State v. Perkins

968 So. 2d 1178, 2007 WL 3170759
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 31, 2007
Docket07-0423
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 968 So. 2d 1178 (State v. Perkins) 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. Perkins, 968 So. 2d 1178, 2007 WL 3170759 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

968 So.2d 1178 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Timothy D. PERKINS.

No. 07-0423.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 31, 2007.

*1179 John F. DeRosier, District Attorney, Sharon D. Wilson, Assistant District Attorney, Carla S. Sigler, Assistant District Attorney, Lake Charles, LA, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Peggy J. Sullivan, Louisiana Appellate Project, Monroe, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Timothy D. Perkins.

Court composed of JOHN D. SAUNDERS, JIMMIE C. PETERS, and GLENN B. GREMILLION, Judges.

PETERS, J.

A jury convicted the defendant, Timothy D. Perkins, of the offense of attempted distribution of cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and La.R.S. 40:967(A)(1). Thereafter, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve twenty years at hard labor, with the first year of the sentence to be served without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. He now appeals his conviction and sentence, asserting six assignments of error. For the following reasons, we affirm the defendant's conviction in all respects, but decline to consider the issues related to the defendant's sentence, finding that those issues are not properly before us.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

The incident giving rise to the conviction now before this court occurred on February *1180 16, 2005, when Jennifer Guidry, a Calcasieu Parish resident, telephoned the defendant and requested that he assist her in obtaining some cocaine. After exchanging a number of telephone calls, Ms. Guidry and the defendant agreed that she would pick him up at his residence and the two of them would contact his supplier and retrieve the cocaine for her. What the defendant did not know is that Ms. Guidry was working undercover for the Louisiana State Police when she initiated the contact with him.

Ms. Guidry testified at trial as did Chris Gray, Christopher Ivey, and Steven Lafargue, three Louisiana State Police officers who participated in the investigation. The facts established by these witnesses are that Ms. Guidry approached the Louisiana State Police in early 2005, and offered to share her information concerning illegal narcotics trafficking with that agency in a last-ditch effort to break her own dependency on narcotics. Part of the information she shared with the State Police related to the defendant's involvement in illegal narcotics activity. After taking steps to verify information Ms. Guidry provided to the agency, the officers working regional narcotics investigations solicited her assistance in effecting a purchase of illegal narcotics from the defendant. After she agreed to help in their investigation of the defendant, the State Police installed a tracking devise as well as video/audio surveillance equipment in Ms. Guidry's vehicle.

When she telephoned the defendant on February 16, 2005, Ms. Guidry was in the presence of three State Police officers who monitored the calls. Before she left to pick up the defendant, the officers searched her person and her vehicle for contraband, money, or weapons. Finding none, they provided her with $150.00 for the proposed purchase and allowed her to travel to the defendant's residence. During the trip leading up to the purchase, Ms. Guidry and the defendant were under constant visual surveillance by at least one of the three officers, and their conversations were constantly monitored by use of the audio surveillance equipment.

The video camera installed in Ms. Guidry's vehicle recorded a man approach Ms. Guidry's vehicle and hand the defendant two small bags in exchange for some money. The defendant then provided one of the small bags to Ms. Guidry in exchange for the agreed price of $150.00. Ms. Guidry then dropped the defendant off at his residence, met the officers at a predetermined location, and gave them the bag she had obtained from the defendant. Although the officers had kept Ms. Guidry under constant surveillance, they again searched her and her vehicle, finding no contraband, money, or weapons. Later scientific testing of the contents of the bag Ms. Guidry gave the officers established that it contained cocaine.

On April 5, 2005, the state charged the defendant by bill of information with distribution of cocaine, a violation of La.R.S. 40:967(A)(1). A three-day trial began on September 6, 2006, and, after completion of the evidentiary phase of the trial, the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of the lesser and included offense of attempted distribution of cocaine. The trial court rejected the defendant's November 21, 2006 motion for new trial after a January 5, 2007 hearing. On that same day, and immediately after ruling on the defendant's motion for new trial, the trial court sentenced the defendant. Thereafter, the defendant filed the appeal now before us. In this appeal, his attorney has asserted three assignments of error:

*1181 1. The evidence was insufficient to convict the Mr. Perkins [the defendant] of attempted distribution of cocaine.
2. The Trial Court erred in its denial of the motion for new trial.
3. The sentence of 20 years at hard labor was excessive in light of the facts of the case.

Additionally, the defendant has asserted three pro se assignments of error:

1. Did perjured testimony by the State's witness effect [sic] the outcome of Defendant's trial?
2. Was entrapment used by law enforcement?
3. Was Defendant's due process violated?

OPINION

Assignment of Error No. 1 and Pro Se Assignment of Error No. 1

In the first assignment of error asserted by his attorney, the defendant argues that the evidence presented by the state is insufficient to support his conviction of attempted distribution of cocaine. It is well established in our law that when a defendant raises the issue of sufficiency of evidence on appeal, the reviewing court must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found all of the critical elements of the offense proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); see also State v. Ordodi, 06-207, (La.11/29/06), 946 So.2d 654.

It is unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally distribute cocaine, which is classified as a controlled dangerous substance. La.R.S. 40:967(A)(1); La.R.S. 40:964. "A defendant is guilty of distribution of cocaine when he transfers possession or control of cocaine to his intended recipients." State v. Anderson, 29,282, p. 3 (La.App. 2 Cir. 6/18/97), 697 So.2d 651, 655. To establish the offense of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, the state's burden is to establish beyond a reasonable doubt "(1) `delivery' or `physical transfer;' (2) guilty knowledge of the controlled dangerous substance at the time of transfer; and (3) the exact identity of the controlled dangerous substance." Id.

It is also unlawful for any person who has a specific intent to commit distribution of a controlled dangerous substance to do or omit an act with the purpose of accomplishing the commission of that offense, i.e., to attempt to commit that offense. La.R.S. 14:27(A). Specific intent is "that state of mind which exists when the circumstances indicate that the offender actively desired the prescribed criminal consequences to follow his act or failure to act." La.R.S. 14:10(1).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
968 So. 2d 1178, 2007 WL 3170759, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-perkins-lactapp-2007.