State v. Sagona

451 So. 2d 1171, 1984 La. App. LEXIS 8913
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 30, 1984
DocketNo. 83 KA 1243
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 451 So. 2d 1171 (State v. Sagona) 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. Sagona, 451 So. 2d 1171, 1984 La. App. LEXIS 8913 (La. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

WATKINS, Judge.

Defendant was charged by bill of information with the crime of theft of approximately 6,000 gallons of gasoline having a value in excess of $500.00 in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:67. Following a trial by a six-person jury, the defendant was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced by the court to pay a fine of $2,000.00 and court costs or to serve ninety (90) days in the parish jail, and, in addition, was sentenced to confinement at hard labor for a period of seven (7) years. Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence, alleging two assignments of error, viz:

1. The trial court erred when it overruled defendant’s motion for a new trial based on the grounds that the state failed to prove an essential element, that the value of the property taken was over $500.00, by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. The trial court erred when it overruled defendant’s motion for a new trial on the grounds that the state failed to respond to defendant’s timely filed motion for discovery requesting a portion of the seized substance for analysis by defendant.

FACTS:

Defendant was arrested at approximately 2:15 a.m. on March 2, 1982, while attempting to release his tractor-trailer tank truck which had become stuck in the muddy area adjacent to the bank of the Intra-coastal Canal at the stubout of Louisiana Highway 415 in West Baton Rouge Parish. A highway patrolman had noticed the activity on the secluded part of the highway about two miles west of Port Allen, Louisiana, and upon investigation discovered the tank truck together with defendant, a wrecker and a helper. Defendant admitted to the officer that the truck was his and that it contained “waste” or slop gasoline. When the officer noticed some thick black liquid at the rear of the truck, he became suspicious that hazardous material was being illegally disposed of. He called the Louisiana State Police Hazardous Materials Section which, in turn, dispatched a trooper.

When the trooper arrived at the scene, he inspected the truck and its contents. The state trooper found several violations of the hazardous materials regulations and/or the Highway Regulatory Act and arrested defendant and impounded his trailer truck, securing it in a wrecker yard in West Baton Rouge Parish. The trooper then notified the criminal investigation bu[1173]*1173reau, which took samples from each of the four sections of defendant’s tank truck. The contents of the samples were tested by an independent laboratory and found to be clean gasoline, both leaded and unleaded, rather than the residue from the clean gasoline which collects in what is termed “slop tanks” on the shipping barges. As a result of the investigation, defendant was arrested; also a tug boat, the Zephyr, was searched and the captain and the crew members of the Zephyr were arrested.

At the instant trial two of the crew members testified that on the night in question they had shipped gasoline belonging to Amoco from Texas City, Texas to the Port Allen Amoco docks, controlling two barges with ten gasoline tanks and two slop tanks on each barge, each holding about 2,000 gallons of fuel. They further testified that on the night in question the crew had offloaded the gasoline tanks of both barges at the Amoco dock, then traveled some distance up the Intracoastal Canal and pumped fuel from the slop tanks into defendant’s truck. One crew member testified he had received $1,700.00 cash money from the captain of the tug in payment for this transaction. The second crew member testified he had received $300.00 from the tug captain for the same transaction.

During the time the truck was impounded, the troopers noticed a liquid was leaking from the truck. The manager of the wrecking yard called the troopers, who came out and washed down the area to minimize any danger of fire. After about three days, the troopers returned the gasoline to Amoco, as the situation had become very dangerous because of the loaded truck sitting idle in the wreck yard.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2:

Defendant contends that his conviction should be set aside as the state failed to respond to his request for discovery, arguing that failure to furnish Brady (infra) material to defendant upon his request denied to defendant his constitutional right to a fair trial. Defendant bases his argument in brief on the holding in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 93 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), which requires the disclosure of evidence favorable to an accused upon request where such evidence is material either to the guilt or to the punishment of defendant.

The record shows that defendant filed a motion for discovery on June 16, 1982, following his arrest in March of 1982. On March 22,1983, defendant filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the state had failed to respond to defendant’s motion for discovery; this motion to dismiss was denied. Defendant then applied for writs to the Supreme Court, arguing that he was denied his right to a fair trial when the state returned the allegedly stolen gasoline to its owner, Amoco, thus denying defendant access to evidence that was possibly exculpatory. Writs were denied on the ground that defendant had adequate remedy on appeal.

The right to be protected against the prosecutor’s failure to reveal its possession of exculpatory evidence is founded on the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution and is designed to assure a fair trial. Brady v. Maryland, supra. In this case, the defendant’s motion for discovery was a “general request” and falls within the third category of evidence to which the Brady rules apply as set forth by the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). If a general request is made for exculpatory materials, a conviction will only be overturned if the omitted evidence creates a reasonable doubt about the guilt of defendant that did not otherwise exist. State v. Prudholm, 446 So.2d 729 (La.1984).

Discovery in criminal cases is regulated by the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure. LSA-C.Cr.P. 718 provides that, on motion of the defendant, the court shall order the district attorney to permit or authorize the defendant to. inspect, copy, examine, test scientifically, or photograph, or otherwise reproduce books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects, buildings, places, or copies of portions thereof, which are within the possession, [1174]*1174custody or control of the state, and which are favorable to the defendant and which are material and relevant to the issue of guilt or punishment or are intended for use by the state as evidence at trial. However, the prosecutor has no constitutional duty to make a complete and detailed accounting of all police investigative works on a case to defense counsel. U.S. v. Brown, 628 F.2d 471 (5th Cir.1980), rehearing denied, 633 F.2d 582 (1980). Failure of the state to comply with discovery procedures does not automatically require reversal; the court will examine the circumstances to determine whether defendant was actually prejudiced by the non-disclosure. State v. Vacarro, 411 So.2d 415 (La.1982).

Even assuming there was a violation of LSA-C.Cr.P.

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Related

State v. Starks
471 So. 2d 1029 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
State v. Sagona
456 So. 2d 172 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
451 So. 2d 1171, 1984 La. App. LEXIS 8913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sagona-lactapp-1984.