State v. Robinson

81 So. 3d 90, 2011 La.App. 4 Cir. 0066, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1486, 2011 WL 6098012
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided December 7, 2011·No. 2011-KA-0066·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge.

Bln this criminal case, the defendant, Darryl Robinson, appeals his conviction and sentence for one count of armed robbery and one count of attempted armed robbery. His three assignments of error are misidentification, ineffective assistance of counsel, and excessiveness of sentence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On August 7, 2009, the State filed a bill of information charging Mr. Robinson with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of attempted armed robbery. On that same date, Mr. Robinson pled not guilty. On January 15, 2010, the district court found probable cause and denied the motions to suppress the evidence and identification. The State proceeded to trial on counts two (attempted armed robbery) and four (armed robbery). 1 Following a two-day jury trial held on August 25-26, 2010, Mr. Robinson was found guilty as charged. On September 23, 2010, a multiple bill hearing was held. On the armed robbery count, Mr. Robinson was adjudicated a second felony offender, and he was sentenced on that|2count pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1 to serve 198 years at hard labor without benefits. On the attempt count, he was sentenced to serve forty-nine years and six months at hard labor without benefits pursuant to La. R.S. 14:27 and 14:64. The district court ordered the sentences to run consecutively rather than concurrently. Mr. Robinson’s motion to reconsider sentence was denied. This appeal followed.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS ■

This case involves two separate offenses that occurred in the early morning hours of May 11, 2008, at two separate locations in New Orleans. The first offense, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., was the armed robbery of Frank Charles of his vehicle and cell phone at a McDonalds’ drive thru window. The second offense, which occurred at about 3:50 a.m., was the attempted armed robbery of Alicia Mackie at a nearby Burger King where she was working.

Armed robbery at McDonalds

Mr. Charles, who owns a nightclub, testified that on the day of the offense he closed his nightclub at about 3:45 a.m. On his way home from work, he stopped for something to eat at the McDonalds on South Claiborne Avenue. Immediately after Mr. Charles pulled up to the drive-thru menu box and rolled down his window, an armed robber appeared out of nowhere. The robber pointed a gun at Mr. Charles’s head and demanded that he get out of his vehicle, a grey Nissan pickup truck. Mr. Charles complied and moved to the back of his truck. The robber jumped in the truck and fled. Because Mr. Charles’ cell phone was in his truck, a McDonalds’ employee called the police for him.

|oMr. Charles described the robber as a black male dressed as a woman, wearing high heeled shoes, a flowered dress, and a wig. Based on his height of six feet, one inches tall, Mr. Charles estimated the robber’s height to be six feet tall. After returning to the scene, Mr. Charles realized that the robber might have been shorter because the robber was standing on a curb during the robbery. Mr. Charles chose Mr. Robinson’s picture from *93 a six-person photographic line-up. Mr. Charles was certain of his identification. Mr. Charles indicated that he saw Mr. Robinson’s face when Mr. Robinson pointed the gun at him. He also saw Mr. Robinson’s face when he passed him getting out of the truck; at that point, he was within a foot of Mr. Robinson. At trial, Mr. Charles identified Mr. Robinson. He also identified the items of women’s clothing that were found by the police.

Attempted armed robbery at Burger King

Ms. Mackie was working the overnight shift at the Burger King on South Carroll-ton Avenue. She was working with two other employees: Lynette Stevenson and Juaquita Bradley, the manager. Ms. Mackie was working the drive thru window, and she was standing near the milkshake machine. From where she was standing, she could see when a vehicle pulled up to the drive thru menu box. At approximately 3:50 a.m., Ms. Mackie saw a vehicle pull up to the drive thru menu box. She asked whether she could take an order but received no reply. She then opened the window, and the robber appeared out of nowhere pointing a gun at her. When Ms. Mackie saw the gun, she ran to the back of the Burger King screaming. On her way, she grabbed Ms. Stevenson, who was mopping the floor. 1 .The two women ran into the office, and closed the door. By this time, the robber had entered the Burger King through the window and approached the office door. The robber stated: “Bitch, open the door before I blow it down.” When Ms. Stevenson opened the door, the robber grabbed Ms. Mackie and dragged her towards the front of the Burger King demanding money. Meanwhile, Ms. Stevenson escaped by running out the back door. Ms. Mackie screamed for the manager, but the manager did not immediately reply because she was in the bathroom.

As the robber and Ms. Mackie reached the front of the Burger King, the manager came out of the bathroom. They were near the window, and the robber ordered Ms. Mackie to her knees. The robber had the gun pointed at the top of her head, and he stated: “Bitch, I should make you take off your clothes.” During this time, the manager removed the cash drawer from the register and placed it on top of the counter. The robber grabbed the money and demanded that Ms. Mackie give him a kiss, but she turned away. The robber demanded that the manager give him a kiss, and she complied. The robber then left through the window. Ms. Mackie saw the robber drive off in a grey Nissan truck.

Ms. Mackie described the robber as wearing a red and black flowered dress, a red necklace, and a burgundy reddish wig with a black clamp. She subsequently identified Mr. Robinson as the robber from a six-person photographic line-up. Ms. Mackie further identified Mr. Robinson in court and testified that she was one hundred per cent positive that he was the person who robbed her. Ms. Mackie still | r,further identified the persons seen in the Burger King surveillance video taken during the robbery that was played for the jury.

Joint investigation of robberies

On the morning of the robberies at about 11:30 a.m., Officer Roach of the Ken-ner Police Department responded to a dispatch call of a possible vehicle theft in progress at 247 Clemson Street in Kenner. When he arrived on the scene, Officer Roach observed a grey pickup truck with one of the driver’s side windows broken. No one was around the truck. In the back seat of the truck, Officer Roach found a red female wig, a floral dress, a black bra, and red necklace. After running the li *94 cense plate of the truck, he learned that it had been stolen from New Orleans that morning. Officer Roach then spoke to the woman who had called the police. Based upon information the woman provided, Officer Roach knocked on the door of 247 Clemson Street, apartment number two. Mr. Robinson answered the door and spoke with Officer Roach. Officer Roach then made contact by cell phone with the owner of the stolen truck, Mr. Charles. Mr. Charles informed Officer Roach of the armed robbery that morning. At trial, Officer Roach identified the items of women’s clothing he found in the truck; and he also identified Mr. Robinson.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Robinson, 81 So. 3d 90, 2011 La.App. 4 Cir. 0066, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1486, 2011 WL 6098012 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

81 So. 3d 90 (State v. Robinson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State of Louisiana Versus Johnny Lee
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State v. Amos
192 So. 3d 822 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Lambert
186 So. 3d 728 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Bernard
171 So. 3d 1063 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Wilson
165 So. 3d 1150 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Butler
162 So. 3d 455 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Spencer
151 So. 3d 816 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Watkins
146 So. 3d 294 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Cushenberry
146 So. 3d 777 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Martin
141 So. 3d 933 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State ex rel. T.W.
141 So. 3d 822 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Dominick
129 So. 3d 782 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State v. Santos-Castro
120 So. 3d 933 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State v. Boudreaux
98 So. 3d 881 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Celestine
91 So. 3d 573 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Lewis
95 So. 3d 533 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State ex rel. J.T.
94 So. 3d 847 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)