State v. Moody

83 So. 3d 1107, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 343, 2011 WL 6821521, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1614
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 28, 2011
DocketNo. 11-KA-343
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 83 So. 3d 1107 (State v. Moody) 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. Moody, 83 So. 3d 1107, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 343, 2011 WL 6821521, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1614 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

JUDE G. GRAVOIS, Judge.

| ¡¿Defendant Darryl Moody appeals his conviction for one count of armed robbery with a firearm, in violation of La. R.S. 14:64 and 14:64.3. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statement. For the following reasons, we affirm. We also remand for the correction of errors patent as noted below.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On September 13, 2007, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Darryl Moody, with one count of armed robbery with a firearm, in violation of La. R.S. 14:64 and 14:64.3. Defendant was subsequently arraigned and pled not guilty.

Defendant filed a Motion to Suppress Confession, Identification and Physical Evidence, which was denied by the trial court. On January 13, 2010, [,-¡defendant proceeded to trial.1 After a three-day trial, a twelve-person jury found defendant guilty as charged. On January 27, 2010, the trial court sentenced defendant to 15 years in the Department of Corrections without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The trial court then ordered defendant’s sentence to be enhanced by an additional five years im[1109]*1109prisonment under the firearm enhancement provision of La. R.S. 14:64.3.2 On that same date, defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which the trial court denied. This timely appeal followed.

FACTS

The victim, Mylinda Gettys, testified that on July 24, 2007, she went to Clear-view Mall in Metairie to make a credit card payment at Sears. After exiting Sears, she got into her Honda Accord and put her purse on the passenger seat. As she leaned over to close her car door, a van pulled up into the vacant handicapped parking spot next to her car. Before Ms. Gettys was able to close her car door, the individual seated on the passenger’s side of the van quickly exited the van and approached her with a gun. He stood in the opening of her car door, leaned over, and put the gun against her body. He demanded that she give him her money and her car key. She handed him her purse and her car key. He then demanded that she get out of the car. She complied. She testified that they were face-to-face for “probably 10, 15 seconds.” She stated that she was staring at him, waiting for him to tell her what to do. She was afraid he was going to shoot her. The driver then got out of the van. At that point, she decided to run to the back of her car and duck |4down. As she was ducked down, she tried to move a couple of car lengths away. She then called 911 from her cell phone.

Sergeant John Carroll, a detective with the robbery division of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, was assigned to investigate the robbery. When he arrived at the scene, he spoke with Ms. Gettys, who gave him a description of the perpetrator, which he documented in his supplemental report.

A week later, on July 31, 2007, Sergeant Andre LeBlanc, a New Orleans police officer, responded to a 911 dispatch regarding suspicious activity in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Algiers.3 Upon his arrival, Sergeant LeBlanc detained defendant and another individual, Terrance Brown, who met the description of the individuals in the suspicious persons complaint. Sergeant LeBlanc then reviewed the Wal-Mart surveillance video, which showed the two individuals arriving in a grayish or silver colored Honda Accord. He ran the license plate number of the Honda Accord and learned that it had been carjacked. He then searched defendant and Mr. Brown and discovered the key to the Honda in Mr. Brown’s possession. Defendant and Mr. Brown were arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and placed in the rear of the police unit. Sergeant LeBlanc then contacted Jefferson Parish detectives via dispatch, and Sergeant Carroll and Detective David Mascaro of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Department subsequently arrived.

Upon his arrival at Wal-Mart, Sergeant Carroll saw defendant and Mr. Brown detained in the back of a New Orleans police car. He also saw Ms. Gettys’ Honda Accord in the back of the parking lot. He contacted the Jefferson Parish crime scene unit to process the vehicle.4 Defendant [1110]*1110and Mr. Brown were ^transported to the Fourth District station of the New Orleans Police Department and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle. Sergeant Carroll and Detective Mascaro then interviewed the suspects at the Fourth District station. That afternoon, defendant gave a statement in which he confessed to robbing Ms. Gettys at the Clearview Mall in Metairie.5

That same day, Ms. Gettys went to the New Orleans Police Station to see her car. Sergeant Carroll testified that Ms. Gettys did not see defendant or Mr. Brown at the police station, and Sergeant Carroll did not inform her that anyone had been arrested in connection with the crime. Ms. Gettys similarly testified that she was unaware that anyone had been apprehended in connection with the robbery when she went to the Fourth District station to see her car. When Sergeant Carroll returned to Jefferson Parish, he prepared arrest warrants for defendant and Mr. Brown for the armed robbery of Ms. Gettys.

The next day, Sergeant Carroll showed Ms. Gettys a six-picture photographic lineup, which included a photograph of defendant. Ms. Gettys identified defendant as the perpetrator and signed the back of the photographic line-up. On that same day, Ms. Gettys gave a taped statement documenting her positive identification.6

At trial, Ms. Gettys identified defendant as the perpetrator. The prosecutor asked, “Ms. Gettys, are you absolutely positive that [defendant] sitting right here (indicating) is the person who robbed you?” Ms. Gettys responded, ‘Tes.” She further testified that at the time of the crime, it was daylight outside and the perpetrator did not have a mask on his face or anything covering his head.

[f,Ms. Charles Colleen Barjon, a counsel- or coordinator for the Recovery School District, testified for the defense. She stated that she was the custodian of records for the district, and that she was responsible for maintaining student records in 2007, including defendant’s 2007 summer school records from Douglas High. She testified that the records reflected that defendant was enrolled in the morning and afternoon summer school sessions in July 2007. The records further indicated that defendant was present for both the morning and afternoon sessions of class on July 24, 2007, the date of the robbery. She acknowledged, however, that the attendance/grade sheet for the week of July 23, the week of the robbery, appeared to be identical to the week of July 2 and the week of July 9, in that every student, including defendant, had identical grades and attendance.7

The records further reflected that defendant was present for the morning and afternoon sessions on July 31, 2007. However, Ms. Barjon acknowledged that the attendance/grade sheet for the week of July 30 appeared to be identical to the week of July 23, as every student received the same grades and attendance for both weeks. Additionally, defendant could not have been present in class on the afternoon of July 31, 2007 because he was in police custody at that time.

[1111]*1111Mr.

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State v. Reaux
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
83 So. 3d 1107, 11 La.App. 5 Cir. 343, 2011 WL 6821521, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1614, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-moody-lactapp-2011.