State v. Morris

679 So. 2d 482, 1996 WL 474028
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided August 21, 1996·No. 28312-KA·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

679 So.2d 482 (1996)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Arthur Lee MORRIS, Appellant.

No. 28312-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

August 21, 1996.

David A. Hilburn, Bossier City, for Appellant.

Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, James M. Bullers, District Attorney, Joseph A. Gregorio, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, STEWART and GASKINS, JJ.

WILLIAMS, Judge.

The defendant, Arthur L. Morris, was charged with one count of possession of cocaine, a violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967. After a bench trial, the defendant was convicted as charged and sentenced to serve thirty months at hard labor. Defendant appeals, urging that the court should have granted his request for a mistrial pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 729.5. The defendant also assigned as error the excessiveness of his sentence, but failed to brief that issue. Assignments of error which are neither briefed nor argued are considered abandoned. URCA-Rule 2-12.4; State v. Schwartz, 354 So.2d 1332 (La.1978); State v. Kotwitz, 549 So.2d 351 (La.App. 2d Cir.1989), writ denied, 558 So.2d 1123 (La.1990). Therefore, the only issue presented for our review is whether a mistrial should have been granted. For the reasons assigned below, we affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

*483 FACTS

At trial, one of the state's witnesses, Bossier City Police Sergeant G. Sproles, testified that on September 5, 1992, he was on patrol in the Scott and Green Street area, a neighborhood then known for "heavy" street sales of cocaine. Based on prior intelligence data from several informants that the defendant, who was also known by the nickname "Poochie," was always in possession of crack cocaine for sale and that he drove a black Grand Prix, Sproles directed his attention to a black Grand Prix being driven by defendant. Sproles followed the defendant for several blocks, noting that one of the occupants of the defendant's car appeared to be drinking. Shortly thereafter, Officer Tommy Black arrived and the officers drove their cars in positions to collectively observe both sides of defendant's car. The experienced officers were aware that suspects will sometimes drop illegal drugs out of car windows when the police initiate a traffic stop. The officers then turned on their emergency lights to stop the defendant's vehicle.

Near the intersection of Shed and Benton Roads, the officers saw a hand extended from the driver's window and an object dropped from the window. The car stopped shortly thereafter, and the driver, the defendant, got out of the car. Officer Black immediately stopped and searched the section of road where the object had been dropped, while Officer Sproles continued to pursue the defendant. At trial, Officer Black testified that he found two rocks which appeared to be crack cocaine, and he identified the defendant as the driver who had dropped the cocaine. Officer Black also testified that the defendant's car did not have rear roll-down windows.

Officer Sproles detained the defendant at the rear of defendant's car, and Officer Black returned to the defendant's car with the cocaine that had been dropped. A field test of the rocks was positive for crack cocaine. The officers then arrested the defendant, removed the other three occupants from the car, and searched the car. Several empty beer cans and two additional rocks of crack cocaine were found under the driver's seat.

After the officers' testimony, the chain of custody for the items found by the officers was established. Randall Robillard, a forensic chemist, testified that the substance that the police delivered to the crime lab for analysis was cocaine. The state then rested.

The defense witnesses gave conflicting testimony regarding the rocks of crack cocaine thrown from the car. Oliver Lias testified that on the night of the incident, he, his girlfriend, Florence Mayshack, and Annette Mason were in the Scott Street area, and they asked the defendant for a ride home. Mason had a reputation for using crack cocaine.[1] According to Lias, Mason rolled down her window while she was sitting in the right rear seat behind Lias and threw the crack cocaine out of the window of the defendant's car. This testimony contradicts Officer Black's testimony that there are no roll-down rear windows on the defendant's car. Lias also testified that Mason was the only one in the car who possessed cocaine. On re-direct, Lias stated that Mason may have been sitting behind the defendant on the driver's side rather than behind him on the passenger side. At the time of trial, Lias had been convicted of two counts of simple burglary and was awaiting sentencing.

Florence Mayshack testified that the defendant was giving her a ride home and that she was positioned behind the defendant in the car. Mayshack was aware of the fact that Mason uses crack cocaine. Mayshack stated that she did not see the defendant throw anything out of the window, but that she "believes" Mason threw her crack cocaine out of the right passenger window. On cross-examination, Mayshack stated that the defendant's window was rolled up when the police made the stop, and Lias' window was the only window rolled down.

The defendant testified on his own behalf that he was taking the three passengers home when the police stopped him. On direct examination, he stated that his car had *484 rear windows, but gave an unintelligible answer to the question, "Do they roll down?" On cross-examination, the defendant testified that his window was rolled down. Defendant's testimony contradicted Mayshack's testimony that defendant's window was rolled up. The defendant also denied knowing that anyone in his car possessed crack cocaine.

During cross-examination, the assistant district attorney asked the defendant whether he was on probation, and the defendant answered "yes." At this juncture, defense counsel moved for a mistrial pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. 729.5, stating that the prosecutor had not complied with the defendant's discovery request because the prosecutor had not provided defendant with a copy of his rap sheet. In response, the assistant district attorney explained that he was not in charge of the case at the time defendant made his discovery request, that he had obtained the defendant's rap sheet two days before trial, and that he had only reviewed the rap sheet on the day of the trial. The trial judge denied defense counsel's motion for a mistrial, but ruled that no evidence of prior convictions would be admitted. He also stated that for the purpose of determining the defendant's credibility, he would consider the defendant a first felony offender.

After listening to the testimony and noting the evidence presented, the trial judge found the defendant guilty as charged of possession of crack cocaine. In his oral reasons, the trial court found the police officers' testimony to be more credible than the testimony of the defense witnesses. However, the trial judge stated that he did not consider any prior convictions in assessing the defendant's credibility. The defendant appealed.

DISCUSSION

The defendant contends the trial court should have granted his request for a mistrial when the prosecutor attempted to elicit information regarding the defendant's prior conviction without providing the defendant with a copy of his rap sheet pursuant to the defendant's "Motion for Discovery and Inspection." Defendant contends that because he was not provided with a copy of his rap sheet, he was denied the opportunity to evaluate the state's case against him. He argues that the strategy he employed f

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Morris, 679 So. 2d 482, 1996 WL 474028 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

679 So. 2d 482 (State v. Morris) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Avery
162 So. 3d 570 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Brown
966 So. 2d 727 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Kirkland
962 So. 2d 1173 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Williams
950 So. 2d 126 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Hight
810 So. 2d 1250 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Singleton
801 So. 2d 1150 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Landrum
796 So. 2d 94 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Baker
796 So. 2d 145 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Taylor
759 So. 2d 112 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Small
693 So. 2d 180 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)