State v. Falkins

146 So. 3d 838, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 1654, 2014 WL 3670663, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1829
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 23, 2014
DocketNo. 2012-KA-1654
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 146 So. 3d 838 (State v. Falkins) 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. Falkins, 146 So. 3d 838, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 1654, 2014 WL 3670663, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1829 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

SANDRA CABRINA JENKINS, Judge.

hln a jury trial, for violation of La. R.S. 14:62.8, Home Invasion, the state presented evidence to establish that defendant, Kevin T. Falkins, forcibly entered the residence of Kathy Davis, removed her sister, Kiera Duncan, from the apartment, and dragged Ms. Duncan down the street until a police officer arrived who subsequently detained the defendant and secured the safety of Ms. Duncan.

The jury returned a responsive verdict of attempted unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling pursuant to La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:62.3. Mr. Falkins was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for thirty-five years without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence under the habitual offender statute, La. R.S. 15:529.1.

On appeal, the defendant assigns six errors. Specifically, he claims that the trial court erred in: (1) denying his motion in limine; (2) allowing the admission of [842]*842hearsay evidence; (3) admitting jailhouse tapes that were not properly authenticated; (4) denying his motion to continue; (5) denying his motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and/or motion for new trial; and (6) imposing a sentence under the habitual offender statute, La. R.S. 15:529.1, without the benefit of parole.

RFor the reasons discussed herein, the conviction of the defendant, Kevin T. Fal-kins, is affirmed. We also amend Mr. Falkins’ sentence to delete that portion of the sentence restricting his eligibility for parole and affirm his sentence as amended.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant Kevin T. Falkins was charged by bill of information on March 23, 2011, with home invasion where a person under the age of twelve years old was present, a violation of La. R.S. 14:62.8(3).1 Prior to trial, the defendant’s motion to continue and pre-trial motions to exclude evidence of 911 and jailhouse calls were denied. Thereafter, a twelve-person jury found the defendant guilty of attempted unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling in violation La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:62.3. The trial court denied the defendant’s motions for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and new trial. Defendant was thereafter adjudicated a fourth-felony habitual offender on that same date. Defendant implicitly waived all delays and was sentenced to thirty-five years at hard labor, without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The defendant’s motion to reconsider his sentence was denied.

RELEVANT FACTS

The state presented no lay witnesses or a victim at trial. Instead the police officers who responded to the scene testified as to the course of events that unfolded on the morning of January 22, 2011. The custodians of records for the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office also ^testified at trial. In addition, the State relied on 911 recordings, jailhouse recordings, photographs of Kiera Duncan, and photographs of the scene to describe for the jury what occurred at the Walnut Square Apartments in New Orleans East during the early morning hours of January 22, 2011.

Prior to publishing the 911 recordings to the jury, Yolanda Haynes, a 911 operator and custodian of records for the New Orleans Police Department Emergency Call Center, authenticated a CD which contained the 911 calls and incident recall log which document the time and transcript of the 911 calls. The jury heard the following calls.

The first call was received at the emergency call center at 6:34 a.m. The caller gives her address as 8501 N. 1-10 Service Road. While attempting to take the information from the caller, a pounding sound is heard by the operator and she questions the caller “is that him?” The caller reports that “he” is beating on the door like he is crazy, and that she had “kids in the apartment and he is out here threatening me.” The operator notes that the address is the Walnut Square Apartments, and asks the caller what apartment she is in. The caller responds that she is in “2-B.” The operator asks the caller her name, and she replies: “Kiera.” The operator then questions the caller as to whether she called the night before to report that “he busted her in the face.” Kiera responds “yes” and the operator acknowledges she is the same operator she spoke with the [843]*843night before. The operator then asks Ki-era what her male friend’s name is, and she replies: “Kevin Falkins.” The operator proceeds to get a description of what the defendant is wearing and promises to send the police to the apartment.

The second call the jury heard was that of the operator from a security company. The incident recall log reflects that the second 911 call was received at |4the emergency call center at 6:37 a.m. The caller identified herself as “Joy,” an operator for the 24-hour answering service for Walnut Square Apartments. She informed the 911 operator that she received a call from a panicked female requesting that security be sent to apartment 2-B. Joy informed the 911 operator that because she could not locate their security team on the apartment grounds that she had to make the call for police assistance. Joy also confirmed that the address from which she received the call for help was 8501 N. I — 10 Service Road, Apartment 2-B.

The third and final 911 call published to the jury was originated by Kathy Davis. As reflected in the incident recall log, this call came at 6:39 a.m. Kathy reported that “we” called for police to come to Walnut Square, Apartment 2-B. She reported that her sister’s boyfriend was at the door; that he was getting violent; and that he was kicking her door. She reported that the boyfriend’s name was Kevin Falkins, the last name spelled by her as F-a-u-l-k-in-s. She described him as a black male. She said she had seven children inside. She frantically implored the 911 operator to hurry up, stating that her door was almost open. Ms. Davis suddenly exclaimed something that sounded like “he’s in,” and she pleaded: “Kevin.” One can clearly hear a male voice, whereas before no male voice was heard. One can hear a disturbance in the background, with a male voice, and it sounds as if Ms. Davis is sobbing or on the verge of sobbing as she asks the operator to please send the police. One can hear an excited female voice in the background excitedly saying “Kathy” and repeatedly exclaiming “please.” A male voice is heard. Ms. Davis says something about someone “kicked in my door.” Kathy is then heard crying continuously, while responding to the operator’s questions. The operator asks the caller where her sister is, and the caller responds |Bthat he is dragging her up the street. The caller states that “he” kicked in both of her doors and also her window.

Officer Joshua Carthon of the New Orleans Police Department was the first officer to arrive on the scene. He explained to the jury that upon arrival, he observed a male subject pulling/dragging a female away so he immediately exited his police unit to detain the subject. Officer Carthon described the female’s demeanor as hysterical, upset, and angry and the defendant was calm. Once other units arrived approximately forty-five minutes later, Officer Carthon relayed to Officer Warren Gibson what he observed and then turned the investigation over to Officer Gibson.

Officer Warren Gibson testified that when he arrived on the scene, he observed Officer Carthon holding the defendant in handcuffs. The victim, Kiera Duncan, was standing on the sidewalk bleeding from the mouth, with a bruise to the left side of her face. While he was interviewing Ms.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Louisiana v. Gary Allen
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2025
State of Louisiana v. Gino McDowell
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State of Louisiana v. Corey Morgan
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State of Louisiana in the Interest of D.J..
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State of Louisiana v. Donald Franklin
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State of Louisiana v. Tremaine Williams
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State of Louisiana Versus Ryk Frickey
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State of Louisiana v. Jimmy O'Neal Lewis
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2022
State of Louisiana in the Interest of J.H..
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2022
State v. Degregory
274 So. 3d 902 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019)
State v. Daniels
262 So. 3d 356 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Batiste
246 So. 3d 52 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State of Louisiana v. Troherro Keith Batiste
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018
State v. Obrien
242 So. 3d 1254 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Luzzo
214 So. 3d 55 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
State v. Wells
191 So. 3d 1127 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Jackson
191 So. 3d 63 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
In re Interdiction of Benson
216 So. 3d 950 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Lambert
186 So. 3d 728 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. King
186 So. 3d 264 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
146 So. 3d 838, 2014 La.App. 4 Cir. 1654, 2014 WL 3670663, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1829, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-falkins-lactapp-2014.