State v. Schnyder

937 So. 2d 396, 2006 WL 1750279
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 28, 2006
Docket06-KA-29
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 937 So. 2d 396 (State v. Schnyder) 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. Schnyder, 937 So. 2d 396, 2006 WL 1750279 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

937 So.2d 396 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Victor SCHNYDER.

No. 06-KA-29.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 28, 2006.

*398 John M. Crum, Jr., District Attorney, Rodney A. Brignac, Assistant District Attorney, Edgard, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee, The State of Louisiana.

Katherine M. Franks, Slidell, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant, Victor Schnyder.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, MARION F. EDWARDS, and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

In this criminal matter defendant, Victor Schnyder, appeals his conviction on a charge of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling in violation of La. R.S. 14:62.2, as well as his adjudication as a multiple offender and enhanced sentence.

Defendant was charged with simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling by the St. John the Baptist District Attorney's Office. After a trial by jury, defendant was found guilty as charged. Subsequently, the State filed a bill of information charging defendant with being a second felony offender. The defendant was found to be a *399 second felony offender and was sentenced to serve ten years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. After a defense motion for re-consideration of sentence was denied by the trial court, defendant filed a motion for appeal, which was granted.[1]

FACTS

On July 8, 2004, the Laplace home of David and Tracy Simko was burglarized. The Simkos discovered that their glass patio door had been broken and the door to the outside yard was open. The garage door was "broken down and kicked in." Items missing included Mr. Simko's air gun set, a red and black Craftsman tool bag, several sockets and screwdrivers, and a socket wrench. The theft was reported to police.

Several of the items stolen from the Simko home were pawned at B.J.'s Pawn Shop later that day. Albert Davis, III, manager of B.J.'s Pawn Shop testified that a daily report is made of items pawned. That record shows that on July 8, 2004, defendant pawned some sockets, a ratchet, a pneumatic air tool set and a wrench. The sockets were in a black and red Craftsman tool bag. After comparing the report to the list of items reported stolen from the Simkos, Detective Sergeant Feldon Carney of the St. John Parish Sheriff's Office testified that he contacted Mr. Simko. Mr. Simko went to the shop and made a positive identification of the items pawned by defendant as the same items stolen from his home.

When interviewed police officers, defendant initially denied knowing anything about the tools including where they were located. However, after seeing the pawn shop records defendant confessed that he broke into the Simko's home. At trial defendant's testimony differed from the statement given police at the time of the investigation. At trial, defendant testified that he lives two houses away from the Simkos and he was in his front yard when a man he had never seen before offered to sell the tools to him. Defendant testified that he bought the tools from the man and then pawned them.

LAW

Defendant presents five assignments of error for our review. Two of those assignments relate to the sufficiency of evidence presented by the State to prove the charge against defendant.

When issues are raised on appeal as to one or more trial errors, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence. State v. Taylor, 04-346 (La.App. 5 Cir. 10/26/04), 887 So.2d 589, 592. When the entirety of the evidence, including evidence that was erroneously admitted, is insufficient to support the conviction, the accused must be discharged as to that crime, and any issues regarding other trial errors become moot. Id. Accordingly, we will consider the two assignments of error that relate to the sufficiency of evidence first.

In brief to this court, the defendant claims that it was reversible error to admit his statement to police into evidence at trial because the corpus delicti was never established. The defendant claims that his statement appears so unreliable that it should be considered insufficient to corroborate details of the offense, to establish identity, or to form the basis for the conviction. Therefore, the conviction is illegal as it was based upon an uncorroborated and unreliable statement. In addition, the *400 defendant argues that the State failed to establish the element of unauthorized entry beyond a reasonable doubt, a necessary element of both the corpus delicti and the offense.

The State counters defendant's assertions by arguing that there is direct and circumstantial evidence of an unauthorized entry. The State claims that the victims' report of the incident to the police, the victims' testimony regarding broken glass and a broken door used to gain entry, and the removal of the victims' property from the home all prove that there was an unauthorized entry and corroborate the defendant's statement.

The standard of review for determining the sufficiency of evidence is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could conclude the State proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). When circumstantial evidence forms the basis of a conviction, La. R.S. 15:438 requires that the elements of the offense be proven so that every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. State v. Tran, 97-640 (La.App. 5 Cir. 3/11/98), 709 So.2d 311, 316. This is not a separate test from the reasonable doubt standard in Jackson v. Virginia, but rather provides a basis for a determination of the existence of reasonable doubt. All of the evidence, both direct and circumstantial, must be sufficient to satisfy a rational trier of fact that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

The credibility of witnesses presenting conflicting testimony on factual matters is within the sound discretion of the trier of fact. The trier of fact can accept or reject, in whole or in part, the testimony of any witness. State v. Baker, 01-1397 (La.App. 5 Cir. 4/30/02), 816 So.2d 363, 365. It is not the function of the appellate court to second-guess the credibility of witnesses as determined by the trier of fact or to reweigh the evidence absent impingement on the fundamental due process of law. Id. Under the Jackson standard, a review of a criminal conviction record for sufficiency of evidence does not require the court to ask whether it believes that the evidence at the trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Barnes, 98-932 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/10/99), 729 So.2d 44, 46, writ denied, 99-1018 (La.9/17/99), 747 So.2d 1099. Rather, the reviewing court is required to consider the whole record and determine whether any rational trier of fact would have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

"Simple burglary of an inhabited home is the unauthorized entry of any inhabited dwelling, house, apartment or other structure used in whole or in part as a home or place of abode by a person or persons with the intent to commit a felony or any theft therein." La. R.S. 14:62.2.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
937 So. 2d 396, 2006 WL 1750279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schnyder-lactapp-2006.