State v. Kerrigan

671 So. 2d 1242, 1996 WL 148509
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 3, 1996
Docket27,846-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 671 So. 2d 1242 (State v. Kerrigan) 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. Kerrigan, 671 So. 2d 1242, 1996 WL 148509 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

671 So.2d 1242 (1996)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Thomas C. KERRIGAN, Appellant.

No. 27,846-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 3, 1996.

*1243 Peter Edwards, Monroe, for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, H. Stephens Winters, Asst. District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before NORRIS, WILLIAMS and GASKINS, JJ.

*1244 WILLIAMS, Judge.

The defendant, Thomas C. Kerrigan, was indicted by a Ouachita Parish grand jury with two counts of distribution of marijuana, violations of LSA-R.S. 40:966. After a jury trial, he was convicted of both counts, and the trial court sentenced him to ten years at hard labor on each count, to run concurrently. The trial court also imposed a $500 fine on each count, and directed the defendant to pay court costs or spend ninety days in jail upon default of payment of the fine and court costs. A timely motion to reconsider sentences was denied, and the defendant appeals urging that his convictions are based upon insufficient evidence, and that his sentences are excessive. For the reasons assigned below, we amend the defendant's convictions and sentences, and affirm as amended.

FACTS

The record indicates that on or about June 15, 1993 and July 8, 1993, the defendant sold marijuana to undercover law enforcement officers in Ouachita Parish. The transactions were made pursuant to an undercover investigation of the defendant launched by the Metro Narcotics division of the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office. Vincent Throckmorton, a confidential informant for Metro Narcotics, arranged both transactions. An undercover agent and volunteer officer with Metro Narcotics, Kim McDuffey, was also present during the purchases.

On the June 15th purchase, Throckmorton and Officer McDuffey met the defendant in the parking lot of Marvin's Mini-Mart located off Highway 594 in Ouachita Parish. Officer McDuffey wore a body wire which was monitored by Detective Purvis and Detective Chase, and she carried a micro-cassette recorder. Officer McDuffey testified that when the defendant arrived, she and Throckmorton approached the defendant's car, and she gave the defendant $40 in exchange for a package of marijuana. She also testified that she asked the defendant "Forty dollars, right?" and the defendant replied "Right." However, on the tape of the transaction played for the jury, this exchange was made between Officer McDuffey and Throckmorton before the defendant arrived at the scene. Although there is a lot of distortion and background noise on the tape, the conversations that are audible are between Officer McDuffey and Throckmorton, and between Throckmorton and the defendant. There is no audible conversation between the defendant and Officer McDuffey.

The defendant testified that on June 15, 1993, Throckmorton called him and told him to meet him at the store on Swartz Road and to bring a bag of marijuana. The defendant testified that upon arriving at the store parking lot, he sold the bag of marijuana to Throckmorton and not to Officer McDuffey. He testified that Officer McDuffey remained in her truck. Throckmorton told the defendant that he was going to sell the marijuana to Officer McDuffey.

On July 8, 1993, Officer McDuffey and Throckmorton drove to the defendant's apartment at Bream Bayou Apartments on Jennifer Lane in Monroe, Louisiana. Again she was equipped with a body wire, which was monitored by Detective Purvis and Detective Chase, and a micro-cassette recorder. She testified that she and Throckmorton entered the defendant's apartment where she gave the defendant $40 for a bag of marijuana. She testified that there was no conversation between herself and the defendant during this transaction. The tape of this transaction was not played for the jury or entered into evidence.

The defendant testified that on July 8, 1993, Throckmorton was at the apartment when someone called. He testified that Throckmorton took a bag of marijuana, delivered it to someone, and brought the money back to him. The defendant testified that Officer McDuffey never entered his apartment. In an attempt to impeach Officer McDuffey's testimony, the defendant testified that Officer McDuffey's description of his apartment was not accurate. Manuel Navarro, a defense witness, also testified that Officer McDuffey's description of the defendant's apartment was not accurate.

The substance delivered on each occasion was tested and determined to be marijuana. Officer McDuffey picked the defendant out of a photographic line-up on June 17, 1993. *1245 The defendant was arrested on March 7, 1994 and charged with two counts of distribution of marijuana.

During his trial, the defendant admitted to selling the marijuana on the dates in question but raised the affirmative defense of entrapment. The jury convicted the defendant as charged. The trial court sentenced the defendant to serve ten years at hard labor on each count, to run concurrently. Additionally, the court imposed a $500 fine on each count, and directed the defendant to pay court costs or spend ninety days in jail upon default of payment of the fines and court costs. The defendant filed a timely motion to reconsider sentence which was denied.

DISCUSSION

In his assignments of error, the defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence upon which to base his convictions, and that the sentence imposed is excessive. After reviewing the record, we find that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence to support the convictions, and that the sentence, while not excessive, should be amended.

ENTRAPMENT DEFENSE

In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, the defendant does not deny that he sold marijuana on the dates in question. Rather, the defendant alleges that there was insufficient evidence upon which to base his conviction, because he was the victim of entrapment by Throckmorton, a state agent. The defendant also alleges that he distributed the marijuana to Throckmorton and not to Officer McDuffey.

Entrapment occurs when a state agent, to obtain evidence of the commission of an offense, solicits, encourages, or otherwise induces another person to engage in conduct constituting an offense when he is not otherwise predisposed to commit such an offense. State v. Tate, 593 So.2d 864 (La. App.2d Cir.1992); State v. Batiste, 363 So.2d 639 (La.1978). The entrapment defense is composed of two elements: 1) an inducement by a state agent to commit an offense, and 2) lack of predisposition to commit the offense on the part of the defendant. The United States Supreme Court has held that "where the Government has induced an individual to break the law and the defense is entrapment,..., the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was disposed to commit the act prior to first being approached by Government agents." Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540, 548-49, 112 S.Ct. 1535, 1540, 118 L.Ed.2d 174 (1992); see also U.S. v. Byrd, 31 F.3d 1329 (5th Cir.1994).

The United States Fifth Circuit has stated the burden of proving entrapment as follows:

The first step in a successful entrapment defense is to make a prima facie showing that "government conduct `created a substantial risk that an offense would be committed by a person other than by one ready to commit it.'" Once a defendant clears this hurdle, he is entitled to jury instructions on the issue ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
671 So. 2d 1242, 1996 WL 148509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kerrigan-lactapp-1996.