State v. Guccione

694 So. 2d 1060, 1997 WL 206173
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 29, 1997
Docket96-KA-1049
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 694 So. 2d 1060 (State v. Guccione) 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. Guccione, 694 So. 2d 1060, 1997 WL 206173 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

694 So.2d 1060 (1997)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Robert P. GUCCIONE.

No. 96-KA-1049.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 29, 1997.

*1062 Paul D. Connick, Jr., Terry M. Boudreaux, District Attorney's Office, Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, for Plaintiff/Appellee, State.

William R. Campbell, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, for Defendant/Appellant, Robert Guccione.

Before GAUDIN, BOWES and CANNELLA, JJ.

BOWES, Judge.

Defendant, Robert Guccione, appeals his conviction for two counts of attempted second degree murder (Counts one and three), two counts of armed robbery, (Counts two and five), and one count of second degree kidnaping (Count four).[1] We affirm for the following reasons.

*1063 FACTS

The five charged counts involve two separate incidents and two different victims.

On June 28, 1995, Todd Louque met and talked with a woman in a Jefferson Parish bar. When Louque began to leave around 9:30 p.m., the woman asked for a ride. While driving, Louque agreed to accompany her to an area known as the Harvey Locks. The couple arrived at the location, walked behind the flood wall on the levee and began kissing. A few minutes later two men attacked Louque and began fighting with him. One of the men and Louque rolled into the water and continued to struggle. The attacker held Louque's head under the water several times. Finally, the other perpetrator, who was holding a gun, told Louque to stop fighting or he would be killed. The men took Louque's wallet, his 1995 Camero automobile, keys, beeper and watch before they fled. Louque did not see the woman again after he was attacked. Subsequently, Louque was treated at a hospital for injuries he received in the attack and gave a statement to police.

A few hours later, at around 3:00 o'clock a.m., Jefferson Parish Sheriff Deputy Randall Fernandez stopped a vehicle driven by defendant. Fernandez noticed that defendant's clothes were wet, the front seat of the vehicle was wet and that wounds on his hands appeared fresh. Defendant said that he had hurt his knuckles fixing the vehicle. The two passengers in the vehicle were Lila Plaisance and Carlo DeSalvo. After the stop, defendant and the others were allowed to leave in the vehicle.

In the early morning hours of June 30, 1995, officers patrolling the Westbank area of Jefferson Parish investigated an abandoned and stripped vehicle which was discovered to be Louque's stolen automobile. The officers followed an oil trail from the vehicle to a nearby residence. The officers saw body parts of a silver vehicle in the backyard. After a search of the premises pursuant to a warrant, the officers found parts of Louque's stolen Camero and a license tag in the name of Todd Louque. The resident, Michael DiCharra, was arrested and gave a statement that he had stripped the vehicle.

Late in the evening of June 30, 1995, James Clair met a young woman at a Jefferson Parish lounge. She began talking with Clair and eventually he agreed to leave with her. They went to a residence the woman stated belonged to a friend, but could not enter because it was locked. After they returned to the bar, the woman used the telephone. A short time later the woman told Clair that her friend was now at home. As Clair left again with the woman and walked to his automobile in the lounge's parking lot, he was grabbed from behind by a man and forced into the trunk of his vehicle. Clair heard two men enter the vehicle, turn on the radio and drive away, but could not hear the men's conversation. After a while, the vehicle stopped and the trunk opened. One of the men taped Clair's hands and feet and closed the trunk again. Once again the men drove the vehicle and then stopped. The trunk was opened and Clair, who had located an aerosol can, sprayed the contents into the face of one of the men. He was removed from the trunk and beaten. The scenario of driving, stopping and removing Clair from the trunk for beatings continued four or five times. Over the course of the evening, Clair was struck between 25 and 50 times. Finally, the vehicle stopped and Clair was left in the trunk.

About eight hours later, Clair heard noises and began beating on the inside of the trunk. A man heard the sound, realized that a person was locked in the trunk and called authorities. Subsequently, Clair was taken to a hospital and treated for extensive injuries. During this incident, the men stole Clair's money and items from his vehicle.

At the trial, Louque testified that three or four days after the crime he made a tentative identification during a photographic lineup of defendant as the man who attacked him and held his head under water. He also testified about his positive identification without hesitation of defendant during a physical lineup about three weeks later.

*1064 During the first photographic lineup while he was hospitalized, Clair was not able to identity the attackers. He testified that the injuries and loss of blood prevented him from being able to do so. However, Clair also testified about his identification of defendant during a later physical lineup.

At trial, both Louque and Clair identified defendant as one of their attackers. As a result of the police investigation, Guccione and two others, Carlo DeSalvo and Lila Plaisance who were identified by Louque, were arrested for the incidents involving both victims.

Guccione was charged with the above crimes, was arraigned and pled not guilty. Subsequently, defendant filed a pro se motion for a preliminary examination and a motion to proceed pro se. The motion to proceed pro se was granted by the court. Later, on motion of the defendant, the court also ruled that defendant could receive the sum of $3,000.00 for a private investigator, have access to all witnesses other than co-defendants and have use of a telephone. Defendant filed a motion to quash and sever the counts, which was denied by the trial court.[2] In State v. Guccione, 96-K-198, decided March 3, 1996, this Court denied a writ as to this ruling.

On April 15, 1996, the trial began. Defendant represented himself and an attorney was appointed to serve as his legal advisor. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned the verdict of guilty as charged to Counts one, two, three and four and the responsive verdict of first degree robbery to Count five. Defendant's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal was denied. The trial court sentenced defendant as follows: on Counts one and three, the sentence was 50 years at hard labor on each count, with sentences to run consecutively; on Count two, defendant received 50 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, and suspension of sentence, to run concurrent with each other count; on Count four, the sentence was 10 years at hard labor, also to run concurrent; and on Count five, defendant received 35 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, to run concurrent. Defendant was also given credit for time served on each count. A motion for appeal was granted and an attorney was appointed to represent defendant on appeal.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

The trial court erred in granting defendant's motion to proceed in pro se at trial.

In this assignment of error, defendant contends that the trial court erred in granting the motion to proceed pro se.

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Bluebook (online)
694 So. 2d 1060, 1997 WL 206173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-guccione-lactapp-1997.