State v. Johnson

83 So. 3d 1116, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 375, 2011 WL 6821403, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1611
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided December 28, 2011·No. No. 11-KA-375·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

JUDE G. GRAVOIS, Judge.

| aThe defendant, Andrei Johnson, has appealed the sentences imposed for his convictions of three counts of first degree robbery in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64.1. After being found guilty by a 12-person jury, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to 30 years imprisonment on each count, with the sentences on counts two and three to run consecutively, resulting in a total sentence of 60 years. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the sentences and remand with instructions for correction of the commitment.

FACTS

At trial, Ronald Harris testified that on the evening of December 15, 2008, he answered a knock on the door of his apart[1118] ment and was met by a man who asked for a woman named Joyce. Mr. Harris informed this individual that no one named Joyce lived there. A few minutes later, the same man knocked again, and when Mr. Harris answered the door, a second man, later identified as the defendant, placed a gun in his face and pushed him back inside the apartment. Three men, including the defendant who was armed, entered the apartment. The man who originally knocked at the door did not. After bringing Mr. Harris Rupstairs, the three subjects took Mr. Harris’ wallet and money clip, containing money, from his pants pocket. One of the subjects inside the residence took Mr. Harris’ ATM card from his wallet, obtained his PIN number from him, left the residence for approximately forty minutes, and withdrew money from his bank account. The other two subjects, one being the defendant, remained in the residence and took other items belonging to Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris testified that when the third subject returned from the ATM with $200, the three subjects began arguing over how to split the money. The defendant claimed that he should receive the extra money because he had planned the robbery; another of the subjects claimed that he should get the additional money because he had gone to the ATM and obtained it. Mr. Harris testified that the subjects reminded him that “New Orleans was the murder capital of the U.S.” He took this as an implied threat. After receiving some of the money that had been withdrawn from the ATM, the defendant stated: “Now we’re gangsters.” Mr. Harris stated that the perpetrators told him to sit on the stairs and not call the police while they left. A short time later, Mr. Harris called the police. Neighbors reported seeing the four men escape in a white Cadillac Esca-lade.

Mr. Wayne Barber and his girlfriend, Jolie St. Germain, who were the victims of the second robbery, also testified at the trial. They testified that shortly after returning home on the evening of December 19, 2008, their lights suddenly went out. Mr. Barber then went outside to check on the power. While outside, Mr. Barber was approached by two unknown black males who were armed with guns and wearing bandanas covering their faces. The men attempted to force Mr. Barber back inside; however, he refused and began to run down the street in an attempt to lure the men away from the house. Eventually, the men backed off and made their way into the house. Mr. Barber went to a neighbor’s house for help.

|4Ms. St. Germain testified that the lights came back on. She walked into the bedroom and was met by an armed black male who demanded money from her. She then went into the kitchen to get her purse where she observed two additional black males, who were also armed. The gunman with Ms. St. Germain took her purse and threw it to one of the other men and directed Ms. St. Germain to return to the bedroom where he pushed her face down on the bed and nudged up against her. Suddenly, the gunman became startled, backed away, and left the room. Ms. St. Germain locked the door and escaped through a window in the bedroom.

Mr. Barber observed three men run out of the house and drive away in a white Escalade. Ms. St. Germain’s purse, along with Mr. Barber’s wallet and watch, were taken in the robbery.

Testimony from the investigating officers indicated that they suspected that the two incidents might be related because the suspects in both cases were described as four black males, traveling in a white Cadillac Escalade. A white Escalade was stopped minutes after the December 19, 2008 robbery. The defendant was seated in the front passenger’s seat of the Esca-[1119] lade. The other suspects were also in the Escalade. Items belonging to Mr. Barber were recovered from them. Before the vehicle was stopped, officers observed unknown, dark items and papers being discarded out of the window of the Escalade.

Deputy Daniel Lincoln of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office testified that he participated in the stop of the vehicle. He took custody of the defendant, and, after performing a search for officer safety, recovered a man’s watch from the defendant’s pocket. When questioned as to why the watch was not on his wrist, the defendant stated that it did not belong to him. After canvassing the scene with another deputy, a pair of brown gloves and receipts from Ms. St. Germain’s purse were discovered and placed into evidence.

|5The defendant was taken to the detective’s bureau, was advised of his rights, and gave a statement to Terry Graffeo, who was a detective for the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office at the time of the incident. In his statement to Detective Graf-feo, the defendant admitted to being on the scene,1 but denied knowledge or involvement of the robbery. The defendant claimed that after leaving the scene, one of the other perpetrators threw a watch to him just before they were stopped by police.

The vehicle was towed, a search warrant was obtained and executed, and some of the missing items belonging to Mr. Harris, including his Crossman .357 replica pellet gun, were recovered inside of the vehicle. A bandana, a C02 cartridge, and a box of Crossman pellets were also recovered from inside of the vehicle.

In response to a court order, Chase Bank provided surveillance footage of the suspects withdrawing money from Mr. Harris’ account. Chase Bank also provided Mr. Harris’ bank account records, which reflected that a $200 withdrawal was made on December 15 at approximately 10:30 p.m. Mr. Harris and Ms. St. Ger-main identified the defendant in a photographic lineup.

Reverend Rodney S. Lemon, Sr. testified for the defense. He stated that the defendant had been a member of his church for fourteen years. At the time of. the robberies, the defendant was in college. He had received a full football scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Rev. Lemon testified that the defendant had a good reputation and was recognized in the community for his athletic accomplishments in football. On cross-examination, Rev. Lemon admitted that the defendant’s family was not poor, they wore nice clothes and drove decent cars, one being the Cadillac Escalade.

1 «ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

The trial court erred in denying the motion to reconsider sentence.

The sentence is constitutionally excessive.

Because the defendant’s two assignments of error are substantially similar, they will be discussed together.

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State v. Johnson, 83 So. 3d 1116, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 375, 2011 WL 6821403, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1611 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

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