State v. Mims

752 So. 2d 192, 1999 WL 1012989
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 22, 1999
Docket98-KA-2572
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 752 So. 2d 192 (State v. Mims) 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. Mims, 752 So. 2d 192, 1999 WL 1012989 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

752 So.2d 192 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Donnie MIMS.

No. 98-KA-2572.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

September 22, 1999.

Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, John Jerry Glas, Assistant District Attorney, Parish of Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee.

William R. Campbell, Jr., Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant.

Court composed of Judge MOON LANDRIEU, Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY, and Judge ROBERT A. KATZ.

KATZ, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Defendant, Donnie Mims, was charged by bill of information on June 8, 1998 with possession of cocaine (crack), a violation of La. R.S. 40:967(C). the defendant pled not guilty at his June 16, 1998 arraignment. On June 18, 1998, following a hearing, the trial court found probable cause and denied the defendant's Motion to Suppress the Evidence. On June 22, 1998, the defendant withdrew his former plea of not *193 guilty and entered a plea of guilty as charged, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his Motion to Suppress pursuant to State v. Crosby.[1] That same date, the defendant waived all legal delays and was sentenced to serve three and one-half years at hard labor. The State filed a habitual offender bill of information, and the defendant admitted to having been convicted of the two prior felonies set forth in the multiple bill. The trial court adjudicated the defendant a third-felony habitual offender, ordered that the original sentence be vacated and set aside, and pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1, sentenced the defendant to serve three and one-half years at hard labor. The trial court denied the defendant's Motion to Reconsider Sentence, and granted his Motion for Appeal.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

New Orleans Police Officer Troy Williams testified that on April 3, 1998, at approximately 2:00 a.m., he received information from a confidential informant that defendant, whom the informant knew as "Head," was dealing crack and powdered cocaine on St. Louis Street between Bourbon and Burgundy Streets. The informant described the individual as wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, with a brace on his left leg. The informant also stated that defendant concealed the drugs near the brace on his left leg, and that defendant limped as he walked. Officer Williams said that approximately fifteen minutes later, he observed an individual matching the description given by the informant walking in the 800 block of St. Louis Street. Officer Williams and his partner exited their vehicle and informed the defendant that he was under investigation for possible narcotics violations. Officer Williams performed a frisk or patdown of defendant, and felt several rocklike objects along his left leg. Officer Williams said that from past experience, he recognized the objects to be narcotics, and subsequently retrieved crack cocaine and a small bag containing powdered cocaine from the defendant's left leg near his brace.

On cross examination, Officer Williams stated that the informant was a "registered informant." He said the drugs were in leotard-type pants the defendant was wearing inside of his jeans, right above his leg brace, and said he recalled there were six or eight twenty-dollar rocks. He said that for safety reasons, he patted down the defendant's entire body for weapons.

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

By this assignment of error, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his Motion to Suppress the Evidence because the police had no reasonable suspicion to stop him and/or no probable cause to arrest him.

Officer Williams testified that when he approached the defendant, he informed him that he was under investigation for possible narcotics violations. Officer Williams said that he did not place the defendant under arrest until he discovered the cocaine. There is no evidence that the defendant had actually been arrested at the time he was searched, and, while the defendant argues the absence of both reasonable suspicion to stop and probable cause to arrest, he does not present an argument that defendant had been placed under arrest at the time of the search.

During a Motion to Suppress the Evidence, the State has the burden of proving the admissibility of all evidence seized without a warrant. La.C.Cr.P. art. 703(D); State v. Jones, 97-2217, p. 10 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2/24/99), 731 So.2d 389, 395. A trial court's ruling on a Motion to Suppress the Evidence is entitled to great weight, because the district court had the opportunity to observe the witnesses and *194 weigh the credibility of their testimony. Jones, supra.

"A law enforcement officer may stop a person in a public place whom he reasonably suspects is committing, has committed, or is about to commit an offense...." La.C.Cr.P. art. 215.1; State v. Sheehan, 97-2386, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/9/98), 740 So.2d 127, 129; State v. Bentley, 97-1552, p. 7 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/21/98), 728 So.2d 405, 410, writ denied, 98-3213 (La.5/7/99), 741 So.2d 27. Evidence derived from an unreasonable stop, i.e., seizure, will be excluded from trial. State v. Benjamin, 97-3065, p. 3 (La.12/1/98), 722 So.2d 988, 989. "Reasonable suspicion" is something less than the probable cause needed for an arrest, and must be based upon particular articulable facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time the individual is approached. State v. Williams, 98-3059, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 3/3/99), 729 So.2d 142, 144; State v. Smiley, 99-0065, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 3/3/99), 729 So.2d 743, 745, writ denied, 99-0914 (La.5/14/99), 743 So.2d 651. The totality of the circumstances must be considered in determining whether reasonable suspicion exists. State v. Mitchell, 97-2774, p. 9 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/3/99), 731 So.2d 319, 326.

In the case sub judice, the testimony clearly establishes that the reason Officer Williams and his partner stopped the defendant was the information received from the confidential informant. The police received information that a particularly described individual was selling drugs in a particular block, and when they drove to that block within approximately fifteen minutes, they saw the defendant, who perfectly matched the description they had been given, but who was not engaged in any suspicious activity at the time. Nevertheless, the officers immediately proceeded to stop and frisk the defendant.

Thus, the issue that arises is whether or not based on the information received by the officers from the confidential informant, did the officers have reasonable suspicion to stop and conduct the ensuing pat down of the defendant without observing any independent suspicious activity.

In Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990), the U.S. Supreme Court used the totality of the circumstances analysis to determine that an anonymous telephone tip, corroborated by independent police observations, provided reasonable suspicion necessary to support an investigative stop. In White, an anonymous telephone caller told police that the defendant would be leaving a particular apartment complex, at a specific time, in a brown Plymouth station wagon with a broken taillight, that she would be going to a particular motel, and that she was in possession of cocaine.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
752 So. 2d 192, 1999 WL 1012989, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mims-lactapp-1999.