State v. Jenkins

949 So. 2d 563, 2007 WL 163207
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 24, 2007
Docket41,281-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 949 So. 2d 563 (State v. Jenkins) 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. Jenkins, 949 So. 2d 563, 2007 WL 163207 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

949 So.2d 563 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee
v.
Lamar JENKINS, Appellant.

No. 41,281-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 24, 2007.
Rehearing Denied February 22, 2007.

*565 Louisiana Appellate Project, by Peggy J. Sullivan, Monroe, Monroe, for Appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Robert Nicholas Anderson, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before CARAWAY, DREW and SEXTON (Pro Tempore), JJ.

DREW, J.

Lamar Jenkins was convicted at jury trial as charged of three crimes:

• Count One — La. R.S. 40:966(C)(2) — possession of Schedule I CDS, phencyclidine ("PCP"), for which he was sentenced to serve 15 years at hard labor,[1] five years of which to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence;[2]
• Count Two — La. R.S. 40:967 — possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, *566 for which he was also sentenced to serve 15 years at hard labor, two years of which to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence;[3] and
• Count Three — La. R.S. 14:95(E) — possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance, for which he was sentenced to serve five years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

The court ordered the sentences to be served concurrently. Jenkins now appeals his convictions and his sentences.

FACTS

Joel Mekus testified that:

• he was a supervisor with the State of Louisiana, Department of Probation and Parole, on October 6, 2003, the date in question, having served in that capacity for almost a decade, as of the date of trial;
• Jenkins was one of the people under his supervision as the result of a prior felony conviction;
• on October 6, 2003, he received a call from a Tasha Lister,[4] advising that Jenkins was at room 314 at the Windsor Inn[5] in Monroe, Louisiana, and might be violating the terms of his probation;
• he (Mekus), along with three other probation and parole officers, went to the Windsor Inn, apparently a former motel[6] converted into apartments;
• upon arriving he (Mekus) saw Jenkins and an unknown female standing outside room 314;
• Jenkins apparently recognized Mekus when the officers approached;
• Jenkins went into apartment 314, closing the door behind him;
• the officers then approached the female, who gave her name as Angela Williams, and they asked her about Jenkins;
• she replied that she did not know Jenkins, but moments later, Jenkins came out of the room;
• at first, she insisted the man's name was "Derrick";
• he (Mekus) asked Williams if any illegal activities were going on inside the apartment, and she responded in the negative;
• she gave consent to search the apartment;
• the officers found a clear plastic bag containing five or six rocks of crack cocaine on the night stand beside the bed;
• after the bag was found, the officers walked back outside where Mekus noticed Jenkins talking to Williams;
• he overheard Jenkins tell Williams to stop the search;
• Williams then told them that she wanted the search to stop;
• the officers contacted Metro Narcotics, and the search resumed after a search warrant was obtained, leading to *567 these other items of contraband being discovered in a black bag above a ceiling tile in the bathroom: (1) a vanilla extract bottle containing suspected PCP, (2) 15 to 20 rocks of crack cocaine, and (3) some powder cocaine.

Detective Jerry Melton testified that:

• as of the date of trial, he was a 12-year veteran of the Monroe Police Department, the last four years of which period he was assigned to the Metro Narcotics Unit;
• as of that same date, he responded to a call concerning narcotics in room 314 at the Windsor Inn;
• he observed the five or six rocks on the night stand;
• he did not participate in any search at the apartment, but acted as the evidence officer outside the apartment, providing chain of custody testimony about the drugs and a 22-caliber pistol;
• in particular, the black bag containing powder cocaine, 15 to 20 rocks of crack cocaine, and PCP was found by Agent Mekus above the ceiling of the bathroom closet, then given to Detective Zeigler, and then handed to him;
• Williams told him that none of the seized items belonged to her;
• Williams told him that Jenkins lived with her from time to time and that he had a key to her apartment;[7] and
• he was unsuccessful in lifting any fingerprints from the pistol, which was loaded at the time it was handed to him by Detective Passman.

Chris Colvin testified that:

• on the date in question, he was employed as a relatively new probation and parole officer;
• he was one of the officers who responded to the call on that date;
• he observed the defendant "duck into" room 314;
• he found a 22-caliber pistol "stuck down in a cushion of a recliner" that was covered with clothes;
• the revolver was loaded; and
• he turned it over to Detective Passman, who handed it to Detective Melton, who logged it into evidence.

Detective Triche Passman testified that:

• at the time of trial, he had worked for Metro Narcotics for five years;
• he went to the Windsor Inn on October 6, 2003, where he participated in a search of apartment 314;
• he turned the pistol over to Detective Melton; and
• he generally corroborated much of the testimony of the other officers and agents.

Mark Johnson testified very effectively that:

• on the date in question, he was a corporal in the Monroe Police Department, where he had been assigned to Metro Narcotics for several years;
• he had participated in the granting or obtaining of several hundred search warrants;
• he drafted the application for a search warrant in this case;
• he had participated in several hundred searches pursuant to those warrants;
• he had been qualified as an expert witness in the packaging, distribution, sale and value of controlled substances approximately 20 times in state court in Ouachita Parish and four times at the federal level; and
*568 • after being qualified and accepted as an expert in that field, he testified that the drugs and weapon found in the case were consistent with distribution, rather than personal use.

Detective Jerry Melton returned to the stand simply to testify that there were no items such as crack pipes or suspected crack pipes found in the apartment.

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Related

State v. Russell
73 So. 3d 991 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Malone
56 So. 3d 336 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State v. Drake
37 So. 3d 582 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
949 So. 2d 563, 2007 WL 163207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jenkins-lactapp-2007.