State v. Lee

764 So. 2d 1122, 2000 WL 722569
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided May 17, 2000·No. 99-KA-1404·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

764 So.2d 1122 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Charles LEE.

No. 99-KA-1404.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

May 17, 2000.

*1123 Laura Pavy, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Defendant.

Court composed of Judge WILLIAM H. BYRNES, III, Judge STEVEN R. PLOTKIN, Judge DENNIS R. BAGNERIS, Sr.

PLOTKIN, Judge.

On May 7, 1998, appellant Charles Lee was charged by bill of information with two counts of armed robbery. On October 24, 1998, he was found guilty as charged on both counts. On November 10, 1998, the trial court considered and denied a motion for new trial. The court then sentenced the appellant to fifteen years at hard labor on each count to run consecutively, without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. A motion to reconsider the sentence was denied. On January 14, 1999, the court found the appellant to be a second offender, vacated the previous sentences and resentenced the appellant to forty-nine and one-half years on each count, to run concurrently with each other. Another motion to reconsider the sentence was denied.

*1124 Appellant's counsel filed a brief on July 2, 1999. Appellant pro se filed a supplemental brief on January 24, 2000. The State has filed no response to date.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On March 1, 1998, Omar was the cashier on duty at the Stop & Save gas station at 10833 Chef Menteur Highway when two men wearing masks entered the store. Omar's friend, Herberto Deraujo, was studying in the back office at the time. One of the perpetrators cursed and pointed a semi-automatic gun at Omar and demanded his money. The other perpetrator provided the bag in which Omar was to put the money. He also brought Deraujo from the back of the store. Omar filled the bag with the contents of the register, about twelve hundred dollars, then got down on the floor with Deraujo, as they were ordered to do. One of the perpetrators then ripped the phone out of the wall before both of the masked men ran out of the store. The phone was abandoned in the parking lot.

Omar called the police and locked the doors of the store until an officer arrived. Officer Henry Laurent responded to the call. He interviewed Omar and Deraujo, who advised Officer Luarent that the perpetrators were wearing ski masks. Nevertheless, Omar stated that he recognized one the perpetrators as a former regular customer named Charles. He testified that he recognized the perpetrator from his goatee, which he could see underneath the mask, from his black leather jacket and his voice. Omar told the officer and later testified that Charles was the more aggressive of the perpetrators, did the talking, demanded the money and held a gun to his head. Omar further testified that Charles had been caught stealing at the store two or three weeks prior to the robbery and was no longer permitted in the store. He stated that Charles was not charged with the prior theft; but was arrested on another charge outside of the store at that time. Omar also testified that, even though he was no longer allowed to enter the store, Charles often hung around outside the store between the time he was thrown out and the time of the robbery.

Detective Danny Wharton performed a follow-up investigation. He conducted research based on the information provided following the incident, and found the name Charles Lee. Detective Wharton first brought Omar a yearbook from Sarah Reed, the nearby high school, but Omar did not find the perpetrator's photograph there. Later, Detective Wharton compiled a photographic lineup that included the defendant. He presented the photographs to Omar, who positively identified the defendant as the perpetrator who held the gun to him and robbed the money in the cash register. Deraujo testified that he never saw the faces of the perpetrators, did not know either of them, and never attempted to identify either of them.

Omar and Deraujo initially told the police that there may have been only one gun. However, after discussing the matter, they agreed that both perpetrators were armed.

After Omar made the positive identification, Detective Wharton obtained an arrest warrant for the defendant and a search warrant for his home on Wright Road. The defendant was ultimately arrested at his cousin's apartment on Curran Street. Nothing was seized from the defendant's home; however, the black jacket he was wearing at the time of his arrest was seized because it matched the description of the jacket worn by the perpetrator.

On March 19, 1998, pizza delivery driver James Green was held up at gunpoint on Wright Road. He testified that when he arrived at the delivery address to deliver some food, the house looked abandoned. He noticed three young men in a driveway a few houses down. One of the men called to him that the pizza was for him. The man then walked over to Green's car. The other two men walked away.

*1125 When Green got out of the car to give the customer the pizza, the man pulled out a gun and ordered Green to give him his money. Green handed over all of his money, about one hundred dollars. He had to pull his pockets out to convince the perpetrator that he had no more money. The perpetrator then demanded the pizza and the buffalo wings. Green dropped the buffalo wings on the ground. The perpetrator ordered Green to pick up the wings and threatened to kill him for dropping the wings. The perpetrator then told Green to get in his car and never come around there again. The perpetrator walked away, then Green drove away.

Green called his employer, the Pizza Hut on Lake Forest, and was told to come back to the restaurant. The police department was called from the Pizza Hut. Officer Brian Renick responded, picked Green up at the restaurant and took him to Wright Road where Green pointed out the location of the robbery. Officer Renick observed some of the buffalo wings which were still on the ground there. Officer Renick then broadcast the location of the offense over the police radio, with a description of the perpetrator's body type and his blue steel automatic revolver. He then drove Green to the Seventh District station to be interviewed by the follow-up investigator, Det. Reginald Blanchard.

Det. Wharton, also of the Seventh District, heard the broadcast and recognized the address as the residence of Charles Lee, the suspect in the March 1 robbery. Det. Wharton proceeded immediately to the Seventh District station to meet with Det. Blanchard. The officers noted that the description of the gun and the body type also matched the description of Charles Lee given by the victim in prior robbery. Det. Wharton then provided Blanchard with a photo of Charles Lee and the other photos he used in the photographic lineup of the prior robbery. With this assistance, Det. Blanchard was able to present Green with a photographic lineup within a couple of hours of the March 19 incident. Green made a positive identification of the defendant.

The defendant took the stand and denied having committed the offenses, though he could not recall where he was at the time of either incident. He maintained that Omar was blaming him for the March 1 armed robbery because he was still angry with him for the altercation they had a couple of weeks prior to the robbery. He testified that Green was just mistaken in his identification. Lee admitted a prior conviction for stolen property, but alleged that he was merely a passenger in a car that he did not know was stolen. He testified that he pled guilty to that offense because the only disposition was going

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State v. Lee, 764 So. 2d 1122, 2000 WL 722569 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

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