State v. Lane

755 So. 2d 368, 2000 WL 235357
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 3, 2000
Docket33,059-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 755 So. 2d 368 (State v. Lane) 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. Lane, 755 So. 2d 368, 2000 WL 235357 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

755 So.2d 368 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Rodrick Tramaine LANE, Appellant.

No. 33,059-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

March 3, 2000.

*369 Amy C. Ellender, Louisiana Appellate Project, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Don Burkett, District Attorney, H. Melissa Sugar, Asst. Dist. Atty., Counsel for Appellee.

Before NORRIS, C.J., and GASKINS and CARAWAY, JJ.

CARAWAY, J.

A jury convicted the defendant, Rodrick T. Lane, of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1. The trial court then sentenced Lane to ten years imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence and fined him $1,000. On appeal, Lane urges that the evidence was insufficient to convict him, that the trial court failed to adequately articulate reasons for the sentence and that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Finding no merit in these assignments of error, we affirm defendant's conviction and sentence.

Facts

On December 30, 1998, members of the DeSoto Parish Sheriffs Office executed a search warrant in apartment # 14 of the Seasons Apartments in Logansport, Louisiana. The search warrant had been obtained due to information that the occupants of the apartment, Vicky Burrows and Lane, used and sold crack cocaine.

Sergeant Horace Womack and Agent Alan Costello were involved in executing the search warrant. The apartment search did not yield any cocaine but a .25 Raven semi-automatic gun was discovered by Womack hidden in some clothing in a child's backpack. The backpack was hanging in a closet located in the left rear bedroom of the apartment. The closet also contained men's and women's clothing.

After discovering the gun in the backpack, Womack spoke with Lane. Lane indicated the apartment was leased by his girlfriend, Burrows; however, he admittedly stayed there. Lane informed Womack that the gun did not belong to Burrows. According to Lane, the gun actually belonged to an acquaintance of his named Ray from Joaquin, Texas and Lane was holding it for Ray. Lane further stated that he had placed the gun into the backpack. Lane admitted to Womack that he had previously been on probation because he had pled guilty to simple possession of cocaine.

Lieutenant Robert Davidson spoke with Lane at the DeSoto Parish jail. Davidson advised Lane of his Miranda rights and the defendant repeated his story that he was holding the gun for someone who lived in Joaquin, Texas but claimed he could not remember Ray's last name.

At trial, Davidson, Womack and Costello offered testimony concerning the search warrant, the discovery of the gun and Lane's statements. Robert Allred, a retired probation officer who supervised the defendant on probation for a 1994 conviction for possession of cocaine, testified that Lane was notified by the probation office that he could not possess a gun. The state further submitted into evidence a certified copy of the Conditions of Probation which had been signed by Lane and which stated as one of the conditions that defendant was to "[r]efrain from owning or possessing firearms or other dangerous weapons."

Catherine Howell, the manager of Season's Apartments, testified that each time she went to Burrows' apartment, Lane was present. She stated she had seen the defendant on a daily basis in or around the apartment. Moreover, Howell testified that Lane had completed his portion of an application to become a co-tenant on the lease with Burrows. The application was never processed because Burrows did not complete her portion prior to the search revealing the weapon. Several days after the search occurred, Burrows and Lane *370 told Howell not to add the defendant to the lease.

At trial, Lane testified that he was not living with Burrows when the police discovered the gun but stated that he instead lived with his grandfather. The defendant denied making any statements to the police about the gun and declared that he did not know the weapon was in the apartment. Lane further contended that he did not know he was prohibited from possessing a gun.

Terrell Norris, a friend of Lane's, testified on his behalf. Norris said that he and the defendant were the only people present in the apartment when the police showed up with the search warrant. Norris indicated that he did not know anything about the gun. However, he did observe that Lane appeared surprised when the police informed him that a gun was discovered.

Eddie Wilson, another friend of the defendant's and a resident of the Seasons Apartments, testified that Lane was staying with him on December 30, 1998. Wilson also indicated that Lane sometimes stayed with the defendant's grandfather as well as staying at Burrows' apartment. Additionally, Wilson stated that a lot of people were in and out of Burrows' apartment.

Based on all the evidence, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. The jury foreman indicated that 10 jurors voted guilty while 2 voted not guilty. However, when the jury was polled, the verdict of guilty appeared to be unanimous.

At the sentencing hearing on May 25, 1999, Lane was sentenced to ten years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence and was given credit for time served. A fine of $1,000 was imposed but no default time was sentenced in connection to nonpayment.

Sufficiency of Evidence

The relevant statute provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

"La. R.S. 14:95.1. Possession of firearm or carrying concealed weapon by a person convicted of certain felonies
A. It is unlawful for any person who has been convicted of ... any violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law which is a felony, ... to possess a firearm or carry a concealed weapon.
B. Whoever is found guilty of violating the provisions of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than ten nor more than fifteen years without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence and be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.
C. Except as otherwise specifically provided, this Section shall not apply to the following cases:
(1) The provisions of this Section prohibiting the possession of firearms and carrying concealed weapons by persons who have been convicted of certain felonies shall not apply to any person who has not been convicted of any felony for a period of ten years from the date of completion of sentence, probation, parole, or suspension of sentence."

Lane contends that the evidence presented by the state was insufficient for the jury to convict him of the charged offense because the state failed to prove he possessed the gun. The defendant concedes in his brief that two elements of the charged offense of possession of a fire-arm—the previous conviction of an enumerated felony and the absence of the 10-year period—were satisfied. We therefore pretermit a discussion of those issues.

The standard for evaluating sufficiency of the evidence is whether, upon viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could find that the state proved all elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Washington, 597 So.2d *371 1084 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
755 So. 2d 368, 2000 WL 235357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lane-lactapp-2000.