State v. Gresham

712 So. 2d 946, 97 La.App. 5 Cir. 1158
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 15, 1998
Docket97-KA-1158
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 712 So. 2d 946 (State v. Gresham) 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. Gresham, 712 So. 2d 946, 97 La.App. 5 Cir. 1158 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

712 So.2d 946 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Eric GRESHAM.

No. 97-KA-1158.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 15, 1998.

*947 Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate Project, Gretna, for Appellant Eric Gresham.

*948 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Assistant District Attorney, Research and Appeals, Gretna, for Appellee State of Louisiana.

Before GRISBAUM, DUFRESNE and CANNELLA, JJ.

CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Eric D. Gresham, appeals his conviction of armed robbery. We affirm his conviction, adjudication as an habitual offender and sentence.

On October 16, 1996, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a Bill of Information charging defendant with two counts of armed robbery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64.[1] At the arraignment on October 24, 1996, defendant pled not guilty. He filed a motion to suppress the evidence and confession on October 25, 1996. After a hearing on April 7, 1997, the trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress. On the same day, the state severed count one, and jury selection began. Defendant was tried before a jury of twelve persons on count two on April 8th and 9th, 1997. The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on April 9, 1997, by a vote of ten to two. On April 25, 1997, the trial judge sentenced defendant to serve forty years imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. On the same date, the state filed an habitual offender Bill of Information, alleging defendant to be a third felony offender.

On April 29, 1997, defendant filed a motion for appeal, which the trial court granted on May 1, 1997. The habitual offender hearing was held on September 19, 1997 and the trial court took the matter under advisement. On November 7, 1997, defendant was adjudicated a third felony offender. After vacating defendant's previous sentence, defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.[2]

Officer Chris Gordon of the Gretna Police Department and Jacqueline Billiot (Billiot) testified at the hearing on the motion to suppress. Officer Gordon testified that on September 9, 1996, at approximately 1:00 a.m., he responded to a call regarding an armed robbery at the Burger King located at 78 Westbank Expressway. He was advised that the suspects were two black males and that the robbery had been committed with a gun. On the way to the Burger King, Officer Gordon observed two black males walking away from the Burger King, through the parking lot of 90 Westbank Expressway, approximately a block and a half away from the crime scene. Officer Gordon stated that he stopped his car and saw that Officer Guidry was nearby. He and Officer Guidry ordered the two suspects to stop and place their hands on the hood of the car. Defendant asked what was happening and Officer Gordon responded that they were investigating an armed robbery. Officer Gordon testified that defendant replied, "Man, that wasn't me. I'm just going over to Rally's." Officer Gordon patted down defendant and Officer Guidry patted down the other man, Narcisse. Officer Gordon testified that the pat down was done "due to the robbery being with a weapon ... to make sure they didn't have a weapon on them, for our safety." Officer Gordon stated that as he was patting defendant down, he felt "something hard" in defendant's front right pocket. The officer stated that he removed a roll of quarters and a roll of pennies from that pocket. Officer Gordon said that he removed these objects because "when [he] felt it was hard, [he] didn't know what it was, and it's always possible it could have been a small weapon." He continued to pat down defendant and felt another object in defendant's right rear pocket, "protruding through the pocket, up underneath his T-shirt." The officer removed removed this object and discovered that it was a roll of garbage bags. He testified that he "couldn't feel exactly what *949 the object was" when he was patting defendant down.

Officer Gordon testified that he advised his lieutenant of the situation and the lieutenant told him to release the subjects because since the robbers wore scarves or bandanas over their faces, the victims were unable to identify the robbers by their facial features. The officers returned the property and then released defendant and Narcisse. Defendant and Narcisse then walked away. Thereafter, Officer Gordon continued to search the area for suspects and Officer Guidry returned to the Burger King. Officer Gordon testified that while Officer Guidry was at the Burger King, one of the victims told him that the robbers took a roll of garbage bags during the robbery. When the victim showed Officer Guidry the kind of garbage bags that had been taken, Officer Guidry recognized them as the same kind of garbage bags which defendant had in his pocket. Officer Gordon stated that they then went to search for defendant and Narcisse again.

Officer Gordon testified that defendant and Narcisse were apprehended about ten minutes later. He and Officer Guidry brought them to the Burger King for identification. Officer Gordon and Officer Guidry stood outside of the drive-through window with defendant and Narcisse and a spotlight was shone on them. Officer Gordon testified that his lieutenant was inside with the victims and indicated that defendant and Narcisse were positively identified.

After argument by counsel, the trial court denied the motion to suppress the evidence, stating the following reasons:

THE COURT:
All right. I have no problem with the stop and frisk. I think the stop was appropriate. I think that frisk was also appropriate I think that the law is not whether they think there's a weapon; the law is whether or not the officer reasonably feels he is in physical danger. I think the roll of coins could put him in reasonable danger. Certainly a rolled up something in the back, even though the outside of it feels soft, there could be something in it. I have no problem with them removing both the coins or removing the rolled up garbage bags; therefore, the Motion to Suppress the Evidence is denied; and we'll go forward with the rest of the Motion to Suppress the Identification. (R., p.227)

Relative to the motion to suppress the identification, Billiot testified that she and Earl Jackson were working at the Burger King at 78 Westbank Expressway on September 9, 1996. She stated that on that night, two black males robbed the Burger King and hit her in the head. She stated that she didn't see either of the perpetrators' faces at the time of the robbery because both of them wore "handkerchiefs" over their faces, up to their eyes and they were also wearing hats. Billiot testified that she called the police after the robbery and that she was very upset when the police arrived. She did not recall what she had told them. She testified that approximately ten to fifteen minutes later, the police returned with two people and told her they wanted her to "look at" them. She looked at them through the store's front window, as well as the drive-through window, but could not remember whether or not she positively identified these two people. Finally, she testified that the police did not tell her whom to select or try to influence her in any way.

After argument by counsel, the trial court noted that Billiot did not state that she had identified defendant, but ruled that the identification procedure itself was not "faulty."

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
712 So. 2d 946, 97 La.App. 5 Cir. 1158, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gresham-lactapp-1998.