State v. Lambert

93 So. 3d 771, 2012 WL 2061416
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 8, 2012
DocketNo. 2011 KA 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 93 So. 3d 771 (State v. Lambert) 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. Lambert, 93 So. 3d 771, 2012 WL 2061416 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

GAIDRY, J.

12The defendant, Louis Lambert, was charged by an amended grand jury indictment with the following: 24 counts of possession of cocaine, in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(C); 336 counts of malfeasance in office — tampering with evidence, in violation of La. R.S. 14:134.2; 4 counts of theft of a firearm, in violation of La. R.S. [773]*77314:67.15; 14 counts of illegal possession of a firearm, in violation of La. R.S. 14:95(E); 11 counts of possession of a legend drug without a prescription, in violation of La. R.S. 40:1238.1; 1 count of possession of oxycodone, in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(C); 1 count of possession of trenbo-lone acetate (steroids), in violation of La. R.S. 40:968(C); and 1 count of possession of alprazolam (xanax), in violation of La. R.S. 40:969(C).1 The defendant initially pled not guilty. The defendant then filed a Motion to Quash the Indictment, which the trial court denied. Thereafter, the defendant changed his plea to guilty and entered a Crosby plea based on the ruling on the Motion to Quash.

The defendant was then sentenced as follows: on each count of possession of cocaine, committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of two (2) years at hard labor, and a fine of five hundred dollars ($500), with each count concurrent; on each count of malfeasance in office, committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of two (2) years at hard labor, with each count concurrent; on each count of theft of a firearm, committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of five (5) years at hard labor, with two (2) years to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), with each count concurrent; on each count of illegal possession of |sa firearm, committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of ten (10) years at hard labor, with five (5) of the years to be served without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, and five (5) years suspended and placed on supervised probation, and a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with each count concurrent; on each count of possession of a legend drug, committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of one (1) year, and a fine of one hundred dollars ($100), with each count concurrent; on the count of possession of oxycodone, committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of two (2) years, and a fine of one hundred dollars ($100); on the count of possession of trenbolone acetate (steroids), committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of two (2) years, and a fine of one hundred dollars ($100); and on the count of possession of alprazolam (xa-nax), committed to the Department of Corrections for a period of two (2) years, and a fine of one hundred dollars ($100). All periods of incarceration were ordered to run concurrently and the defendant was given credit for all time served.

In addition, the court found that the Louisiana State Police, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and the Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office suffered direct economic injury as a result of the defendant’s actions and ordered restitution as follows: to the Louisiana State Police, the amount of four thousand, four hundred and thirteen dollars and 29/100 ($4,413.29); to the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, the amount of one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-nine dollars and 56/100 ($1,769.56); and to the Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office, the amount of fifteen thousand, seven hundred and thirty-six dollars and 66/100 ($15,736.66). The defendant now appeals, designating two assignments of error. We affirm the convictions and affirm all sentences as imposed except for the sentences on theft of a 1 ^firearm, which are amended to reduce each fine to one [774]*774thousand dollars ($1,000), and affirmed as amended.

FACTS

The offenses for which the defendant, Louis Lambert, was charged occurred during his tenure as the evidence custodian of the Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office. The defendant became employed by the Sheriffs Office as a deputy in 1990 and for the ten years prior to his arrest, he was the custodian of the Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office evidence vault. Evidentia-ry abnormalities in drug-related cases prompted an investigation by the Sheriffs Office and the Louisiana State Police, which ultimately revealed that the defendant had removed, tampered with, and/or altered drugs and other items from the evidence vault in an effort to support a significant substance abuse problem.

In the course of that investigation, on April 8, 2010, Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant on the defendant’s personal residence in Labadieville, Louisiana. Inside the defendant’s home were located numerous Assumption Parish Sheriffs Department evidence envelopes from known investigations, current Assumption Parish prosecutions, as well as unknown cases, in which the evidence had been removed, tampered with, and/or altered. Additionally, inside the home were found quantities of cocaine, oxycodone, trenbolone acetate (steroids), alprazolam (xanax), marijuana, numerous legend drugs, and drug paraphernalia. Kept alongside these items were 14 guns. Included among those guns were a Ruger .22 caliber handgun located with a gallon-size bag of marijuana inside of the defendant’s bedroom closet, and an SKS 762 semiautomatic rifle located with marijuana in the defendant’s living room. The evidence vaults were subsequently audited and inventoried, at which time it was discovered that |,5numerous evidence envelopes, as well as the evidence inside, had been tampered with and/or altered. In total, the evidence in 336 cases was tampered with, altered and/or removed by the defendant. The defendant admitted that he knew or had reason to believe that the objects or substances were or would be the subject of investigation by state, federal, local or municipal law enforcement officers, and that he acted with the intent of distorting the results of those investigations. Shortly after the investigation was launched, the defendant voluntarily enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program.

Victim impact letters were submitted by the Louisiana State Police, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and the Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office. The Louisiana State Police requested restitution in the amount of $2,811.78. This amount represented the overtime costs for a crime lab analyst and a technician who spent almost 120 hours re-analyzing and re-categorizing evidence tampered with by the defendant. The State Police also identified $3,457.29 in overtime expenses for officers relative to this case, and $956.00 in administrative expenses such as paper and storage. The District Attorney’s Office requested restitution in the amount of $1,769.56 in direct costs. This amount was for consultation with an expert in attorney ethics retained to advise on the proper procedures to completely fulfill the ethical obligations imposed on the District Attorney’s Office in the handling of cases with compromised evidence, and for the supply and postage expenses incurred with mailings made in compliance with disclosure requirements. The Assumption Parish Sheriffs Office requested restitution in the amount of $15,736.66. Those costs included overtime incurred by deputies working on the investigation, a third-party vendor retained to audit |fithe property and evi[775]*775dence room and make recommendations, as well as miscellaneous expenses.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Assignment of Error No. 1 — Motion to Quash

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
93 So. 3d 771, 2012 WL 2061416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lambert-lactapp-2012.