State v. Louis

744 So. 2d 694, 1999 WL 974371
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 27, 1999
Docket32,347-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 744 So. 2d 694 (State v. Louis) 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. Louis, 744 So. 2d 694, 1999 WL 974371 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

744 So.2d 694 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
James Ray LOUIS, Appellant.

No. 32,347-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

October 27, 1999.

*696 Louisiana Appellate Project by Peggy J. Sullivan, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, David Peterson, Catherine M. Estopinal, Asst. Dist. Attys., Counsel for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, CARAWAY & PEATROSS, JJ.

*697 PEATROSS, J.

Defendant, James Ray Louis, was charged with and convicted of first degree robbery, in violation of La. R.S. 14:64.1. He was then billed as a multiple offender. Following a hearing in which the trial court determined that Defendant was a third violent felony offender, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor, without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant appeals, asserting the following six assignments of error: (1) the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress the photographic line-up, which was unduly suggestive; (2) the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support a conviction of first degree robbery; (3) the trial court erred in adjudicating the defendant a third felony offender; (4) the sentence imposed was harsh and excessive under the facts and circumstances of this case; (5) the trial court erred in imposing sentence without adequately considering the factors set forth in LSA-C.Cr.P. article 894.1; and (6) trial counsel was ineffective insofar as he failed to file a motion to reconsider sentence. For the reasons set forth herein, Defendant's conviction and sentence are affirmed.

FACTS

Defendant was accused of robbing Tri-State Bank & Trust on Youree Drive in Shreveport, Louisiana, on April 24, 1997. Approximately $5,120 was taken during the robbery. The first witness to testify at the trial of this matter was Sharon Marsailes. Ms. Marsailes was the teller who was robbed during the course of these events. She testified that at the time the robber originally entered the bank (between 9:15-9:30 a.m.), she and Barbara Goodwin, another teller, were the only tellers at the front counter. They were both on the telephone, but heard the door open and turned to see who had entered the bank. At first, they did not see anyone.

Ms. Marsailes then completed her telephone call and as she turned around, she saw a black male enter the lobby area. He went first to Ms. Goodwin's window, but because Ms. Goodwin was still on the telephone with a customer, Ms. Marsailes asked if she could help him. The man walked over to Ms. Marsailes' window and handed her a note written on a white envelope which read, "I have a gun fill the bag."

After reading the note, Ms. Marsailes asked the man, "with what?" He responded, "hundreds." At this time, Ms. Marsailes pushed the alarm button which activated the silent alarm and the security cameras. The robber then put a sack on the counter and Ms. Marsailes began to put hundreds into the sack from her cash drawer. He saw that she also had a lot of twenties so he told her, "some of those, hurry," referring to the twenties. After she gave him the money, the robber took the paper sack and walked out of the bank. Ms. Marsailes never saw a gun, but presumed that he had one because she believed what the robber had written on the note.

Ms. Marsailes gave the following description of the robber to police: black male, five-foot-six, scrawny, mediumskinned, approximately 20 to 25 years old, thin mustache, wearing a red jumpsuit and a black nylon cap that covered his hair, hands did not have gloves and the jumpsuit was not tight fitting. In court, Ms. Marsailes identified Defendant as the person who had robbed her. She also testified that she had previously identified Defendant as the robber in a photographic line-up presented to her by the police shortly after the robbery.

The next witness to testify was the other bank teller, Ms. Goodwin. She gave the same version of the events of the robbery as did Ms. Marsailes. Ms. Goodwin testified that, at first, she was not in the direct line of sight of Ms. Marsailes and the robber. She got suspicious, however, when she heard Ms. Marsailes, after having read the note, ask the man, "with *698 what?" Ms. Goodwin then realized that they were being robbed and hit the alarm, which sent a silent signal to the police and activated the security cameras. Though she never actually saw a weapon, Ms. Goodwin believed that the robber had one and that it was located below the window where she could not see it.

Ms. Goodwin also identified the Defendant, in court, as the person who robbed the Tri-State Bank. She testified that she, too, had identified Defendant as the robber in a photographic line-up presented to her by the police shortly after the robbery.

The next two witnesses, Virgil Teufel and Sybil Hines, lived in the neighborhood behind the bank and had noticed a black male riding a bicycle after the robbery. Mr. Teufel, who resided in the 200 block of Carrollton, had no specific information other than the fact that he saw a black man dressed in red, riding a bicycle in the neighborhood. Ms. Hines, who resided in the 200 block of Leo, saw a black person ride by her home on a bicycle and throw a brown paper sack on the ground. When Ms. Hines saw this person, he was wearing dark clothes, not a red jumpsuit.

Another eyewitness, Kathy Horn, worked in the same complex as the bank. As she was coming to work that morning, she saw someone coming out of the bank. As she turned into the complex from Youree Drive and started to enter the driveway, she saw the same person, a black male dressed in a red jumpsuit, begin to run away from the bank and into the neighborhood located behind it. Neither Ms. Horn, Mr. Teufel nor Ms. Hines were able, after viewing this person, to identify him.

The next witness to testify was Mary Morgan, Defendant's ex-girlfriend. She gave no pertinent information during her testimony and refused to identify the person in the still photograph taken from the bank security camera as Defendant. She did identify the picture of the bicycle that the prosecution alleged Defendant rode to and away from the robbery as her brother's bike.

The prosecution then called to testify all seven police officers who were involved in this investigation. The first was Officer David K. Goodwin, the son of Ms. Goodwin, one of the bank tellers. Officer Goodwin testified that a call was received and he went to the bank and began to look for the suspect. He found a red jumpsuit lying next to a wooden fence in the 1500 block of Grover Street. Officer Goodwin then continued to search the remainder of Grover Street in a northbound direction; and, in the middle of the road, less than one block from where the jumpsuit was found, at the next corner, in the 1400 block of Leo, Officer Goodwin found the paper bag. Finally, at 292 Carrollton, in front of the house, on the sidewalk, Officer Goodwin found a black satin "do-rag" or rag that some people wear on their heads to cover hair.

All of these items were photographed and collected by Officer D.K. Duddy, the next police officer to testify. Officer Duddy then went to the scene of the crime and photographed the interior and exterior of the bank. When he completed this task, he and Officer David Kent dusted the area for fingerprints. Officer Duddy was able to lift fingerprints from the counter area and from the inside of the front door; however, they were unable to match these fingerprints to Defendant. Finally, Officer Duddy collected and cataloged, as evidence, the note written by the robber.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
744 So. 2d 694, 1999 WL 974371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-louis-lactapp-1999.