State v. Rubin

899 So. 2d 180, 2005 WL 767460
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 6, 2005
DocketKA 04-1531
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 899 So. 2d 180 (State v. Rubin) 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. Rubin, 899 So. 2d 180, 2005 WL 767460 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

899 So.2d 180 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Jordie Kenry RUBIN.

No. KA 04-1531.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 6, 2005.

*181 Earl B. Taylor, District Attorney, Donald James Richard, Assistant District Attorney, Alisa Ardoin Gothreaux, Assistant District Attorney, Opelousas, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Peggy J. Sullivan, Louisiana Appellate Project, Monroe, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Jordie Kenry Rubin.

Jordie Kenry Rubin, Pine Prairie, LA, pro se.

Court composed of SYLVIA R. COOKS, JOHN D. SAUNDERS, and GLENN B. GREMILLION, Judges.

SAUNDERS, J.

MEMORANDUM:

On June 17, 2003, the State filed a bill of information charging Defendant, Jordie K. Rubin, with three counts of armed robbery in violation of La.R.S. 14:64. On April 21, 2004, a jury found Defendant guilty on all counts. On August 30, 2004, the court sentenced Defendant to concurrently serve fifteen years on each count. Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence, assigning two errors.

FACTS:

On April 13, 2003, Marcus and Kayla Daugherty were at their residence with a friend, Lee Roy Sam. At about 8:00 p.m., someone knocked on the door. The Daughertys and Sam all asked who it was and there was no answer. There was another knock, and they again asked who it was. Once again, there was no answer, so Sam opened the door. A man with tattooed forearms then entered the house wearing a sheer black mask and carrying a gun.

The intruder demanded money, a chain and a bracelet Mr. Daugherty was wearing, and a watch. He also took a cell and house phone, herded the three occupants of the house to a bedroom, and pistol-whipped Mr. Daugherty. He made the trio lie on the bedroom floor then walked them back to the front of the house. The intruder then left through the front door. Subsequently, the victims heard a gunshot *182 outside, near the back of the house. They alerted police, and the ensuing investigation led to Defendant's arrest.

ERRORS PATENT:

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO.1:

In his first assignment, Defendant argues the evidence adduced against him at trial was insufficient to support his conviction.

The general test for such a claim is well-settled, as this court has explained:

When the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, rehearing denied, 444 U.S. 890, 100 S.Ct. 195, 62 L.Ed.2d 126 (1979); State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La.1983); State v. Duncan, 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982); State v. Moody, 393 So.2d 1212 (La. 1981). It is the role of the fact finder to weigh the respective credibility of the witnesses, and therefore, the appellate court should not second guess the credibility determinations of the triers of fact beyond the sufficiency evaluations under the Jackson standard of review. See State ex rel. Graffagnino, 436 So.2d 559 (citing State v. Richardson, 425 So.2d 1228 (La.1983)). In order for this Court to affirm a conviction, however, the record must reflect that the state has satisfied its burden of proving the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Kennerson, 96-1518, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/7/97), 695 So.2d 1367, 1371.

The elements of armed robbery are contained in La.R.S. 14:64, which states in pertinent part that "[a]rmed robbery is the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, while armed with a dangerous weapon."

On appeal, Defendant focuses upon the victims' identification of him as the robber, arguing that these identifications were faulty. "When identity is disputed, the state must negate any reasonable probability of misidentification in order to satisfy its burden to establish every element of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Edwards, 97-1797, p. 12 (La.7/2/99), 750 So.2d 893, 902, cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1026, 120 S.Ct. 542, 145 L.Ed.2d 421 (1999).

As Defendant points out, the victims all testified the robber was masked. Mrs. Daugherty testified she could not make out the robber's facial features, but that she saw a tattoo on the robber's right forearm. During the robbery, she did not see a tattoo on his left forearm. She testified she noticed the right arm particularly, because the robber had the weapon in his right hand with his arm extended. At trial, Defendant exposed his right forearm, which is tattooed with the letter "J" in quotation marks, and Mrs. Daugherty identified it as the same tattoo she had seen on the robber. Defendant also exposed his left forearm, which bears the legend "Big `J.'" On cross-examination, Mrs. Daugherty acknowledged a prior statement to police, in which she stated the robber had "HR" tattooed on his right forearm. She explained the discrepancy by stating the quotation marks on Defendant's right forearm looked like an "H." *183 On redirect, Mrs. Daugherty noted that in her written statement to police, she acknowledged some uncertainty about the tattoo, writing it as "HR?"

Sam testified he saw "[a] `J' and something else," on the robber's arm. However, on cross-examination, he acknowledged that, in a prior written statement to police, he stated that the robber had an "R" on his arm. He testified that, in the statement, he was referring to the robber's left arm. Like Mrs. Daugherty, Sam testified the robber was wearing a knit-type mask, but he also stated he was able to identify the robber as Defendant, whom he had been acquainted with "from on the street" for "[a] long time." He further testified that he had no doubt regarding the robber's identity. He acknowledged that, after the crime, he discussed the robber's identity with Mr. Daugherty, but reiterated his confidence in the identification.

Mr. Daugherty testified to the same general scenario as the other two, but did not remember seeing any tattoos on the robber. He also testified that, during the offense, he noticed the offender "kind of looked like Jordie" despite his knit-type mask. Mr. Daugherty explained that he had known Defendant since the latter was a boy, and the robber's gold teeth and "the texture of his face" looked like Defendant's. On both direct and cross-examination, he acknowledged he was not "a hundred percent sure" of the identification, "but it looked like him." He also testified the robber sounded like Defendant. Further, on redirect, he stated he was convinced Defendant and the masked robber were the same person. Mr. Daugherty testified Defendant took a gold chain, a watch, a gold and diamond bracelet, cash, a cell phone, and a cordless house phone.

On appeal, Defendant's main point of contention is that his tattoos are not of either the letter "R" or "H." The court allowed Defendant to enter two photographs into the record for the benefit of review. The two pictures show that Defendant's right arm bears the letter "J" and his left forearm has "Big `J'" tattooed on it.

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Bluebook (online)
899 So. 2d 180, 2005 WL 767460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rubin-lactapp-2005.