State v. Morgan

783 So. 2d 514, 2001 WL 300272
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 28, 2001·No. 00-KA-1501·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

783 So.2d 514 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Natasha L. MORGAN.

No. 00-KA-1501.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

March 28, 2001.

*516 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Thomas J. Butler, Thomas S. Block, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, Attorneys for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Katherine M. Franks, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorney for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges GOTHARD, McMANUS, and SCHOTT, Pro Tempore.

SOL GOTHARD, Judge.

The defendant, Natasha Morgan, pled guilty to one count of possession of methamphetamine in violation of R.S. 40:967(C), reserving her right to appeal under State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584, 588-590 (La. 1976). The trial judge sentenced the defendant to one year at hard labor, suspended, and placed the defendant on active probation for one year under the provisions of La.C.Cr.P. art. 893, with special conditions. In this appeal, defendant seeks review of the trial court's ruling on the motion to suppress.

The following facts were developed from testimony at the suppression hearing. The State presented testimony from Agent Corey Wilson of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, the arresting officer. The defendant testified on her own behalf.

In the early morning hours of July 17, 1999, narcotics agents from the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, including Agent Corey Wilson, were investigating citizen complaints of narcotics sales, as well as a series of drug overdoses, in the Metairie area. As a result of their investigation, the agents made several arrests at Escapades Lounge in Fat City at about 3:30 a.m. on that date. Arrests were made both inside the club and in the club's parking lot.

According to Agent Wilson, one of the male subjects that he arrested that night told him that there were two white girls still inside the club selling drugs. The arrestee, who was not previously known to Agent Wilson, told Agent Wilson that the two girls had been near the door to the ladies' restroom all night dealing drugs. Agent Wilson testified that the arrestee did describe the women's clothing but that he could not recall that description and he didn't include that in his police report.

Agent Wilson testified that he and other uniformed police officers went into the club to corroborate the arrestee's information. He saw two white women standing "right by the bathroom door" who became very nervous when they saw the police. He stated that he and other deputies watched the two women for "a few minutes" before approaching them and he stated that the two women "all of a sudden started dancing when [the police] walked in" in an attempt "to blend in with the club" and "throw us off by looking different." He stated that the behavior was different because the two women were dancing in an area of the club that was "a *517 good ways away" from the dancing area. Agent Wilson testified that he did not witness either of the two women engaging in criminal behavior while they were under surveillance in the club.

When Agent Wilson and the other officers walked up to the two women to ask to speak with them, the women "became nervous, started crying and they started walking towards the door." Agent Wilson testified that he asked them to talk outside because the music was very loud inside the club. He and other deputies followed the ladies outside.

Agent Wilson testified that he told the two women that they were under investigation for narcotics sales before they went outside. Once outside, one of the women —the defendant—started crying and saying that she did not want to go to jail. He stated that he advised the two women of their Miranda rights even though he had not arrested either of them at that point. He further testified that the two women were free to leave at that point although he did not communicate that to them. Agent Wilson did not search the women but he did call for a female deputy to conduct a search on the women. He did not conduct a weapons pat-down for his safety because "the clothing she had on that night we know she didn't have a weapon nowhere on her."

Agent Wilson then asked the defendant if she was dealing narcotics, and she answered affirmatively and handed him a small, clear plastic bag of off-white powder that she had been concealing in the waistband of her clothing. Agent Wilson field—tested the substance, confirmed that the powder was methamphetamine, and then arrested the defendant for possession of methamphetamine.

The defendant testified at the suppression hearing that she was at Escapades Lounge with another woman on July 17, 1999. She said that she was on her way to the bathroom, when a white man, not Agent Wilson, approached her. She admitted that she knew that the man who approached her was a police officer because he had a jacket with letters, possibly "S.I.D.," on it. She testified that the man asked for her identification because he said that she looked too young to be in a nightclub. After she showed the man her identification, he told her and her friend to step outside. She stated that she left the club at his command because "you have to listen to [the police]."

She testified that she and her friend left the club and stood by a police car. She did not remember which officer was talking to her but an officer asked if she was carrying any narcotics. The officer then asked her for her cigarette pack, which she gave to him. Further, she voluntarily emptied her pockets.

She testified that the police then asked her and her friend to wait in an unmarked police car. The young women were not handcuffed while they were in the police car. She stated that, while they were in the car, Agent Wilson told them that a female deputy was on her way to pick them up to take them to be searched. He stated that they should turn over any drugs which they were holding or they would be in trouble. At that point, she gave Agent Wilson the "crystal meth" that she was holding. The defendant also testified that Agent Wilson told her that if she went back into the club and bought more drugs as a police agent that he would dispose of the drugs which she had surrendered and forget about the charge against her. She refused.

After the testimony was presented, the trial judge denied the defendant's motion to suppress and stated the following:

*518 The evidence indicates that during the course of the investigation the officers received information respecting two white females by the bathroom door. They observed this lady at the door, asked her to come outside, which she did. The officer testified that she became very nervous and crying, that he advised her of her rights and that she then reached into her waistband and produced the plastic bag.
The discrepancy is with the defendant's version of exactly how it happened outside, but I don't think it's fatal even with that version. The officer acted on information, he didn't arrest the defendant based on what was told to him by the individual outside. The individual, whether he was a reliable informant or just an anonymous citizen giving information, the officer acted on it, and this defendant gave up the amphetamines or methamphetamines which she was carrying. Accordingly, the motion to suppress is denied.

In this appeal, the defendant argues that the anonymous tip by the arrestee to Agent Wilson, as corroborated by the police, was not sufficient to produce the reasonable suspicion of criminal activity necessary to justify the investigatory detention of the

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State v. Morgan, 783 So. 2d 514, 2001 WL 300272 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

783 So. 2d 514 (State v. Morgan) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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