State v. Sanders

539 So. 2d 114, 1989 WL 14286
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 22, 1989
Docket20201-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 539 So. 2d 114 (State v. Sanders) 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. Sanders, 539 So. 2d 114, 1989 WL 14286 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

539 So.2d 114 (1989)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Raymond C. SANDERS, Appellant.

No. 20201-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

February 22, 1989.
Rehearing Denied March 23, 1989.

*116 Culpepper, Teat & Avery, Bobby L. Culpepper, Jonesboro, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Charles B. Bice, Dist. Atty., Martin Smith Sanders, Asst. Dist. Atty., Winnfield, for appellee.

Before FRED W. JONES, NORRIS and HIGHTOWER, JJ.

HIGHTOWER, Judge.

Defendant, Raymond Sanders, was charged by bill of information with one count of distribution of marijuana and one count of distribution of cocaine, violations of LSA-R.S. 40:966 and 40:967. He was found guilty as charged after a trial by jury, and sentenced to concurrent terms of three years at hard labor on the marijuana conviction and six years at hard labor on the cocaine conviction. Defendant now appeals, raising 21 assignments of error. We affirm.

FACTS

Reginald Fields was commissioned with the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office in 1984. However, for about three months in early 1987 he worked as an undercover agent in Winn Parish for the sheriff's office there. His responsibility in Winn Parish was to purchase drugs in an undercover capacity. He was assisted in his work by a Deputy Davies, who provided money for the purchases, and by State Trooper Stanley Martin, as well as various other law enforcement officials and private citizens. For the most part, the private citizens aided by identifying suspected drug dealers and providing the directions needed for Fields to travel in areas with which he was not familiar. Agent Fields testified that his primary concern, aside from protecting himself, was to obtain a clear, positive identification of the suspects with whom he transacted business. He was paid per diem plus expenses for his work.

On February 9, 1987, while working undercover in Winn Parish, Fields met the defendant on West Avenue in Winnfield at about 4:38 p.m. Both individuals were driving and brought their vehicles to a stop side by side, with the two drivers' windows immediately adjacent. While clearly viewing the defendant's face, Fields indicated he was looking for cocaine. When the defendant asked how much Fields wanted, he was told by Fields that $50 was all the money he had. Fields then observed the defendant produce a small plastic jewelry bag containing a white powdery substance. The substance was passed to Fields through the open car window, and Fields gave the defendant two $20 bills and a $10 bill. Immediately following the transaction, Fields recorded on a spiral notebook page the time, date, and location of the encounter. He also noted the individual from whom he had obtained the substance. The suspected contraband was wrapped securely inside the notepaper which, in turn, was placed in the glove compartment of Fields' vehicle. Later in the afternoon, the *117 packet was given to Deputy Davies and Trooper Martin.

On February 11, 1987, Fields was once again working in Winn Parish. At 3:38 p.m. he saw the defendant, whom he recognized from the transaction two days earlier in front of Sanders' Game Room. Fields left his vehicle and told the defendant that he was looking for "weed," a street term for marijuana. The defendant replied that he only had one joint, and its price was $3. Fields gave three $1 bills to the defendant, and a suspected marijuana cigarette was taken from the defendant's shirt pocket and handed to Fields.

After that encounter, Fields returned to his vehicle, and he once again wrote down the pertinent details of the exchange. The purchased cigarette was wrapped inside his note and, as was done previously, placed in the vehicle's glove compartment. Deputy Davies and Trooper Martin were given the evidence later in the afternoon.

Fields next saw the defendant on April 9, 1987, at the Winn Parish Sheriff's Office. Through a one-way mirror, he identified the defendant as the individual from whom he had made the two purchases. Fields also identified the defendant in open court.

Assignment of Error No. 1

In his first assignment of error, defendant contends the trial court erred in overruling his motion to quash the arrest and arrest warrant and to dismiss all charges.

At the preliminary examination, the state produced no evidence, and the trial court correctly released defendant from his bond obligation. However, because of the state's failure to establish probable cause, defendant maintains that his above mentioned motion should have been granted.

The state is under no duty to produce witnesses at a preliminary examination. State v. Sterling, 376 So.2d 103 (La.1979). If, from the evidence presented at the preliminary examination, it does not appear that there is probable cause to charge the defendant with the offense or with a lesser included offense, the court shall order his release from custody or bail. LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 296. However, such action is not a judicial dismissal. The state may still proceed against the defendant. State v. Mayberry, 457 So.2d 880 (La.App. 3d Cir.1984), writ denied, 462 So.2d 191 (La.1984). Moreover, any issue concerning probable cause is moot after trial and conviction. State v. Mayberry, supra.

This assignment of error lacks merit.

Assignment Nos. 2, 3 and 4

In these assignments, defendant contends that several of his pre-trial motions were erroneously denied. He had requested that the counts be severed, that a change of venue be granted, and that the petit jury venire be quashed.

The record presented to this court contains defendant's motion to sever and the trial court's written denial of that motion. However, that ruling simply states that the reasons for the denial are the same as those stated in another case on the trial court's docket. Of course, the pertinent circumstances and reasoning underlying the denial of the motion in the other case cannot be determined from the record in the present case. Likewise, the minutes provide no further indication of the court's ruling, and no transcript of the hearing on the motion is included in the record.

The assignment concerning the motion for a change of venue is also insusceptible of evaluation. The record contains no such motion, and neither the minutes nor the remaining portions of the record contain any reference to it.

Similarly, the record contains defendant's motion to quash the petit jury venire, but there is no ruling by the trial court, either in the minutes or elsewhere. There also is no transcript of any hearing which may have been conducted on the motion.

For this appeal, defendant designated as necessary "the entire record in this matter, including all pleadings, all minutes entries, transcripts of all hearings held prior to trial, jury selection, opening statements, transcripts of testimony taken at trial, closing arguments and jury instructions." When the record was actually filed and the *118 possible deficiencies came to this court's attention, we ordered, on December 22, 1988, that counsel for the state and the defense show cause why the record should not be supplemented with the pertinent missing portions. No additions occurred, and, instead, defense counsel, by letter to the court, stated unequivocally that he and the defendant were satisfied with the record as filed.

We cannot determine whether defendant's initial designation of "the entire record ... including all ...

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Bluebook (online)
539 So. 2d 114, 1989 WL 14286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sanders-lactapp-1989.