State v. Pollard

106 So. 3d 1194, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 346, 2012 WL 6603652, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1663
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 18, 2012
DocketNo. 12-KA-346
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 106 So. 3d 1194 (State v. Pollard) 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. Pollard, 106 So. 3d 1194, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 346, 2012 WL 6603652, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1663 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

MARC E. JOHNSON, Judge.

|2Pefendant, Terence Pollard, appeals his convictions for armed robbery and felon in possession of a firearm on the basis he was incompetent to stand trial. He also appeals his adjudication as a second felony offender on the basis of insufficient evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On November 14, 2008, defendant was charged with armed robbery with a firearm in violation of La. R.S. 14:64 and 14:64.3 (Count 1)1 and attempted first degree murder in violation of La. R.S. 14:30 and 14:27 (Count 2). He pled not guilty and proceeded to trial on September 15, 2009; however, a mistrial was declared after defendant “acted out” in open court in front of the prospective jurors. The next day, a competency hearing was held, after which the trial judge ^ordered that defendant be remanded to the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System for further observation.

On December 8, 2010, a second competency hearing was held, and the trial judge found defendant competent to stand trial. The case proceeded to trial a second time on February 22, 2011; however, the trial judge declared a mistrial after defendant slit his throat with a razor in open court. The next day, the State dismissed Count 2 of the bill of information.

On April 6, 2011, a third competency hearing was held, after which defendant was found competent to stand trial. Thereafter, the State amended the bill of information to add the charge of felon in [1197]*1197possession of a firearm in violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1. Defendant was re-arraigned on the amended bill and pled not guilty. He again proceeded to trial on August 16, 2011. After a three-day trial, a 12-person jury found defendant guilty as charged on both counts: armed robbery and felon in possession of a firearm. The trial judge sentenced him to 50 years at hard labor for his armed robbery conviction and ten years for his felon in possession of a firearm conviction. Both sentences were imposed without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence and were ordered to run concurrently with each other.

The State subsequently filed a multiple offender bill of information alleging defendant to be a second felony offender. Defendant denied the allegations in the multiple bill after his motion to quash the multiple bill was denied. A hearing on the multiple bill was held on April 30, 2012, after which the trial court found defendant to be a multiple offender. The trial court then vacated defendant’s |4original sentence on Count 1 and imposed an enhanced sentence of 70 years without benefits. This appeal ensued.2

FACTS

At approximately 7:30-7:45 a.m. on October 10, 2008, Lisa Hotard walked outside of her apartment complex located at 4800 Zenith Street in Metairie and put her trash in the dumpster in the parking lot. As she walked towards her car, a young man she later identified as defendant approached her and asked for her purse. Ms. Hotard thought he was joking, and she told him she did not have anything in her purse. He asked her again, and she repeated that she had nothing in her purse. Defendant then pulled out a gun, shoved her to the ground, pulled the trigger, and stuck the gun in her side. Ms. Hotard started yelling at him to get off of her at which time he ran away with her purse.

At approximately the same time, a resident at the apartment complex, Arthur Blackwell, and his girlfriend heard a woman screaming. Mr. Blackwell looked out of his window and saw a man and a woman screaming. He told his girlfriend to call the police, and then he ran out of the door to where he saw a woman lying on the ground and a man with a gun. Mr. Blackwell told the man, whom he later identified as defendant, to leave the woman alone at which time defendant jumped into a small grey car being driven by a woman and left. Mr. Blackwell’s girlfriend also saw defendant and the victim fighting over a purse and saw defendant put a gun to the victim’s side. She further saw defendant leave in a small silver SUV being driven by a female.

[¡Another apartment complex resident, Darnerio Rogers, heard the “commotion.” He spoke to the victim and found out what happened. After getting a physical description of the perpetrator and the vehicle in which he left from the victim, Mr. Rogers got into his vehicle and tried to locate the suspect. He found a vehicle matching the description at a nearby gas station at Transcontinental and Veterans Blvd. Mr. Rogers pulled up beside the vehicle, got out, and pretended like he was getting ready to pump gas. He then noticed a black male, who matched the physical de[1198]*1198scription, standing by the gas pump and a black female in the driver’s seat. Mr. Rogers called the Jefferson’s Parish Sheriffs Office (JPSO) and gave them the license plate number of the vehicle. Meanwhile, the suspects drove off. Mr. Rogers followed them and relayed the direction of the vehicle to the JPSO.

JPSO Officer Stephen Hymel heard a dispatch of the description of the suspects and the vehicle. He saw the vehicle on Transcontinental and activated his lights and sirens to stop the vehicle. The car stopped, but when Officer Hymel ordered defendant to show his hands the vehicle took off. Officer Hymel eventually caught up with the vehicle, but both defendant and the female driver exited the vehicle and fled on foot. Officer Hymel pursued the female, apprehended her, and placed her in his unit.3 Defendant was subsequently apprehended by another officer after a short chase. The victim was brought to defendant’s location immediately thereafter and made a positive identification of him as the person who robbed her.

The victim’s purse was located on the same day of the incident on the lawn of a house on Haring Road. Co-defendant Lade LeBeauf, who was the driver of 1 fithe get-away car, testified that defendant threw the victim’s belongings out of the window while she was driving. Additionally, a gun was found about one block away from the purse. The victim identified this gun as looking identical to the one defendant used during the robbery.

After defendant’s arrest, he was advised of his rights and indicated he understood and wished to waive them. He then admitted that he committed the robbery, but claimed he did not have a gun during it and explained, “no gun, no crime.” Defendant refused to give a taped statement but acknowledged that he had discussed the robbery with an officer.

DISCUSSION

Defendant first argues the trial court erred in finding him competent to stand trial considering the entire history of his behavior. He specifically contends he was unable to assist in his defense. He points to a part of the trial where he slumped and fell out of his chair. That night, he tested positive for amphetamines. Defendant maintains this showed he was incapacitated by drugs and was incompetent to proceed with trial.

A criminal defendant has a constitutional right not to be tried while legally incompetent. State v. Carmouche, 01-405 (La.5/14/02), 872 So.2d 1020, 1041. There is a legal presumption that a defendant is sane and competent to proceed to trial. La. R.S. 15:432. Accordingly, the defendant has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence his incapacity to stand trial. State v. Anderson, 06-2987 (La.9/9/08), 996 So.2d 973, 992, cert. denied, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
106 So. 3d 1194, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 346, 2012 WL 6603652, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pollard-lactapp-2012.