State v. Payne

777 So. 2d 555, 2000 WL 1828098
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 13, 2000
Docket00-KA-1171
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 777 So. 2d 555 (State v. Payne) 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. Payne, 777 So. 2d 555, 2000 WL 1828098 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

777 So.2d 555 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Andrew PAYNE.

No. 00-KA-1171.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 13, 2000.

*557 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Rebecca Becker, Quentin P. Kelly, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, Attorneys for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Margaret S. Sollars, Louisiana Appellate Project, Thibodaux, LA, Attorney for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of GOTHARD and McMANUS, JJ., and H. CHARLES GAUDIN, Pro Tempore.

GOTHARD, Judge.

Defendant, Andrew Payne, appeals his conviction on a charge of two counts of distribution of cocaine in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967A, and his sentence of life in prison as a three time felony offender. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

On April 19, 1999, the State filed a bill of information charging defendant with two counts of distribution of cocaine. He was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. On September 8, 1999, the defense filed a motion to appoint a sanity commission to determine whether defendant was competent to stand trial. The motion was granted and after a hearing, defendant was found competent to stand trial on November 11, 1999.

A jury trial began on December 15, 1999 when the jury was selected. On December 16, 1999, before the start of trial and out of the presence of the jury, the court considered and denied a pre-trial motion to suppress the evidence. After a trial on the merits completed the same day, the defendant was found guilty as charged. Defendant was sentenced on December 22, 1999 to serve fifteen years on each count without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. On December 29, 1999 the State filed a multiple bill of information alleging defendant was a third felony offender. Defendant denied the allegations charged in the multiple bill and the matter was taken up by the court on January 12, 2000. After a hearing on the merits, the court found defendant to be a third felony offender and vacated the sentence on count one. The court re-sentenced defendant to life in prison without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant's motion to reconsider the sentence was denied, after which a motion for appeal was filed.

This case arises out of two separate undercover drug purchases made on the same date by different undercover officers. On December 9, 1998, Agent Frank Williams of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was involved in an undercover operation to purchase drugs. On that date, *558 Agent Williams drove an unmarked car equipped with a video camera and radio to an area in Bridge City in Jefferson Parish. While in that area, Williams stopped at the intersection of Fourth and Commerce Streets and asked defendant if he knew where he could get a "twenty." Defendant asked Williams if he was a police officer, and Williams replied that he was not. Defendant then asked Williams to wait. Williams turned around and pulled to the side of the road and waited for defendant. A brief time later, defendant returned and handed Williams an off-white, rock-like object and Williams paid defendant $20 for the object.

Williams then left the area and met with the other officers involved in the surveillance. After meeting the officers, Williams turned the object he purchased from defendant over to Agent Corey Wilson.

On January 19, 1999, Williams reviewed the videotape of the transaction. After viewing the videotape, Williams viewed a photographic lineup and identified defendant's photograph as being a photograph of the person who sold him the rock-like object.

On December 9, 1998, Agent Michael Jordan of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was also driving a camera equipped undercover car in Bridge City. Jordan also went to the corner of Fourth and Commerce Streets and asked defendant if he could buy a "twenty." Defendant told Jordan to wait. Defendant then approached Jordan's car and handed Jordan an off-white, rock-like object. Jordan then handed defendant $20.00.

After making the transaction, Jordan left the area and met with Agent Declouet. Jordan turned over the object he purchased from defendant and the videotape of the transaction. The object was sealed and marked with an item number.

In January 1999, Jordan viewed the videotape of the transaction. After reviewing the videotape, Jordan viewed a photographic lineup. Jordan identified defendant's photograph as a photograph of the person who sold him the object on December 9, 1998.

At trial, the State also presented testimony of Charles Krone, who was accepted pursuant to a stipulation as an expert in the analysis and testing of controlled dangerous substances. Krone testified that he tested two off-white objects that were provided to him. Krone concluded that each of the samples tested was cocaine. During the testimony of Williams and Jordan, the items that were tested by Krone and found to contain cocaine were identified as the objects that each officer purchased from defendant.

In brief to this court defendant assigns two errors. In the first he argues the conviction was highly suspect due to the tainted identifications and the lack of evidence establishing a proper chain of custody.

Identification

Defendant argues that the identifications in the present case should have been suppressed because the officers viewed the videotapes of the transactions prior to identifying defendant's photograph in the lineups. The State responds that the trial court correctly denied defendant's motion to suppress the identification because there was not a substantial likelihood of misidentification.

A defendant who seeks to suppress an identification must prove both that the identification itself was suggestive and that there was a likelihood of misidentification as a result of the identification procedure. State v. Prudholm, 446 So.2d 729 (La.1984); State v. Joseph, 96-187 (La. App. 5 Cir. 11/14/96), 685 So.2d 237, 245, writ granted in part on other grounds, 96-2998 (La.5/9/97), 693 So.2d 782. However, even should the identification be considered suggestive, this alone does not violate due process, for it is the likelihood of misidentification which violates due process, *559 not merely the suggestive identification procedure. State v. Joseph, supra.

Fairness is the standard of review for identification procedures, and reliability is the linchpin in determining the admissibility of identification testimony. Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98, 97 S.Ct. 2243, 53 L.Ed.2d 140 (1977). The factors to be considered in assessing reliability were initially set out in Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S.Ct. 375, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972), and approved in Manson v. Brathwaite, supra. They include: (1) the opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime; (2) the witness' degree of attention; (3) the accuracy of the prior description of the criminal; (4) the level of certainty demonstrated at the confrontation; and, (5) the time between the crime and the confrontation.

Any corrupting effect of a suggestive identification procedure is to be weighed against these factors. Manson v. Brathwaite, supra; State v. Martin, 595 So.2d 592 (La.1992); State v. Winfrey, 97-427 (La.App. 5 Cir.10/28/97), 703 So.2d 63, writ denied, 98-0264 (La.6/19/98), 719 So.2d 481.

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Bluebook (online)
777 So. 2d 555, 2000 WL 1828098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-payne-lactapp-2000.