State v. Johnson

775 So. 2d 670, 2000 WL 1871719
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided December 22, 2000·No. 00 KA 0680·Published·Cited by 25 cases

Opinion

775 So.2d 670 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Kendrick JOHNSON.

No. 00 KA 0680.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 22, 2000.

*674 Doug Moreau, District Attorney, Dana Cummings, Asst. District Attorney, Baton Rouge, LA, Counsel for State of Louisiana.

Kevin Monahan, Baton Rouge, LA, Counsel for Kendrick Johnson.

Before: LeBLANC, KUHN and MOORE[1]., JJ.

LeBLANC, J.

Kendrick James Johnson was indicted in count 1 with armed robbery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64, in counts 2 and 3 with attempted second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and 14:30.1, and in count 4 with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1. Prior to trial, the court severed count 4, and the state eventually dismissed that count. Following trial by jury, defendant was found guilty as charged in counts 1, 2 and 3. The court sentenced defendant on count 1 to serve a term of sixty years imprisonment at hard labor, and on counts 2 and 3 to serve fifty years at hard labor on each count, all terms to be served without benefit of parole and to run concurrently. Defendant has appealed, urging five assignments of error.

FACTS

On May 26, 1998, Wolfgang and Uta Mensch were touring Louisiana when they stopped at the Budgetel Inn in Baton Rouge at about 8:30 or 9 p.m. After registering for a room, they drove their car to the parking lot. The parking lot was well lighted. While Dr. Mensch put the couple's luggage onto a luggage cart, Mrs. Mensch started walking to the hotel entrance. A man put his hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see the man holding a gun. Mrs. Mensch was shocked to see a gun because she was not accustomed to seeing such weapons in her native country of Germany. The man told Mrs. Mensch to give him her bag, and he took her handbag and camera bag.

When Dr. Mensch closed the trunk, he saw the assailant. Dr. Mensch immediately ran to the aid of his wife, attempting to knock the weapon out of the man's hand. The man started running away, and Dr. Mensch followed. Initially Mrs. Mensch ran to hide behind a truck. Curious about what was happening to her husband, she started following her husband and called out her husband's name to get his attention. After they had run "approximately fifty to twenty feet," the man fired a shot. *675 Dr. Mensch heard the sound but did not realize it was a gunshot. Dr. Mensch testified that his wife was behind him when the first shot was fired.

Dr. Mensch continued pursuing the man, and he got to about one meter away from the man. The man fired again, this time striking Dr. Mensch in the left side. Dr. Mensch realized he had been shot and was unable to continue any further. Mrs. Mensch came to her husband's aid, and she saw the assailant jump over some grass to get to the area of a nearby hotel. Mrs. Mensch observed a second suspect in that area. As a result of injuries sustained in the shooting, Dr. Mensch required surgery to remove his spleen and repair his colon and an additional surgery to remove the bullet. He spent twelve days in the hospital in Baton Rouge and additional time in the hospital when he returned to Germany.

Charles Porter, the hotel's manager, and his wife, Margo Porter, heard the shooting. They looked out of their third floor apartment and observed the vehicle used by the assailant. In the call Mrs. Porter made to the 911 operator, she described the car as being a dark red, "squared off' Chevrolet, with a luggage rack on the back. At trial, Mrs. Porter testified that the vehicle was a big, older model car that looked pretty well kept. The car's luggage rack was unusual, going sideways across the trunk. Mrs. Porter described the car as being a red or maroon Oldsmobile, Buick or Cadillac. Mr. Porter testified that the vehicle was a dark-colored (dark brown or maroon) Cadillac or Oldsmobile.

At the hospital, Dr. and Mrs. Mensch met with a sketch artist to help the police draw a sketch of the suspect. After a description of the assailant was broadcast, a concerned citizen called the sheriffs office and said John Fitzgerald Cole was the man who robbed Mrs. Mensch. The police showed Mrs. Mensch a photographic display containing Cole's picture, but Mrs. Mensch did not see the assailant's picture in the display. She told the officer she had no doubt the robber was not in the pictures. The police received a call from another concerned citizen. Using the information provided in that conversation, the officers prepared a second photographic display, this time containing defendant's picture. Without any hesitation, Mrs. Mensch selected defendant's picture. The officers did not show the photo display to Dr. Mensch. Dr. Mensch told the officers he wanted to rely on his wife's identification of the suspect. Dr. Mensch saw only a profile view of the suspect, and he told the officers he was not confident of his ability to identify the suspect. At trial, both Dr. and Mrs. Mensch confidently identified defendant in court as being the assailant.

After Mrs. Mensch selected defendant's picture, the sheriffs office secured a warrant for defendant's arrest. On June 4, an officer located defendant's car at an apartment complex. The car was a 1985 brown Cadillac Deville. The luggage rack had been removed from the trunk of the vehicle. At the request of the sheriffs office, the apartment manager called the apartment associated with the owner of the car, telling the man who answered the phone to move the car so the apartment could paint lines in the parking lot. The officers made this request in an effort to get the occupant safely out of the apartment. The officers waited about ten minutes, but the man never left the apartment. The officers announced their presence outside the apartment, pounded on the door, and ordered that the door be opened. Nobody came to the door, and the officers secured authorization from a judge to enter the apartment. Using a key, the officers opened the door. Once inside, they found the door barricaded by a large coffee table. The officers forced their way in and found defendant sitting on the sofa with his hands between his legs. The officers had to tell defendant several times to put up his hands before he finally complied with the request. The officers then arrested defendant without any further resistance.

*676 Ywkinee Landry was the actual tenant for the apartment. She and defendant had dated from time to time and were engaged at the time of the trial. She arrived at her apartment while the deputies were present, and she gave them consent to search her apartment. None of the items stolen during the robbery were found in her apartment. Ms. Landry and another woman defendant dated both testified that defendant took good care of his car.

The police secured a search warrant to search defendant's car. During the search, the police found the disassembled luggage rack in the trunk. One of the officers testified that the rack appeared to have been recently removed. There was no rust around the holes where the rack had been attached, and the paint was shiny under the area where the rack had been. Pictures of the car, with the luggage rack attached, were found in the car during the search. None of the items stolen during the robbery were found in the vehicle.

SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM FOR RECORDS OF POLICE DEPARTMENT

In the first assignment of error, defendant maintains the court erred when it quashed a defense subpoena served on the robbery division of the Baton Rouge Police Department requesting information about ongoing parking lot robbery investigati

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State v. Johnson, 775 So. 2d 670, 2000 WL 1871719 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

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