State v. Lemeunier

986 So. 2d 130, 2008 WL 2190809
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 27, 2008
Docket07-KA-230
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 986 So. 2d 130 (State v. Lemeunier) 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. Lemeunier, 986 So. 2d 130, 2008 WL 2190809 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

986 So.2d 130 (2008)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Lukas LEMEUNIER.

No. 07-KA-230.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 27, 2008.

*132 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Thomas J. Butler, Roger W. Jordan, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Martin E. Regan, Jr., Thomas Calogero, Karla M. Baker, Regan & Associates, P.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, MARION F. EDWARDS, and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

MARION F. EDWARDS, Judge.

Defendant/appellant, Lukas Lemeunier ("Lemeunier"), was charged with aggravated burglary in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:60 and possession of methadone in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967(C). The State dismissed count 2, possession of methadone, and Lemeunier was then tried on the aggravated burglary charge. A unanimous twelve-person jury found him guilty as charged, and he was later sentenced to fifteen years in the Department of Corrections.

Thereafter, the State filed a multiple offender bill of information alleging Lemeunier to be a second felony offender based on a prior conviction for possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Lemeunier stipulated to the allegations contained in the multiple bill and was sentenced *133 to twenty-five years at hard labor as a multiple offender.

Regarding the events on the date of the incident, Larry Rolling ("Mr. Rolling") testified at trial that, at approximately 10:30 p.m. on September 2, 2003, his wife, Sharlene Rolling ("Mrs. Rolling"), woke him up and told him someone was outside the house. Mr. Rolling went to the front room and looked outside but did not see anyone. He opened the front door at which time a hand came through the door and started spraying pepper spray. Mr. Rolling dropped to his knees and attempted to hold the door closed while Mrs. Rolling called 911. When the perpetrator heard Mrs. Rolling calling the police, he fled. Mr. Rolling did not get a look at the intruder.

Officer Matthew Pervis ("Officer Pervis") and Officer Dominick Rodi ("Officer Rodi") of the Kenner Police Department responded to the call. Officer Pervis, who was in another unit, went to the Rolling residence while Officer Rodi checked out the area for suspects. Officer Rodi saw a man, later identified as Lemeunier, dressed in all dark clothing enter a vehicle about two blocks from the residence and drive away. Lemeunier, the driver, did not put the headlights on. After he failed to signal a turn, Officer Rodi activated his emergency lights and attempted to stop the vehicle. According to Officer Rodi, the car did not stop until another police unit approached from the opposite direction. Lemeunier and his passenger, co-defendant Kenneth Oswald, were detained and placed in the back of a police unit. Officer Rodi did not interview the victims.

Officer Pervis responded to the 911 call. When he arrived at the Rollings' home, he could feel the effects of the pepper spray inside the doorway. He obtained a description of the perpetrator from Mrs. Rolling, which was disseminated over the radio. In the 911 call, Mrs. Rolling identified the perpetrator as "Luke," a person who must know her daughter.

Lemeunier was transported to lockup and strip searched. Officer Ronald Reggio participated in the arrest. He testified that, when Lemeunier pulled down his underwear, a can of mace fell from his crotch area.

Mrs. Rolling testified she had previously met Lemeunier at her daughter's home on more than one occasion. She further noted he had come to the house a few days before the incident, but she thought he was crazy or drunk, and she slammed the door in his face. On the night of the incident, Mrs. Rolling saw the perpetrator outside before the door was opened. When his arm reached into the house spraying pepper spray, she noted he had on a dark glove. She stated that Lemeunier kept saying he wanted her pain medication. Mrs. Rolling was brought to the scene where Lemeunier was held and positively identified him as the person who tried to break into her home.

At trial, Lemeunier testified he had been buying prescription pain pills from Mrs. Rolling and her daughter for three to four years. He explained he would "just go right in the house," buy the pills, and leave. He stated he had last been to Mrs. Rolling's house only two to three days before the incident.

Lemeunier testified that, on the night of the incident, he and his friend went to Mrs. Rolling's house to buy pills. He was driving his girlfriend's car, and her key chain had a mace spray on it. According to Lemeunier, he walked up to the Rollings' front door and knocked. Mr. Rolling answered the door with a gun in his hand and yelled at him not to come to the house so late. Mrs. Rolling then came to the door at which time Lemeunier told her he had just come to buy pills. Mrs. Rolling *134 responded by stating she was calling the police. Lemeunier testified that Mr. Rolling was pointing the gun directly at him so he sprayed the mace in Mr. Rolling's direction in order to get away. He stated he left in his car and was stopped by the police shortly thereafter. Lemeunier denied getting his hand or arm shut in the door and maintained the entire incident happened on the front porch of the Rollings' home. Lemeunier testified that he did not have a mace can in his pants.

Lemeunier argues the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated burglary. However, we find that all the elements of the crime of aggravated burglary were established by the evidence. Specifically, the record shows that Lemeunier made an unauthorized entry into the victims' home with the intent to commit a felony or theft while armed with a dangerous weapon and, additionally, that he committed a battery on Mr. Rolling during the entry.

Lemeunier first contends that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he entered the house and that he used pepper spray inside the house.

Aggravated burglary is defined as the unauthorized entering of any inhabited dwelling with the intent to commit a felony or any theft therein, if the offender is armed with a dangerous weapon, or commits a battery upon any person while in such place, or while entering or leaving the place. LSA-R.S. 14:60.[1] Whenever any part of defendant's person passes the line of the threshold, entry is accomplished. It is sufficient that any part of the person intrudes into the structure, even momentarily.[2]

Lemeunier urges that the State failed to prove an entry. He asserts that Mrs. Rolling was not credible because she gave many conflicting statements and her testimony was riddled with inconsistencies. According to Lemeunier, Mrs. Rolling's call to the 911 operator contradicts her trial testimony and shows he never entered the house but, rather, remained outside with Mr. Rolling. The tape of the 911 call introduced at trial refutes this position. In the very beginning of the call, Mrs. Rolling advises the 911 operator that someone is trying to break into her house and that "their arms are in my house." Mrs. Rolling initially referred to the perpetrator in the plural until the 911 operator asked how many people were involved to which Mrs. Rolling clarified there was only one. She explains that the perpetrator is on her front porch, trying to break in, and her husband is trying to hold him off. Additionally, Mrs. Rolling gave a statement to the police the night of the incident, which was written down by Officer Purvis. In the statement, Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
986 So. 2d 130, 2008 WL 2190809, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lemeunier-lactapp-2008.