State v. Jason

779 So. 2d 865, 2000 WL 1801372
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 6, 2000
Docket99-KA-2551
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 779 So. 2d 865 (State v. Jason) 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. Jason, 779 So. 2d 865, 2000 WL 1801372 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

779 So.2d 865 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Alonzo JASON.

No. 99-KA-2551.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

December 6, 2000.

*868 Kerry P. Cuccia, New Orleans, Louisiana, (Attorney For Appellant, Alonzo Jason).

Laura Pavy, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, (Attorney For Defendant/Appellant, Alonzo Jason).

Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Jane L. Beebe, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana, (Attorneys For Appellee, The State of Louisiana).

Court composed of Judge STEVEN R. PLOTKIN, Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, and Judge Pro Tempore PATRICK M. SCHOTT.

MURRAY, Judge.

Alonzo Jason appeals his conviction for attempted purse snatching and possession of cocaine. For the following reasons, we affirm the convictions and sentences.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY:

Mr. Jason was charged by bill of information with violation of La.Rev.Stat. 14:65.1, purse snatching, and La.Rev.Stat. 40:967, possession of cocaine. A six-person jury convicted him as charged on the cocaine offense, and of the responsive verdict of attempted purse snatching. Prior to a hearing on the State's multiple bill, Mr. Jason filed a motion for new trial and a motion to quash the multiple bill. After denying his motions, Mr. Jason waived delays, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on the purse snatching conviction, and five years at hard labor on the cocaine charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. Mr. Jason filed a motion to reconsider the sentence, which was denied.

FACTS:

On April 11, 1999, at approximately 12:50 a.m., Roberta Szalach, a nurse, and her husband, Calvin, a nuclear medicine technician, in town for a nuclear medicine convention, were returning to the Marriott Hotel after having dinner and visiting the French Quarter. As they walked on Canal Street from Bourbon Street toward the river, the Szalachs observed a man lying on the sidewalk. Ms. Szalach testified that she believed the man to be injured, and wanted to stop to help him. Her husband suggested they go to their hotel and call for help, but Ms. Szalach leaned over to observe the man more closely. As she did, a man struck her on the side of her head, knocking her to the ground. He then pulled her purse from her shoulder, breaking the strap. Ms. Szalach got up and approached the man, who was attempting to open her purse. She yelled at him to return her purse, at which time he struck her in the head and knocked her to the ground again, falling on top of her. Ms. Szalach testified that some men pulled the man off of her just as the police arrived.

Mr. Szalach testified that he had begun to walk away from the injured man, and was about five feet from his wife, when he heard her scream. As he turned back, he saw his wife approach Mr. Jason and attempt to get her purse from him. Mr. Jason struck her in the head. He was moving toward Mr. Jason just as several men came out of the nearby McDonald's restaurant and the police arrived.

Edmond Smith, the owner of the McDonald's restaurant testified that he was standing outside of his restaurant with a security guard employed by him, when he noticed a fight going on down Canal Street. He then saw Mr. Jason begin to walk toward him and snatch Ms. Szalach's purse. Mr. Smith described Mr. Jason as being "hyper." After Mr. Jason had fallen on top of Ms. Szalach, Mr. Smith helped to pull him off and flag down a passing police car. He stated that the police at first believed the incident was a fist fight, but *869 after he explained what had happened, they arrested Mr. Jason. They handcuffed Mr. Jason, frisked him, and discovered cocaine in his pocket.

New Orleans Police Officer Patrick Evans testified that he and his partner, Troy Williams, were on routine patrol on Canal Street when they noticed a disturbance on the sidewalk. They exited their vehicle, and, after listening to Mr. Smith's account of what had transpired, they arrested Mr. Jason. Upon searching him incidental to the arrest, Officer Evans discovered three pieces of crack cocaine in a coin purse in Mr. Jason's pocket.

On cross-examination, Mr. Jason's counsel questioned Officer Evans about an additional charge of second degree battery brought against Mr. Jason that evening. Officer Evans admitted that he and his partner were also advised of the incident down the street, and that he was told Mr. Jason had beaten a man down the street who attempted to hand him his hat he had dropped. The man was knocked to the ground and fractured his skull.

It was stipulated that the objects seized from Mr. Jason's pocket tested positive for cocaine.

DISCUSSION:

A. Counsels' Assignment of Error No. 1:

Both appellate project counsel and private counsel[1] assign as error the excessiveness of Mr. Jason's sentence of life imprisonment as a third felony offender. Appellate project counsel concedes that the sentence is mandatory pursuant to La. Rev.Stat. 15:529.1(A)(2)(b)(ii), but argues that the sentence is unconstitutionally excessive in this case. Private counsel argues that State v. Dorthey, 623 So.2d 1276 (La.1993) mandates that the trial court examine the particular facts of the case to determine if a statutorily-mandated sentence is constitutionally excessive.

Louisiana Revised Statute 15:529.1(A)(2)(b)(ii) provides:

If the third felony or either of the two prior felonies is a felony defined as a crime of violence under R.S. 14:2(13) or as a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law punishable by imprisonment for more than five years or any other crime punishable by imprisonment for more than twelve years, the person shall be imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

The two predicate crimes on which the multiple bill was based were simple robbery and possession of cocaine. Mr. Jason was multiple billed on the attempted purse snatching conviction. Both simple robbery and attempted purse snatching are crimes of violence.

Mr. Jason maintains that under State v. Dorthey, 623 So.2d 1276 (La.1993), the mandatory life sentence should be deemed excessive considering the circumstances of this offense. Particularly, he argues that in connection with the predicate offense of simple robbery he received only fifteen months, but for an attempted purse snatching he received a life sentence.

He asserts that his case is analogous to State v. Barthlomew, 377 So.2d 1233 (La. 1979), wherein a life sentence was set aside because the trial judge did not consider all of the sentencing "alternatives." We not find Barthlomew applicable to this case. First, Barthlomew did not involve a multiple offender adjudication. Second, Mr. Bartholomew's sentence was set aside because the trial judge imposed a prohibition against probation or suspension of sentence, penalties not contained in the statute at the time the crime was committed. Therefore, the sentence exceeded the statutory limits and disregarded available sentencing alternatives.

*870 The Louisiana Supreme Court has held that the penalties provided by La.Rev.Stat.

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Bluebook (online)
779 So. 2d 865, 2000 WL 1801372, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jason-lactapp-2000.