State v. Jacobs

435 So. 2d 1014
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 23, 1983
Docket82 KA 1046
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 435 So. 2d 1014 (State v. Jacobs) 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. Jacobs, 435 So. 2d 1014 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

435 So.2d 1014 (1983)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Augustus JACOBS and Percy Jacobs.

No. 82 KA 1046.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 17, 1983.
On Rehearing August 23, 1983.

*1015 Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty. by Robert Hester, Asst. Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.

Bonnie Jackson, Asst. Public Defender, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, COLE and CARTER, JJ.

*1016 CARTER, Judge.

Appellants, Augustus Jacobs and his brother, Percy Jacobs, were jointly charged by bill of information with the crime of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62.2. They were tried before a twelve person jury, which unanimously found both defendants guilty of simple burglary.[1]

Percy Jacobs was sentenced to three years at hard labor, which sentence was suspended, and defendant was placed on active supervised probation for a period of five years with a special condition that he serve one year in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison[2]. Augustus Jacobs was originally sentenced to three years at hard labor. Subsequently, in a separate proceeding, the state filed a bill of information charging Augustus Jacobs as a habitual offender because of a prior felony theft conviction.[3] Thereafter, Augustus Jacobs admitted the allegations of the bill and waived his right to a hearing. Defendant was then sentenced to serve three years at hard labor on the simple burglary charge and was sentenced to eight years at hard labor as a habitual offender. The trial court directed that the eight year sentence be consecutive to the three year sentence.

Augustus Jacobs is before this court with two assignments of error:

(1) That the trial court improperly denied the defense counsel's motion for a new trial; and
(2) That the trial court imposed an excessive sentence.

Percy Jacobs is before this court with one assignment of error:

(1) That the trial court improperly denied his motion for a new trial.

SPECIFICATION OF ERROR—SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

Defendants contend that the trial court erred in not granting a new trial, asserting that no proof was offered by the prosecution to convince a rational trier of fact that all the elements of simple burglary had been met; and, since there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, a judgment of acquittal should be entered.

In State v. Mathews, 375 So.2d 1165 (La. 1979), a majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court determined that the United States Supreme Court case of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) required that the standard of review when considering the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction 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. The Louisiana Supreme Court has indicated that this appellate review of the evidence by State court is required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.[4]State v. Graham, 422 So.2d 123 (La. 1982).

When reviewing a conviction based upon circumstantial evidence, it must be determined that viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a reasonable trier of fact could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that every *1017 reasonable hypothesis of innocence has been excluded. LSA-R.S. 15:438; State v. Ennis, 414 So.2d 661 (La.1982); State v. Austin, 399 So.2d 158 (La.1981).

In State v. Ricks, 428 So.2d 794 (1983), Justice Watson summarized the applicable law as follows:

"In reviewing a conviction where proof of an element of the offense is based on an inference from circumstantial evidence, the court must consider two standards: that of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); and LSA-R.S. 15:438. State v. Graham, 422 So.2d 123 (La.1982). Under the Jackson standard, the court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational juror could conclude that the state proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. LSA-R.S. 15:438 provides that in order to support a conviction, circumstantial evidence must exclude every reasonable hypothesis but guilt..."

Although these defendants were charged with the crime of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, they were convicted of a lesser included offense, viz., simple burglary, as defined in LSA-R.S. 14:62.[5]

Therefore, the elements to be proved by the state are (1) unauthorized entry into the dwelling in question; and (2) that defendants had the requisite specific intent to commit a theft or felony therein. See State v. Tennant, 352 So.2d 629 (La.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 945, 98 S.Ct. 1529, 55 L.Ed.2d 543.

Appellants contend that the state failed to prove both (1) unauthorized entry and (2) specific intent to commit a theft or felony.

A. Unauthorized entry

Appellants contend that the state failed to prove that they had broken into or entered into the building in an unauthorized manner.

Mrs. Edwina Vicks, the lawful occupant of the residence, testified that she had been renting the house for approximately two months prior to the incident. She testified that due to the illness of her mother, she had not had time to fix up the place and move into it completely. She stated, however, that she had moved a considerable amount of her goods and furnishings into the house, including a stereo system, clock radio, tables, beds and various items in boxes. She denied knowing or seeing either of the defendants prior to this incident, and that they did not have her permission to be in the residence. Mrs. Vicks was adamant in her testimony that the doors to the residence had been left locked and that she checked them every time she left the residence.

Officer Teddy Wilson[6] testified that an anonymous call was received at approximately 10:00 p.m. that a burglary was in progress at a residence located at 249 Brice Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Officer Wilson and Officer McMillan proceeded to the location and noticed there were no electrical lights on, but did observe a light from a flashlight. They heard someone in the house shout to someone else in the house. The outside of the house was secured, and a K-9 officer was called. The K-9 officer and dog arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. The officers observed that the back screen door had been broken and the wood door was open. Upon entering the house, the officers observed Augustus Jacobs hiding under the dining room table and later found Percy Jacobs hiding under a bed in the bedroom, with a chisel and screwdriver next to him.

From the above, it is obvious that the evidence is clear, convincing and overwhelming *1018 that both defendants made unauthorized entry into the dwelling in question.

B. Specific Intent to commit a theft or felony

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Bluebook (online)
435 So. 2d 1014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jacobs-lactapp-1983.