State v. Morris

12 So. 3d 453, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 810, 2009 WL 1313288
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 13, 2009
Docket44,166-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 12 So. 3d 453 (State v. Morris) 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. Morris, 12 So. 3d 453, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 810, 2009 WL 1313288 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

MOORE, J.

liThe defendant was charged with aggravated battery and simple criminal damage to property. A jury returned guilty verdicts to the lesser included charge of simple battery and simple criminal damage to property. The trial court imposed a sentence of 6 months imprisonment in the parish jail for the simple battery conviction and 18 months imprisonment at hard labor for the simple criminal damage to property conviction. The court mandated that the sentences should run concurrently and suspended all but 9 months of the sentence for simple criminal damage to property. The court also imposed $1,000 as restitution for the damage to property, and $200 in court costs.

The defendant now appeals, alleging that the evidence was insufficient to sup *454 port the verdict with regard to the charge of simple criminal damage to property in excess of IhOO. 1 Because we conclude that the evidence at trial was sufficient to allow a rational jury to find the defendant guilty of the charge of simple criminal damage to property beyond a reasonable doubt, we affirm.

Facts

On August 28, 2008, the defendant entered the Family Dollar Store at 3730 Lakeshore Drive in Shreveport. The store manager, Roosevelt Mitchell, noticed that the defendant was carrying bags in the store that were not from the Family Dollar Store. He also recognized that the defendant was the same person who, on a previous occasion, he had asked to leave his other shopping bags at the cash register when shopping in the store. On this pearlier occasion, Mitchell waited until the defendant was in the register line to advise him that next time he came in the store, he must leave his bags at the register.

The defendant reacted angrily to Mitchell’s admonishment. He told Mitchell to go “fuck himself,” and said, “Take them, Little Nigger” and “Fuck you, Little Nigger.”

Because the defendant was using foul language, Mitchell asked the defendant to leave the store. The defendant responded that he was not leaving until he paid for his items.

Mitchell then instructed the cashier not to wait on the defendant. In response, the defendant threw a bottle of bleach into a merchandise stand near the checkout line.

Mitchell then went to call the police. The defendant followed him and said, “I’m going to show you what a real man would do.” As Mitchell turned, the defendant punched him, knocking him back. Mitchell ducked a second punch, and slashed at the defendant with a small knife or box cutter. The blade found its mark, cutting the defendant on the neck. Mitchell testified at trial that he was trying to get the defendant to “back off.”

Mitchell then ran away from the defendant, who proceeded to hurl merchandise at Mitchell, including canned goods and a glass paperweight that struck Mitchell in the head. At this point, the fight apparently ended.

The fire department apparently arrived first and attended to the defendant until the police arrived. The defendant was taken to the hospital where he required 12 stitches to mend the neck wound.

13The police arrived at the scene, finding the store in disarray as they obtained information about the incident.

On October 30, 2006, the defendant was charged by bill of information with one count of aggravated battery in violation of La. R.S. 14:34, and one count of simple criminal damage to property in violation of La. R.S. 14:56.

After trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts to the lesser included charge of simple battery and simple criminal damage to property. Prior to sentencing, the defense filed a motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal, which was denied by the trial court. Following sentencing, the defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which the trial court denied.

The defendant filed this appeal, alleging the sole error that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction of simple criminal damage to property in excess of $500.

Discussion

The defendant contends that the evidence does not establish that he dam *455 aged property valued in excess of $500 because there is no conclusive proof or calculation as to who actually caused what damage and how much its value was.

At trial, the defendant contradicted Mitchell’s account of the incident. He testified that he was acquainted with the manager of the store, referring to the manager as “Mr. Homer.” He stated that Mitchell was the assistant manager of the store. In June of 2008, he said Mitchell had stopped him in the store and “yelled” at him to leave his bags at the register. The defendant |4stated that Mr. Homer had told Mitchell at that time to “let him alone” and that store policy did not require the defendant to surrender his belongings. The defendant testified that Mitchell had threatened the defendant during this prior incident: “He told me if I come back in there again, don’t turn it in to him. It’s gonna be he and I out on the floor[.]” 2

The defendant testified that on August 28, 2006, he had entered the store with three bags in his shopping cart; two of the bags were from another grocery store, and contained food items. After he had selected the items he wished to purchase, Mitchell came from the back of the store to reprimand the defendant about bringing other bags into the store. According to the defendant, Mitchell pursued the defendant to the front of the store, with a box cutter in one hand and a knife in the other.

The defendant denied threatening, punching, or throwing the paperweight at Mitchell. He said he asked Mitchell, “What have I done for you to keep harassing me or threatening me? You do bodily harm. You the one [sic ] with the knife.” The defendant testified that Mitchell cut him “continuously,” all over his hands, arms, and neck. He testified that he had thrown things at Mitchell in self-defense, also stating that Mitchell had thrown objects at the defendant.

Although a video surveillance tape was shown to the jury that tended to support Mitchell’s account, the defendant contends that the tape is inaccurate and shows only one angle of the incident although there were | ¡¡other cameras. Finally, he argues that since much of the damage was the result of blood contamination, and it was Mitchell who started the fight and who cut the defendant which caused the blood contamination, he is not responsible.

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Tate, 2001-1658 (La.5/20/03), 851 So.2d 921, cert. denied, 541 U.S. 905, 124 S.Ct. 1604, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004); State v. Cummings, 95-1377 (La.2/28/96), 668 So.2d 1132; State v. Murray, 36,137 (La.App. 2 Cir.

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Bluebook (online)
12 So. 3d 453, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 810, 2009 WL 1313288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-morris-lactapp-2009.