State v. Jefferson

83 So. 3d 1126, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 391, 2011 WL 6821383, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1615
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 28, 2011
DocketNo. 11-KA-391
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 83 So. 3d 1126 (State v. Jefferson) 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. Jefferson, 83 So. 3d 1126, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 391, 2011 WL 6821383, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1615 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

CLARENCE E. McMANUS, Judge.

|2Pefendant, Eric Jefferson, appeals his conviction for failure to register as a sex offender. For the reasons which follow, we affirm defendant’s conviction and sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On October 16, 2009, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Eric Jefferson, with a violation of LSA-R.S. 15:542 for failing to comply with registration and/or notification requirements pursuant to [1127]*1127LSA-R.S. 15:542 et seq. “relative to registration of sex offender and child predator.” Defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment on November 4, 2009. Thereafter, defendant filed a motion to quash the bill of information on May 24, 2010. This motion was denied by the trial court on May 27, 2010, and defendant sought writs with this Court. This Court denied defendant’s writ application, # 10-K-534, on July 19, 2010. On August 23, 2010, defendant filed a | spro se motion to be relieved of registration and notification requirements. His motion was denied on the following date.

On September 7, 2010, defendant filed a motion to quash the bill of information based on improper venue and double jeopardy. This motion was denied by the trial court on January 18, 2011.

On January 18, 2011, defendant withdrew his not guilty plea and pled guilty to failure to register as a sex offender. Defendant was sentenced to three years imprisonment at hard labor, to run concurrently with any other sentence he was presently serving. On February 7, 2011, in proper person, defendant filed a motion for appeal and for appointment of counsel. Defendant filed another motion for appeal and for appointment of counsel on February 8, 2011. The trial court granted defendant’s appeal on February 16, 2011.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court should have granted his motion to quash because venue was improper in Jefferson Parish. He argues that the trial court was without jurisdiction to accept his plea and to sentence him because he was living in Orleans Parish at the time of the offense that was alleged in the bill of information. Defendant admits that he entered an unqualified guilty plea, but contends that improper venue is a jurisdictional defect.

The State notes that defendant made an unqualified guilty plea and failed to reserve his right to appeal the denial of his pro se Motion to Quash pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976). Nevertheless, the State recognizes the jurisdictional nature of the issue and contends that it provided sufficient evidence to prove venue was proper in Jefferson Parish, noting that defendant gave the Harvey address to the Georgia Department of Corrections and to the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles, and that defendant’s mother told Trooper Lacoste |4that he had lived at the Harvey address. The State contends that defendant did not prove that he did not reside in Jefferson Parish, but only proved he may have also lived in Orleans Parish.

On January 18, 2011, a hearing was held on defendant’s pro se motion to quash filed on September 7, 2010, which was adopted by defense counsel. Trooper Chad La-coste of the Louisiana State Police and defendant both testified at the hearing.

Trooper Lacoste testified that in October of 2009 he investigated defendant. He explained that he handled sex offender violations and the case was brought to his attention by the Baton Rouge Headquarters regarding defendant being in violation. He testified that defendant had served some time in the Department of Corrections in Georgia and was “signed up” in Georgia as a convicted sex offender. He testified that defendant had listed the Jefferson Parish address he was moving to with the Georgia Department of Corrections as 1308 Estelot Street in Harvey. He testified that since that time defendant had obtained a Louisiana Identification. He explained that once that happens the Department of Motor Vehicles conducts background checks. The background check revealed that defendant had moved here and was a recently released, convict[1128]*1128ed sex offender. As such, the investigation was sent to the state police to make sure he was not in violation.

The State introduced a copy of defendant’s Louisiana Identification with the 1308 Estelot Street address in Harvey as State’s Exhibit 1. The address on the identification was verified as the address from the Georgia Department of Corrections. Trooper Lacoste later discovered defendant possibly had another address in Jefferson Parish on James Drive. This was the address Trooper Lacoste listed on the arrest warrant, because he believed that was the most current address 15at the time. Trooper Lacoste testified that he spoke to defendant’s mother, who lived at 1308 Estelot, and that she confirmed that defendant had lived with her at that address months before. However, she told Trooper Lacoste that she had not seen or spoken to him since.

Defendant introduced another copy of a Louisiana Identification in defendant’s name with an address of 2938 Americus Street in New Orleans. Trooper Lacoste testified that he was aware of an address on Americus Drive in New Orleans. The two identification cards from Louisiana had the same identification numbers and expiration dates, but different addresses. Defendant also introduced a Correctional Release Identification Card from Georgia, in defendant’s name. The address on this card was 2938 Americus Street.

Trooper Lacoste testified that he was aware of both addresses. When asked why he did not search for defendant in New Orleans, Trooper Lacoste responded that he did. He said he followed up on the Orleans Parish address in an attempt to locate defendant but was unsuccessful. He explained that he received both addresses from the database. He agreed that he had seen the Department of Motor Vehicles issue two identification cards before with the same expiration dates and identification numbers and with different addresses, but that he did not think this was customary. Trooper Lacoste testified that he was aware that two separate identifications from the same office were obtained on the same day. Trooper Lacoste testified, however, that the Estelot Street address was the most accurate information he had available to him, and that this address was later confirmed by defendant’s mother. When asked about the house on Estelot Street not existing until 2009, Trooper Lacoste indicated he was not aware of that.

Defense counsel showed Trooper La-coste a document, which appeared to be an inquiry from the Office of Motor Vehicles that listed the Estelot address and the |,;Americus Street address. Trooper La-coste said he was seeing on the form for the first time that it appeared that the Estelot Street address identification was suspended.

The State offered State’s Exhibit 2 as a true and accurate copy of a certified conviction from the 16th Judicial District Court in defendant’s name, listing the 1308 Estelot Street address. The bill of information in this matter was filed in 2007, and defendant pled guilty in 2009, without providing a change of address to the court.

Defendant testified that on May 26, 2009, he was residing at 2938 Americus Street in New Orleans. He testified that the Louisiana Identification copied in State’s Exhibit 1 had to have been altered in some way because he was not living on Estelot Street on March 18, 2009. He argued that his signatures did not match.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Jamison
222 So. 3d 908 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
83 So. 3d 1126, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 391, 2011 WL 6821383, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jefferson-lactapp-2011.