State v. Kenner

384 So. 2d 413
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 19, 1980
Docket66227
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 384 So. 2d 413 (State v. Kenner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kenner, 384 So. 2d 413 (La. 1980).

Opinion

384 So.2d 413 (1980)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Richard D. KENNER, Jr.

No. 66227.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 19, 1980.

*414 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Brian G. Meissner, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

Michael S. Gallagher, Supervising Atty., William A. Roe, Student Practitioner, Loyola Law School Clinic, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

WATSON, Justice.[*]

Defendant, Richard D. Kenner, Jr., was convicted of two counts of armed robbery. The trial judge imposed a sentence of 198 years at hard labor under the habitual offender law. LSA-R.S. 15:529.1 A(1). On *415 appeal, defendant relies upon seven assignments of error.

FACTS

On September 15, 1978, Jerry Taylor, the husband of the owner of Marino's Furniture Store, was answering business inquiries from two men when one of them drew a revolver and told Taylor to lie face down on the floor. Angela Marino, the owner, was working in the back of the store and was forced to lie down beside her husband.

Twenty dollars were removed from Taylor's pocket. When one of the men threatened to kill him, Ms. Marino said she had money in her purse. One of the men accompanied Ms. Marino to her office, and emptied her wallet. He took approximately one hundred dollars and removed a gold Italian horn necklace with two diamonds in the chain from her person.

Ms. Marino, Taylor and a customer who had entered the store were all told to disrobe and remain in a bathroom until the robbers had left. Afterward Taylor called the police and reported a description, towit: two black males, one approximately five feet five, wearing khaki pants and a white sailor hat, and the other six feet tall, wearing blue jeans, a blue baseball cap, and a patterned blue shirt.

Officers Sanderson and Holland received the description over their radio. A few minutes later they observed Kenner running down the street, removing his shirt and stuffing it into a blue baseball cap. He was stopped and told he was under investigation for armed robbery. After being advised of his rights, he became violent. Defendant was taken to the crime scene, where he was identified by one of the victims and placed under arrest. When he was patted down, a gold Italian horn necklace with two diamonds was found, along with some money.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

Defendant contends that the trial court erred at the hearing on the motion to suppress identification by prohibiting an exploration of whether the victims were shown the seized evidence prior to the identifications, a germane issue.

At the identification hearing, acting on the mistaken belief that there was a consolidated motion to suppress evidence, the State asked questions about the items seized from Kenner. After the court determined that no motion to suppress evidence had been filed, further questions about the evidence were forbidden. Thus, when defense counsel asked about the items retrieved from Kenner, the State's objection was sustained. Defense counsel's attempts to explain the reasons for his inquiry were limited by the court. When arresting officer Sanderson was asked whether the gold chain and money were shown to Taylor, one of the identifying victims, the State's objection was sustained.

Darryl Jones, an acquaintance of Kenner who was present at the identification, testified that the two male victims did not identify Kenner until they were shown the gold chain.

Defense counsel was allowed to ask Angela Marino whether her identification was made before she was shown the stolen jewelry. She testified that she saw the stolen items after the identification. Specifically, she said she was not told about the gold chain prior to the identification.

Arresting officer Sanderson testified that three persons identified defendant as the perpetrator of the robbery, although none of them were prompted to do so. Sanderson denied that the victims were told the suspect presented for identification was the guilty party. Angela Marino confirmed that she was not told the man presented for identification was the robber. Defendant Kenner was not wearing his blue shirt and baseball cap when identified.

Under these circumstances, the victims could properly have been asked to identify the stolen jewelry as well as the perpetrator of the armed robbery shortly following the offense. Even if defense counsel had established what his questions *416 sought to elicit, the subsequent identifications were valid.

This assignment of error lacks merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWO

Defendant contends that the motion to suppress should have been granted because the crime scene identification was unconstitutionally suggestive and responsible for the in-court identification made later.

One-on-one confrontation identifications are not favored. However, when a suspect is apprehended shortly after commission of an offense, a return to the scene of the crime for identification is permissible under appropriate circumstances. State v. Dunbar, 356 So.2d 956 (La., 1978). A prompt confrontation can promote fairness "by assuring reliability and the expeditious release of innocent suspects." State v. Maduell, 326 So.2d 820 at 825 (La.).

Defendant Kenner was taken to the crime scene immediately after his detention by the police officers. Ms. Marino viewed him from inside her store before coming out to the police car for a closer look. No statements were made by the arresting officers to prompt an identification. The three victims viewed Kenner one at a time. The procedure was justified under these circumstances.

At trial, both Ms. Marino and Taylor identified defendant in court as the robber. Defendant contends that these incourt identifications resulted from the prior tainted identifications. However even if the one-on-one confrontations were improper, the courtroom identifications were properly admitted if they had an independent source. Three factors are relevant in this determination:

"(1) the prior acquaintance of the witness with the accused;
"(2) the length of time the witness observed the perpetrator before, during, and after the commission of the offense;
"(3) the circumstances under which the observation was made, i. e., the illumination at the scene, the witness's physical capacities, and the witness's emotional state at the time of the observation." State v. Frank, 344 So.2d 1039 at 1042 (La., 1977).

Neither victim knew the defendant prior to the robbery, but they had ample opportunity to observe him and favorable conditions for doing so.

Ms. Marino observed Kenner and his accomplice walk into the store. Since she was working and answering the phone, she paid no particular heed to them while they were at the front of the store. Ms. Marino did notice Kenner when he tapped her on the shoulder, and took her to her office at gunpoint. She described the gun in detail. Ms. Marino viewed defendant in a well-lighted store in full daylight. Although frightened by the gun, she was positive about her identification.

Taylor spoke with defendant's accomplice for a few minutes before Kenner entered the store. Since the accomplice drew a gun and forced Taylor to lie on the floor, Taylor only saw Kenner when he was forced to disrobe and enter the bathroom. However, he made an unequivocal identification. No evidence was presented that Ms. Marino or Taylor had impaired vision.

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Bluebook (online)
384 So. 2d 413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kenner-la-1980.