State v. Rice

758 So. 2d 911, 99 La.App. 4 Cir. 1204, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 704, 2000 WL 328215
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 15, 2000
DocketNo. 99-KA-1204
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 758 So. 2d 911 (State v. Rice) 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. Rice, 758 So. 2d 911, 99 La.App. 4 Cir. 1204, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 704, 2000 WL 328215 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

h KIRBY, Judge.

On June 17, 1998, the defendant, Joseph Rice, was charged by bill of information with possession of cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. 40:967. The defendant entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment on June 22,1998. After a jury trial on July 6, 1998, the defendant was found guilty as charged. On July 28, 1998, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal. The defendant waived delays, and the trial court sentenced defendant to serve five years at hard labor. The trial court granted defendant’s motion for appeal. On the same date, the State filed a multiple Ml of information. The defendant pled not guilty to the multiple bill. A multiple offender hearing was held on January 21, 1999. The defendant admitted to the allegations in the multiple bill. The trial court adjudicated defendant to be a second offender, vacated the prior sentence, and resen-tenced defendant to five years at hard labor. The defendant objected to the sentence imposed. Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On June 2, 1998, New Orleans Police Officers Ryan Maher and Chris Cambiotti were patrolling in the 800 block of Camp Street when they saw the | ^defendant urinating against a wall. The officers exited their vehicle and stopped the defendant. They asked the defendant for identification, but he had none. The officers then arrested the defendant for lewd conduct. In a search incident to the defendant’s arrest, the officers found a pack of cigarettes in the defendant’s rear pants pocket. A crack pipe containing what appeared to be crack cocaine residue was found in the package of cigarettes. The defendant was then arrested for possession of crack cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The parties stipulated that the residue found in the pipe tested positive for cocaine.

Joseph Rice testified at trial that he was walking to work in the 800 block of Camp Street when the officers stopped him and told him to put his hands on the police vehicle. The officers searched him and found the cigarettes and the crack pipe. The defendant had found the crack pipe on the ground and put it in his wallet. The defendant stated he knew it was a crack pipe and was going to try to sell it at work. He admitted that he saw the crack cocaine residue in the pipe. The defendant acknowledged prior convictions for issuing worthless checks and aggravated sexual battery.

[914]*914 ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1

The defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for possession of cocaine.

When assessing the sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction, the appellate court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found proof beyond a reasonable doubt of each of the essential elements of the crime charged. | ¡» Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Jacobs, 504 So.2d 817 (La.1987).

In addition, when circumstantial evidence forms the basis of the conviction, such evidence must consist of proof of collateral facts and circumstances from which the existence of the main fact may be inferred according to reason and common experience. State v. Shapiro, 431 So.2d 372 (La.1982). The elements must be proyen such that every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. La. R.S. 15:438. La. R.S. 15:438 is not a separate test from Jackson v. Virginia, supra, but rather is an evidentiary guideline to facilitate appellate review of whether a rational juror could have found a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Wright, 445 So.2d 1198 (La.1984). All evidence, direct and circumstantial, must meet the Jackson reasonable doubt standard. State v. Jacobs, supra.

To support a conviction for possession of cocaine, the state must prove that the defendant was in possession of the illegal drug and that he knowingly possessed it. State v. Lavigne, 95-0204 (La. App. 4 Cir. 5/22/96), 675 So.2d 771, writ denied, 96-1738 (La.1/10/97), 685 So.2d 140; State v. Chambers, 563 So.2d 579 (La.App. 4 Cir.1990). Guilty knowledge is an essential element of the crime of possession of cocaine. State v. Goiner, 410 So.2d 1085 (La.1982). Although a conviction for possession of cocaine can stand on the possession of the slightest amount of the drug, the amount of the substance will have some bearing on the defendant’s guilty knowledge. State v. Spates, 588 So.2d 398 (La.App. 2 Cir.1991). In addition, the possession of drug paraphernalia such as a metal pipe or “straight shooter” is indicative of guilty knowledge. Id.

|Jn State v. Jones, 94-1261 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/17/95), 657 So.2d 262, the court concluded that the defendant’s actions and possession of an object that is used exclusively for smoking crack cocaine provided sufficient evidence to show that the defendant knowingly possessed cocaine. This Court, in State v. Gaines, 96-1850 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1/29/97), 688 So.2d 679, writ denied, 97-0510 (La.9/5/97), 700 So.2d 503, held that defendant’s possession of a glass pipe which contained cocaine residue was sufficient to prove defendant’s possession of cocaine.

In Lavigne, the defendant was found to be in possession of a crack pipe that had a residue in it. The residue was found to be cocaine.. The defendant alleged that he found the pipe on the street and did not know it contained cocaine, as he could not see the residue. The defendant stated that he intended to throw the pipe away once he got home. In affirming the defendant’s conviction, this court noted that the defendant’s guilty knowledge could be inferred from the defendant’s dominion and control over the pipe and the residue of cocaine found in the pipe. State v. Lavigne, at 779.

In the case at bar, Officers Maher and Cambiotti testified that they found the crack pipe on the defendant after a search incident to his arrest. The officers stated that they could see the cocaine residue in the pipe when they took the pipe out of the package of cigarettes. The defendant admitted he was in possession of the pipe and that he knew there was crack cocaine residue in the pipe. The parties stipulated at trial that the residue in the pipe tested positive for cocaine. Such testimony was [915]*915sufficient for the jury to find the defendant guilty of possession of cocaine.

This assignment is without merit.

\ .ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 2

In this assignment, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in adjudicating him to be a second felony offender. The defendant contends that the trial court erred in using defendant’s 1987 plea of guilty to aggravated sexual battery to enhance his sentence. The defendant alleges that the State failed to produce sufficient evidence that the defendant waived his constitutional rights when he entered the 1987 guilty plea.

A review of the multiple bill hearing reveals that the defendant admitted to his identity as the person who pled guilty in the prior conviction of aggravated sexual battery in the State of Virginia. However, the defendant did not admit that the guilty plea was entered knowingly and voluntarily. Thus, the State was still required to meet its burden under La. R.S.

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Related

State v. Jones
792 So. 2d 117 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
758 So. 2d 911, 99 La.App. 4 Cir. 1204, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 704, 2000 WL 328215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rice-lactapp-2000.