State v. Lane

927 So. 2d 659, 2006 WL 932031
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 12, 2006
Docket40,816-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 927 So. 2d 659 (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, 927 So. 2d 659, 2006 WL 932031 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

927 So.2d 659 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee
v.
Eddie Robert LANE, Jr., Appellant.

No. 40,816-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 12, 2006.

*662 Louisiana Appellate Project by Peggy J. Sullivan, Monroe, for Appellant.

Eddie Robert Lane, Jr., pro se.

Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Dhu Thompson, Ron C. Stamps, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before STEWART, CARAWAY and DREW, JJ.

STEWART, J.

The defendant, Eddie Robert Lane, Jr., was convicted of armed robbery. He was sentenced as a fourth felony offender to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefits. For the reasons explained herein, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

FACTS

In the early morning hours of March 12, 2004, Yolanda Burnom drove to meet friends at the H and H Lounge in Shreveport. She testified that the defendant first stopped her as she entered the club and that he sat in the passenger seat of a white Buick at that time. She said that he asked her if she "had a smoke" and that she replied that she did not smoke or drink. After staying in the club approximately 30 to 45 minutes, Burnom walked out to call a friend on her cell phone.

While she talked on the phone and unlocked her car door, Lane pointed a gun at her side, told her to get off of the phone, and demanded money. Burnom identified the gun as a Glock .09-mm, explaining that she had completed firearms training while contemplating working for the sheriff's department before deciding to instead attend graduate school. She stated that she had also learned about firearms in her career as a readjustment counselor for veterans. She testified that she put the cell phone on the driver's seat and tried to tell her friend what was happening. Burnom then lied to the defendant and told him that she was an FBI agent and that he should not rob her. She testified that this conversation continued for about 20 minutes. She finally gave him $15.00, and he started patting her down. Burnom pushed him and ran toward an officer that she had seen parked near the club. Burnom told Corporal Joseph "J.M." Sharpley her account of the events. She stated that after talking to Sharpley, she realized that the defendant had also stolen another wallet with money, a Palm Pilot, and her car keys.

Burnom started her car with an extra set of keys and gave a friend a ride home. While driving her friend home, Burnom saw Lane approximately three blocks away. She stated that she rolled the window down and told her friend that Lane was the man who had robbed her. Burnom testified that the defendant started backing up when he noticed her, dropped his beer, and took off running. Burnom then called the police and reported seeing the defendant. Burnom later testified that she received information the next day that included the defendant's nickname and first name as well as his address. At trial, Burnom identified the defendant as the man who robbed her.

Corporal Sharpley testified that Burnom was shaking and upset when he arrived on the scene. He said that the victim told him that the defendant had held what appeared to be a Glock handgun at her side and demanded her money. He corroborated Burnom's account of the items she claimed that the defendant had taken and Burnom's statement about the incident and her subsequent call to the police except regarding whether she gave police a license *663 plate number. Sharpley also testified that he took fingerprints from the car door, but that attempts to match the prints had been inconclusive.

Detective Michael McConnell testified that Burnom talked to him about the man she spotted with Lane one hour after the robbery. From that conversation, she was able to give police the defendant's name, nickname (Pootie Loc), and a partial address. McConnell stated that he arrested the defendant about 14 days after the robbery. He stated that Burnom identified the defendant from a photo lineup without hesitation.

The defense called Laquondra Golston who testified that she owned a white Oldsmobile, a car similar to the one in which the victim stated she saw the defendant sitting. She said that she had driven the car to the H and H Lounge that night, but that she did not know Lane very well and that no one had been in her car that night except her.

Following a trial, the defendant was convicted of armed robbery. He was adjudicated a fourth felony offender and was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefits.

DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of Evidence

Armed robbery is the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, while armed with a dangerous weapon. La. R.S. 14:64. The proper standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Bosley, 29,253 (La.App.2d Cir.4/2/97), 691 So.2d 347, writ denied, 97-1203 (La.10/17/97), 701 So.2d 1333. The Jackson standard is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. An appellate court reviewing the sufficiency of evidence in such cases must resolve any conflict in the direct evidence by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the direct evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence and inferred from the circumstances established by that evidence must be sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. State v. Sutton, 436 So.2d 471 (La.1983); State v. Owens, 30,903 (La. App.2d Cir.9/25/98), 719 So.2d 610, writ denied, 98-2723 (La.2/5/99), 737 So.2d 747.

This court's authority to review questions of fact in a criminal case is limited to the sufficiency-of-the-evidence evaluation under Jackson, supra, and does not extend to credibility determinations made by the trier of fact. La. Const. art. 5, § 10(B); State v. Williams, 448 So.2d 753 (La.App. 2d Cir.1984). A reviewing court accords great deference to a judge or jury's decision to accept or reject the testimony of a witness in whole or in part. State v. Gilliam, 36,118 (La.App.2d Cir.8/30/02), 827 So.2d 508, writ denied, State ex rel. Gilliam v. State, 02-3090 (La.11/14/03), 858 So.2d 422. In the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence, one witness's testimony, if believed by the trier of fact, is sufficient support for a requisite factual conclusion. State v. White, 28,095 (La.App.2d Cir.5/8/96), 674 So.2d 1018, writs denied, 96-1459 (La.11/15/96), 682 So.2d 760, 98-0282 (La.6/26/98), 719 So.2d 1048.

*664 The defendant argues that the victim's testimony was not corroborated and was insufficient to support the conviction. He claims that she should have given a more detailed description of the robber. The defendant argued that the tattoos on his face would have been the first thing she should have seen and described, yet the victim did not mention this obvious physical feature.

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Bluebook (online)
927 So. 2d 659, 2006 WL 932031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lane-lactapp-2006.