State v. Payne

59 So. 3d 1287, 10 La.App. 5 Cir. 46, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 80, 2011 WL 227916
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 25, 2011
Docket10-KA-46, 10-KA-47
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 59 So. 3d 1287 (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, 59 So. 3d 1287, 10 La.App. 5 Cir. 46, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 80, 2011 WL 227916 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

MARION F. EDWARDS, Chief Judge.

lain these consolidated appeals Carl Payne (“Payne”), defendant/appellant herein, appeals his convictions and sentencing on four counts of criminal activity and his adjudication and sentencing as a third felony offender. Payne was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1 (count one); possession with intent to distribute heroin in violation of La. R.S. 40:966(A) (count two); .unlawful possession of body armor in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.3 (count three); and possession of alprazo-lam in violation of La. R.S. 40:969(C) (count four). Payne entered a plea of not guilty to. all. counts and filed a motion to suppress .the evidence, which was denied. Ultimately, Payne was tried by a jury and convicted as charged on all counts.

The trial court-imposed sentences of fifteen years of imprisonment at hard labor and a $5000 fine on count one, and thirty years of imprisonment at hard labor on count two. As to counts one and two, the trial court imposed these sentences without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. For counts | sthree and four, defendant was sentenced to two years of imprisonment at hard labor for each count. All of defendant’s sentences were ordered to run concurrently with each other. Payne filed a timely appeal *1292 from the convictions and sentences that was granted by the trial court. 1

The State filed an habitual offender bill of information charging Payne with being a third felony offender. The State used Payne’s underlying conviction of possession with intent to distribute heroin (count two), and his prior convictions of possession of cocaine in case No. 02^1752, and armed robbery and aggravated battery in case No. 95-4987.

Payne denied the allegations in the multiple bill and filed a response and objection to the multiple bill. In this response, he argued the following: (1) the alleged predicate convictions were obtained in violation of the constitutions because he was not advised of his rights at the time he pled guilty to the predicate offenses; (2) he was not advised of the possible future applicability of La. R.S. 15:529.1 at the time of pleading guilty to the predicate offenses; (3) he was not properly Boykinized when his predicate convictions were obtained; and (4) other further facts to be adduced at trial on the matter. Payne also filed a motion for discovery relating to the multiple bill.

The trial court denied Payne’s motion to quash and, after a hearing, found Payne was a third felony offender. The trial court vacated Payne’s original sentence imposed on the possession of heroin with intent to distribute (count two), and imposed an enhanced sentence of fifty years of imprisonment at hard labor to be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The |4sentence was also ordered to run concurrently with his other sentences. Payne filed a second timely appeal from the multiple bill proceedings. 2

Both appeals were consolidated in this Court.

FACTS

Sergeant Elvin Módica of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office received information from a confidential informant that led to the investigation of a person known as “Pimp” at an address of 1445 Lincoln Avenue in Jefferson Parish. After confirmation of the information received, a search warrant was executed at 1445 Lincoln Avenue.

Lieutenant Daniel Jewell, Jr. of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office participated in the execution of the warrant. When he arrived, there were several individuals, including adults and children, “malingering about” under the carport of the residence. After Lieutenant Jewell exited his vehicle, a black male wearing a black T-shirt fled into the residence. Lieutenant Jewell chased the male, who was later identified as Payne, into the residence and apprehended him about a foot into the door of a bedroom at the end of the hallway. No one else was in the room. Sergeant Módi-ca, who was present when the search warrant was executed, testified that certain evidence was recovered from the bedroom where Lieutenant Jewell secured Payne. Several items were seized from the entertainment center in this bedroom, including a small .22-caliber revolver with three live cartridges, a clear plastic bag with nine foil packages containing tan powder, and one plastic bag inside of that with light brown powder. The foil packages were found on the same shelf as the revolver. A black leather wallet, with Payne’s Louisiana *1293 identification card that reflected the 1445 Lincoln Avenue address and a debit card, was also recovered from the entertainment center.

| ¡-.Officers found a loaded Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun wrapped in a white T-shirt on the floor of the bedroom between the bunk beds and the dresser. A photograph of Payne was also recovered from the room during the search. '

In other parts of the residence, a sock was found that contained ten Winchester .40-caliber Smith & Wesson rounds. Other items were found in a bathroom that was attached to and only accessible from Payne’s bedroom. Among those objects, were a plastic sandwich bag with one small foil package and one clear plastic bag containing tan powder, alprazolam, and a piece of foil with tan powder wrapped in a piece of plastic. A razor blade, aluminum foil, and two digital scales were also found in the bathroom.

A bulletproof vest or “body armor” was found hanging in the closet in Payne’s bedroom. An investigation revealed that the vest belonged to Lieutenant Timmy Miller of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office. The vest had been last seen about ten years before when it disappeared from inside of the officer’s vehicle. Also in the closet, Sergeant Módica recovered a Winchester 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun.

Other evidence seized in the bedroom include an envelope addressed to Payne, legal documentation from case Nos. 95-4987 and 02^4752, and a photocopy of case law with the name “Pimp” written on it twice. A clear plastic bag with light-colored powder was found in a dog bowl in the kitchen.

Five hundred eight-six dollars ($586) in cash was removed from Payne’s right rear pocket. When asked where the money came from, Payne responded that he did not have a job and gave Sergeant Módica a few answers, none of which could be verified.

Tammy White, Payne’s mother, testified that Payne was living at the residence at the time of the search. Although Mrs. White admitted that the room ^belonged to Payne at the time, she denied that she gave police officers that information when the search warrant was executed. Mrs. White stated that Payne had stayed in the room every night for the prior two months. She explained that she was in the kitchen when the police entered the residence and showed her a badge. She denied that the police ever showed her a search warrant. She testified that police came back and gave a warrant to her husband on the day after the search.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

In the first appeal, both defense counsel and Payne have assigned and briefed errors to this Court for our consideration. Through his defense counsel, Payne argues both the original and the enhanced sentences are excessive. In a

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 So. 3d 1287, 10 La.App. 5 Cir. 46, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 80, 2011 WL 227916, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-payne-lactapp-2011.