State v. Fish

782 So. 2d 1087, 2001 WL 79766
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 30, 2001
Docket00-KA-922
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 782 So. 2d 1087 (State v. Fish) 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. Fish, 782 So. 2d 1087, 2001 WL 79766 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

782 So.2d 1087 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana,
v.
Michael D. FISH.

No. 00-KA-922.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 30, 2001.

*1088 Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, Attorney for Appellant Michael D. Fish.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Thomas J. Butler, Counsel of Record on Appeal.

Terry M. Boudreaux, Assistant District Attorneys, Appellate Counsel, Quintin P. Kelly, Assistant District Attorney, Trial Counsel, Gretna, LA, Attorneys for Appellee State of Louisiana.

Panel composed of Judges GOTHARD, CANNELLA and McMANUS.

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Michael Fish, appeals from his convictions of aggravated criminal damage to property valued at less than $500 and purse snatching, and his sentence to 5 years imprisonment at hard labor, and enhanced as a second felony offender to 20 years imprisonment at hard labor, respectively. For the reasons which follow, we affirm the convictions, the initial sentences, the finding of habitual offender and vacate the enhanced sentence and remand.

On February 6, 1999, Constance Ruppert (Ruppert) left the Winn Dixie grocery on Lapalco Boulevard and walked to her automobile with a shopping cart containing groceries which she had just purchased. Her purse was in the childseat of the shopping cart. She was unloading the groceries into her automobile, when someone ran up, snatched her purse out of her shopping cart and began running through the parking lot. She screamed and chased the perpetrator. He ran from the parking lot toward Lapalco Boulevard where a maroon truck with a camper slowed down, then stopped, and picked him up. John Conway (Conway), driving in the parking lot of the Winn Dixie grocery at the time of the incident, saw the man fleeing the scene and chased him. Conway continued to follow the man after he jumped into the truck, while telephoning his location to the 911 emergency operator. He could not report a license plate number because the license plate was covered with a blue cloth. While he was following, the man started shooting a flare gun at his vehicle, causing *1089 $400 in damage. Officers in the area picked up the pursuit. They eventually cornered the truck in a parking lot and arrested two men. One man, who fit the description of the purse snatcher, was identified as Thien Do (Do). The driver of the truck was identified as the Defendant. Ruppert identified Do as the person who took her purse, which was found in the truck.

On February 18, 1999, the Defendant and Do were charged by bill of information with aggravated criminal damage to property valued under $500 and purse snatching. Do pled guilty as charged. The Defendant proceeded to trial alone. At trial, the Defendant's defense was that he was only an accessory after the fact and not, as argued by the State, a principal. The Defendant called Do as a witness, who testified that he did not tell him that he was going to snatch a purse before he did it. However, on cross examination, the State established that Do rode to the grocery from Lafitte with the Defendant. Do stated that the Defendant was supposed to be buying groceries for his ex-wife, but he did not purchase any. Do had stated in his initial statement to the police, given at the time of the incident, that he snatched the purse to get money for food and gas. The State produced evidence that the gas gage in the truck was on empty. Do had no money and the Defendant only had $2.52 when they were arrested. Further, the Defendant circled around to pick up Do as he fled with the purse and continued to drive in an attempt to allude capture while Do was firing the flare gun at Conway. On September 21, 1999, a six-person jury unanimously found the Defendant guilty as charged on both charges. The Defendant was subsequently sentenced to 5 years imprisonment at hard labor on each count, to be served consecutively.

The State filed a habitual offender bill of information against the Defendant, alleging that he was a second felony offender, based on a prior guilty plea conviction for possession of cocaine. The Defendant denied the allegations of the bill. Following a hearing on November 18, 1999, the trial court found the Defendant to be a second felony offender. The trial court vacated the Defendant's original sentence and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment at hard labor. The Defendant timely appealed, assigning only one error and requesting that this court review the record for errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

The Defendant's assigned error actually alleges two different but related trial court errors for appellate review. He argues that the trial court erred in limiting his right to a full voir dire by prohibiting him from reading the definition of accessory after the fact during voir dire. Also, he asserts that the trial court erred in refusing his request to charge the jury with the law regarding accessory after the fact.

The State relies on the Louisiana Supreme Court case of State v. Stacy, 96-0221 (La.10/15/96), 680 So.2d 1175, in support of its position that there was no trial court error in either respect because the Defendant was allowed to discuss accessory after the fact in his opening statement, present evidence for his defense during trial and read the statute during his closing argument. The State acknowledges that there is a difference between the two cases in that in Stacy, the court charged the jury on the law of accessory after the fact, where in this case the trial court refused to give such a charge. But, the State argues that it is not a significant distinction.

The law applicable to the scope of voir dire examination was set out in State v. Stacy, supra, as follows:

*1090 La. Const. art. 1, § 17 guarantees that "[t]he accused shall have a right to full voir dire examination of prospective jurors and to challenge jurors peremptorily." La.Code Crim. P. art. 786 further provides that the court, the state and the defendant shall have the right to examine prospective jurors and the scope of the examination shall be within the discretion of the court. The purpose of voir dire examination is to determine qualifications of prospective jurors by testing their competency and impartiality. It is designed to discover bases for challenges for cause and to secure information for an intelligent exercise of peremptory challenges. The scope of voir dire examination is within the sound discretion of the trial judge and his ruling will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of a clear abuse of discretion. (Citations omitted.)

In Stacy, factually similar in some respects, the Supreme Court determined that the refusal of the trial court to allow the reading of the definition of accessory after the fact during voir dire was not error. In Stacy, the defendant was charged as a principal to second degree murder. The defendant's defense was that he was an accessory after the fact. However, the trial court, because it would confuse the jury, prevented defense counsel from defining accessory after the fact during voir dire, even though the prosecutor had defined principal.

In finding no abuse of the trial court's discretion in preventing defense counsel from defining accessory after the fact during voir dire, the Louisiana Supreme Court noted that accessory after the fact was a separate and distinct crime and was not a responsive verdict to second degree murder.

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

Related

State of Louisiana Versus Perry J. Haydel, Jr.
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2025
AMEC Civil, LLC v. State, Department of Transportation
41 So. 3d 235 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2010)
State v. Lawson
1 So. 3d 516 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Surratt
932 So. 2d 736 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Dotson
896 So. 2d 310 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State of Louisiana v. Robert T. Dotson
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005
State v. Cowart
862 So. 2d 225 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Cooley
857 So. 2d 1209 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
782 So. 2d 1087, 2001 WL 79766, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fish-lactapp-2001.