State v. Fazande

927 So. 2d 507, 2006 WL 782457
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 28, 2006
Docket05-KA-901
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 927 So. 2d 507 (State v. Fazande) 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. Fazande, 927 So. 2d 507, 2006 WL 782457 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

927 So.2d 507 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Donnie FAZANDE.

No. 05-KA-901.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

March 28, 2006.

*509 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Juliet Clark, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., Chief Judge.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information on October 10, 2003, charging defendant, Donnie Fazande, with distribution of marijuana in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:966(A). He pled not guilty and filed several pre-trial motions including motions to suppress the evidence and identification, which were denied after a hearing. The matter proceeded to trial on September 20, 2004. After a two day trial, the jury found defendant guilty as charged. On November 3, 2004, the trial court sentenced defendant to fifteen years with the Department of Corrections. Defendant now appeals.

The state subsequently filed a multiple offender bill of information alleging defendant to be a fourth felony offender based on a prior conviction for unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling and two drug convictions. Pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant admitted to being a second felony offender and was sentenced to twenty years at hard labor.

FACTS

On March 21, 2003, Deputy Victor Howard, working as an undercover agent for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, came into contact with defendant while attempting to purchase narcotics. According to Deputy Howard, an unidentified older man instructed him to drive down to the corner where defendant was standing on the sidewalk. Deputy Howard gave the older man money at which time the older man met with defendant on the sidewalk and exchanged the money for marijuana. The older man then returned to Deputy Howard's vehicle and gave him the marijuana. Defendant never approached Deputy Howard's vehicle, which was equipped with audio and video recording devices, but rather remained on the sidewalk during the entire transaction.[1]

Deputy Howard encountered defendant a second time six days later on March 27, *510 2003. During that encounter, Deputy Howard engaged in a drug transaction directly with defendant although the transaction occurred away from Deputy Howard's vehicle. Deputy Howard testified that he approached defendant, after remembering him from the previous transaction, and asked defendant if he could buy some herb. Defendant instructed Deputy Howard to get out of his car at which time defendant gave Deputy Howard four bags of marijuana. Deputy Howard explained that most people refuse to come to the driver's side window because they suspect the police. Upon returning to his vehicle, Deputy Howard gave a description of defendant and noted it was the same person with whom he dealt on March 21, 2003.

Detective Eric Dufrene of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office entered the area after the March 27, 2003 drug transaction and located defendant, who matched the description given by Deputy Howard of the person who sold him the drugs. Detective Dufrene approached defendant and filled out a field interview card after which defendant was released.

On April 1, 2003, Deputy Howard identified defendant in a photographic lineup as the person who sold him drugs on both March 21, 2003, and March 27, 2003.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In his first assigned error, defendant argues that Deputy Howard was impermissibly allowed to testify on the ultimate issue of defendant's guilt. Defendant contends the trial court erred in allowing the prosecutor to present a hypothetical, virtually identical to the facts of the present case, and asking Deputy Howard to conclude whether a crime had been committed. Defendant maintains an expert cannot express an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused.

LSA-C.E. art. 704 provides that "... an expert witness shall not express an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused." Such prohibition applies even if the opinion is solicited through the presentation of a hypothetical situation. State v. Deal, 00-434 (La.11/28/01), 802 So.2d 1254, 1261, cert. denied, 537 U.S. 828, 123 S.Ct. 124, 154 L.Ed.2d 42 (2002).

In the present case, although defendant was only charged with the March 27, 2003 incident, Deputy Victor Howard testified regarding both incidents involving defendant. During his testimony, the state played two videotapes, one dated March 21, 2003, and one dated March 27, 2003. While the March 27, 2003 videotape was being played, the state asked Deputy Howard a few questions. The state first asked if defendant recognized Deputy Howard from several days earlier to which Deputy Howard affirmatively responded. The state then tried to clarify a statement Deputy Howard had made on the videotape by asking, "Now, Deputy, when you're driving up to where Donnie Fazande is standing you say: `I think that's the person that sold me the other day.' Correct?" Deputy Howard agreed. The state proceeded to pose a hypothetical: ". . . [i]f I give Miss Senner this—If I give Miss Senner that marijuana to give to you, have I committed a crime?. . . . Have I distributed marijuana to you?" Defendant objected but his objection was overruled. Deputy Howard responded affirmatively.

As noted by the state in its appellee brief, this hypothetical did not parallel the crime with which defendant was charged but rather mirrored the facts of the March 21, 2003 incident. Thus, by answering the hypothetical, Deputy Howard did not testify as to the ultimate issue of defendant's guilt regarding the charged offense.

*511 Additionally, when considered in context of the entire trial, the state's hypothetical appears to be an attempt to overcome defendant's suggestion in opening statement that there was an identification problem. In particular, defense counsel told the jury there were two suspects involved in the March 21, 2003 transaction. He described the actual seller as an older black man, which the jury would see on the videotape. Defense counsel then suggested there was a problem because "Womack" (a/k/a Deputy Howard) stated that the person who sold him the drugs on March 27, 2003, was the same person who sold him the drugs on March 21, 2003, which was not defendant.

In his testimony, Deputy Howard stated defendant was standing on the sidewalk during the March 21, 2003 transaction. Deputy Howard explained that he gave money to a third person, who then gave the money to defendant, who then gave marijuana to the third person, who then gave the marijuana to Deputy Howard. When Deputy Howard encountered defendant on March 27, 2003, he stated defendant was the same person who sold him marijuana on March 21, 2003. In an apparent attempt to clarify the identification issue, the state asked Deputy Howard whether a person is "selling drugs" if he hands marijuana to someone and that person gives it to someone else.

Deputy Howard's testimony did not express an opinion of defendant's guilt on the charged offense, as the hypothetical did not parallel the charged offense. Rather, the hypothetical was presented to clarify an identification issue raised by defendant. Thus, the arguments raised by defendant in this assigned error are without merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWO

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
927 So. 2d 507, 2006 WL 782457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fazande-lactapp-2006.