State v. Lewis

187 So. 3d 24, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0773, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 183, 2016 WL 439766
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 3, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-KA-0773
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 187 So. 3d 24 (State v. Lewis) 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. Lewis, 187 So. 3d 24, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0773, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 183, 2016 WL 439766 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Rosemary Ledet, Judge.

hln this criminal appeal, the defendant, Zachariah Lewis; seeks review of his convictions and sentences for possession of cocaine and attempted battery of a police officer. For the reasons that follow, we [26]*26affirm his conviction for possession of cocaine, and amend his sentence on that offense to delete the prohibition of parole eligibility and affirm the sentence as amended. -We convert Mr. Lewis’ appeal from the conviction for attempted battery of a police officer to an application for supervisory writ, grant the writ, and vacate the conviction'and sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On October 23, 2013, the State filed a bill of information charging Mr. Lewis with the following offenses:

• Possession with the intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(B)(1);
• Battery of a police officer, in violation ofLa.R.S. 14:34.2; and
• Resisting an officer, in violation of La. R.S. 14:108.

On November 8, 2013, Mr. Lewis was arraigned; he pled not guilty.

|2On December 18, 2013, Mr. Lewis filed various motions, including motions to suppress evidence, statement, and identification. On May 9, 2014, the district court held a hearing on Mr. Lewis’ motions to suppress evidence and statement.,. After the hearing, the district court took the matters under advisement. On May 19, 2014, the district court found probable cause and denied the motions to suppress. Mr. Lewis’ writ application seeking review of this ruling was denied as untimely. State v. Lewis, 14-0634 (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/26/14) (unpub.).

On June 12, 2014, a competency hearing was held; and the district court found Mr. Lewis competent to proceed. On July 16, 2014, a twelve-person jury trial was held on the charge of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. Simultaneously, a judge trial was held on the misdemeanor charges of battery of a police officer and resisting an officer. On that same day, the jury found Mr. Lewis guilty of the lesser offense possession of cocaine, and the district court judge found him guilty of the misdemeanor offense of attempted battery, of a police officer and resisting an officer.1

'On'August 7, 2014, the district court denied Mr. Lewis’ motion for new trial and motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. On August 12, 2014, the district court sentenced Mr. Lewis as follows: five years at hard, labor for possession of ^cocaine; ninety days for the attempted battery of a police officer; and ninety days for resisting an officer; and these sentences to be served concurrently.

. On September 3, 2014, the State filed- a habitual offender bill of information, alleging that Mr. Lewis was a fourth felony offender. Mr, Lewis subsequently filed a motion to quash. Following a hearing, the district court adjudicated Mr. Lewis a third felony offender. The district court vacated the original sentence and resen-tenced Mr. Lewis to ten years at hard labor without benefit of probation,' parole, or suspension of Sentence. This appeal followed.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On May 14, 2013, in the late morning, Detective Cory Foy, a Fourth District narcotics officer of the New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”), was on proactive patrol in New Orleans. Detective Foy was following NOPD Detectives Terrence Hilli-ard and Christopher Pugh, who were in another police unit. As they neared the [27]*27intersection of Slidell Street and, Nunez Street, Detective Hilliard and Detective Pugh noticed the driver and the passenger, in a taxi cab were not wearing seatbelts;' The detectives thus decided to conduct a traffic stop. Although he did nofe.see the' seatbelt violation from his vehicle, Detec-tiYe Poy observed the other detectives activate the lights and sirens on their vehicle and pull, over the taxi cab. He followed the other detectives and pulled over to the side of the road.

Detective Foy approached the passenger’s side of-the vehicle, where Mr. Lewis was sitting, while the other detectives approached the driver’s side. Detective Pugh asked the driver, Chanel Lee, for'her identification, the vehicle’s 1 registration^ and proof of insurance. Meanwhile, Detective Foy asked Mr, Lewis for his identification.2 When Mr. Lewis advised that he could not produce any identification, Detective Foy asked him to exit the vehicle and to verbally provide his name aiid date of birth. ■"*'

According to Detective Foy, ,¾⅞ Mr.; Lewis exited the vehicle, he kept sticking his hands into the coin pocket in his pants, I)etective Foy also noticed about one. inch of a plastic sandwich bag protruding, from Mr. Lewis’ pocket. Detective Foy asked Mr. Lewis what was in his pocket” and repeatedly asked him to stop reaching into his pocket. When Mr. Lewis failed tp comply, Detective Foy placed him in handcuffs for safety purposes. At that time, Detective Foy advised Mr. Lewis ‘.of his Miranda rights.3 Mr. Lewis nodded, indicating that he understood his rights.

Detective Foy informed Mr. Lewis that he was under investigation for a possible narcotics violation. According to -Detective: Poy, Mr. Lewis then stated that he had “bunk” in his pocket, meaning it was fake narcotics that he occasionally sells. Detective Foy testified that Mr. Lewis offered to allow the detectives to test the substance. When Detective Foy retrieved the bag from Mr. Lewis’ pocket, he observed that it was two bags — one bag contained three individually wrapped pieces of an off-white substance and the other bag contained six pieces of the same individually wrapped substance. Detective Foy testified that ¡ she had seen “bunk” twenty-five to thirty times. According to Detective Foy, the substance retrieved from Mr. Lewis did not resemble “bunk;”4 rather, it appeared to be crack cocaine. Based on the number of individually wrapped rocks and Mr. Lewis’ admission that he occasionally sold “bunk,” Detective Foy advised Mr. Lewis that he was under arrest for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. , Detective Foy conducted a search incident to arrest and found $60.00 in cash in Mr. Lewis’ pocket.. He also found a Louisiana identification card stating Mr. Lewis’ name and information.5

As Detective Foy was stepping around the vehicle .to give the substance to Detective HJlliard for testing, Mr. Lewis slipped one of his . hands out of the handcuffs and fled down Nunez Street. Detective Foy and Detective Hilliard ran after Mr. Lewis.6 After running about half a block, Mr. [28]*28Lewis turned into a driveway and jumped a low fence. Detective Hilliard testified that he managed to grab ahold of Mr. Lewis’ shirt, but Mr. Lewis maneuvered out of the multiple shirts he was wearing. Detective Hilliard further testified that Mr. Lewis then struck him in the face and continued running. The detectives were able to apprehend Mr. -Lewis at the back of the yard when he attempted to scale a tall wooden fence.

|fiAs the detectives walked him back to the police vehicles, Mr. Lewis complained, of chest pains, of having difficulty breathing, and of being hot.7 The detectives called for an EMS unit, and they laid Mr. Lewis in the back of a police unit to await its arrival. . Detective Hilliard testified that he believed that someone poured water on Mr. Lewis’ back to help cool him off.

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Bluebook (online)
187 So. 3d 24, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0773, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 183, 2016 WL 439766, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lewis-lactapp-2016.