State v. Knight

794 So. 2d 33, 2001 WL 670023
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 23, 2001
Docket2000-KA-1051
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 794 So. 2d 33 (State v. Knight) 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. Knight, 794 So. 2d 33, 2001 WL 670023 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

794 So.2d 33 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Frederick KNIGHT.

No. 2000-KA-1051.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

May 23, 2001.

*34 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Nicole Brasseaux Barron, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellant.

Laura Pavy, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant.

Court composed of Judge CHARLES R. JONES, Judge MAX N. TOBIAS Jr., Judge DAVID S. GORBATY.

*35 GORBATY, Judge.

On October 23, 1998, the defendant, Frederick Knight, was charged by bill of information with possession of cocaine in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(C). The defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment on November 19, 1998. He filed a motion to suppress evidence, which was denied on March 8, 1999. After a trial on September 8, 1999, a six-member jury found him guilty of attempted possession of cocaine. On September 29, 1999, the trial court sentenced the defendant to one year at hard labor. The State then filed a multiple bill of information accusing the defendant of being a fourth felony offender. On December 16, 1999, the trial court found Knight to be a second offender, vacated the original sentence, and re-sentenced the defendant to two years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The State and the defendant subsequently filed these appeals.

FACTS

Officer Chris Burkhardt testified at trial that he and his partner Matthew Robinson were on proactive patrol in the Lower Ninth Ward when they first saw the defendant, who was sitting in a parked car at the intersection of Marais and Charbonnet Streets. The defendant was in the driver's seat, and a woman, Jamie Donaldson, was in the passenger seat. The officers saw Donaldson place a glass tube to her mouth and lean over to the driver's side.

At this time, the officers exited their marked unit. While approaching the parked vehicle, they observed Donaldson throw something onto the floor of the car. They also noticed the defendant shoving something between the seats. The officers found a crack pipe in plain view, still warm and containing residue, on the floor of the car, passenger side. Robinson advised both parties of their Miranda rights. Burkhardt discovered a pipe, and nothing else, between the seats. Burkhardt asked to whom that pipe belonged, and the defendant responded that the pipe was his. No residue was visible, only burned copper wool.

At trial, a member of the crime lab, Karen Lewis-Holmes, testified that both pipes tested positive for cocaine.[1] However, the Assistant District Attorney agreed that one pipe contained residue and the other did not. The pipes that had been jointly referred to as "Exhibit 1" during trial were subsequently divided into "Exhibit 1A" and "Exhibit 1B." Only the pipe that had been in the possession of the defendant was introduced.

ERRORS PATENT

A review for errors patent on the face of the record reveals none.

DEFENDANT'S ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In his sole assignment of error, the defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction. Specifically, he contends that he could not have had guilty knowledge of the cocaine since there was no residue in the pipe. He argues he should have been charged and found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia, La. R.S. 40:1033, which is not a lesser-included offense of attempted possession of cocaine.

This court set out the well-settled standard for reviewing convictions for *36 sufficiency of the evidence in State v. Ragas, 98-0011 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/28/99), 744 So.2d 99, as follows:

In evaluating whether evidence is constitutionally sufficient to support a conviction, an appellate court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Green, 588 So.2d 757 (La.App. 4 Cir.1991). However, the reviewing court may not disregard this duty simply because the record contains evidence that tends to support each fact necessary to constitute the crime. State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305 (La.1988). The reviewing court must consider the record as a whole since that is what a rational trier of fact would do. If rational triers of fact could disagree as to the interpretation of the evidence, the rational trier's view of all the evidence most favorable to the prosecution must be adopted. The fact finder's discretion will be impinged upon only to the extent necessary to guarantee the fundamental protection of due process of law. Mussall; Green; supra. "[A] reviewing court is not called upon to decide whether it believes the witnesses or whether the conviction is contrary to the weight of the evidence." State v. Smith, 600 So.2d 1319 (La.1992) at 1324.
In addition, when circumstantial evidence forms the basis of the conviction, such evidence must consist of proof of collateral facts and circumstances from which the existence of the main fact may be inferred according to reason and common experience. State v. Shapiro, 431 So.2d 372 (La.1982). The elements must be proven such that every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. La. R.S. 15:438. This is not a separate test from Jackson v. Virginia, supra, but rather an evidentiary guideline to facilitate appellate review of whether a rational juror could have found a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Wright, 445 So.2d 1198 (La. 1984). All evidence, direct and circumstantial, must meet the Jackson reasonable doubt standard. State v. Jacobs, 504 So.2d 817 (La.1987).

98-0011 at pp. 13-14, 744 So.2d at 106-107, quoting State v. Egana, 97-0318, pp. 5-6 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/3/97), 703 So.2d 223, 227-228.

Defendant was convicted of attempted possession of cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and 40:967. La. R.S. 40:967(C) provides: "[I]t is unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled dangerous substance as classified in Schedule II ...." Cocaine is a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance. La. R.S. 40:964. La. R.S. 14:27(A) provides:

A. Any person who, having a specific intent to commit a crime, does or omits an act for the purpose of and tending directly toward the accomplishing of his object is guilty of an attempt to commit the offense intended; and it shall be immaterial whether, under the circumstances, he would have actually accomplished his purpose.
C. An attempt is a separate but lesser grade of the intended crime; and any person may be convicted of an attempt to commit a crime, although it appears on the trial that the crime intended or attempted was actually perpetrated by such person in pursuance of such attempt.

"If the evidence adduced at trial was sufficient to support a conviction of the charged offense, the jury's [responsive] verdict is authorized." State v. Harris, *37 97-2903, p. 8 (La.App. 4 Cir. 9/1/99), 742 So.2d 997, 1001-1002.

To support a conviction for possession of cocaine, the State must establish that the defendant was in possession of the drug and that he knowingly or intentionally possessed it. State v. Shields, 98-2283, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
794 So. 2d 33, 2001 WL 670023, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-knight-lactapp-2001.