State v. Jones

998 So. 2d 173, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 306, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1392, 2008 WL 4737179
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 28, 2008·No. No. 08-KA-306·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

GREG G. GUIDRY, Judge.

|v>The Defendant, Percy L. Jones, appeals his conviction of illegal possession of a stolen vehicle valued at more than $500, in violation of La.R.S. 14:69. We affirm the conviction, but remand for correction of post-conviction relief notification.

The Defendant was charged with the offense in October of 2006. He pled not guilty, and filed a Motion to Suppress Confession, Identification, and Physical Evidence. The trial judge denied the mo[175]*175tions.1 Subsequently, the Defendant filed a Motion in Limine seeking to preclude the State’s introduction of other crimes evidence, such as credit cards and a driver’s license recovered when he was arrested. The Defendant also filed a Motion to Quash alleging that he was unlawfully arrested. Both motions were denied by the trial judge and this Court denied writs.2

1 ;iAfter a one-day jury trial in December of 2007, the Defendant was found guilty as charged. The trial judge sentenced the Defendant to ten years at hard labor with credit for time served.3

Pastor Jerry H. Steele reported the Harvest Time Fellowship Church’s van was stolen from outside of the Children’s Church, on September 24, 2006. The van was identifiable because it had Harvest Time Fellowship Church stickers on it.

Four days later, on September 28, 2006, Tara Belsome, a church member, saw the stolen van being driven directly in front of her. She immediately called the police. Deputy Wade Hotard with the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office (JPSO) arrived on the scene minutes after receiving the call and interviewed Belsome. When the officer arrived, Belsome was able to point the van out to him, as it was parked across the street at a gas station being refueled. Approximately ten to 15 minutes had passed from the time Belsome first saw the van being driven until she saw it at the gas station.

Deputy Hotard immediately informed other deputies in the area. The deputies drove into the station, and stopped in front of the van. Deputy Hotard approached the driver’s side where he saw the Defendant seated behind the steering wheel. The officer did not see anyone else enter or exit the vehicle as he approached. Deputy Hotard ordered the Defendant to show his hands, get out of the vehicle, and lay down prone on the ground. After the Defendant complied, he was handcuffed, advised of his rights, and informed that he was being arrested for being in possession of a stolen van. Deputy Hotard testified that the Defendant told him that he got the van from a friend, but was unable to identify that person.

LDeputy Hotard searched the Defendant incident to his arrest, and found an identification card or driver’s license belonging to a relative of the Defendant and some debit and credit cards in the name of other people. The Deputy searched the van’s front compartment where he found a cell phone. Through his investigation, Deputy Hotard learned that the cell phone, as well as credit and identification cards were stolen in previous incidents from two or three different individuals. Upon investigation of the van’s license plate, the Detective discovered that the license plate had been switched, but the van’s correct plate number showed the vehicle had been stolen.

[176]*176After the van was returned to Pastor Steele, lie found that something had been broken off in the ignition which allowed the van to be started without a key. That was not the case before the van was stolen. Pastor Steele further stated that he never gave the Defendant permission to possess the van. He later reported that the van had sustained approximately $9,000 in damages.

On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial judge erred in failing to grant his motion to suppress the evidence and statement, and that the trial judge erred in failing to grant his motion in limine and/or in granting the State’s motion to admit evidence of other crimes. In his pro se assignments of error, the Defendant asserts that the trial judge erred in failing to grant his Motion to Quash the Bill of Information, and that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction of Possession of stolen things.

When the assigned errors on appeal relate to both the sufficiency of evidence and one or more trial errors, the appellate court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence by considering the entirety of the evidence. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731, 734 (La.1992).

| ¡/The Defendant argues that the State failed to prove that the van was stolen and that the Defendant knew or should have known that the van was stolen, because when the officer first cheeked NCIC records, the result was negative.

Under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), the evidence is sufficient to convict a defendant of the crime charged if it was based on proof sufficient for any rational trier of fact, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, to find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789; State v. Ortiz, 96-1609, p. 12 (La.10/21/97), 701 So.2d 922, 930, cert. denied, 524 U.S. 943, 118 S.Ct. 2352, 141 L.Ed.2d 722 (1998); State v. Polizzi, 05-478, p. 9 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/14/06), 924 So.2d 303, 310.

“When circumstantial evidence is used to prove the commission of the offense, La.R.S. 15:438 mandates that ‘assuming every fact to be proved that the evidence tends to prove, in order to convict, it must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence.’ ” State v. Harbor, 00-1258, p. 4 (La.App. 5 Cir. 11/28/00), 775 So.2d 1082, 1084. “Ultimately, all evidence, both direct and circumstantial must be sufficient to support the conclusion that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id.

In order to convict a defendant of illegal possession of stolen things valued at over $500, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant: (1) intentionally possessed, procured, received, or concealed, (2) anything of value, (3) that was the subject of any robbery or theft, (4) where circumstances indicate that the defendant knew or had good reason to believe that the thing was the subject of one of these offenses, and that (5) the value of the stolen items exceeds $500. La.R.S. 14:69; Harbor, 00-1258 at 4, 775 So.2d at 1084.

|fiThe evidence shows that the vehicle was stolen, suffered $9,000 in damages, was vandalized to allow it to be started without a key, and was in the custody of the Defendant when the police found the van. The evidence further showed that Defendant did not have permission to use the van for any reason, and could not identify the friend he said gave him the vehicle. Under these facts, we find that the evidence was based on proof sufficient for any rational trier of fact, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the [177]*177prosecution, to find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789.

The next errors allege that the trial judge erred in failing to grant the motion to quash the bill of information, the motion in limine, and the motion to suppress the evidence and statement.

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State v. Jones, 998 So. 2d 173, 8 La.App. 5 Cir. 306, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1392, 2008 WL 4737179 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

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