State v. Roubique

421 So. 2d 859
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedOctober 18, 1982
Docket82-KA-0243
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 421 So. 2d 859 (State v. Roubique) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Roubique, 421 So. 2d 859 (La. 1982).

Opinion

421 So.2d 859 (1982)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Aaron Daniel ROUBIQUE.

No. 82-KA-0243.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

October 18, 1982.
Rehearing Denied November 19, 1982.

*860 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty., Kay Kirkpatrick, Michael McDonald, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

Chester Hugh Boyd, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.

WARD, Justice Pro Tem.[*]

Aaron Roubique was charged by bill of information on June 11, 1981, with committing the crimes of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and production of marijuana, which are defined by La.R.S. 40:967(A). Roubique pleaded not guilty and on July 8, 1981, he filed a motion to suppress evidence which had been seized pursuant to a search warrant. The Trial Judge denied the motion to suppress, and thereafter Roubique pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, reserving his right to appeal from the adverse ruling on the motion to suppress. State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976). The Judge sentenced Roubique to serve five years at hard labor and ordered him to pay a $5,000.00 fine, but he suspended the imprisonment and placed him on active probation for five years. As a special condition of his probation, the Judge ordered that he serve a year in the parish jail. Roubique appeals not only the Trial Judge's ruling denying his motion to suppress, but also appeals his sentence, contending that it is excessive.

There is no dispute as to what occurred on the afternoon of March 18, 1981, when members of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant for Roubique's trailer home, located at 17735 Riverside Park in East Baton Rouge Parish. They seized over forty-seven pounds of marijuana, five marijuana plants, two and one-half methaqualone tablets, three grams of hashish, and $8,580.00.

The first of several issues raised by the defendant on appeal is whether the Trial Judge erred when he denied defendant's motion to suppress the evidence. Roubique contends that the search warrant should not have been issued in the first place. The search warrant was supported by the following affidavit:

Affiant informs the Court that on March 18, 1981, a confidential and reliable informant who has provided information to affiant over the past five (5) years which has led to the arrest and conviction of at least ten (10) persons for drug offenses, *861 contacted affiant and stated that on or about March 18, 1981, he, being said informant, had been present at the above described trailer and had observed a quantity of what was described by the occupant as Cocaine and Marijuana.
Affiant further informs the Court that said informant further stated that Aaron Roubique is well known to said informant and said informant has been present at the above location on several prior occasions in the past several months and has observed Cocaine and Marijuana or other controlled dangerous substances on these prior visits.
Affiant further informs the Court that affiant was contacted by Detective Greg Farris of the Baton Rouge City Police Department who stated that a confidential and reliable informant who has provided information which has led to several arrests informed him that Aaron Roubique was the occupant of the above described trailer and that said informant had purchased large quantities of marijuana from Mr. Roubique.
Affiant further informs the Court that a check with Gulf States Utilities shows service at 17735 Riverside Park Drive, in the name of Aaron Roubique.
Affiant further informs the Court that approximately one (1) month ago affiant observed a 1975 Ford bearing license 240X671 at the above residence and after checking registration found it belonged to Aaron Roubique.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NO. I & VI

Robique contends that the affidavit for the search warrant was tainted by a prior illegal entry onto his property by Captain Michael Barnette and that Barnette, who procured the warrant, intentionally withheld the facts of this entry from the issuing magistrate. Testimony given during the hearing of the motion to suppress proved that Barnette had, indeed, gone onto Roubique's land.

Other evidence produced in the motion showed that in February 1981, Officer Greg Phares of the Baton Rouge City Police Department contacted Captain Barnette of the Sheriff's Office to relay information which he had obtained from an informant. The informant had told him that Roubique had a large quantity of drugs at his trailer residence, and further, the informant had taken Phares to the general area where the trailer was located. Barnette knew Robique by reputation; he had conducted a surveillance of Roubique's prior residence, and he had monitored Roubique's activities following his move to Riverside Park.

Shortly after relaying this information to Barnette, in February 1981, Phares brought Barnette to the general area to obtain either a description or an address of the trailer. They drove a short distance on a gravel pathway which Barnette initially believed was a road paralleling the Amite River, but later realized was actually Roubique's driveway. Although at the entrance to the road, there was a sign: "Private Road, No Trespassing", Barnette testified he did not observe the sign when he first drove down the driveway. After driving a short distance, Barnette observed Roubique and another male in the front yard, and he stopped his vehicle and informed them that he was looking for a place to rent. After a brief exchange of words, the officers drove off. Barnette, however, had obtained the license number of a vehicle parked beside the trailer, and his later investigation showed that the vehicle belonged to Roubique. Additionally, Gulf States Utilities verified service to Roubique at that location.

Because Barnette believed that he had been recognized, the surveillance was discontinued, and no further activity occurred until March 18, 1981, when Barnette received the information described in the affidavit from another informant. The warrant was then issued, and the search followed.

The Trial Judge, after denying the motion to suppress, said that the only question which caused him concern was that of the officers' trip down the private road before the warrant was issued. The Judge explained:

*862 The Court feels that the only evidence gathered as such by that trip was the license number of the car as to Mr. Roubique. I feel the officer was in good faith and did not purposely trespass, though in truth and in fact it amounted to trespass. They were on private property and they had signs there. But, in my opinion, they had sufficient knowledge to have issued the warrant that was ultimately issued without the trip down the road. They had the location of the trailer, they had the name of the gentlemen that was allegedly working out at that trailer. And I'm not going to excise from the warrant information that they had previously acquired and received....

Roubique conceding that the only evidence which was obtained from the February entry was confirmation of the location of the trailer and the license number of the vehicle, nevertheless, argues that the evidence obtained from that illegal entry was used to construct the search warrant which was subsequently issued in March. On the other hand, the State argues that the officers' "unintentional patrol" onto the private drive did not constitute a search.

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Bluebook (online)
421 So. 2d 859, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-roubique-la-1982.