State v. Joseph

901 So. 2d 590, 2005 WL 954551
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 26, 2005
Docket04-KA-1240
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 901 So. 2d 590 (State v. Joseph) 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. Joseph, 901 So. 2d 590, 2005 WL 954551 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

901 So.2d 590 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Byron JOSEPH.

No. 04-KA-1240.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 26, 2005.
Rehearing Denied May 27, 2005.

*592 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Thomas J. Butler, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

*593 James A. Williams, Butch Wilson, James A. Williams Law Firm, Gretna, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Byron Joseph, Angola, Louisiana, In Proper Person.

Panel composed of Judges MARION F. EDWARDS, CLARENCE E. McMANUS and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

CLARENCE E. McMANUS, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On April 23, 2003, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a three-count bill of indictment against defendant, Byron Joseph. In Count 1, the State charged defendant with aggravated flight from an officer, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 14:108.1. In Count 2, defendant was charged with possession of cocaine in excess of 400 grams, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 40:967(F)(1)(c). In Count 3, the State charged defendant with simple burglary, LSA-R.S. 14:62. Defendant was arraigned on April 24, 2003, and pled not guilty to all charges. The trial court held a preliminary hearing on June 4, 2003. The trial court found probable cause as to Count 2, and no probable cause as to Counts 1 and 3.

Defendant filed a Motion to Suppress the Evidence on July 14, 2003. On August 26, 2003, the State amended the bill of information to add defendant's alias, Travis Brissette,[1] to all three counts. On that day, defendant was tried by a twelve-person jury as to Count 2 only. Counts 1 and 3 were later dismissed. The hearing on defendant's Motion to Suppress the Evidence was held out of the jury's presence during a trial recess. The trial court denied the motion. At the conclusion of trial, the jury rendered a verdict of guilty as charged.

On August 28, 2003, the trial court sentenced defendant to thirty years at hard labor. On that day, the State filed a habitual offender bill of information, alleging defendant to be a second felony offender. Defendant was advised of the allegations against him, and entered a denial. Defendant filed a Motion for Appeal on September 4, 2003. The motion was granted that day.[2]

The court held a habitual offender hearing on October 29, 2003. The court found defendant to be a second felony offender. On that day, the court vacated defendant's original sentence, and imposed an enhanced sentence of forty-five years at hard labor.

FACTS

Agent Shannon Jones testified that he is assigned to the Narcotics Division of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. On June 7, 2002, he was driving a marked police car southbound on Lake Avenue in Metairie. In an oncoming lane, he saw a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, driven by defendant, with illegally tinted windows and no vehicle inspection sticker. Jones made a U-turn in order to follow behind the Monte Carlo. He continued to follow the car into the parking lot of an apartment complex at 1601 Lake Avenue. Jones turned on his car's siren and overhead lights to effect a traffic stop.

Jones testified that defendant exited his car and walked to an apartment in the complex. Jones asked defendant to return to his car, and defendant complied. The officer explained to defendant that he was *594 stopping him for having illegal tinting on his car windows and for not having an inspection sticker. Jones asked defendant to produce his driver's license, car registration, and proof of insurance. Defendant continued to cooperate with the officer. Jones testified that the car was registered to defendant and Michael Dokes.

Jones testified that he could not see into the car through the windows due to the dark tinting. He asked defendant whether anyone else was in the car. Defendant, who was standing next to the open driver's side door, attempted to close the door. Jones testified that defendant appeared nervous. He feared that defendant might have a weapon inside the car that he could use to harm him. Jones asked defendant whether he could look inside the car. Defendant verbally consented to a search.

Jones testified that he located two Foot Locker shoe store shopping bags on the back seat. Each contained a shoe box. Jones opened the first box, and found shoes inside of it. When he opened the second box, he found three "bricks," or packages, of what appeared to him to be narcotics. Jones withdrew from the car and prepared to take his gun from its holster. He asked defendant to walk toward him, and defendant fled on foot.

Jones notified the sheriff's office headquarters that defendant had fled, and he began to chase him. When defendant jumped over a fence, Jones ended his pursuit and returned to the car to secure the evidence.

Narcotics Agents Frank Caraci and Richard Valle were dispatched to the scene. Caraci testified that Valle conducted a field test on the substance Jones had discovered, and that it was positive for cocaine. Caraci took possession of the cocaine. Caraci testified that he obtained a warrant for defendant's arrest. The officer also identified State's Exhibit 15, a traffic citation issued to defendant at the scene.

Daniel Waguespack, an expert in the analysis and identification of controlled dangerous substances, testified that he tested samples of white powder from each of the three packages seized, and performed chemical tests on them. He found that each sample was composed of about ninety-five per cent cocaine. Waguespack testified that the gross weight of the three packages was 3.38 kilograms, or 3,380 grams. That weight included the packaging. Waguespack further testified that he did not weigh the packages without the wrappings, but he estimated that they each contained one thousand grams of cocaine. He stated that cocaine is generally shipped in packages of one thousand kilograms each.

Lieutenant Bruce Harrison was accepted by the trial court as an expert in the use, packaging, distribution and value of narcotics. Harrison testified that the three kilograms ("kilos") of cocaine in evidence are consistent with distribution on a wholesale level. When kilos come into the country from South America, they are generally in compressed packages like these so as to make them smaller. Harrison testified that the going price for a kilo of cocaine is $18,000-$22,000. If it were broken down into retail dosages of one ounce each, it would be worth $800-$1,000 per ounce, for a total of $85,000-$107,000. By adulterating or "cutting" the cocaine with other substances, a dealer could make nearly $200,000 for the three kilos.

DISCUSSION

Defendant's counsel has presented two assignments of error and defendant has presented three pro se assignments of error. Defendant's counseled assignment of *595 error number one and his pro se assignments of error one through three all relate to the trial court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress and whether or not defendant gave a valid consent for the search of his car. Therefore, these assignments of error will all be addressed together.

The State has the burden, in a hearing on a motion to suppress the evidence, of establishing the admissibility of evidence seized without a warrant. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 703(D). The trial court's denial of a motion to suppress is afforded great weight and will not be set aside unless the preponderance of the evidence clearly favors suppression. State v. Butler, 01-0907, p. 6 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/13/02), 812 So.2d 120, 124.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
901 So. 2d 590, 2005 WL 954551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-joseph-lactapp-2005.