State v. Hartwell

866 So. 2d 899, 2004 WL 124876
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 27, 2004
Docket03-KA-1214
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 866 So. 2d 899 (State v. Hartwell) 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. Hartwell, 866 So. 2d 899, 2004 WL 124876 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

866 So.2d 899 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Romalis A. HARTWELL.

No. 03-KA-1214.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 27, 2004.

*901 Holli Herrle-Castillo, Louisiana Appellate Project, Marrero, LA, for Appellant.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, 24th Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, State of Louisiana, Terry M. Boudreaux, Appellate Counsel, Thomas J. Butler, Counsel of Record on Appeal, Cameron Mary, Trial Counsel, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Appellee.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., JAMES L. CANNELLA and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

The Defendant, Romalis Hartwell, appeals his two armed robbery convictions and sentences. We affirm and remand.

On September 4, 2002, the Defendant was charged with two counts of the armed robbery of Fay Phillips (Phillips) and Tena Foster (Foster), in violation of La.R.S. 14:64. He pled not guilty and filed a motion to suppress the identification. On June 4, 2003, the motion was denied. The next day, trial commenced and a 12 person jury found the Defendant guilty as charged. The Defendant filed a motion for new trial, which was denied. After the Defendant waived sentencing delays, he was sentenced by the trial judge to 35 years imprisonment at hard labor on each count, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, to be served concurrently. Pursuant to La.R.S. 14:64.3, the judge imposed on each count an additional five years imprisonment, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutively to the 35-year sentence.

On the afternoon of June 21, 2002, Foster and Phillips were working at the Golden Beauty Supply on Ames Boulevard in Marrero, Louisiana when a man entered the shop. Foster, the manager, testified that the man, whom she had never seen before, entered the shop after she let him in with the store's automatic buzzer. After the other customers left the store, the Defendant put his hand under his shirt and approached Foster. He pulled a sun *902 visor down over his face, said this was a robbery and to "Get on the f_______ floor." The Defendant struck the cash register until it opened. He removed approximately $200 to $300 in cash from the register, but wanted to know where the rest of the money was kept. Foster told him it was in the floor safe. The Defendant became enraged, placed a gun to Foster's head and demanded the money from the safe. He said that "there was supposed to be a safe in the back." Foster said that the only safe she knew of was the floor safe, to which she did not have keys. The two women were ordered to kneel on the floor with their hands behind their heads. Foster testified that she believed they were about to die and that she prayed as she knelt. Eventually, Foster heard the door open and close. At that point, she discovered that the robber had left the store. Foster testified that both ladies' purses, earrings, jewelry, a "lot of the clippers and everything off the back shelf" had been stolen.

Detective John Carroll of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office went to the scene and met with Phillips and Foster. Foster described the perpetrator as wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt, shorts, a blue "rag" on his head, and a sun visor. The detective canvassed the neighborhood for suspects, but did not find anyone matching the description.

Troy Millro (Millro) testified that the Defendant approached him on the day of the robbery and asked if he wanted to buy some clippers that were still in the package. Millro said that he declined because he did not have the money. The Defendant asked him to drive him to someone else's house, where that person was going to purchase the clippers. Millro agreed, but told the Defendant that he wanted to bring his fiancée, Tiffany Carter (Carter), to their house first. When the three reached the house, the Defendant told Millro that he needed to go into Millro's backyard. Millro followed the Defendant to an area where Millro and Carter stored clothes. The Defendant pulled out a plastic bag containing credit cards, Medicaid cards, and other personal effects. The Defendant then told Millro that he had "robbed them b_______."

After Millro found another bag with similar contents, he took the two bags inside and told Carter what had just happened. She then telephoned Foster's home and spoke to Foster's son, who said that Foster was at the Golden Beauty Supply where she worked. Carter and Millro went to the shop and returned Foster's personal effects.[1] Foster copied the license plate of Carter's car and gave it to Detective Carroll.

After further investigation, Detective Carroll discovered that the car was registered to Carter. Carter and Millro then went to the detective bureau where they related the events that led to the return of Foster's belongings. Millro also identified the Defendant's photograph from a photographic lineup as the person who attempted to sell him the clippers. Thereafter, Detective Carroll went to the Defendant's residence and he consented to a search of his house. The Defendant's girlfriend, Rochella Sommersville (Sommersville), consented to a search of her vehicle that was parked at the residence. During the automobile search, Detective Carroll found a blue Hawaiian shirt in the trunk.

According to Detective Carroll, both Foster and Phillips positively identified the Defendant from a photographic lineup. At trial, Foster positively identified the Defendant as the perpetrator and the Hawaiian *903 shirt as the one worn by the Defendant during the robbery.

The Defendant sought to establish an alibi defense. He claimed that, on the day of the robbery, after work at Avondale, Sommersville picked him up from work at approximately 3:00 p.m. and they went to see a movie. However, the show they wanted to see was sold out, so they went to visit friends, Keshawn Harris (Harris) and Timothy Vicks (Vicks). All of these witnesses testified that the Defendant and Sommersville were at the Harris' and Vicks' apartment from approximately 4:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.

Sommersville testified that she had worked at the Golden Beauty Supply until the end of May 2002. She quit the job because she discovered that she was pregnant. Sommersville said that the owner told her she could have her job back after the baby was born. However, Sommersville also testified inconsistently that she found out on June 21, 2002, the day of the robbery, that she was pregnant. According to Sommersville, it was this discovery that prompted a clear memory of the day's events. The Defendant testified that Sommersville found out that she was pregnant a few days before June 21, 2002. The Defendant said he had been to the Golden Beauty Supply many times when Sommersville worked there.

On appeal, the Defendant contends that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to uphold the convictions, and that the trial judge erred in denying the defense motion for new trial. He also contends that the sentences are excessive.

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

The Defendant first argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction because the State failed to prove his identity as the perpetrator beyond a reasonable doubt.

The standard for appellate review of the sufficiency of evidence is "whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Shupp
185 So. 3d 900 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State of Louisiana v. William Shupp
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016
State v. Henry
159 So. 3d 1176 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State of Louisiana v. Demonte Jamar Henry
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015
State v. Spencer
151 So. 3d 816 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State of Louisiana v. Terrance Wayne Goudeau
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013
State v. Long
106 So. 3d 1136 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Thompson
100 So. 3d 375 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State of Louisiana v. Ben James Thompson
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012
State v. Hernandez-Zuniga
81 So. 3d 129 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Duncan
28 So. 3d 410 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Williams
8 So. 3d 3 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Robinson
984 So. 2d 856 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Ragas
960 So. 2d 266 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Smothers
927 So. 2d 484 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
State v. Lewis
916 So. 2d 294 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State v. Cowden
889 So. 2d 1075 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
866 So. 2d 899, 2004 WL 124876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hartwell-lactapp-2004.