State v. Forbes

348 So. 2d 983
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedAugust 23, 1977
Docket59174
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 348 So. 2d 983 (State v. Forbes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Forbes, 348 So. 2d 983 (La. 1977).

Opinion

348 So.2d 983 (1977)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Joseph B. FORBES, Sr., Richard Jones and James A. Jones.

No. 59174.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 20, 1977.
Dissenting Opinion August 23, 1977.

Dwight D. Reed, Opelousas, for defendants-appellants.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Morgan J. Goudeau, *984 III, Dist. Atty., Robert Brinkman, First Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

SANDERS, Chief Justice.

The State jointly charged the defendants, Joseph B. Forbes, Sr., Richard Jones, and James A. Jones, with armed robbery, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64. A unanimous jury found them guilty as charged. Each defendant received forty years imprisonment at hard labor.

The defendants appeal. They rely on five assignments of error for reversal of their convictions and sentences. One defendant, Joseph Forbes, raises an additional argument in a pro se brief. As the defense did not brief or argue twenty-one assignments of error, we consider them abandoned. State v. Phillips, La., 337 So.2d 1157 (1976); State v. Blanton, La., 325 So.2d 586 (1976); State v. Carlisle, La., 315 So.2d 675 (1975).

We adduce the following context facts:

James Jones, dressed in female clothing, and Joseph Forbes entered an Opelousas bank, while Richard Jones remained in the car. At gun point, James Jones and Joseph Forbes ordered two bank tellers and a customer to lie on the floor face down. After tying and handcuffing them, the two defendants emptied the cash drawers. As they threw the money and a gun into the waiting car, the police arrived and arrested all three defendants.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

The defendants complain of the denial of a challenge for cause of a prospective juror, Mr. Savoie. They allege that he was unable to accept the law as given by the court. LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 797(4). Subsequently, defendant Forbes excused him with a peremptory challenge.

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 800 provides in pertinent part:

"A defendant cannot complain of a ruling refusing to sustain a challenge for cause made by him, unless his peremptory challenges shall have been exhausted before the completion of the panel."

In State v. Dreher, 166 La. 924, 118 So. 85 (1928), this Court stated:

"In the trial of the several accused jointly, the peremptory challenges of the defense cannot be said to be exhausted as long as any of such challenges are left to one or more of the accused. State v. Breaux et al., 104 La. 540, 29 So. 222; State v. Shields, 33 La.Ann. 1410; State v. Creech, 38 La.Ann. 480; State v. Marceaux, 50 La.Ann. 1137, 24 So. 611."

Joseph Forbes exercised only eleven of his twelve peremptory challenges. Therefore, the defense cannot complain of a denial of a challenge for cause.

Assuming, however, that this Court may treat this assignment, we find that the trial judge properly denied the challenge for cause. Mr. Savoie's entire voir dire examination reveals that he was willing and able to accept and apply the law as the court instructed. See State v. Passman, La., 345 So.2d 874 (1977); State v. Johnson, La., 324 So.2d 349 (1975).

This assignment of error is without merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2

Defense counsel twice asked a panel of six prospective jurors if any of them were related to a law enforcement agent. Clifford Frilot, Sr., responded in the negative, one time verbally and the other time by nodding his head. After completion of the voir dire, all parties accepted Mr. Frilot.

During trial, the defense moved for a mistrial on the ground that Mr. Frilot had perjured himself on voir dire. One of his sons was a city policeman and another was a deputy sheriff, employed as a night jailer. Immediately, the State proposed a stipulation whereby both sides would agree to substitute the alternate juror for Mr. Frilot. The defense rejected the proposal and insisted on its motion.

At the hearing on the motion, Mr. Frilot initially could not recall counsel asking him if he were related to any law enforcement officers. After hearing a play back of the *985 question and answer, he explained that he understood the question to refer to the arresting officers in this case. Mr. Frilot stated:

". . . I don't have to lie to nobody, not a man at sixty-eight. I been here all my life. I told you the truth. Everything I said there was nothing but the truth. Now, I might have misunderstood something."

(Tr. vol. 7, p. 435.)

After reception of evidence, the court denied the motion for a mistrial.

A mistrial is a drastic remedy. It is authorized only in specified instances where unnecessary prejudice results to the accused. When a juror makes false statements on voir dire, the trial judge has discretion in ruling on a motion for mistrial. LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 775; State v. Nicholas, La., 312 So.2d 856 (1975). This Court will not disturb the trial judge's ruling absent a clear showing of an abuse of that discretion. State v. Nicholas, supra.

The juror testified that he misunderstood the question asked and that the mistake was unintentional. He responded truthfully to the question he thought propounded, whether he was related to the arresting officers. He also testified that the fact that his sons were law enforcement officers would not influence him and that he would base his decision solely on the evidence presented at trial. Both father and sons testified that they never discussed this case with each other.

The evidence supports a conclusion that Mr. Frilot was an impartial juror. Thus, we hold that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in denying a mistrial. State v. Madison, La., 345 So.2d 485 (1977); State v. Calloway, La., 343 So.2d 694 (1977) and cases cited therein. See State v. Rounsavall, La., 337 So.2d 190 (1976).

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3

The defense objected to the admission of two color photographs (S-13 and S-14) depicting the turquoise Tempest Pontiac in which Richard Jones sat during the armed robbery. They aver that the State failed to lay a proper foundation for their introduction. The court overruled the objection.

In State v. Freetime, La., 334 So.2d 207 (1976), we stated:

"It is a well-settled rule that a photograph need not be identified by the person who took it to be admissible in evidence. State v. Browning, 290 So.2d 322 (La.1974); State v. Mitchell, 278 So.2d 48 (La.1973); State v. Fox, 251 La. 464, 205 So.2d 42 (1967). Generally, photographs are admissible in evidence when they are shown to have been accurately taken, to be a correct representation of the subject in controversy and when they tend to shed light upon the matter before the court. State v. Lacoste, 256 La. 697, 237 So.2d 871 (1970). Sufficiency of identification of a photograph for purpose of admissibility thereof into evidence rests largely within the discretion of the trial judge. State v. Fox, supra."

Although the photographer's notation appears on the back of the photographs, the State did not call him as a witness.

Numerous witnesses described the car involved in the robbery as a turquoise Pontiac. Officer Clay, one of the arresting officers, testified that S-13 and S-14 depicted the car the defendants used. Hence, the identification was sufficient, and the testimony of the photographer was not required.

We conclude that the trial judge properly admitted the photographs.

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

Related

State v. Phillips
809 So. 2d 467 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Fugler
721 So. 2d 1 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Martin
558 So. 2d 654 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1990)
State v. Winzer
545 So. 2d 1259 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
State v. Duplissey
529 So. 2d 1379 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
State v. LeCompte
441 So. 2d 249 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1983)
State v. Jones
408 So. 2d 1285 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Baldwin
388 So. 2d 664 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Sonnier
380 So. 2d 1 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Moeller
420 A.2d 1153 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1979)
State v. Smith
359 So. 2d 160 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1978)
Commonwealth v. Cepulonis
373 N.E.2d 1136 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1978)
State v. Brooks
350 So. 2d 1174 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
348 So. 2d 983, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-forbes-la-1977.