State v. Rodriguez

761 So. 2d 14, 2000 WL 61661
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 25, 2000
Docket99-K-914
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 761 So. 2d 14 (State v. Rodriguez) 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. Rodriguez, 761 So. 2d 14, 2000 WL 61661 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

761 So.2d 14 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Fulgenio RODRIGUEZ.

No. 99-K-914.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 25, 2000.
Writ Denied April 7, 2000.

*15 George P. Vedros, Indigent Defender Board, Gretna, Louisiana, Attorney for Appellant Fulgenio Rodriguez.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Rebecca J. Becker, Terry Boudreaux, Richard Bates, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, Attorney for Appellee State of Louisiana.

Panel composed of Judges JAMES L. CANNELLA, THOMAS F. DALEY and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Fulgenio Rodriguez, filed a writ application in this court seeking review of the trial court judgment denying his motion to suppress evidence seized without a warrant from outside of an automobile in which he was a passenger and with a warrant from inside an apartment in which he was a resident. We granted the writ and set the case for briefing, argument and opinion. For the reasons which follow, we reverse and remand.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, only one witness was called to testify, Detective Robert Gerdes, a Jefferson Parish Narcotics Officer. Detective Gerdes testified that he has been employed by the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office "under five years." For "under four years" he has been assigned to the Narcotics Section. Detective Gerdes related that in November of 1998 he received information from Frank Garza, a United States Drug Enforcement Administration Agent, that the agent had received information from a reliable confidential informant that "the residence of 2121 Cleary Avenue, Apt. 10, was involved in wholesale distribution and storage of heroin. More specifically, Special Agent Garza learned on November 20, 1998, that a large quantity of heroin was to be delivered by one of the residents of 2121 Cleary Avenue, Apt. 10." Detective Gerdes stated that he did not know when the confidential informant had supplied the information to the agent.

Detective Gerdes set up surveillance on the date indicated at approximately 3:00 p.m. When asked why it was set up at that time, he replied, "It was set up on a particular time relevant to some information that some activity was supposed to transpire between a particular time." On redirect, *16 he stated that the surveillance was set up within a specified time frame, although the time frame was not stated. Detective Gerdes testified that to his knowledge the surveillance was the first activity associated with this apartment or with the information provided by the confidential informant.

At approximately 3:56 p.m. Detective Gerdes saw two individuals exit the apartment. He stated that they did not act suspiciously, but entered a vehicle located in the apartment's parking lot. The officers were not looking for a particular vehicle, nor were they looking for a particular person as a result of their surveillance. When the individuals entered the car, the officers conducted a registration check on the vehicle which indicated the vehicle was registered to a person named Figueroa at the address specified by the informant. Defendant was seated in the passenger seat. The individuals drove away. Detective Gerdes and Detective Joe Phan followed in an unmarked police vehicle. The officers followed for about five blocks but did not observe any suspicious activity before they activated the lights and siren on the police vehicle. The only factor causing Detective Gerdes to be suspicious of these individuals was that they left that apartment. The vehicle pulled into a business located in the 3700 block of Veterans, the driver opened his door and fled on foot. Detective Gerdes testified that he then observed the passenger throw a black plastic bag out of the driver's side of the vehicle, which landed on the ground. The officer stated that the object could not have been dropped by the person fleeing the scene. The person fleeing the scene was not apprehended. The stop occurred at approximately 4:00 p.m. The officers recovered the discarded object and found that it held two clear plastic bags, each of which contained a brown powder. He field tested the items and found they tested positive for heroin. Defendant was then placed under arrest.

Detective Gerdes subsequently applied for a search warrant for the apartment. Although the affidavit for the search warrant was not introduced into evidence at the suppression hearing, the state concedes that the validity of the search warrant is dependent on the evidence obtained as a result of the vehicle stop. After defendant was arrested, his keys were taken from him and officers entered the apartment to secure it while the search warrant was being acquired. Detective Gerdes, who prepared the warrant, had no communication with the officers who were in the apartment. A dog was brought into the residence after the warrant was signed. The dog alerted Detective Gerdes to the refrigerator. Heroin was recovered from the refrigerator. No other narcotics were found in the apartment. In addition, however, defendant's clothing, a digital scale and miscellaneous paperwork in defendant's name were found in the apartment.

Detective Gerdes denied planting the narcotics at the scene of the stop and at the apartment.

Defense counsel argued below that the initial stop was illegal and, therefore, the evidence seized from that stop must be suppressed. He also argued that the search warrant was based on information from the illegal stop and, therefore, the warrant was improper and the evidence seized from the apartment pursuant thereto must also be suppressed. The trial court took the matter under advisement and denied the motion to suppress on August 12, 1999.

Defendant filed a writ application requesting a stay order and seeking the reversal of the trial judge's denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized from an allegedly illegal vehicle stop and evidence obtained from the subsequent warrant authorized search of the apartment. On August 27, 1999, this court granted relator's request for a stay pending further action by the court. This court granted a writ of review on September 13, 1999, ordering, *17 inter alia, that the matter be set for lodging of the record, briefing and oral argument.

Defendant argues to this court, as he did in trial court, that the initial stop of the vehicle in which the defendant was a passenger was illegal because it was not based on reasonable suspicion by the police officer making the stop that criminal activity was taking place. Absent a valid stop, any evidence seized pursuant thereto must be suppressed. Further, the search warrant of the apartment was based on the illegally obtained evidence seized from the vehicle stop. Therefore, the evidence seized from the apartment must also be suppressed.

The State argues to the contrary that there were ample facts within the knowledge of the police officer to support the investigatory stop of the vehicle and seizure of the narcotics pursuant thereto. Therefore, the seizure of the narcotics pursuant to the vehicle stop was legal and the search warrant obtained thereafter, based on the drugs seized from the vehicle is also valid.

In a hearing on a motion to suppress, the State bears the burden of proof in establishing the admissibility of evidence seized without a warrant. La. C.Cr.P. art. 703, subd. D; State v. Alexander, 92-2179 (La.App. 4th Cir. 2/11/94), 632 So.2d 853. The State can meet this burden by showing that the evidence was seized pursuant to a valid investigatory stop.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
761 So. 2d 14, 2000 WL 61661, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rodriguez-lactapp-2000.