State v. McPherson

630 So. 2d 935, 1993 WL 539890
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 30, 1993
Docket93-KA-0839
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 630 So. 2d 935 (State v. McPherson) 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. McPherson, 630 So. 2d 935, 1993 WL 539890 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

630 So.2d 935 (1993)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Marcus P. McPHERSON.

No. 93-KA-0839.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

December 30, 1993.

*938 Arcenious F. Armond, Jr., Gretna, for defendant-appellant Marcus P. McPherson.

Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Val M. Solino, Asst. Dist. Atty., New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee State.

Before BARRY and KLEES, JJ., and JAMES C. GULOTTA, J. Pro Tem.

KLEES, Judge.

On June 22, 1992, the defendant, Marcus McPherson, was charged by bill of information with one count of purse snatching in violation of L.S.A.-R.S. 14:65.1. At his arraignment on July 10, 1992, the defendant pled not guilty. On December 10, 1992, after a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty as charged. On that date, the trial court ordered that a pre-sentence investigation be conducted. Defendant's sentencing was set for March 4, 1993. At the hearing on March 4, 1993, defense counsel made an oral motion for a new trial. The trial court denied the defendant's motion. The defendant was then sentenced to three years at hard labor and ordered to provide restitution to the victim for her medical bills. The restitution payments were deferred until the defendant was released from incarceration. The trial court further ordered that after release from prison, the defendant was to be placed on twenty-four months of supervisory probation. This appeal follows.

FACTS:

In the early afternoon of May 6, 1992, the seventy-seven year old victim, Sarah Gruwell, was walking home on Prancer Street from the Whitney bank located on Holiday Drive when the defendant approached the victim from the rear. He started running his fingers up and down her back. Ms. Gruwell then heard the defendant say "Give me your purse!" She turned around, saw the defendant and gave him the purse. The defendant put his hand on the back of her head and pushed her to the pavement. The defendant then ran away.

Ms. Gruwell was able to get up and walk to a neighbor's house. She called her son and the police. When the police arrived, she described the perpetrator as male, 5'10"-5'11", twenty to twenty-five years of age, shoulder length light brown hair, slender, and wearing an earring in his left ear. During a photographic lineup held on May 11, 1992, the victim identified the defendant. The victim identified the defendant at the motion to suppress hearing and at trial. As result of defendant's pushing her to the *939 ground, the victim suffered a broken shoulder bone and several fractured teeth.

Ms. Lucelia LeDoux testified at trial that at approximately 1:00 p.m. on May 6, 1992, she was driving on Vixen Street (a street which intersects with Prancer Drive) when she saw a man running across the street carrying a woman's purse. She described the man as being tall, skinny, with brown hair and wearing a sweatshirt, blue jeans, and a baseball cap. Ms. LeDoux watched as the man got into a blue car, an older model Datsun or Toyota, which was stopped at the curb. The car was running with someone in the driver's seat. She followed the vehicle and was able to get the license plate number. Ms. LeDoux called the police and reported the vehicle. Two days later, after reading about the purse snatching in the newspaper, she again contacted the police and gave them the license plate number of the vehicle. She was asked by the officers working on the case to go to the Fourth District. While there, she noticed the blue vehicle in the parking lot and informed the police officers.

New Orleans Police Officer Steven Andry responded to the call about the purse snatching and interviewed the victim. Officer Andry testified that the incident occurred near the intersection of Prancer and Vixen. After receiving the license plate number of the vehicle observed by Ms. LeDoux, Officer Andry was able to ascertain that the defendant was the owner of the vehicle. On May 7, 1992, the defendant was contacted and asked to come to the Fourth District. When the defendant arrived at the police station, he was informed that he was a suspect in the purse snatching and subsequently arrested. Officer Andry also handled the photographic lineup in which the victim identified the defendant. Andry further testified that Ms. Gruwell's purse was later recovered by a postal worker. Ms. Gruwell's purse had been found in a mailbox and returned to her by the postal employee.

The defendant's mother, Glenda Beck, testified at trial that the defendant was with her most of the day on May 6, 1992. She stated that the defendant was in her presence from 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-1:30 p.m. on the day in question. She further stated that the defendant did not have a woman's purse with him. James Blanchard also testified on behalf of the defendant. Mr. Blanchard stated that he spent the entire day with the defendant and that the defendant did not commit the purse snatching. The defendant testified on his own behalf. He denied any involvement in the purse snatching.

Errors Patent and Assignment No. 8

A review of the record for errors patent reveals two errors. The first error occurred when the trial court sentenced the defendant immediately after denying the motion for new trial. The defendant did not expressly waive his right to the twenty-four hour delay between the denial of his motion for a new trial and the imposition of sentencing. C.Cr.P. art. 873. In fact, the defendant sought time to seek supervisory writs from the trial court's denial of the motion for a new trial.

In State v. Augustine, 555 So.2d 1331 (La. 1990), the Louisiana Supreme Court held that failure to waive the twenty-four hour delay voided the defendant' sentence if the defendant attacks his sentence, even though the defendant fails to specifically allege this failure as an error on appeal. However, the Fourth Circuit, in State v. Collins, 584 So.2d 356 (La.App. 4th Cir.1991), held that the failure to observe the delay would be deemed harmless error where the defendant did not challenge his sentence on appeal.

In this present case, the defendant specifically assigns as error the sentence imposed by the trial court. However, the defendant failed to file a motion to reconsider sentence pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure article 881.1. The failure to file a motion to reconsider sentence precludes appellate review of the sentence. C.Cr.P. article 881.1; State v. Hudson, 618 So.2d 539 (La.App. 4th Cir.1993); State v. Lee, 618 So.2d 551 (La.App. 4th Cir.1993). Even though the defendant failed to file a motion to reconsider sentence, under State v. Augustine, supra, the defendant's sentence should be vacated and the matter remanded for resentencing.

The other error found upon review is the illegality of the sentence imposed. Under *940 R.S. 14:65.1, a person convicted of purse snatching "shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than two years and for not more than twenty years." However, in felony cases where the defendant has been placed on probation, an additional condition of probation "may be that the defendant shall serve a term of imprisonment without hard labor for a period not to exceed two years." C.Cr.P. article 895. In the present case, the trial court sentenced defendant to three years at hard labor. Upon release from jail, the defendant is to serve two years of active probation and make restitution to the victim. Thus, the sentence of three years at hard labor is illegally excessive. As defendant's sentence must be vacated because of the trial court's violation of C.Cr.P.

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Bluebook (online)
630 So. 2d 935, 1993 WL 539890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcpherson-lactapp-1993.