State v. Price

909 So. 2d 612, 2005 WL 474339
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 1, 2005
Docket04-KA-812
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 909 So. 2d 612 (State v. Price) 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. Price, 909 So. 2d 612, 2005 WL 474339 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

909 So.2d 612 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Kareem PRICE.

No. 04-KA-812.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

March 1, 2005.

*613 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Thomas J. Butler, Vincent Paciera, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Pamela S. Moran, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SOL GOTHARD, MARION F. EDWARDS and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

MARION F. EDWARDS, Judge.

Defendant, Kareem Price, appeals his conviction and sentence for armed robbery. For the following reasons, defendant's conviction is affirmed, defendant's sentence is vacated, and we further remand to the district court for re-sentencing.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Kareem Price, with armed robbery, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64. Price pled not guilty. Thereafter, the State amended the bill to charge Price with the use of a firearm as a dangerous weapon in the commission of an armed robbery, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64.3.[1] On September 11, 2003, *614 the trial judge denied Price's motion to suppress his statement.

On January 29, 2004, the matter proceeded to trial before a twelve-person jury which found Price guilty of committing armed robbery with a firearm. On February 5, 2004, the trial judge sentenced Price to forty years of imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The trial judge also denied Price's motion to reconsider sentence. Price timely filed the present appeal.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 16, 2003, a Taco Bell on Manhattan Boulevard in Jefferson Parish was robbed by a gunman wearing a blue ski mask. At trial, Taco Bell employees Brian and Brianeka Massey, Kevin Green, and Shelly Fairbanks described the morning's events. Brian Massey testified that he was cooking when someone tapped him on the shoulder. After turning around, Massey saw a man wearing a ski mask holding a gun. The man told him to lie on the floor, but subsequently told Massey to take him to the "lady with the money." Massey walked with the gunman to the office of Shelly Fairbanks, the store manager. Mean-while, Massey's sister, Brianeka, was in the cooler when she saw the robber enter through the back door. After Brian Massey and the robber passed the cooler, Brianeka slipped out of the back door, ran to a nearby business and called the police.

Shelly Fairbanks was counting money in preparation for a deposit when the masked man entered her office and demanded the money. At first, Fairbanks thought Brian Massey was playing a joke on her, but Fairbanks saw the gun when the man repeated his demand for the money. Fairbanks pointed out the money scattered over the desk, and the gunman grabbed her purse. After Fairbanks begged the gunman not to take her purse, the gunman shoved the money in a Hibernia bank bag and ordered Fairbanks toward the back door. The gunman told her to lie on the floor and pointed the gun at her. Then, the gunman left. According to Fairbanks, there was between $3,000 and $4,000 in the deposit that she was counting just before the robbery.

The police arrived at the scene and found a blue ski mask near the dumpster behind the Taco Bell. According to Kevin Green, the mask was not there that morning when he had taken out the trash. Fairbanks and Brian Massey told the police that it was the mask worn by the robber.

Neither Fairbanks, nor Brian and Brianeka Massey could identify the robber, since he was masked. Although Kevin Green initially denied any knowledge of the robbery, he later told the case officer, Detective John Carroll, that Price was the robber. Further, Green told Detective Carroll that Price had told him approximately one month earlier that he intended to rob the Taco Bell. Green denied that he had purposefully left the door open for Price, but acknowledged that the door was open because he had been going in and out of the building. To the contrary, Detective Carroll testified that Green said he deliberately left the door open. Green testified that he was initially charged with armed robbery, but pled guilty to accessory after the fact and received a two-year sentence.

Price was arrested on March 20, 2003 after Detective Carroll obtained a warrant for his arrest. At approximately 7:15 that evening, Detective Carroll advised Price of his rights. Price waived his rights and ultimately gave a statement in which he *615 admitted that he robbed Taco Bell. That statement was admitted into evidence and played for the jury at trial. Detective Carroll testified at trial that he was the only detective who interviewed Price. Further, Detective Carroll denied that anyone used force on Price. He identified a photograph of defendant taken at the end of the statement.

During the interview with Detective Carroll, Price consented to a swab of the inside of his mouth. According to Bonnie Dubourg, an expert in DNA analysis, Price's DNA from the swab was consistent with the DNA found in a cutting from the ski mask found at the Taco Bell. In fact, Ms. Dubourg testified that the probability was greater than 1 in 10 billion that the DNA belonged to someone other than defendant or an identical twin.

Price and his mother, Carolyn Williams, testified on behalf of the defense. Ms. Williams testified that defendant left to get gas in her lawnmower at 8:00 on the morning in question and returned about thirty minutes later. However, Ms. Williams did not know what time Price later left the house. Ms. Williams denied Price owned a gun and stated that the ski cap did not belong to defendant. Price denied that he committed the robbery and denied that he ever told Kevin Green he intended to rob the Taco Bell. Price also stated that he was questioned by Detective Carroll and Detective Mascara. According to Price, the officers denied his repeated requests for a lawyer. Further, Price said that Detective Mascara choked him several times when Detective Carroll was out of the room and when Detective Mascara took him to the restroom. However, defendant acknowledged that he said in his statement that he had been fairly treated and that the photograph taken after his statement reflected no injuries to his neck.

In his first assignment of error, Price contends that the trial judge should not have admitted his recorded statement into evidence because it was involuntary.

Before a confession may be admitted into evidence, the State has the burden of affirmatively showing that it was made freely and voluntarily and not under the influence of fear, duress, intimidation, menace, threats, inducements, or promises.[2] Further, if the statement was made during custodial interrogation, the State must show that the defendant was advised of and voluntarily waived his constitutional rights, as provided by Miranda v. Arizona.[3] A determination of voluntariness is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the facts and circumstances of each situation.[4] The admissibility of a confession or statement is a determination for the trial judge and his conclusions on the credibility and weight of the testimony relating to the voluntary nature of the confession or statement are entitled to great weight and will not be overturned unless unsupported by the evidence.[5]

On September 11, 2003, several months before trial, a hearing was held on Price's motion to suppress his statement.

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Bluebook (online)
909 So. 2d 612, 2005 WL 474339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-price-lactapp-2005.