State v. Howard

814 So. 2d 47, 2002 WL 468038
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 28, 2002·No. 2001 KA 1487·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

814 So.2d 47 (2002)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Sylvester HOWARD, Sr. A/K/A Sylvester Griffin A/K/A Roger Johnson.

No. 2001 KA 1487.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 28, 2002.

*48 Joseph L. Waitz, Jr., District Attorney, Houma, for Appellee State of Louisiana, By Bradley A. Doyle, Ellen Daigle Doskey, Assistant District Attorneys, Houma.

Brian P. Brancato, New Orleans, for Defendant/Appellant Sylvester Howard, *49 Sr. a/k/a Sylvester Griffin a/k/a Roger Johnson.

Before: FITZSIMMONS, DOWNING and LANIER,[1] JJ.

WALTER I. LANIER, Jr., J. Pro Tem.

The defendant, Sylvester Howard, Sr., a/k/a Sylvester Griffin a/k/a Roger Johnson, was charged by amended bill of information with possession with intent to distribute cocaine (second or subsequent offense), a violation of La. R.S. 40:967 A(1) and La. R.S. 40:982. He pled not guilty. He filed a motion to suppress, but the motion was denied. Following a jury trial, he was found guilty as charged by a unanimous verdict. He moved for new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, but the motions were denied. He was sentenced to thirty years at hard labor, the first ten years without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, and was fined $100,000.

FACTS

Testimony at the suppression hearing and at trial reveal the following.[2] On April 6, 2000, Louisiana State Trooper Brooks David was driving behind a Cadillac when he noticed the vehicle's license plate had expired. Trooper David pulled the vehicle over. The defendant was the vehicle's driver. Trooper David advised the defendant of the violation and asked the defendant for his driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance. The defendant indicated his name was "James Griffin." He claimed his identification was in room 219 of the Holiday Motel. The defendant produced vehicle registration papers indicating the vehicle was registered to Stephanie Robichaux of Bourg. Trooper David used his police car's computer to determine whether a driver's license had been issued to a person with the name and date of birth given by the defendant. The search did not indicate a driver's license had been issued. Trooper David advised the defendant of the result of the computer search, and the defendant claimed he was from Mississippi. Trooper David searched to see if a Mississippi driver's license had been issued to a person with the name and date of birth given by the defendant, but again the search revealed no license was issued. Additionally, Trooper David learned the Cadillac's license plate should have been "GZR 0364" rather than "FJN 030," which was actually on the automobile. The latter license plate had been issued to a Chevrolet Corsica belonging to Stephanie Robichaux of Bourg.[3] The defendant was placed in the back of Trooper David's vehicle and driven to the Holiday Motel. The defendant was not handcuffed. Trooper David testified the defendant was not under arrest at that point, was being detained until proper identification could be found and would have been allowed to leave upon request. Trooper David went to room 219 of the Holiday Motel and a Mr. Harper came to the door. Trooper David asked Harper who the person in the back of the police *50 car was, and Harper stated, "Sylvester." The defendant began screaming, "no, no, that's my son, that's my son." Trooper David removed the defendant from the police car, placed him under arrest for giving false information, and advised him of his Miranda[4] rights. He then placed the defendant back into the police car and drove him back to the defendant's vehicle. Trooper David went to the passenger side of the defendant's vehicle to "look for some paperwork or some IDs inside of the vehicle." He was unsure of who owned the vehicle. As he opened the vehicle's passenger-side door, Trooper David saw an open black sunglass case on the right side of the passenger seat. The view of the sunglass case was not obscured. A clear cellophane bag containing a hard rock-like substance that Trooper David suspected to be crack cocaine was "sticking out" of the sunglasses case. Trooper David returned to the defendant, removed him from the police car and gave him a "pat-down." The defendant had a Chapstick/lipstick case in his right front pocket containing a rock-like substance Trooper David suspected to be crack cocaine. The defendant stated he did not smoke cocaine, but rather, "just sells it." Additionally, the defendant's cellular phone and pager kept ringing. When asked, "what the deal was" the defendant indicated someone at the Sugar Bowl Motel was waiting for him "to bring those (referencing the cocaine) ... to him at the room." The defendant indicated he was going to sell the cocaine. The rock-like substances in the sunglass case and the Chapstick/lipstick tube were subsequently determined to contain cocaine.

EVIDENCE OF PRIOR POSSESSION OF COCAINE CONVICTION

(Assignment of error 1)

The defendant contends the trial court erred in permitting the prosecution to introduce to the jury evidence concerning his prior conviction for possession of cocaine. The defendant does not dispute that the prior possession of cocaine charge had to be listed in the bill of information to properly charge a violation of La. R.S. 40:982. See State v. Murray, 357 So.2d 1121, 1124 (La.1978); State v. Rodriguez, 572 So.2d 358, 359-60 (La.App. 1 Cir.1990). The defendant argues it was error, however, to read the portion of the bill of information regarding the possession of cocaine conviction to the jury and to allow the jury to determine whether he was a second offender.

Amendment V of the Constitution of the United States provides, in pertinent part, that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall ... be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ...." (Emphasis added) La. Const. of 1974, art. I, § 13 provides that "[i]n a criminal prosecution, an accused shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him." (Emphasis added)

To implement these constitutional provisions, La.C.Cr.P. art. 483 entitled "Allegations of Prior Convictions" provides as follows:

If it is necessary to allege a prior conviction in an indictment, it is sufficient to allege the name or nature of the offense and the fact, date, and court of the conviction.
An indictment shall not contain an allegation of a prior conviction of the defendant unless such allegation is necessary to fully charge the offense.

Official Revision comment (a) for Article 483 provides as follows:

The first paragraph of this article is taken, with only minor stylistic changes, *51 from Art. 242 of the 1928 Code of Criminal Procedure. It is to facilitate the allegation of prior convictions in cases where such allegations must be included in the original indictment, as in offenses where the criminal statute or ordinance provides enhanced penalties for repeated violators of its provisions. For example, the Criminal Code crimes of theft (R.S. 14:67), operation of a vehicle while intoxicated (R.S. 14:98), and reckless operation of a vehicle (R.S. 14:99) all contain provisions for enhanced penalties for multiple offenders. However, there is no provision in those articles which authorizes a district attorney to wait until after a defendant is convicted of the charge in question to inform him that he has been prosecuted as a multiple offender.

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State v. Howard, 814 So. 2d 47, 2002 WL 468038 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

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