State v. Marks

28 So. 3d 342, 9 La.App. 5 Cir. 260, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 1805, 2009 WL 3448174
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 27, 2009
Docket09-KA-260
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 28 So. 3d 342 (State v. Marks) 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. Marks, 28 So. 3d 342, 9 La.App. 5 Cir. 260, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 1805, 2009 WL 3448174 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

|2On July 7, 2008, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Alton Marks, with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1. Defendant pled not guilty at arraignment.

Defendant filed various pre-trial motions, including a motion to suppress evidence. The Court heard and denied the motion to suppress evidence on August 22, 2008.

Defendant was tried by a twelve-person jury on October 22 and 23, 2008. The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. On November 6, 2008, the trial court sen *345 tenced defendant to 15 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant filed a timely motion for appeal, which was granted on December 5, 2008.

The State filed a habitual offender bill of information alleging defendant to be a second felony offender. On March 11, 2009, defendant entered an admission to the allegations in the habitual offender bill. The trial court vacated the original sentence and imposed a habitual offender sentence of 15 years at hard labor, without | ^benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant has not appealed his habitual offender adjudication and sentence.

Facts

At trial, defendant stipulated that he was the same person who was previously convicted of attempted possession of heroin, a violation of La. R.S. 40:966 and 40:979, in case number 468-029 in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. The trial court admitted State’s Exhibit 1, in globo, a certified copy of the conviction in Orleans Parish case number 468-029. The documents in that exhibit show defendant pled guilty to the offense on August 21, 2007, that he received a suspended sentence of two years, and that he was placed on one year of active probation and one year of inactive probation.

Kawauna Ceasor testified at trial that she is a probation officer with the State of Louisiana’s Division of Probation and Parole. She is assigned to the Jefferson Parish district. Although defendant’s case was originally assigned to Patrick Green in the Orleans Parish District, his supervision was transferred to Ms. Ceasor after he changed his physical address to 1665 Alexander Street, Apt. A in Terrytown on August 31, 2007.

Ms. Ceasor testified that her records show defendant was advised of the conditions of his probation when he initially reported to Mr. Green on August 27, 2007. Among those conditions was the requirement that defendant not be in any residence, structure, or vehicle that contains a firearm. Further, a probationer is prohibited from storing weapons on his premises, and he must ensure that visitors do not bring weapons into his home.

Ms. Ceasor testified that she visited defendant at the Alexander Court address on October 10, 2007, and he allowed her into the apartment. He stated he was on home incarceration with a 6:00 p.m. curfew, and that he was complying |4with the restrictions imposed by Orleans Parish Drug Court. Ms. Ceasor visited defendant again at the Alexander Court apartment on January 8, 2008, and defendant again allowed her into the residence. There were some occasions when Ms. Ceasor attempted to make official visits to the apartment, and defendant was not at home. In those instances, Ms. Ceasor left her card, and defendant responded by telephoning her.

Ms. Ceasor testified that she spoke with defendant by telephone on April 24, 2008, and he informed her he was having trouble accessing his mailbox at 1665 Alexander Court, and that he wanted Ms. Ceasor to mail future correspondence to his mother’s Charbonnet Street address. He also indicated that he had no other changes to report, including his physical address.

In January, 2008, Ms. Ceasor was in an accident, and limited to desk duty. While she was on limited duty, Agent Bryan Poison assisted her in monitoring defendant’s ease. Mr. Poison testified that he had tried to contact defendant at the Alexander Court apartment three times since January of 2008. When Mr. Poison visited 1665 Alexander Court, Apartment A, on May 16, 2008, at 11:40 a.m, he knocked at *346 the door, and Danielle Jones responded. Mr. Poison identified himself as a probation officer and explained that he was there as a courtesy to Ms. Ceasor to supervise the defendant. Ms. Jones responded that defendant had already left for a drug court meeting in New Orleans. Mr. Poison stepped inside the apartment to look around.

As he walked into the apartment, he could see into every room on the first floor. Mr. Poison noticed an open pantry door next to the kitchen. On one of the shelves inside the pantry, Mr. Poison saw four boxes of ammunition inside another open cardboard box. Based on experience, he knew that two of the boxes contained AK47 ammunition, one box was .9 millimeter hollow point, and the | ¡..remaining box was .45 caliber hollow point ammunition. Mr. Poison testified that the ammunition caused him concern, since a probationer is not allowed to have a dangerous weapon or ammunition. He stated that his visit turned from an observation into a more thorough investigation once he saw the ammunition.

Next, in order to protect himself and the child that resided in the apartment, Mr. Poison went upstairs to check the master bedroom. He opened the top drawer of a dresser next to the bed and found another box of .45 caliber hollow point bullets, with 11 rounds missing.

At that point, Ms. Jones became very nervous. She was speaking to defendant on the telephone, and she gave the phone to Mr. Poison. Mr. Poison told defendant why he was at the apartment, and asked defendant to come there. Defendant said he could not go there because he had just finished with drug court, and he was on his way to work. Defendant telephoned the apartment two more times and stated that he was at work, but he refused to give Mr. Poison the address of his jobsite.

As Poison was finishing his third telephone conversation with defendant, Ms. Jones headed toward the bathroom. Mr. Poison asked her to stop because he had not searched the bathroom yet, and, with five boxes of ammunition already found, he was concerned for his safety. Ms. Jones refused to comply. Mr. Poison handcuffed her, placed her on the end of the bed, and told her to stay there. He told her she was not under arrest, but was being detained for his safety as well as her own.

Mr. Poison testified that he opened a closet door in the bedroom, and immediately saw the butt of a gun on the top shelf, partially covered by a pair of jeans and some hats. He took the gun and cleared it. There were ten rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. The bullets were .45 caliber hollow points.

| fiMr. Poison asked Ms. Jones several times whether she knew who owned the gun, and she said she did not. Mr. Poison asked Ms. Jones who was living in the apartment, and she responded that no one lived there except defendant, herself, and her child.

Mr. Poison testified that he continued to search, but did not seize anything else. He called 9-1-1 and asked for a Jefferson Parish deputy. When the deputy ran a trace on the gun, the records did not show that the gun was reported stolen. Mr. Poison identified State’s Exhibit 12 as a photograph of the .45 caliber handgun he seized.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 So. 3d 342, 9 La.App. 5 Cir. 260, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 1805, 2009 WL 3448174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-marks-lactapp-2009.