State v. Guillard

736 So. 2d 273, 1999 WL 240728
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 7, 1999
Docket98-KA-0504
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 736 So. 2d 273 (State v. Guillard) 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. Guillard, 736 So. 2d 273, 1999 WL 240728 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

736 So.2d 273 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Emmit J. GUILLARD.

No. 98-KA-0504.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

April 7, 1999.

*275 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Joseph E. Lucore, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, Louisiana, Attorneys For Plaintiff-Appellee.

Deborah K. Leith, Louisiana Appellate Project, Covington, Louisiana, Attorney For Defendant-Appellant.

Court composed of Chief Judge ROBERT J. KLEES, Judge WILLIAM H. BYRNES III, Judge CHARLES R. JONES.

KLEES, Chief Judge.

Defendant/appellant, Emmitt J. Guillard, was charged by bill of information on September 23, 1997, with possession of cocaine, a violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967(C)(2). A six-member jury tried and convicted Guillard of the said charge and sentenced him to serve thirty months imprisonment after he was adjudicated as a third felony offender. Guillard appeals his conviction and sentence, and he raises three assignments of error. After reviewing the record, we affirm the conviction and sentence.

FACTS

In May 1997, New Orleans Police Officer, Steve Harrell, testified at trial that he was assigned to patrol the Bourbon Promenade, which encompasses the 200 to the 800 blocks of Bourbon Street. Officer Harrell approached Guillard while on patrol, and arrested him for possession of drug paraphernalia (crack pipe) after the officer conducted a pat-down search for weapons. The object was discovered in Guillard's rear left pants pocket. The metal crack pipe also contained a small amount of what he believed to be crack cocaine. From his experience as a police officer, Officer Harrell knew that the pipe was used to smoke crack cocaine. Therefore, Officer Harrell re-arrested Guillard for simple possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

Officer William Giblin, an expert in analysis and detection of controlled dangerous substances in the New Orleans Police Department Crime Lab, testified that he tested the metal pipe seized by Officer Harrell to determine if it contained any dangerous substances. He noted that the metal pipe contained a small amount of crack cocaine residue inside. He also testified that he washed the pipe with methanol to dissolve the substance. Using a process called gas chromatography, Officer Giblin testified the dissolved substance, and the results proved positive for cocaine.

Following trial, Guillard was found guilty of the lesser-included responsive offense of attempted possession of cocaine. He was sentenced on December 9, 1997, to serve thirty months at hard labor to run concurrently with any other sentence. The court also recommended that he be placed in the Blue Waters Program. Thereafter, the State filed a multiple bill information against Guillard, who pled guilty to being a third felony offender. The court vacated and set aside its original sentence and resentenced Guillard to serve thirty months at hard labor, which was to run concurrent with any other sentence. The court again recommended that Guillard be placed in the Blue Waters Program. Guillard filed a Motion to Reconsider the Sentence, which the trial court denied. However, Guillard's motion for an appeal relative to his conviction and sentence was granted.

PRESCRIPTIVE PERIOD FOR POST CONVICTION RELIEF

Although a review of the record for errors patent reveals none, we note that Guillard contends that the trial court failed to advise him of the prescriptive period for post conviction relief as required by La. C.Cr.P. art. 930.8(C). The Louisiana Supreme Court has held that La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.8(C) is "supplicatory language and *276 does not bestow an enforceable right upon an individual defendant." State ex rel. Glover v. State, 93-2330, 94-2101, 94-2197 (La.9/5/95), 660 So.2d 1189; State v. Guy, 95-0899 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1/31/96), 669 So.2d 517, writ denied 96-0388 (La.9/13/96), 679 So.2d 102. In Glover, the Court stated:

[W]e conclude that while the legislature intended to notify defendants of Art. 930.8's limitations period, the legislature's broader aim was to limit the limitations period for applications for post conviction relief to three years unless certain specific exceptions apply and not to create a remedy for a trial court's failure to inform the defendant of the limitations period. (Citation Omitted). We decline to create such a remedy in the absence of a clear expression of legislative intent in that regard. Accordingly, we hold that Art. 930.8(C) is merely a directive to the trial courts, the violation of which does not bestow an enforceable right in favor of an individual defendant.

Id., 660 So.2d at 1201.

Thus, the trial court's failure to advise him of the prescriptive period for post conviction relief does not require any action on the part of this Court.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

In his appeal, appellant raises three assignments of error.

For his first assignment of error, appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for attempted possession of cocaine. Specifically, he contends that the State cannot meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant knew that there was cocaine in the pipe, nor did the State present any evidence tending to prove that appellant attempted to possess cocaine.

The standard of review for the sufficiency of the evidence is whether, viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact could have found that the State proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Jacobs, 504 So.2d 817 (La.1987).

To support a conviction for possession of cocaine, the State must prove that the defendant was in possession of the illegal drug and that he knowingly possessed it. State v. Lavigne, 95-0204 (La. App. 4th Cir.5/22/96), 675 So.2d 771, writ den., 96-1738 (La.1/10/97), 685 So.2d 140; State v. Chambers, 563 So.2d 579 (La.App. 4th Cir.1990). The State need not prove that the defendant was in actual physical possession of the cocaine; constructive possession is sufficient to support a conviction. To prove attempt, the State must show that the defendant committed an act tending directly toward the accomplishment of his intent to possess cocaine. Chambers, 563 So.2d at 580.

The elements of knowledge and intent are states of mind and need not be proven as facts, but rather may be inferred from the circumstances. The factfinder may draw reasonable inferences to support these contentions based upon the evidence presented at trial. State v. Reaux, 539 So.2d 105 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1989).

In the instant case, the evidence of appellant's guilty knowledge is circumstantial. When circumstantial evidence forms the basis of the conviction, such evidence must consist of proof of collateral facts and circumstances from which the existence of the main fact may be inferred according to reason and common experience. State v. Shapiro, 431 So.2d 372 (La.1982). The elements must be proven such that every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. La. R.S. 15:438. La. R.S. 15:438 is not a separate test from Jackson v. Virginia, supra, but rather is an evidentiary guideline to facilitate appellate review of whether a rational juror could have found a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. All evidence, direct and circumstantial, must meet the Jackson reasonable *277 doubt standard.

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Bluebook (online)
736 So. 2d 273, 1999 WL 240728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-guillard-lactapp-1999.