State v. Gibbs

103 So. 3d 394, 2012 WL 1859042, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 683
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 23, 2012
DocketNo. 47,062-KW
StatusPublished

This text of 103 So. 3d 394 (State v. Gibbs) 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. Gibbs, 103 So. 3d 394, 2012 WL 1859042, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 683 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

LOLLEY, J.

| Daniel Lee Gibbs seeks review of the judgment of the First Judicial District Court, Parish of Caddo, State of Louisiana, wherein the trial court convicted him of one count of commercial littering pursuant to La. R.S. 30:2531.3 and assessed a fine of $3,000.00. For the following reasons, we [395]*395affirm the trial court’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS

On June 30, 2009, Terry Harris (“Harris”) paid Daniel Lee Gibbs (“Gibbs”) $900 to move Harris’s older model mobile home from Bossier Parish to Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Gibbs received $400 upon hitching the mobile home to his truck and another $500 before he began towing the mobile home down Highway 1 toward Caddo Parish. However, Gibbs failed to inspect the mobile home or to inquire whether it was in roadworthy condition before taking it onto the road.

As Gibbs pulled the mobile home down Highway 1, the mobile home’s hind quarters gave out and began dragging along the highway, sending debris and hot pieces of metal in every direction, and setting two fires along the roadside. Gibbs stopped his truck long enough to put out the two fires before hopping back in to pull the mobile home further down the highway to a place wide enough to safely pull off the road. While this took place, Gibbs called Harris and informed him of the fate of his mobile home. The Harris family, awaiting the arrival of their mobile home at their new neighborhood, drove out to meet Gibbs on Highway 1. While Gibbs hauled the broken mobile home an additional mile, smoke spewed from the 12damaged hulk as the rear tires rubbed against the broken axle threatening to immolate the crippled mobile home before reaching its final resting place.

Once Gibbs reached a place wide enough to deposit the mobile home, he told Harris to have it repaired before he would move it the rest of the way to Caddo Parish. In light of the circumstances Harris said, “Okay”; however, at trial, Gibbs admitted that he believed the mobile home was beyond repair. Gibbs returned the $500 towing payment to Harris, unhitched the remnants of the mobile home, and left the remains alongside Highway 1. The same day, after both parties had left but before the aforementioned repairs had commenced, a Caddo Parish Sheriffs deputy arrived on the scene in response to a complaint about the mobile home. The caller stated that the mobile home blocked her view when entering the highway from her driveway.

An investigation quickly determined that the mobile home belonged to Harris. The Sheriffs deputy contacted Harris, and Harris informed the deputy of what had occurred. The Sheriffs deputy then contacted Gibbs who refused to move the mobile home any further or work with Harris to affect its removal. Ultimately, a towing company had to cut the mobile home into quarters before hauling it away. Gibbs was subsequently cited with commercial littering and after a trial on the matter, was convicted and ordered to' pay for the cost of removing the mobile home. Gibbs filed a motion for a new trial which the trial court denied. This supervisory writ followed.

|,DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of the Evidence

As his sole assignment of error, Gibbs argues that the State failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, all the elements of La. R.S. 30:2531.3. Specifically, Gibbs argues that at the time the mobile home was abandoned, possession of the mobile home had already passed to the owner in light of the fact that Harris agreed to have the trailer fixed before attempting to move it again. Thus, the State failed to overcome the presumption under La. R.S. 30:2531.3(C)(1) that Harris committed the act of disposing. Gibbs argues alternative[396]*396ly that the employer/employee relationship should determine who had possession of the mobile home and that since he acted as an employee of Harris, he never enjoyed dominion and control of the mobile home.

In reviewing the sufficiency of evidence, an appellate court must determine whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact that all of the elements of the crime have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Tate, 2001-1658 (La.05/20/03), 851 So.2d 921, cert. denied, 541 U.S. 905, 124 S.Ct. 1604, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004). This standard, now legislatively embodied in La. C. Cr. P. art. 821, does not provide the appellate court with a vehicle to substitute its own appreciation of the evidence for that of the fact finder. State v. Pigford, 2005-0477 (La.02/22/06), 922 So.2d 517.

|4The trier of fact is charged to make a credibility determination and may, within the bounds of rationality, accept or reject the testimony of any witness. State v. Casey, 1999-0023 (La.01/26/00), 775 So.2d 1022, cert. denied, 531 U.S. 840, 121 S.Ct. 104, 148 L.Ed.2d 62 (2000). The reviewing court may impinge on that discretion only to the extent necessary to guarantee the fundamental due process of law. Id.

Louisiana R.S. 30:2531.3 is the crime of commercial littering and states, in pertinent part:

A. No person shall dispose or permit the disposal of litter resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, or agricultural operations in which the person has a financial interest upon any public place in the state, ... whether from a vehicle or otherwise, including but not limited to any public highway, ...
B. No person shall operate any truck or other vehicle on any highway in such a manner or condition that litter resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, or agricultural operations in which the person is involved can blow or fall out of such vehicle or that mud from its tires can fall upon the roadway.

Louisiana R.S. 30:2531.3(C)(1) creates several presumptions depending upon the circumstances surrounding the act of littering and states:

If the litter is disposed of from a motor vehicle, boat, or conveyance, except a bus or large passenger vehicle or a school bus, all as defined by R.S. 32:1, there shall be an inference that the driver of the conveyance disposed of the litter. If such litter was possessed by a specific person immediately before the act of disposing, there shall be a permissive rebuttable presumption that the possessor committed the act of disposing.

Constructive possession occurs when an object is subject to the defendant’s dominion and control. A defendant’s dominion and control over an object constitutes constructive possession even if it is only temporary and even if the control is shared. State v. Bailey, 511 So.2d 1248 (La.App.2d Cir.08/19/87). Constructive possession entails an element of awareness or knowledge that the object is there and the general intent to possess it. State v. Chatman, 43,184 (La.App.2d Cir.04/30/08), 981 So.2d 260.

Here, the State produced sufficient evidence to prove all the elements of commercial littering in order to convict Gibbs.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Robertson v. Casual Corner Group, Inc
541 U.S. 905 (Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Chatman
981 So. 2d 260 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Casey
775 So. 2d 1022 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2000)
State v. Pigford
922 So. 2d 517 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2006)
State v. Tate
851 So. 2d 921 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
State v. Bailey
511 So. 2d 1248 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
State v. Lewis
69 So. 3d 604 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 So. 3d 394, 2012 WL 1859042, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 683, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gibbs-lactapp-2012.