State v. Jackson

362 So. 2d 1082
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided September 5, 1978·No. 61606·Published·Cited by 19 cases

Opinion

362 So.2d 1082 (1978)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Charles Ray JACKSON.

No. 61606.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

September 5, 1978.
Rehearing Denied October 5, 1978.

*1084 Marion B. Farmer, Covington, for defendant-appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Woodrow W. Erwin, Dist. Atty., Julian J. Rodrigue, Kurt F. Sins, Asst. Dist. Attys., Abbott J. Reeves, Director, Research and Appeals Div., Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

SUMMERS, Justice.

Defendant Charles Ray Jackson was charged in a grand jury indictment with simple burglary of the residence of Cyrus Plummer on September 26, 1976. He was found guilty in a jury trial, multiple billed, found guilty as an habitual offender and sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for twelve years. Seven assignments of error are relied upon by the defendant on this appeal.

Assignment 1 —The State notified defendant pursuant to Article 768 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that it intended to use in evidence the confessions made by Jackson on October 4, 1976. Defense counsel then filed a motion to suppress this confession.

At the hearing held on the motion to suppress testimony was adduced. From this evidence it was ascertained that Deputies Benjamin White and Bryan Sanders of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, received information that a burglary had been committed at a service station in Madisonville on the night of October 3, 1976. Jackson and Robert Richardson were seen in Madisonville that night by Officer John Passero, patrolman for the Madisonville Police. In an effort to obtain additional information relating to that burglary White, Sanders and Passero drove to the residence of Robert Richardson on 31st Avenue in the city of Covington at 12 o'clock noon the following day.

At the 31st Avenue residence they inquired of Richardson whether Jackson was there. Jackson was inside the house at the time, and while the deputies waited outside to speak to him, a number of people gathered around. When Jackson appeared, they asked if he was in Madisonville the night before. Jackson said that he was, and he named the people he was with at the time. Finding that further private, uninterrupted conversation would be impracticable in the presence of the curious who had gathered, the officers asked Jackson "if he would mind" coming to the sheriff's office to talk to them. Jackson agreed and he and Richardson drove to the sheriff's office with the deputies in their car.

Upon arrival they entered the office in the Sheriff's Annex of the Courthouse where other officers were at work. After *1085 preliminary questioning Richardson departed. At that time when Deputy Sanders questioned Jackson he advised him of his rights. While talking to Jackson and to other officers, and by comparing reports of other burglaries, they determined that some of the ill-fitting clothes Jackson was wearing appeared not to be his and had probably been stolen in a burglary of Althea Davis' residence.

Jackson was then taken into the adjoining interrogation room by Deputies White and Sanders. Officer Davis, who was the son of the burglary victim, was called and asked if he could identify the clothing of his brother, taken from his mother's house. He could not, but summoned his brother who identified the clothing as his, taken during the burglary. With this information—the first real evidence implicating Jackson—the officers placed him under arrest and advised him of his rights. After he signed the printed waiver of rights form, Jackson was questioned and gave a statement, which was recorded and later transcribed. In that confession, shortly after two o'clock, he set forth the details of the burglary at the Davis residence and declared that the statement was made of his own free will without having been influenced in any way by fear, threats, drugs, promises or rewards. Jackson was then booked and jailed at 4:20 that afternoon.

In the meantime, after the confession had been recorded, and before the controverted confession later made relating to the burglary in this case, investigations were conducted relating to burglaries in Covington at the Keifer and Plummer residences which implicated Jackson. During this time he was taken to the Covington City Police Station, where he admitted to the city police that he had been advised of his rights and where he was again questioned. At that time Jackson confessed orally to those burglaries. At his request the city police telephoned Richardson in an effort to locate someone who would sign Jackson's bail bond.

Then, about 5:30, the officers returned with Jackson to the interrogation room in the Sheriff's Annex where they again advised him of his Miranda rights and questioned him about what appeared to be a very expensive wrist watch he was wearing, which they had observed while he was being questioned about the Davis burglary. Jackson was unable to say where he got the watch or to state its value. For this reason the officers again reviewed the reports of recent burglaries in the adjoining office. They found that a watch was referred to in a report of a burglary at the residence of Cyrus Plummer, which matched the description of the watch being worn by Jackson. With this information they concluded that Jackson was possibly implicated in the Plummer burglary. Deputy White therefore resumed the interrogation with the help of a city policeman who was assisting in the case. Previous inspection of the watch had revealed that Plummer's initials were inscribed on the back. Plummer had been called and had identified the watch as the one stolen during the burglary of his residence.

Faced with this damaging evidence, Jackson confessed to the Plummer burglary in the presence of Deputies White and Sanders, declaring, "I was walking down the track and I turned off in his yard. I took out the screen and raised the window up and crawled in through the window." A pistol, the gold watch, and small change were taken. After the Plummer statement was taped, Jackson was booked and jailed. It was then after ten o'clock.

All officers involved in conversation with Jackson during this time testified categorically that he was not intimidated, beaten or threatened. Also, until he was arrested for the Davis burglary he was free at all times to leave. He was not handcuffed or otherwise restrained.

In an effort to overcome the foregoing State evidence, the defense called Hampton A. Porter to the stand. He was then a prisoner in the St. Tammany Parish jail, convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 99 years, awaiting the results of his appeal. Porter testified that when Jackson returned to jail that night after ten o'clock *1086 he was bent over and complaining that he was hurt. Porter observed bruises on his rib cage and that he was urinating blood.

Another inmate of the parish prison, Johnny Richardson, who was serving time for burglary, testified for the defense. He heard Jackson complain that he had been beaten and saw him urinating blood. The litany was repeated by a third prisoner, Jerome Hall. He saw Jackson the night of October 4, 1976 and the next day. Jackson, he testified, was cramped over, his ribs were bruised and blood was observed in the toilet after it was used by Jackson. All of these witnesses advised Jackson to see a doctor. However, no evidence supports a finding that any of them or Jackson either sought or obtained medical attention. And the jail cards prepared at the time a prisoner is admitted indicated that Jackson made no complaint that he was hurt.

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State v. Jackson, 362 So. 2d 1082 (La. 1978).

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