State v. Mills

790 So. 2d 102, 2001 WL 765139
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 27, 2001
Docket01-KA-110
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 790 So. 2d 102 (State v. Mills) 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. Mills, 790 So. 2d 102, 2001 WL 765139 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

790 So.2d 102 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Emanuel MILLS.

No. 01-KA-110.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 27, 2001.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Alison Wallis, Ron Austin, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for plaintiff/appellee.

Karen G. Arena, Louisiana Appellate Project PMB 181, River Ridge, Louisiana, for defendant/appellant, Emanuel Mills.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, MARION F. EDWARDS, and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

*103 DALEY, Judge.

Defendant, Emanuel Mills, appeals from his conviction for armed robbery. On appeal, he assigns the following error:

1. The evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict.

For the reasons which follow, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 8, 2000, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a Bill of Information charging defendant, Emanuel Mills, with robbing Kenneth Boudreaux while armed with a dangerous weapon, to wit: a gun, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64. Defendant was arraigned on March 13, 2000 and pled not guilty. He filed a Motion to Suppress Identification which was denied on June 2, 2000. On June 28, 2000, the case was tried before a 12 person jury, which found defendant guilty as charged. On July 14, 2000, the trial court sentenced defendant to imprisonment at hard labor for 22 years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant filed a Motion to Reconsider Sentence which was denied, and defendant gave oral notice to the court that he intended to appeal. On July 20, 2000, defendant filed a Motion to Appeal, which was granted.

FACTS

The following testimony was elicited at trial. Kenneth Boudreaux testified for the State that, on January 14, 2000, he came home from a work-related call at approximately 11:00 p.m. and pulled his truck under the carport. Boudreaux got out of his truck with his coffee mug, walked to the edge of the carport, and threw out the coffee. As he was walking back to the door, someone bumped into the back of him and said, "Give me your wallet. I've got a gun." Boudreaux stated that he looked to his left to see who it was and saw a black male. Boudreaux pushed against the male to get away from him and spun around. He told the male to "get out of here" and "you don't belong here." The male reiterated, "I've got a gun, give me your wallet." Boudreaux saw a small automatic gun in the male's left hand, and he was holding the gun sideways. Boudreaux testified that he yelled at the man again to "get out of here" and "get away." The man came toward Boudreaux again and Boudreaux threw the coffee mug at him. The man threw his hands up to block the mug, and when he did, Boudreaux lunged at him to try to subdue him. Boudreaux stated that the man got under him and threw him to the ground. Boudreaux fell on his coffee mug and hurt his ribs.

At that time, Boudreaux's wife opened the door, which was right next to where Boudreaux's head was, and she looked outside. The man pointed the gun at Boudreaux's wife and told her to get inside. Boudreaux told his wife to go inside and call 911, and she closed the door immediately. The man still demanded that Boudreaux give him his wallet. Boudreaux told him he couldn't because he was having trouble breathing and to take whatever he wanted. The man reached over to Boudreaux's left pocket and then his right rear pocket where he found the wallet. The man then took the wallet and ran off.

Boudreaux stated that the man was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with some type of small cap or hat on under the hood. The man also had on dark green jogging pants pulled up to the knees. Boudreaux testified that he was able to see the man clearly because he had four-foot fluorescent lights under the carport and twin dusk-to-dawn floodlights in each corner of the front of his house. Boudreaux stated that the man was three to five feet away from him at one point during the robbery, and that he had no problem seeing the man's face. Boudreaux had $17.00 *104 in his wallet at the time it was stolen, which he remembers because, although he usually brings his lunch, once a week his wife gives him $20.00 to purchase lunch which costs $3.50. He stated that he had the change on him, therefore, he was sure that he had $17.00 on him at the time of the robbery.

After the male ran off, Boudreaux went inside his house and saw his wife on the telephone calling 911. Boudreaux stated that he got on the phone and gave a description of the male to the police. An officer arrived at Boudreaux's home approximately three or four minutes after the phone call. Boudreaux told the officer what had happened and gave the officer a description of the man who robbed him. Within five minutes, the police officer received a call from other officers that they had a suspect in custody. The officer left Boudreaux's house to go see the suspect and make sure he matched the description that Boudreaux had given him. In less than ten minutes, the officer returned and asked Boudreaux if he would take a ride to see the suspect and identify him. Boudreaux went with the officer to James Drive, which was a little over a half a block away. When Boudreaux got to James Drive, the officers had a suspect, and they brought him out in front of the lights. Boudreaux identified the individual as the person who had robbed him ten minutes earlier. The individual had a black-hooded sweatshirt on with the hood down, and he had a pair of green jogging shorts pulled up to his knees. Boudreaux testified that these were the same clothes that the robber had on ten minutes earlier. He made a facial identification as well as a clothing identification.

The police officers then went back to Boudreaux's house and asked his wife to come and identify the suspect. Boudreaux stated that after he identified the suspect, he did not talk to his wife. A second police car went and picked her up, and she was in a separate car from Boudreaux. Boudreaux identified the defendant in court as the man who robbed him.

Margaret Boudreaux, Kenneth Boudreaux's wife, testified for the State that, on January 14, 2000, she heard her husband pull his truck into the carport. She then heard him say, "get out of here, just go on." Margaret stated that she heard scuffling, so she walked to the door of the carport and opened the door. She said the man had her husband on the ground, and that he swung around and put the gun in her face and said, "get inside and close the door." Margaret testified that she went inside and called 911. The police officer arrived, and she and her husband gave him a description of the suspect. Her husband left with the police officer to go and identify the suspect. She received a call, and a police officer picked her up and took her to see the suspect. Margaret said she identified the suspect as the man she saw with the gun under the carport. Margaret also stated that she had seen the gun in the suspect's left hand, so the officer asked him if he was left-handed, and he responded affirmatively. Margaret identified the defendant in court as the man she saw under the carport.

Deputy Ricky Boudreaux[1] of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office testified for the State that, on January 14, 2000, at approximately 11:00 p.m., he received a call involving an armed robbery and a description of the perpetrator. He looked in the neighborhood for a black male with a black sweater and dark jeans or pants and found someone fitting that description. Deputy *105

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
790 So. 2d 102, 2001 WL 765139, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mills-lactapp-2001.