State v. Samuels

657 So. 2d 562, 1995 WL 340952
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 7, 1995
Docket94-KA-1408
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 657 So. 2d 562 (State v. Samuels) 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. Samuels, 657 So. 2d 562, 1995 WL 340952 (La. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

657 So.2d 562 (1995)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Charles SAMUELS.

No. 94-KA-1408.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

June 7, 1995.

*563 Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty. of Orleans Parish, Val M. Solino, Asst. Dist. Atty. of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, for appellee.

Phelps Dunbar, Laura Tiffany Hawkins, New Orleans, for appellant.

Before BARRY, CIACCIO and MURRAY, JJ.

BARRY, Judge.

The defendant was charged with six counts of armed robbery, La.R.S. 14:64, and found guilty on count 5. He was found to be a double offender and sentenced to ninety-nine years at hard labor. He appealed seeking a review for error patent and this court affirmed the conviction and sentence. State v. Charles Samuels, unpub., KA-2323 (La.App. 4th Cir., 9/9/85). Pursuant to Lofton v. Whitley, 905 F.2d 885 (5th Cir.1990), the defendant was granted this appeal. We again affirm his conviction and sentence.

FACTS

On April 23, 1982 defendant entered Bernie Dumas Buick and asked David Uzee, a car salesman, to speak to a female sales representative with whom he had met previously. Mr. Uzee sent the defendant to another part of the dealership because no one met his description of the sales representative. The defendant returned to Mr. Uzee who testified that the defendant asked to test drive a Plymouth van which was valued at $5,900. During the drive defendant pulled a gun and demanded Mr. Uzee's wallet and several personal items, then ordered Mr. Uzee out of the van. Mr. Uzee returned to the dealership and called the police. Mr. Uzee was shown a photographic lineup within one or two days of the incident and he identified the defendant in a physical lineup and at trial. A latent fingerprint on the van was identified and defendant's taped confession was heard by the jury.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR ONE

The defendant complains that the trial court erred by admitting Mr. Uzee's identification at the physical lineup because the police failed to honor his request for the lawyer he had retained. He argues that his right to counsel had attached at the time of the physical lineup even though he had not yet made a court appearance.

At the motion to suppress the identification the defendant testified that he asked Detective Ron Richards for his lawyer. He further stated:

that Detective Richards told us that we can't have no pay [sic] lawyer on a lineup, you know. And that the State appointed us a lawyer, you know. And I told him I wasn't going to the lineup, you know, and I told him why I wasn't going on the lineup because none of the dudes ain't looking like me, you know. All of them had beards and mustaches and I ain't had nothing on my face, you know. And he told me I'm going to the lineup. So, you know, since William Robinson was going, I just went on, you know.
Q. What did you show him?
A. I showed him a lawyer card, Martin Regan on it, the telephone number and everything, you know. He didn't want to take it, you know. He didn't want to take or nothing. [sic]
Q. And you told him you didn't want to go to the lineup?
A. Yes, I told him I didn't want to go to the lineup, you know.

Detective Richards testified at the motion hearing that he did not recall the defendant *564 stating that he was represented by Martin Regan and asked that Mr. Regan be called. At trial Detective Richards testified that he recalled that the defendant handed him Mr. Regan's card and that he called Mr. Regan's office three times.

Detective Richards stated that Tilden Greenbaum from the Indigent Defender's office was at the lineup. Thus, defendant had counsel present at the physical lineup. Nevertheless, absent special circumstances, counsel is not required at a pre-indictment lineup. Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972); State v. Johnson, 619 So.2d 1102 (La.App. 4th Cir.1993), writ denied 625 So.2d 173 (La.1993). Kirby held that the right to counsel was limited to a criminal prosecution which commences with institution of the adversarial proceeding by a formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information or arraignment. Kirby, 406 U.S. at 689, 92 S.Ct. at 1882.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has discussed at what point the right to counsel attached under the state and federal constitutions in State v. Hattaway, 621 So.2d 796 (La.1993). The Court stated that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel exists during pretrial confrontations that could be considered "critical stages".

After the right to counsel has attached and counsel has been retained or appointed to represent the defendant in the adverse judicial criminal proceedings, however, the defendant has the right to rely on counsel as the medium between himself and the state. Correlatively, the state has an affirmative duty not to circumvent or debate the protection afforded by the right counsel. Id. at 801.

Hattaway discussed the right to counsel under Art. I, § 13 of the Louisiana Constitution:

Whatever else it may mean, the right to counsel granted by Article I, § 13 of our state constitution means at least that, after adverse judicial criminal proceedings have been initiated against a person and the court has appointed a lawyer to assist him, the state cannot communicate with him about the offense related to the proceedings or obtain a valid waiver of his right to counsel for that purpose except through the medium of this attorney. We base this conclusion on the text and history of our state constitution and criminal procedural statutes, the pre-existing Sixth Amendment right to counsel jurisprudence, and principle of legal ethics. Id. at 807.

The court concluded that the right to counsel guaranteed by the Louisiana Constitution attached no later than the defendant's initial court appearance or first judicial appearance. The court adopted the "critical stages" test set forth in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967), in which a functional analysis was used to analyze whether potential substantial prejudice interfered with the defendant's rights and the ability of counsel to help avoid that prejudice. The court noted that the right to counsel may attach even before initiation of adverse judicial criminal proceedings and cited State v. Thomas, 406 So.2d 1325 (La.1981).

In Thomas the defendants participated in a physical lineup prior to indictment. The defendants said that they advised the police that they objected to being in the lineup without the assistance of counsel; however, they did not testify that they requested the officers to notify their counsel or to confer with counsel. The court stated that under La.C.Cr.P. art 230, a defendant has the right to procure and confer with counsel from the moment of arrest. The court held that a violation of this statutory right did not require the exclusion of evidence. The court stated:

Certainly, a timely request that the police notify (or permit an accused to notify) counsel of a forthcoming lineup ought always be honored.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Ellis
144 So. 3d 1152 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Robertson
843 So. 2d 672 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Sylvester
834 So. 2d 1184 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Jones
822 So. 2d 205 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Gustavis
788 So. 2d 1242 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Adams
779 So. 2d 113 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Smith
777 So. 2d 584 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Baker
772 So. 2d 225 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Coldman
769 So. 2d 131 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Moye
765 So. 2d 1103 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Dupart
769 So. 2d 15 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Russell
764 So. 2d 93 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State v. Alexander
753 So. 2d 933 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
State in Interest of JM
743 So. 2d 228 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Buffington
731 So. 2d 340 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
State v. Atkins
713 So. 2d 1168 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Carter
712 So. 2d 701 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Gaspard
709 So. 2d 213 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
State v. Parker
696 So. 2d 599 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
657 So. 2d 562, 1995 WL 340952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-samuels-lactapp-1995.