State v. Lacoste

896 So. 2d 1180, 2004 La.App. 4 Cir. 1625, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 919, 2005 WL 775709
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 16, 2005
DocketNo. 2004-KA-1625
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 896 So. 2d 1180 (State v. Lacoste) 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. Lacoste, 896 So. 2d 1180, 2004 La.App. 4 Cir. 1625, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 919, 2005 WL 775709 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

| PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge.

This is a criminal appeal. The defen-, dant, Kenneth Lacoste, appeals his conviction of one' count of simple possession of cocaine asserting two’ errors: (i) improper admission of other crimes evidence, and (ii) insufficiency of the evidence. Finding no error, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On December 23, 2002, the State filed a bill of information charging Mr. Lacoste with one count of simple possession of cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. 40:967. On [1182]*1182February 7, 2003, Mr. Lacoste was arraigned and entered a not guilty plea. On March 21, 2003, the trial court heard and denied Mr. Lacoste’s motion to suppress evidence. On November 20, 2003, a six-person jury tried the case and returned a verdict of guilty as charged. On May 6, 2004, the trial court sentenced Mr. Lacoste to four years at hard labor. The State then filed a multiple bill of information to which Mr. Lacoste entered a not guilty plea. On June 18, 2004, he admitted to being a second felony offender. The court vacated its prior sentence |aand resen-tenced him to serve four years at hard labor. Mr. Lacoste’s motion for appeal was granted. This appeal follows.

STATEMENT OP THE FACTS

On December 3, 2002, at about 2:45 p.m., Mr. Lacoste was arrested by Lieutenant Kenneth Harris and his partner, Detective Jeffrey Sandoz, at a residence located at 1502 North Villere Street in New Orleans. On that date, Lt. Harris and Det. Sandoz were assigned to the ATF Safe Neighborhoods Task Force. Based on information that members of the Task Force had received, the two officers went to 1502 North Villere Street to investigate.1 When they arrived, the officers found Mr. Lacoste standing inside the yard, which was surrounded by a wooden fence. According to the officers, the gate to the yard was open, and Mr. Lacoste was standing a few feet in front of the entrance to the residence. In his right hand, Mr. Lacoste was holding a clear plastic bag containing small white objects. Based on their experience, Lt. Harris and Det. Sandoz believed the objects in the bag were crack cocaine.

Almost simultaneously with the officers spotting him, Mr. Lacoste spotted the officers. In response, Mr. Lacoste turned and ran inside 1502 North Villere. As he entered the residence, Mr. Lacoste reached up and placed the plastic bag he was holding on the ledge that was located atop the front door. The officers pursued Mr. Lacoste through the opened front door into the residence and detained |ahim in the first room. Det. Sandoz retrieved the plastic bag from above the front door. After confirming that the bag contained cocaine, the officers arrested Mr. Lacoste.2 In a search incident to arrest, the officers seized $127.00 in currency.

The officers described their search of the remainder of the residence as limited to a cursory safety sweep to make sure that no one who might threaten their safety was hiding. According to the officers, the residence only had two rooms. The first room was a kitchen area where they detained Mr. Lacoste and a bedroom area where they found an older man. The officers confirmed that the only people they found in the residence were Mr. Lacoste and the older man. The officers questioned the older man and ascertained that he lived in the residence and that Mr. Lacoste did not. Indeed, the older man told the officers that he had no knowledge of Mr. Lacoste. During cross-examina[1183]*1183tion, Lt. Harris testified that the older man told him that he did not want to give his name or to prosecute Mr. Lacoste for unlawful entry into the residence because he was afraid of Mr. Lacoste. Similarly, Det. Sandoz testified that the older man wanted to remain anonymous and did not want to prosecute Mr. Lacoste because he was afraid. The officers did not question the older man any further.

The parties stipulated that the State’s criminalist William Giblin, was an expert in the testing, identification, and analysis of controlled dangerous substances. They further stipulated that, if called to testify, Mr. Giblin would testify that the evidence he tested in this case was cocaine.

14The defense presented three witnesses. The first was Antonio Lewis, who testified that at the time of Mr. Lacoste’s arrest he had been renting 1502 North Villere for three months. In the mid-afternoon on the date of Mr. Lacoste’s arrest, Mr. Lewis testified that he was at his residence along with five or six friends playing cards and drinking. Suddenly, he heard a loud bang and his front door was kicked open. About a dozen (ten to twelve) police officers entered with g-uns drawn and told everyone to get on the floor and to put up their hands. The officers then brought everyone outside where they were searched and their names were run through the computer.

Once they were outside the ■ gate, Mr. Lewis testified that he noticed Mr. La-coste, who was being detained by the officers. Mr. Lewis further testified that he knew Mr. Lacoste from seeing him in the neighborhood talking to his next door neighbors, Author and Joe, who lived at 1500 North Villere. Mr. Lewis still further testified that he noticed that Joe was outside on the porch.

According to Mr. Lewis, the police held everyone outside for approximately forty-five minutes to an hour. During the entire time, Mr. Lewis testified that about a dozen. police officers remained on the scene. Mr. Lewis stated that the officers threatened everyone that they were going to jail because they were in an abandoned residence. However, Mr. Lewis stated that once he informed the officers that he was renting the residence, they let everyone go except for Mr. Lacoste. Mr. Lewis also testified that before the police arrived, the front door to his residence was closed, and the gate to his yard was padlocked. He added that the officers apparently kicked in the padlock because his landlord had to buy a new one. Mr. Lewis denied that Mr. Lacoste ran into his house, denied that the officers asked him if he knew Mr. Lacoste, denied that he ever said he did not lfiknow Mr. Lacoste, denied that he stated he was afraid of Mr. Lacoste, and denied refusing to identify himself to the police officers.

The second defense witness was Otis Howard. Mr. Howard testified that he was working on a car in the 1500 block of North Villere on the date Mr. Lacoste was arrested. He recounted that Mr. Lacoste pulled up in his vehicle and parked immediately behind the Ford on which Mr. Howard was working. Mr. Lacoste spoke to Mr. Howard briefly and then went across the street to talk to Joe. (As noted above, Joe was Mr. Lewis’ neighbor who lived at 1500 North Villere.) A few minutes later, several police units arrived, and the officers grabbed Mr. Lacoste and Joe. Mr. Howard heard a cracking sound, which he said sounded like the chain on a gate breaking. The police then entered Mr. Lewis’ fenced yard. Mr. Howard stated that he could not see exactly what occurred inside the yard because the fence [1184]*1184blocked his view. Nonetheless, Mr. Howard stated that he saw the police walk several people out of the yard and that the police kept them there for a little while. Mr. Howard estimated that there were ten police officers on the scene in both marked units and unmarked units.

The third and final defense witness was Melvin Boudreaux. Mr. Boudreaux testified that he lives across the street from Mr. Lewis and Joe. On the day of Mr. Lacoste’s arrest, Mr. Boudreaux testified that he saw Mr. Lacoste outside talking to Joe on the porch.

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Related

State v. Lindsey
129 So. 3d 759 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State v. Williams
96 So. 3d 1203 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
896 So. 2d 1180, 2004 La.App. 4 Cir. 1625, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 919, 2005 WL 775709, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lacoste-lactapp-2005.