State v. Runnels

101 So. 3d 1046, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 167, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1371, 2012 WL 5416976
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 2012
DocketNo. 12-167
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 101 So. 3d 1046 (State v. Runnels) 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. Runnels, 101 So. 3d 1046, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 167, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1371, 2012 WL 5416976 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

AMY, Judge.

[ ,The defendant was charged with simple burglary and theft less than $500.00. A jury convicted the defendant of simple burglary. For the simple burglary charge, the trial court sentenced the defendant to ten years at hard labor with three years suspended. The trial court also imposed four years of supervised probation, with conditions, and ordered the defendant to pay supervision and technology fees. For the theft less than $500.00 charge, the trial court sentenced the defendant to six months in the parish jail, to run concurrently with his simple burglary sentence. The defendant now appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm the defendant’s sentence and conviction for the simple burglary charge. We vacate the defendant’s sentence for the theft less than $500.00 charge and remand the matter to the trial court.

Factual and Procedural Background

The defendant, Donald K. Runnels, was arrested after he was found to be in possession of various cleaning supplies and a shovel that belonged to a Pizza Hut in Oakdale, Louisiana. The State subsequently charged the defendant with simple burglary, a violation of La.R.S. 14:62, and theft less than $500.00, a violation of La. R.S. 14:67. A trial was held on the simple burglary count and a six-person jury unanimously convicted the defendant of that charge.

Thereafter, the State filed a habitual offender bill of information, although the habitual offender hearing was continued. Thus, the trial court imposed sentence on the underlying offenses. With regard to the simple burglary conviction, the trial court sentenced the defendant to ten years at hard labor, with three years suspended. The trial court also sentenced the defendant to four years of supervised probation, with conditions, and supervision and technology fees. With regard to the theft charge, the trial court sentenced the defendant to six months in the parish jail, to run concurrently with the sentence in his burglary conviction.

|gThe defendant appeals, asserting through counsel that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Additionally, the defendant has filed a pro se brief asserting various errors.

Discussion

Prematurity

In his counseled brief, the defendant contends that this appeal is premature, as his habitual offender proceeding is still pending. However, La.Code CrimJP. art. 912(C)(1) permits a defendant to appeal from a judgment which imposes a sentence. Further, “[a]n appellate court therefore may not dismiss a timely and properly filed appeal on the grounds that [1050]*1050the district court may vacate sentence and resentence the defendant on a pending multiple offender bill under La.R.S. 15:529.1.” State v. Gilbert, 99-2338, p. 1 (La.2/4/00), 758 So.2d 779, 779-80. Accordingly, we find that this appeal is not premature.

Errors Patent

Pursuant to La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. A review of the record indicates that there is a misjoinder in the bill of information. The bill of information charges the defendant with simple burglary in violation of La.R.S. 14:62, which is a felony triable by jury, and theft less than $500.00 in violation of La. R.S. 14:67(B)(3), which is a misdemeanor not triable by jury. See La.Code Crim.P. arts. 779 and 782. Because the offenses are not triable by the same mode of trial, they should not have been charged in the same bill of information. See La.Code Crim.P. art. 493. However, the defendant waived that error as he did not file a motion to quash the bill of information based on the misjoinder. See La.Code Crim.P. art. 495. See State v. Anderson, 08-962 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/4/09), 2 So.3d 622, writ denied, 09-518 (La.11/20/09), 25 So.3d 786.

| ..¡Further, we note that the appellate review of misdemeanors is typically by way of a writ of review rather than an appeal. La.Code Crim.P. art. 912.1. However, the defendant’s brief addresses both the simple burglary charge and the theft less than $500.00 charge. We therefore decline to sever the misdemeanor conviction and will address it in the present appeal. See State v. Williams, 07-490 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/31/07), 969 So.2d 744. Compare State v. Turner, 04-1250 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/2/05), 896 So.2d 286 (wherein a panel of this court severed a defendant’s misdemeanor conviction from his appeal on two felony counts as the defendant made no specific arguments concerning the misdemeanor conviction), writ denied, 05-871 (La.12/12/05), 917 So.2d 1084.

With regard to the charge of theft less than $500.00, the trial court sentenced the defendant to six months in the parish jail on that count. However, as pointed out by the defendant in his brief, there is nothing in the record indicating that a verdict was rendered either by the jury or by the trial court on this count. Therefore, the defendant’s sentence for theft less than $500.00 is vacated. See La.Code Crim.P. arts. 871(A) and 934(3).

Further, La.Code Crim.P. art. 819 provides “[i]f there is more than one count in an indictment, the jury must find a verdict as to each count, unless it cannot agree on a verdict as to a count.” Although the defendant was charged with two counts— simple burglary and theft less than $500.00—he proceeded to trial and was convicted of only the simple burglary charge. Responding to an inquiry from this court, the Allen Parish Clerk of Court averred that with regard to the theft less than $500.00 charge, there is no transcript or minutes from a bench trial, nor is there a plea of guilty. Therefore, the case is remanded for disposition of the defendant’s remaining charge. See State v. Orbro, 10-1289 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/4/11), 64 So.3d 410 (citing State v. Hypolite, 04-1658 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/1/05), 903 So.2d 1275, writ denied, 06-618 (La.9/22/06), 937 So.2d 381), writ denied, 11-1105 (La.11/14/11), 75 So.3d 940.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

The defendant contends, both in his counseled brief and his pro se brief, that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. He argues that the evidence is insufficient to prove that he had specific [1051]*1051intent to commit a theft. The defendant notes that he presented evidence indicating that the items in question were not located in Pizza Hut’s shed, but were next to the dumpster. He also contends that the State’s failure to introduce photographs taken the day of the alleged offense is error.

An appellate court should address sufficiency of the evidence claims first. State v. C.S.D., 08-877 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/4/09), 4 So.3d 204. The supreme court reiterated the appellate review of sufficiency of the evidence claims in State v. Macon, 06-481, pp. 7-8 (La.6/1/07), 957 So.2d 1280, 1285-86, stating:

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim 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, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305 (La.1988).

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Bluebook (online)
101 So. 3d 1046, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 167, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1371, 2012 WL 5416976, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-runnels-lactapp-2012.