State v. Gleason

836 So. 2d 1165, 2003 WL 184010
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 29, 2003
Docket36,774-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 836 So. 2d 1165 (State v. Gleason) 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. Gleason, 836 So. 2d 1165, 2003 WL 184010 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

836 So.2d 1165 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
James W. GLEASON, Appellant.

No. 36,774-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 29, 2003.

*1166 Louisiana Appellate Project By: Carey J. Ellis, III, Rayville, for Appellant.

*1167 Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, William R. Coenen, Jr., District Attorney, Johnny R. Boothe, Penny Douciere, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before STEWART, GASKINS & PEATROSS, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

Defendant, James W. Gleason, was charged by bill of information with armed robbery in violation of La. R.S. 14:64.[1] Defendant ultimately pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity and waived his right to a trial by jury. After the bench trial, he was found guilty as charged and subsequently sentenced to 30 years at hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. A motion to reconsider sentence was filed and denied and Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 26, 2000, at approximately 12:40 p.m., Defendant entered the Gilbert Branch of the Winnsboro State Bank with the intention of robbing it. While the door to the bank is normally locked during this time, the two employees who were present, Claudine Prather and Vickie Collins, mistakenly assumed it would be safe to allow Defendant to enter, since he appeared to be well dressed and he was carrying a briefcase. Once inside, Defendant began to ask numerous questions about the procedures for opening a new business account. After a few minutes, he opened his briefcase and pulled out a .45-caliber handgun, which he pointed at the two women. Defendant began to make demands, telling them not to set off any alarms and also questioned them about the layout of the bank. During the initial encounter, Defendant spoke on a cellular phone, informing someone: "It's quiet. It's only two of them." He told the women he had back up to call in if they did not cooperate. Defendant then removed what appeared to be dynamite or a bomb from his briefcase and laid it on the desk.

Ms. Collins and Ms. Prather testified that it appeared that Defendant knew certain fundamental procedures about banking security that an ordinary person might not be aware of, insisting, for example, that the victims not give him any "bait" money, and carefully looking in every place where money was normally hidden. After he had the two women place approximately $118,000 into a trash bag, which he had retrieved from the bank lobby, he instructed one of the women to retrieve the videotape from the security camera. Defendant then locked the woman in the restroom and told them that, if they attempted to open the door, the bomb he had attached to the doorknob would go off. Defendant left the bank in a rented vehicle. When another co-worker returned from lunch, she released the two victims. After calling 911, the women waited outside the bank, fearing the building would explode. It was later determined that the bomb was fake. The victims were able to give police a description of the perpetrator, including identifying marks such as a tattoo on his wrist, his clothing, shoes, etc. The victims also gave a description of the perpetrator's car and its direction of travel.

Shortly after the robbery, Tensas Parish Deputy Kenneth Morgan received a "be on the lookout" (BOLO) on the vehicle and suspect involved in the bank robbery. The BOLO described the perpetrator as a white male driving a newer model gold *1168 automobile with no tag information. Deputy Morgan testified that he observed a vehicle matching the description driving south on Highway 65, passing other vehicles in an unsafe manner. Deputy Morgan stopped the vehicle. Deputy Morgan reported that the driver of the vehicle, Defendant, was coherent and calm. Since Defendant matched the description of the suspect, two additional officers were sent to the location of the stop. Defendant consented to a search of the vehicle, which revealed an automatic pistol in the front seat and a large plastic bag filled with cash in the back floorboard.

Defendant was arrested and, during his transport back to Franklin Parish, he voluntarily stated that the "fat lady had finally sung," and "his kids should be proud of him now," and that he was bankrupt and needed the money. A full search of the vehicle yielded a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, an AK47-assault weapon, a fully semi-automatic UZI, a fake bomb, fake tattoos (including packaging for one he had placed on his wrist), fake license plates and the bank security tape. Also discovered was a notebook with entries pertaining to additional small town isolated banks and a roll of electrical tape. Both Ms. Collins and Ms. Prather identified the Defendant in a photographic line-up shortly after the robbery.

After arraignment, at which he pled not guilty, Defendant retained counsel who raised the issue of Defendant's mental capacity to proceed. A sanity commission was appointed; however, the record indicates that Defendant refused to cooperate with the examining psychiatrists. The court, therefore, ordered Defendant to the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System for evaluation to determine his capacity to proceed and assist counsel and to determine his sanity at the time of the alleged offense. The evaluators concluded that Defendant was mentally capable of proceeding and assisting in his defense and the court entered judgment to that effect. Defendant then withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, based on his alleged involuntary intoxication resulting from his use of the anti-depressant Prozac.

At trial, the State presented the testimony of the arresting and investigating officers, the victims and other witnesses who established the facts of the armed robbery as well as Defendant's behavior at the time of the commission of the crime and shortly thereafter. The defense stipulated that the State had proven all of the elements of the offense, but focused on Defendant's alleged Prozac-induced mental incapacity which prevented Defendant from distinguishing right from wrong at the time of the offense. After a six-day bench trial, Defendant was found guilty as charged.[2]

DISCUSSION

On appeal, Defendant raises two assignments of error: (1) the sufficiency of the evidence and (2) excessive sentence.

Sufficiency of evidence/insanity defense

Defendant urges that the evidence was insufficient to support a guilty verdict; he contends that he was insane at the time of the offense and, thus, the proper verdict should have been not guilty by reason of insanity. The State, however, maintains that Defendant failed to meet his burden of proof regarding his defense of insanity; *1169 and, therefore, the defense was properly rejected by the trial judge. The State further submits that the record fully supports the judge's findings and the conviction should be affirmed. We agree.

Louisiana law presumes a defendant is sane and responsible for his or her actions. La. R.S. 15:432. This presumption is rebuttable, however, and the defendant has the burden of establishing the defense of insanity at the time of the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. La. C.Cr.P. art. 652; State v. Appacrombie, 33,551 (La.App.2d Cir.9/12/00), 766 So.2d 771, writ denied, 00-2856 (La.10/5/01), 798 So.2d 961; State v. Colvin, 452 So.2d 1214 (La.App. 2d Cir.1984), writ denied,

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Related

State v. Jones
982 So. 2d 105 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
836 So. 2d 1165, 2003 WL 184010, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gleason-lactapp-2003.