State v. Robinson

744 So. 2d 119, 1999 WL 675372
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided August 11, 1999·No. 98-KA-1606·Published·Cited by 71 cases

Opinion

744 So.2d 119 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Kenard E. ROBINSON.

No. 98-KA-1606.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

August 11, 1999.

*121 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Charles E.F. Heuer, Assistant District Attorney, Orleans Parish, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Christopher A. Aberle, Louisiana Appellate Project, Mandiville, LA, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant.

Court composed of Judge JOAN BERNARD ARMSTRONG, Judge MOON LANDRIEU and Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY.

ARMSTRONG, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On September 18, 1997, the defendant, Kenard Robinson, was charged by bill of information with armed robbery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64. The defendant pleaded not guilty at his September 30, 1997 arraignment. The trial court denied the defendant's motion to suppress the identification on November 14, 1997. The defendant was found guilty as charged on January 22, 1998, after trial by a twelve-person jury. On February 26, 1998 the defendant was sentenced to thirty years at hard labor, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The court denied the defendant's motion to reconsider sentence, and the defendant filed a written motion for appeal.

FACTS

New Orleans Police Officer Kim Lewis testified that on July 27, 1997, he responded to a call of an armed robbery at the intersection of St. Denis and Cadillac Streets. He spoke with the victim, Hollis Adams, and a witness, Mark Lee. The victim's mother gave the officer the defendant's full name; Mark Lee only knew the defendant's first name. Officer Lewis compiled a photo lineup and displayed it to the victim and witness, separately. He said each immediately identified the defendant as the perpetrator, and said both related that they knew the defendant from the neighborhood.

Mark Lee, fifteen years old at the time of trial, testified that he knew both the victim and the defendant. Mark said he and the victim were riding their bicycles around 6:00 p.m. on the evening of July 27, 1997. The two rode their bicycles around a block in different directions, planning to rejoin at a certain point. When Mark saw Hollis again, the defendant, who was also on a bicycle, was holding Hollis's arm. Mark said he rode up but defendant told him to keep riding, which he did. He thought that something did not look right, so he told the victim's cousin. When he saw the victim after the confrontation, the victim was not wearing his tennis shoes. He was subsequently shown a photographic lineup and he picked out the defendant's photograph. He said he was positive that the defendant was the person, and he said he had seen defendant in the neighborhood. Mark said he did not see the defendant *122 with a gun when he was with the victim.

Hollis Adams, sixteen years old at the time of trial, testified that he had never seen the defendant before July 27, 1997. He said he was riding his bicycle slowly when the defendant rode up behind him, turned his bicycle in front of his, and grabbed his arm. Hollis said the defendant asked if Hollis knew him. As Mark Lee neared the two, the defendant asked Hollis if he knew Mark, and Hollis said he did. The defendant instructed Hollis to tell Mark to keep going. Hollis said when Mark came up the defendant told him to keep going. The defendant then told Hollis to take off his tennis shoes, and the defendant took his beeper. Hollis said the defendant displayed a chrome-colored gun, which was concealed underneath his shirt. Hollis said he could see the front of the barrel. After Hollis gave the defendant his tennis shoes and beeper, the defendant told him to ride away. Hollis rode home, and police were called. Hollis said he was later shown a photographic lineup, and he identified the defendant as the person who robbed him. Hollis identified the defendant in court. He said it was daylight when the robbery occurred. He said he was positive the defendant had a gun. He said the defendant had gold teeth.

The State had the defendant display his teeth to the jury before he took the witness stand to testify in his own behalf. The record does not reflect whether the defendant had gold teeth.

The defendant testified that Hollis Adams was his cousin, and that he had known him approximately one and one half years. However, the defendant said that he did not learn Hollis was his cousin until about one month before trial. The defendant said he saw Hollis around 3:00 p.m. on July 27, 1997, on St. Denis Street. The defendant said he called out to Hollis, and asked him if he had the drugs he owed him. The defendant said he did not have a gun that day. He denied taking tennis shoes from Hollis, but admitted taking marijuana from Hollis, marijuana which the defendant said he had given him. He said Hollis did not give all of the marijuana back to him. The defendant said that after he took the marijuana back he rode off on his bicycle.

On cross-examination, the defendant said he had given Hollis some marijuana to sell for him and had not seen him for about two weeks. He said that about six clock on the evening in question, Hollis, his mother, and "the rest of my family" came to his sister's house and told his mother that he had robbed Hollis. The defendant said his mother told Hollis's mother that if they thought the defendant had robbed Hollis, just call the police.

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record reveals no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In this assignment of error, the defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction.

This court set out the standard for reviewing convictions for sufficiency of the evidence in State v. Egana, 97-0318 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/3/97), 703 So.2d 223, as follows:

In evaluating whether evidence is constitutionally sufficient to support a conviction, an appellate court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of act could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Green, 588 So.2d 757 (La.App. 4 Cir.1991). However, the reviewing court may not disregard this duty simply because the record contains evidence that tends to support each fact necessary to constitute the crime. State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305 (La.1988). The reviewing court must consider the record as a whole since that is what a rational trier of fact would do. If rational *123 triers of fact could disagree as to the interpretation of the evidence, the rational trier's view of all the evidence most favorable to the prosecution must be adopted. The fact finder's discretion will be impinged upon only to the extent necessary to guarantee the fundamental protection of due process of law. Mussall; Green; supra. "[A] reviewing court is not called upon to decide whether it believes the witnesses or whether the conviction is contrary to the weight of the evidence." State v. Smith, 600 So.2d 1319 (La.1992) at 1324.
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 proven such that every reasonab

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