State v. Harris

679 So. 2d 549, 1996 WL 474183
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 21, 1996
Docket28517-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 679 So. 2d 549 (State v. Harris) 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. Harris, 679 So. 2d 549, 1996 WL 474183 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

679 So.2d 549 (1996)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Alvin HARRIS, Appellant.

No. 28517-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

August 21, 1996.

*552 Stephens & Stephens by James M. Stephens, for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, William R. Coenen, Jr., District Attorney, Johnny R. Boothe, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before HIGHTOWER, BROWN and STEWART, JJ.

HIGHTOWER, Judge.

Defendant, Alvin Harris, appeals his conviction and twenty-year hard labor sentence for cocaine distribution, La.R.S. 40:967(A). We affirm.

FACTS

On February 25, 1994, two police officers, Saul Wilson and Betty Pichon, and an unidentified confidential informant ("CI") drove through the streets of Winnsboro as part of an undercover drug operation in Franklin Parish.[1] As the agents' vehicle passed, Harris recognized the CI and yelled for him to stop. Defendant then approached the passenger window of the automobile and began talking with the informant, who identified him to the agents as "Moot" Harris.

Thus engaged in conversation, the CI asked Harris if he knew anyone who had drugs available. When defendant replied that he had crack cocaine for sale at twenty dollars a rock, the CI indicated that Wilson wished to make a purchase. Upon the officer then stating he wanted a "twenty," Harris leaned into the car, handed the undercover agent the illegal substance, and received the appropriate remuneration.

After leaving that location, Wilson handed the crack cocaine to Pichon, who placed it in an envelope showing Harris's alias, the site of the transaction, and a description of the seller. About an hour later, the two undercover agents concluded their operation for the night and transferred the evidence of the "buys" to two Franklin Parish authorities, Johnny Mathews and Larry Crum. At that time, upon being shown a picture of defendant, the visiting officers identified him as the individual who had sold the suspected illegal substance. Laboratory analysis later positively certified the rock-like item to contain cocaine, a schedule II narcotic.

At the conclusion of their almost six-month drug operation, Franklin Parish officials arrested Harris on May 12, 1994, charging him with distribution of cocaine in violation of La.R.S. 40:967(A). Over a year later, a jury unanimously convicted defendant of that crime. This appeal ensued, after the trial judge imposed a sentence of twenty years imprisonment at hard labor.

DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his first assignment and without success, Harris challenges the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him.

The criteria for evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence is whether, upon viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could find that the state proved all 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. Washington, 597 So.2d 1084 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992). That standard, initially enunciated in Jackson and now legislatively embodied within La.C.Cr.P. Art. 821, is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. State v. Smith, 441 So.2d 739 (La. 1983); State v. Perry, 612 So.2d 986 (La.App. 2d Cir.1993).

*553 Of course, it is always the function of a judge or jury to assess credibility and resolve conflicting testimony. State v. Thomas, 609 So.2d 1078 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1992), writ denied. Where a trier of fact has made a rational determination, an appellate court should not disturb it. Id.; State v. Combs, 600 So.2d 751 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992), writ denied. Indeed, in the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence, the testimony of one witness, if believed by the fact-trier, is sufficient support for the requisite factual conclusion. State v. Thomas, supra. So too, the testimony of a single undercover police officer is sufficient to convict one charged with distribution of drugs. State v. Thompson, 27,543 (La.App. 2d Cir. 12/06/95), 665 So.2d 686; State v. Banks, 627 So.2d 756 (La.App. 2d Cir.1993).

The crime of distribution of cocaine requires the state to prove that the defendant knowingly or intentionally delivered the controlled dangerous substance. La.R.S. 40:967(A)(1); State v. Martin, 595 So.2d 592 (La.1992).

In the present case, defendant challenges only the reliability of the two undercover officers' identification of him as the person who sold the rock of crack cocaine. Essentially, he maintains that law enforcement personnel involved in such extensive drug "buy" operations cannot possibly remember accurately, a year after the transaction, the particular seller involved.

At trial, both officers identified Harris as the person from whom they purchased the crack rock on the night of February 25, 1994. They each testified that they carefully observed the seller and took note of his appearance. Although the transaction occurred around ten o'clock at a location illuminated only by street lights, appellant concluded the sale in close proximity to the agents after leaning into the automobile. The officers further testified that they recognized defendant's picture when, about an hour after the "buy," Crum presented a page of four photographs from a mugshot album and asked, "Is this him?" Earlier testimony by the indicated Franklin Parish official corroborated these events.

Defendant, as stated, later disputed whether the two officers could correctly identify the seller at trial after such a long period and after having made numerous other purchases since the date in question. The record, however, does not support his position. To the contrary, Wilson subsequently saw Harris while buying drugs from other dealers in the area. Likewise, when asked if she identified appellant in court only because of seeing his mugshot again on the day before trial, Pichon responded that she had not forgotten his "large, big eyes," a feature she mentioned to Wilson on the night of the offense. Indeed, upon inspecting the file picture shown to the officers and also defendant's most recent arrest photo, both in evidence, we deem Pichon's observations concerning Harris's facial characteristics to be quite accurate.

Defendant also makes much of the fact that none of the officers noticed a small "teardrop" tattoo just to the side of his right eye. Both undercover agents explained, however, that they could not discern this feature even at trial, observing that it resembled a very small blemish of some type. Likewise, Crum, acquainted with appellant for several years, had never noted the tiny design until specifically pointed out on the day of trial. Nor, after viewing the pictures of Harris, can we disagree with these explanations and characterizations by the law enforcement personnel.

Thus, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Harris sold crack cocaine to Wilson. Accordingly, this assignment of error fails.

Identity of the Confidential Informant

In the next assignment, Harris argues that the trial court erred in denying his request for the identity of the CI. We again disagree.

Public policy in Louisiana strongly favors protecting the identity of confidential informants. State v. Davis, 411 So.2d 434 (La.1982); State v. Dukes, 609 So.2d 1144 (La.App.

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Bluebook (online)
679 So. 2d 549, 1996 WL 474183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-harris-lactapp-1996.