State v. Gillum

165 So. 3d 924, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2827, 2014 WL 6687315
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 25, 2014
DocketNo. 14-KA-302
StatusPublished

This text of 165 So. 3d 924 (State v. Gillum) 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. Gillum, 165 So. 3d 924, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2827, 2014 WL 6687315 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

FREDERICKA HOMBERG WICKER,

Judge.

| gAppellant, Joe Gillum, was tried and convicted for failing to register as a sex offender by possessing an altered identification card with the intent to defraud, a violation of La. R.S. 15:542.1.4. Mr. Gil-lum was sentenced to two years at hard labor without the benefit of parole. He appeals his conviction on the basis of the State’s alleged failure to present sufficient evidence to support his conviction. For the following reasons, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 18, 1999, Mr. Gillum was convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile.1 On the morning of August 25, 2012, two Harahan police officers performed a traffic stop on Mr. Gillum after observing that his license plate was expired. After Mr. Gillum gave the police officers his driver’s license and identification cards, he was issued a citation for altering a driver’s license. At a plater date, Mr. Gillum was arrested pursuant to a warrant for failing to register as a sex offender by possessing an altered identification card with the intent to defraud, a violation of La. R.S. 15:542.1.4.

On January 22, 2013, Mr. Gillum’s case proceeded to trial. Officer David Mitchell testified that he and another police officer, Officer David Schneider, stopped Mr. Gil-lum on Jefferson Highway.after noticing that his vehicle had an expired license plate. Officer Mitchell testified that Mr. Gillum was driving the vehicle and that there was another occupant seated in the front passenger side of the vehicle. Officer Mitchell testified that he approached the passenger side of the vehicle while Officer Schneider approached the driver’s side. According to Officer Mitchell, Officer Schneider subsequently asked Officer Mitchell to approach the driver’s side of the vehicle and handed him a driver’s license which appeared to have white-out painted onto the lower right corner. According to Officer Mitchell’s testimony, he asked Mr. Gillum why a portion of his driver’s license had been whited-out. Mr. Gillum told Officer Mitchell that his grandchild enjoyed playing with his driver’s license and white-out. Thereafter, Mr. Gil-lum presented two additional forms of identification to the officers, both of which had white-out on the bottom right corner. Mr. Gillum was ultimately cited for altering his driver’s license and for driving with an expired license plate. Mr. Gillum signed the citations and the police kept the altered driver’s license and identification cards. Officer Mitchell testified that after giving Mr. Gillum the citation, Mr. Gillum asked, “Oh, I’m not going to jail?” Officer Mitchell testified that he advised Mr. Gil-lum that he was not going to jail, and would instead receive a citation for altering his driver’s license and identification cards.

Officer Mitchell testified that he subsequently placed the license, identification cards, and related citations in a “citation box” located within a secure | location inside of the Harahan Police Station. Officer Mitchell further testified that he had not previously written a ticket for an altered driver’s license and, at the time, did not know that it could be a felony if a sex offender altered his driver’s license. Ofifi-[927]*927cer Mitchell testified that Detective Joe Lorenzo reviewed the confiscated I.D. cards and assisted in obtaining an arrest warrant for Mr. Gillum for violating La. R.S. 15:542.1.4. Mr. Gillum was subsequently arrested pursuant to the warrant.

Chief Joe Lorenzo, Interim Chief of Police of Harahan, testified that he was a detective at the time of Mr. Gillum’s arrest and that he primarily handled the investigation of sex crimes and sex offenders. Chief Lorenzo testified that he examined Mr. Gillum’s identification cards and, after searching a police database, determined that Mr. Gillum was still required to register as a sex offender.

The State also called Lieutenant Luis Munguia, Commander of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office Fingerprint Identification Section, which includes the Sex Offender Registration Division. Lieutenant Munguia testified that Mr. Gillum is one of the sex offenders he supervises and that Mr. Gillum had periodically renewed his- sex offender registration as required. He testified that Mr. Gillum signed a contract which informed him of his obligations as a registered sex offender. Lieutenant Munguia testified that sex offenders are required to have a State identification card issued which contains the words “SEX OFFENDER” in orange letters at the bottom of the card and a driver’s license of a sex offender is required to have the words “SEX OFFENDER” underneath the holder’s photograph.

The defense rested without calling any witnesses. On January 23, 2014, after a two-day trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. On February 3, 2014, the trial court imposed a term of imprisonment of two years at hard labor | ¡^without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The instant appeal follows.

DISCUSSION

In his sole assignment of error, Mr. Gillum contends that the State did not present sufficient evidence to convict him at trial. Specifically, Mr. Gillum alleges that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had the intent to defraud required to convict him under La. R.S. 15:542.1.4. According to Mr. Gillum, there was “no evidence introduced that Mr. Gillum was the person who placed the white out [sic] on the cards,” and “no evidence that Mr. Gillum possessed these cards with the intent to defraud.” For the following reasons, we find that the State presented adequate evidence to sustain Mr. Gillum’s conviction. Accordingly, we affirm Mr. Gillum’s conviction.

The standard for an appellate court’s review of the sufficiency of evidence in a criminal prosecution is “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier-of-fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573 (1979); State v. Bailey, 04-85 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/26/04), 875 So.2d 949, 954-955, writ denied, '04-1605 (La.11/15/04), 887 So.2d 476. When the trier-of-fact is confronted with conflicting testimony, fact findings rest solely with that judge or jury, who may accept or reject, in whole or in part, any witness’s testimony. Bailey, 04-85, 875 So.2d at 955.

On appeal, it is not the function of a reviewing court to assess the credibility of witnesses or to re-weigh the evidence. State v. Hooker, 05-251, p. 17 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1/17/06), 921 So.2d 1066, 1076, citing State v. Marcantel, 00-1629, p. 9 (La.4/3/02), 815 So.2d 50, 56. The trier of fact makes credibility determinations, and | fimay, within the bounds of rationality, ac[928]*928cept or reject the testimony of any witness. State v. Bright, 98-0398, p. 22 (La.4/11/00), 776 So.2d 1134, 1148, citing State v. Hampton, 98-0331, p. 13 (La.4/23/99), 750 So.2d 867, 880.

La. R.S. 15:542.1.4 prescribes the penalties for failing to follow Louisiana’s guidelines for registering as a sex offender. Under La. R.S. 15:542.1.4:

Any person ... who is in possession of any document required by R.S. 32:412(1)2 or R.S. 40:1321(J)3

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
State v. Bright
776 So. 2d 1134 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2000)
State v. McGee
24 So. 3d 235 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Marcantel
815 So. 2d 50 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2002)
State v. Bailey
875 So. 2d 949 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Decrevel
847 So. 2d 1197 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
State v. Graham
420 So. 2d 1126 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Kempton
806 So. 2d 718 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Mitchell
772 So. 2d 78 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2000)
State v. Hampton
750 So. 2d 867 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1999)
State v. Hooker
921 So. 2d 1066 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Hayden
707 So. 2d 1360 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Sumling
786 So. 2d 843 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
165 So. 3d 924, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2827, 2014 WL 6687315, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gillum-lactapp-2014.