State v. Gibson

103 So. 3d 641, 2012 WL 5346268
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 30, 2012
DocketNo. 12-KA-350
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 103 So. 3d 641 (State v. Gibson) 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. Gibson, 103 So. 3d 641, 2012 WL 5346268 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

|20n appeal, defendant challenges the trial court’s denial of his motions to suppress evidence and statements. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Facts

Here, defendant pled guilty without proceeding to trial. The following facts were gleaned from the prosecutor’s recitation of the factual basis for the charges against defendant, delivered during the guilty plea proceeding.

On July 27, 2011, task force agents were patrolling Heather Avenue in Westwego, looking for Nathan Rhodes, an individual identified by police as the same person that sold narcotics to undercover officers several days earlier. When the agents arrived at 7882 Heather Avenue, they saw three men, who were subsequently identified as Ruben Marshall, Nathan Rhodes, and Prentiss Page, standing in front of the house. Immediately after these men observed the officers, the men went into the house.

As the agents exited their vehicles, a fourth man, later identified as Jules Gibson, defendant herein, ran into the residence. One of the officers observed the man, who was carrying a black backpack, placing his right Rhand on a black pistol grip that protruded from his waistband. The officer announced, “Police; stop.”

Instead of stopping, however, defendant dropped the backpack onto a chair in the dining room and placed the firearm into a nearby shoebox. Defendant continued to run and exited through the back door of the house.

The task force agent declined to pursue defendant and opted to secure the firearm and the black bag. When the agent searched the shoe box, he seized a Smith and Wesson, Model 915, nine millimeter semiautomatic. When the agent searched the black bag, he seized several bags: one contained small, off-white rocks, which was later determined by the crime lab to total 27 grams of cocaine; another contained green vegetable material, later determined to be 20 grams of marijuana; and the third bag contained nine pills, later identified by the crime lab as diazepam.

The task force agent that stopped the fleeing defendant seized $5,026.00 in cash from defendant’s person. Defendant, who admitted that he was not employed, was unable to explain the source of money or why he was carrying so much cash.

Procedural History

On August 25, 2011, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a four-count bill of information charging defendant, Jules J. Gibson, in Count One, with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(A); in Count Two, with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, in violation of La. R.S. 40:966(A); in Count Three, with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,1 in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1; and, in Count Four, with possession of Rdiazepam, in violation of La. R.S. 40:969(C). At arraignment, defen[646]*646dant pled not guilty to all charges. On February 8, 2012, defendant’s motions to suppress evidence and statements were heard and denied.

On March 5, 2012, defendant withdrew his former pleas and entered pleas of guilty as charged on all four counts, reserving his right to appeal the trial court’s denial of his motions to suppress under State v. Crosby.2 That same day, the trial judge sentenced defendant “to 15 years in the Department of Corrections3 on Counts 1 and 2, ten years in the Department of Corrections on Count 3, five years in the Department of Corrections on Count 4.” The trial judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently “with one another and with any other time you’re presently serving with credit for time served.” On March 13, 2012, defendant’s motion for appeal challenging the denials of his motions to suppress was granted. This appeal follows.

Law and Argument

In his sole assignment of error, defendant argues that the trial court erred in failing to grant the defense’s motion to suppress the evidence because the evidence was illegally retrieved. Defendant specifically argues that the police lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop of him or his friends. Further, defendant contends that, when the police officers approached and chased him into the house, he was under arrest and not free to leave. He argues that there was no probable cause for the instant arrest so the resulting evidence was illegally obtained and should have been suppressed as “fruits of the poisonous tree.”

| ¿The State responds that the officers had reasonable suspicion to justify an investigatory stop of defendant and the others once they witnessed an apparent hand-to-hand transaction within the group of men outside of the house located in a high crime area. The State further points out that, at least one officer observed the defendant reaching for a handgun lodged in his waistband as he fled into the house, which ripened their suspicion into probable cause for his arrest. The State contends that the officer’s immediate entry into the home in pursuit of defendant was justified by the ‘hot pursuit’ exception.

Further, at that point, exigent circumstances were present, including preventing the defendant’s flight and the destruction of evidence, existed that allowed the war-rantless entry. The State argues that, because the entry into the home was lawful, Agent Biondolillo could lawfully seize the gun and narcotics, which were abandoned by defendant. Finally, the State provides that the money found in defendant’s possession was legally seized during a search incident to a lawful arrest.

On February 8, 2012, a hearing was held on defendant’s motions to suppress evidence and statements. At this hearing, the State presented the testimony of Detective David A. Biondolillo, Sr. of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office. Detective Biondolillo, who had been with the Sheriffs Office for approximately 12 years, testified that, on July 27, 2011, he was working in the Narcotics Division on a “HIDTA” task force.

Detective Biondolillo explained that he and Detective Leon James, of the Jeffer[647]*647son Parish Sheriffs Office,4 were in a marked police car, patrolling the Harbor Estates neighborhood in Westwego, Louisiana that night. According to | (¡Detective Biondolillo, they were looking for dealers from whom they had made controlled purchases of narcotics in the past several weeks.

That night, as they turned onto Heather Avenue, he and Detective James observed a “group of guys” outside of the residence located at 7882 Heather Avenue. Detective Biondolillo testified that one of the guys, later identified as Rubin Marshall, immediately walked inside the residence. He further testified that, as they stopped in front of the house, he noticed that one of the guys looked like Nathan Rhodes, one of the “targets” who had previously sold them drugs. At that point, Nathan Rhodes and another man, identified later as Prentiss Page, went inside of the house.

Detective Biondolillo testified that, as he and Detective James exited the car, he observed one of the men, who was later identified as defendant, “kind of running” toward the front door of the house. Detective Biondolillo said that, as defendant ran into the house, Biondolillo saw “a black pistol grip in [defendant’s] right hand around his waistband.” Once he saw the gun, Detective Biondolillo followed defendant into the house.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 So. 3d 641, 2012 WL 5346268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gibson-lactapp-2012.