State v. Roche

928 So. 2d 761, 2006 WL 1071958
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 25, 2006
Docket05-KA-237
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 928 So. 2d 761 (State v. Roche) 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. Roche, 928 So. 2d 761, 2006 WL 1071958 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

928 So.2d 761 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Terry C. ROCHE.

No. 05-KA-237.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 25, 2006.
Rehearing Denied May 17, 2006.

*762 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Andrea F. Long, Martin A. Belanger, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District, Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Prentice L. White, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

THOMAS F. DALEY, Judge.

Defendant, Terry Roche. appeals his conviction of possession of cocaine, a violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967(C). On appeal, he assigns the following errors:

1. The district court committed manifest error when it denied Roche's Motion to Suppress because the record overwhelmingly supports the fact that the arresting officer only stopped, detained and arrested Roche because he knew Roche had been arrested before for drug charges — not because Roche was drinking from an open container.
2. The district court's ruling, which denied Roche's Motion to Suppress, violated Roche's privacy rights because Roche was arrested for committing a minor misdemeanor infraction.

After thorough consideration of the evidence and applicable law, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On March 10, 2004, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a Bill of Information that charged Roche with possession of heroin in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:966(C) (count one) and possession of cocaine in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967(C) (count two) on February 10, 2004. On the following day, defendant pled not guilty to these charges. On August 25, 2004, the trial court denied defendant's Motion to Suppress Evidence. Thereafter, on September 28, 2004, the Bill of Information was amended, and count one, possession of heroin, was nolle prossed. As such, only count two, possession of cocaine, in Case *763 No. 04-1684, is the subject of this appeal.[1]

Defendant waived his right to a jury trial. After a bench trial on September 28, 2004, defendant was convicted of possession of cocaine. Simultaneously, defendant was also found guilty on a drug paraphernalia charge.

In his brief, defendant requests that this Court reverse his conviction and sentence for possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. However, this appeal concerns only Case No. 04-1684, possession of cocaine.[2] Possession of drug paraphernalia was separately charged in another Bill of Information. Defendant also argues in his brief that he should be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea to the instant charges in light of his Fourth Amendment violation. However, the possession of cocaine conviction, Case No. 04-1684, which is the subject of this appeal, resulted after a bench trial and not a guilty plea.

On November 18, 2004, defendant was sentenced on the possession of cocaine charge, under the proper case number of 04-1684, to imprisonment for 40 months with the Department of Corrections.[3]

The State filed a multiple offender Bill of Information on November 18, 2004, alleging defendant was a third felony offender and seeking to enhance his conviction in Case No. 04-1684, possession of cocaine. Defendant had previously been convicted and sentenced for distribution of cocaine and possession of cocaine.[4] On this same day, defendant admitted that he was a third felony offender as alleged, and the trial court accepted the admission. The trial judge found defendant to be a third felony offender, vacated defendant's original 40-month sentence and imposed the negotiated 40-month sentence with the Department of Corrections without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.

On November 18, 2004, defendant filed a Motion for Appeal. On March 28, 2005, defense counsel filed an Anders[5] brief and a Motion and Order to Withdraw as Counsel of Record. This Court issued an Order on January 4, 2006, which denied defense counsel's motion and ordered defense counsel to submit a brief addressing the ruling of the trial court's denial of defendant's Motion to Suppress. The order removed the case from the January 9, 2006 docket and required that it be placed on *764 the next available docket. Defense counsel filed a brief on defendant's behalf on January 23, 2006.

FACTS

According to Officer Jerry Broome, a Gretna patrol officer, on February 10, 2004 at approximately 1:00 a.m., he observed four subjects standing in the front of 908 Cook Street, located in a high crime area, consuming alcohol out of beer cans. The officer knew defendant lived there because he had arrested him there several months before for possession of heroin. Officer Broome testified that he stopped and placed the four subjects under arrest for having open containers and handcuffed them for his safety, since he was outnumbered. The officer testified that he conducted a "pat-down" of defendant and located in his jean pocket a spoon, which had been burned on its bottom and contained a white residue, and a piece of cardboard with a white powdery substance on it in a small plastic bag. The residue on the spoon and cardboard were tested and both tested positive for illegal drugs.

Defendant was charged with having an open container in violation of Gretna Ordinance 16-124, and possession of heroin, cocaine, and paraphernalia. At the time of the field test, the officer thought he was using a heroin test on the spoon and a cocaine test on the cardboard, but the lab results revealed he was using two cocaine tests. Forensic scientist, Andrea Travis, testified at trial that the white powder on the spoon and the piece of cardboard both tested positive for cocaine.

At trial, Deborah McGinnis, one of the female subjects who was arrested, testified that they were not outside drinking that night, and the officer removed the spoon and cardboard from the house. Defendant also testified that he was not drinking beer with three other people when he was on the sidewalk in front of his house and the officer stopped and called him over. Defendant testified that he was arrested after being told there was a probation attachment issued for him. According to defendant, the officer searched him, found nothing, and then put him in the officer's car. He testified that the officer did not find the spoon and cardboard in his pocket. On rebuttal, Officer Broome denied going into the residence and again testified that the evidence was found on defendant's person.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NUMBER ONE AND TWO

Defendant challenges the legitimacy of his arrest, arguing that the officer used his minor infraction as a pretext to searching him and later arresting him for drug possession. Defendant argues he was stopped because of the officer's previous run-in with him and that the officer did not have probable cause to detain and arrest him for possession of illegal drugs. Further, defendant argues that his privacy rights were violated by the officer when he was purposefully detained, searched, and arrested for committing a minor offense of drinking from an open alcoholic beverage container while standing in front of his residence. As such, defendant argues that the objects seized from his person, including the test results from those objects, should have been suppressed since they were illegally obtained by the officer who violated his rights against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
928 So. 2d 761, 2006 WL 1071958, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-roche-lactapp-2006.