State v. Rivet

798 So. 2d 219, 2001 WL 1120308
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 25, 2001
Docket01-KA-353
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 798 So. 2d 219 (State v. Rivet) 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. Rivet, 798 So. 2d 219, 2001 WL 1120308 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

798 So.2d 219 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Timothy RIVET.

No. 01-KA-353.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

September 25, 2001.

*221 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, 24th Judicial District, Rebecca J. Becker, Joan S. Benge, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, Counsel for State.

Lane Rutherford Trippe, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for appellant-defendant.

Court composed of Judges MARION F. EDWARDS, SUSAN M. CHEHARDY and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

McMANUS, Judge.

In this matter, Defendant Rivet was convicted of one count of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling and was sentenced to serve two years at hard labor. We affirm the conviction and sentence, but remand the matter for correction of errors in the commitment.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On April 20, 2000, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging Defendant, Timothy Rivet, with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62.3. The case was assigned number 00-2429 in Division "L" of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court. The district attorney filed a separate bill of information that day, charging Defendant with simple battery and simple criminal damage to property under five hundred dollars. The two misdemeanor charges arose from the same incident which gave rise to the unauthorized entry charge. The misdemeanor charges were assigned case number 00-2430 in Division "L" of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court. Defendant was arraigned on June 27, 2000, and pled not guilty to all charges.

On August 23, 2000, Defendant was tried by a jury of six as to the felony charge. He was simultaneously tried by the judge as to the misdemeanor charges. At the conclusion of trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. The judge found Defendant guilty as charged as to the two misdemeanors. The trial court ordered a pre-sentence investigation. On January 10, 2001, Defendant was sentenced to two years at hard labor as to the unauthorized entry conviction. On the same day, the judge sentenced Defendant to six months in Parish Prison on both misdemeanor convictions. The judge ordered *222 that the sentences run concurrently with each other.

On January 11, 2001, Defendant filed motions for appeal in cases 00-2429 and 00-2430. The motions were granted on January 12, 2001. Case number 00-2429 was assigned case number 01-KA-353 in this Court; case number 00-2430 was assigned case number 01-KA-366. On April 30, 2001, this Court issued an Order dismissing appeal number 01-KA-366, as an appeal may not be taken from a misdemeanor conviction. This Court stated:

IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED and REMANDED to the trial court to take appropriate action to notify the defendant, Mr. Rivet, of his entitlement to seek review by writ application to this court and to set a return date accordingly, but no sooner than thirty (30) days from receipt of notice by the defendant.

The trial court issued an Order on May 9, 2001, informing Defendant that the appeal has been dismissed, and that he may seek review of his misdemeanor convictions by writ application. As of this date, Defendant has not applied for writs in this Court. Therefore, this appeal concerns only Defendant's felony conviction for unauthorized entry.

FACTS

On February 10, 2000, Officers Woodrow Mann and Paul Sperandeo of the Westwego Police Department were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at 713 Avenue A in Westwego. When they arrived, they found Defendant, Timothy Rivet, inside the residence. He had a small laceration on his head, and smelled strongly of alcohol. There was evidence of a forced entry. The front door of the house was broken and glass from a shattered window lay scattered on the front porch as well as inside the house.

Sandra Adams, the occupant of the house, was not at the scene when the officers arrived. Officer Sperandeo testified that he interviewed witnesses Sheila Godwin and her mother, Lois Bebout.[1] The women told him they had been inside the house visiting with Sandra Adams when Defendant forced his way into the residence. The witnesses further reported that Defendant physically attacked Sandra. The officers did not have an opportunity to interview Sandra Adams at the scene.

At trial, Ms. Godwin testified that she lived across the street from Sandra Adams. She and her mother were visiting with Sandra when Defendant began pounding on the door. Sandra went to the door and opened it slightly. Defendant, who was intoxicated, pushed his way inside. Defendant had a cut over his eye, as if he had been in a fight. According to Ms. Godwin, Defendant punched the glass in the door and shattered it. Sandra and Defendant argued, and Defendant hit her repeatedly in the face. Defendant, who was wearing steel-toed boots, kicked Sandra in the leg.

Ms. Godwin fled the house. She ran across the street to her own house and telephoned 9-1-1. When she returned to Sandra's house, she saw that Sandra's nose and mouth were bleeding. Ms. Godwin told Sandra she had called the police, and Sandra fled the scene because there were outstanding warrants for her arrest. Ms. Godwin telephoned Betty Adams, Sandra's mother and the owner of the house, to inform her of what had transpired. Betty Adams immediately went to the house and spoke with the investigating officers. She informed them that she *223 wished to pursue criminal charges against Defendant, as he did not have the authority to enter the house. The officers arrested Defendant for unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling.

Betty Adams testified that she owns the house at 713 Avenue A, but does not live there. On February 10, 2000, Sandra and Sandra's daughter, Chelsea, were living at the house. Defendant did not have the authority to be in the house on that day. Betty testified that the damage to her house amounted to five hundred dollars. She paid for the repairs herself. Betty further testified that Defendant had broken the door to that house several times before the incident on February 10, 2000.

Sandra Adams testified that Defendant is her boyfriend, and that the two of them have been together for three years. Defendant was living at the Avenue A house with her permission, but without her mother's knowledge. Sandra denied that Defendant beat her or that he broke the door. She said a former boyfriend of hers had previously broken the door. Sandra testified that Defendant paid to have the broken door fixed after he was released from jail.

Defendant testified that he was living with Sandy at 713 Avenue A, but that he continued to receive his mail at his father's house so that Sandra's mother would not discover their living arrangements. He denied having broken into the house. He had Sandra's permission to live there. He stated that many things in the house were in bad condition, and that the door was falling off its hinges prior to February 10, 2000. When he and Sandra moved into the house, it had several broken windows. On that day, he and Sandra argued and she left the house for some time. She did not return when expected, so he became angry and punched a window, breaking it. He helped repair the damage not because he had caused it, but because he wanted to help Sandra. Defendant testified that he has never beaten Sandra.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

As his first assignment of error, Defendant argues that the verdict was returned by less than the constitutionally required number of jurors.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
798 So. 2d 219, 2001 WL 1120308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rivet-lactapp-2001.