Frank DIAZ, Defendant-Appellant.

No. CR93-1309.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 6, 1994.

*501 Todd Samuels Clemons, Paul Peter Reggie, Lake Charles, for State of LA.

Walter Marshall Sanchez, Lake Charles, for Frank Diaz.

Before KNOLL, COOKS and WOODARD, JJ.

KNOLL, Judge.

Defendant, Frank Diaz, was arrested on March 25, 1992, and charged with possession of over four hundred grams of cocaine, a violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967 C. Defendant's first trial ended in a mistrial on January 11, 1993, because the jury could not agree on a verdict. Two weeks later, defendant's second trial resulted in a verdict of guilty as charged. Shortly after the defendant's conviction, his trial counsel, Robert Patrick, withdrew and defendant hired Walt Sanchez to pursue his post-verdict motions and appeal.

After the trial court heard testimony on defendant's motion for new trial and denied the motion, the defendant was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor without parole, and fined $250,000.00 with five months hard labor imposed in default of payment.

On appeal, defendant has expressly abandoned his first assignment of error and the two remaining assignments of error concern ineffective assistance of counsel at trial.

Usually, a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel is more properly raised in an application for post-conviction relief. State v. Burkhalter, 428 So.2d 449 (La.1983). This enables the trial court to order a full evidentiary hearing on the matter. State v. Seiss, 428 So.2d 444 (La.1983). However, where the record contains evidence sufficient to decide the issue, and the issue is raised on appeal by an assignment of error, the issue can be considered.

In the case sub judice, we find that the hearing on defendant's motion for new trial was the equivalent to an evidentiary hearing on an application for post-conviction relief. Therefore, we will address the merits of defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

FACTS

On March 25, 1992, Lieutenant Dennis Drouillard and Officer Johnny Vice of the Vinton Police Department stopped a 1977 Chevy van for speeding. The driver and only occupant of the van was defendant, Frank Diaz.

The police noticed that defendant was extremely nervous, even after they had informed him they had simply stopped him for speeding. Defendant had a valid Georgia driver's license and when he returned to his van to retrieve other papers requested by the police, Lt. Drouillard saw a green plant-like substance and a marijuana seed in the ashtray in the driver's door. Defendant admitted at trial he had marijuana in the van for his personal use and he had been smoking it during his trip. When questioned about the suspected marijuana, defendant told the police *502 he had no narcotics in his van. Defendant signed a consent to search form. When Lt. Drouillard felt under a small refrigerator set inside of a cabinet in the van, he found four bundles of suspected cocaine. Defendant was arrested, and while Lt. Drouillard and Officer Vice were discussing towing the van to the police station for a more thorough search, defendant told them that there were no more drugs in the van. Actually, a bag of marijuana was later found in the area of the sunroof. The cocaine seized weighed 4.71 pounds, or 2,137.7 grams.

While defendant was being processed at the police station, Lt. Drouillard first commented that he thought the bundles of cocaine weighed two kilograms and then later said the cocaine weighed four kilograms. Lt. Drouillard testified that defendant became upset because the police increased the amount of cocaine found in his van.

Defendant testified at his second trial and claimed he had no knowledge of cocaine in his van. Defendant said that many people drove his van: his two roommates, his boss, the foreman and supervisor. Yet, at the time of his arrest, defendant told the police no one else ever drove his van. Defendant admitted he had marijuana in his van, that he was very nervous because he had remained in the country illegally, and was concerned the police would discover this and have him deported. Defendant explained that he worked for Spinos Concrete Business in Atlanta, Georgia, and he drove to Beaumont, Texas, to deliver equipment to a company called Beaumont Concrete Services. It was while defendant was returning to Atlanta from Beaumont that he was stopped.

INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Assignment of error number two concerns ineffective assistance of counsel at trial, and assignment of error number three concerns the trial court's denial of defendant's motion for new trial based upon ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. We will discuss these two assignments together since both are interrelated and arise from the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

In Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), the United States Supreme Court established a two-part test to apply in addressing a claim of ineffectiveness of counsel.

"A convicted defendant's claim that counsel's assistance was so defective as to require reversal of a conviction or death sentence has two components. First, the defendant must show that counsel's performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the `counsel' guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction or death sentence resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable."

An attorney is not required to be errorless to be effective. As this court noted in State v. Harris, 540 So.2d 1226, 1230 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1989), writ. denied, 550 So.2d 626 (La.1989):

"Effective assistance of counsel does not, however, mandate errorless counsel or counsel which might be judged ineffective only in hindsight. A fair assessment of an attorney's performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of the attorney's challenged conduct and to evaluate the conduct of the attorney from his perspective. A reviewing court may only then decide if a defendant was prejudiced by ineffectiveness."

Defendant was arrested on March 25, 1992, and at his arraignment after indictment, Robert Patrick was retained as counsel for the defendant. Patrick filed and argued pretrial motions, such as the motion to suppress. Patrick represented defendant at his first trial which was declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict. Patrick represented defendant at the second trial which resulted in the defendant's conviction *503 on January 29, 1993. Thereafter, on February 12, 1993, Patrick withdrew and on April 13, 1993, Walt Sanchez was enrolled as counsel for defendant. Defendant was represented by Sanchez at the August 13, 1993, hearing on his post-verdict motions and his sentencing.

On appeal, defendant argued four specific examples of his counsel's ineffectiveness and then argues a "catch all" claim.

Claim number one. Allowing the defendant to take the stand.

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Bluebook (online)
635 So. 2d 499, 1994 WL 113055, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-diaz-lactapp-1994.