State v. Honeycutt

987 So. 2d 250, 2008 WL 2190906
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 27, 2008
Docket08-KA-126
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 987 So. 2d 250 (State v. Honeycutt) 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. Honeycutt, 987 So. 2d 250, 2008 WL 2190906 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

987 So.2d 250 (2008)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Brad HONEYCUTT.

No. 08-KA-126.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 27, 2008.

*251 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Andrea F. Long, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Attorney at Law, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, FREDERICKA HOMBERG WICKER, and GREG G. GUIDRY.

*252 GREG G. GUIDRY, Judge.

The Defendant, Brad Honeycutt, appeals his conviction of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of La.R.S. 40:967(A). We affirm the conviction and sentence, and remand for correction of the commitment.

In February of 2007, the Defendant was charged by bill of information. He was subsequently arraigned, pled not guilty, and filed a Motion to Suppress the Evidence. The motion was denied in May of 2007. Trial was held on June 11, 2007, after which a jury of 12 convicted him of the crime charged. On June 21, 2007, he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in the Department of Corrections, with the first two years to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

The State filed a habitual offender bill of information on June 21, 2007, alleging that the Defendant was a second felony offender. The Defendant stipulated to the allegation in the bill of information. The trial judge vacated the Defendant's original sentence, and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment in the Department of Corrections, to be served without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.

During the daylight hours on February 13, 2007, Deputies Erick Blandford and Todd Giacona of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office were in an unmarked car patrolling a high crime area in the Tallowtree area in Harvey. As they entered the neighborhood, Deputy Blandford observed a man, later identified as the Defendant, crouched between two apartment complexes behind a brick wall four and one-half feet high. The courtyard was shared by the complexes. When the Defendant saw Deputy Blandford watching him, the Defendant ducked down. Because of numerous drug deals that had occurred in front of the building, the officers stopped, exited their unit, and approached the Defendant to find out what he was doing crouched behind the wall.

Deputy Blandford, who was in uniform, began a "voluntary conversation" with the Defendant. He noticed that the Defendant appeared nervous, was shaking and stuttering. For officer safety, he conducted an outer-clothing patdown to check for weapons. Deputy Blandford felt a bulge in the back of the Defendant's pants. A simultaneous search of the NCIC computer disclosed that the Defendant had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The Defendant was arrested on the outstanding warrant, and the officers conducted a search incident to arrest. When the Deputy pulled the waistband of the Defendant's pants away from his body to check on the bulge, he and Officer Giacona observed the end of one clear plastic bag protruding from, and pinched between, the Defendant's buttocks. That bag contained a number of other clear plastic bags. All contained a white rock substance that a field test confirmed as crack cocaine. Deputy Blandford noted that this manner of storing illegal drugs is common. The Defendant also had $658 in his possession. He told the deputies that he was a street rapper.

Daniel Waguespack, an expert in the field of analysis and identification of controlled dangerous substances, testified that the contents of the clear plastic bag contained 17 off-white rocks individually wrapped in clear plastic bags. He further stated that the rocks tested positive for cocaine.

Lieutenant Daniel Jewell, Jr. of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office was recognized as an expert in the field of use, packaging, value and distribution of controlled dangerous substances. He reviewed the evidence and testified that the *253 cocaine was packaged in a manner consistent with distribution of the drug.

On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence.

The Defendant asserts that the officers lacked specific reasonable belief of criminal wrongdoing by the Defendant, and failed to articulate a belief that the Defendant was armed and dangerous warranting the detention and frisk for weapons. He argues that the officer's belief that the neighborhood was a high crime area was not sufficient to justify the search of the Defendant as a "mere adjunct to the `voluntary conversation.'" He further argues that he reasonably believed he was not free to go, and was in fact detained, from the time that the officers stepped outside their vehicle. He further argues that even in a high crime area a person is free to avoid the police—even as they approach to engage in a voluntary conversation. The Defendant argues that the field interview was simply a fishing expedition without legal justification that happened to bear fruit. As such, he concludes the search was illegal and the evidence should have been suppressed.

The officers' testimony at the suppression hearing was the same as at trial. The area in which the Defendant was arrested is a high crime area, the officers had received several calls in the past regarding narcotics and weapons there, and multiple arrests had occurred in that location. The Defendant's odd behavior was suspicious, and the officers approached the Defendant to discover why he was hiding. The Defendant was nervous, his hands were shaking, and he stuttered when he spoke. A patdown search for weapons disclosed a bulge, and the computer check disclosed an outstanding warrant for the Defendant's arrest. After his arrest, the search incidental to the arrest revealed 17 bags of cocaine hidden between the Defendant's buttocks.

The Defendant testified at the suppression hearing that he was at a relative's residence on this date and although he admitted he went outside, he denied crouching down by a brick wall. He admitted that he was frisked for officer safety, that the officer checked his name in the computer, that there was an attachment for him, and that he was arrested and searched incident to that arrest. The Defendant testified that he had $2,000 that morning from rapping at a club. He denied that the officer discovered crack cocaine on him.

At the hearing, the Defendant argued that La.C.Cr.P. art. 215.1 prohibits officers from conducting body searches without a warrant and, therefore, any evidence found should be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree. The State responded that the officers did not conduct a body or cavity search. The trial judge denied the Defendant's motion, stating:

Alright (sic). It's my understanding the testimony was that the officer was doing a search incidental to arrest because the defendant had a warrant out on him. He did a patdown, actually felt something protruding from his—the middle of his butt cheeks, for lack of a better word, and at that point, knew that whatever it was doesn't belong there and took a look, and that's when he found the crack. So, I don't find that there's any constitutional violations in any of that. The motion to suppress is denied.

(R., p. 58). Defendant objected.

In a hearing on a motion to suppress, the State bears the burden of proof in establishing the admissibility of evidence that is seized without a warrant. La.C.Cr.P. art. 703 D. The trial judge's *254

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
987 So. 2d 250, 2008 WL 2190906, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-honeycutt-lactapp-2008.