State v. Shannon

902 So. 2d 519, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 1098, 2005 WL 954895
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 26, 2005
DocketNo. 04-KA-1361
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 902 So. 2d 519 (State v. Shannon) 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. Shannon, 902 So. 2d 519, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 1098, 2005 WL 954895 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

| .THOMAS F. DALEY, Judge.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a Bill of Information charging the defendant, Rodney Shannon, with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, a violation of La. R.S. 14:62.3. The defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment. . On March 30, 2004, a six-person jury found the defendant guilty as charged.

Following trial, the defendant filed several pro se motions, including a Motion for Minimal Sentence, a Motion for a New Trial, and a Motion for Post Verdict Judgment of Acquittal. On May 19, 2004, the defendant withdrew all motions. The defendant was sentenced to two years at hard labor, but suspended all but six months of the sentence, and placed the defendant on two years of active probation.

At trial, Patricia Richardson testified that she and the defendant had dated intermittently for five years. She had previously lived with the defendant in his apartment on Verrett Street, but as of January 2, 2002 she leased her own apartment at 1149 Orange Blossom Lane in Harvey, where she lived with her two sons, Corey and Brandon, and her daughter.' The defendant did not sign the 1 ..application for the lease; rather, Richardson listed him as an emergency contact and listed his address as 828 Verrett Street.

According to Richardson, she and the defendant sometimes spent the night at each other’s apartments. Richardson said that, in May of 2002, the defendant had stayed at her apartment for a “couple of days,” because he had been evicted from his apartment. She also stated that she gave the defendant a key at one point, but she did not believe that the defendant had a key on May 28, 2002. Additionally, Richardson testified that the defendant did not have her permission to be in her apartment on May 28, 2002.

Richardson testified that on May 28, 2002, between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., she heard someone knocking at the door and ringing the doorbell. Then, she heard a loud noise and heard someone1 call her name. Brandon, her son who was twenty years old at the time of this incident, testified that he went to let his mother know the defendant was beating on the door. [522]*522Brandon testified that his mother said not to let the defendant in the apartment. However, the defendant kicked a hole in the bottom of the door, stuck his hand through, and unlocked the door. The defendant said he wanted to talk to Richardson, pushed Brandon aside, and started up the stairs.

Corey Richardson, who was eighteen or nineteen years old at the time of the incident, testified that the noise at the door woke him up. When he heard a “cracking” sound, he went to the stairway. He saw the defendant push Brandon at the bottom of the staircase. Corey testified that the defendant came upstairs toward him and pushed him aside. While Richardson was calling the police, the defendant grabbed her hand. Then, Corey “slammed” the defendant into a closet and the defendant hit him in the lip.

4Corey and Brandon testified that the defendant smelled of alcohol. They also testified that they did not give the defendant permission to enter the apartment. Both of them testified that the defendant never had a key and did not live with them. Neither of them was aware that the defendant had ever spent the night at the apartment.

Deputy Carl Cade and another officer from the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office responded to the call. Deputy Cade testified that the door was almost in two pieces. According to Deputy Cade, Richardson was scared and shaking. She told Deputy Cade that the defendant was upstairs. The officer found the defendant in an upstairs bedroom scuffling with two other males and placed him under arrest. Deputy Cade acknowledged that the police report written by the other officer, who was no longer with the Sheriffs Office, did not reflect the defendant was under the influence of alcohol.

According to Sandra Weigel, the aparN ment manager, Richardson called on May 29, 2002 to tell her that the front door was damaged. A maintenance man repaired the door, which cost $264.85, because he had to replace the entire front door and frame.

Richardson acknowledged that she and the defendant had previously quarreled over the defendant’s fathering another child outside of their relationship. Richardson testified that this quarrel did not occur on the day of the incident. According to Richardson, she had attempted to drop the charges against the defendant prior to trial, because she believed that he had changed and things were working out between them. However, she was told that the charges could not be dropped. Richardson testified that, over the two years since the defendant’s arrest, she had spoken to the defendant over the telephone many times and that she had intimate relations with him. Finally, Richardson acknowledged that she still cared |5for the defendant, but said that she still wanted to go forward with the case. She said, if it was left up to her she would like him to “straighten up his act toward women,” but she did not want him to spend any time in jail.

The defendant testified that he was evicted from his apartment as of May 1, 2002, and that he lived with Richardson and her two sons thereafter. He stated that on May 28, 2002, he told Richardson that he might have fathered another child outside of their relationship. He left the apartment because she was angry. Later that night he returned to sleep. He called her on her cell phone to let her know that he was returning. ■ The defendant testified he had a key, but he did not want to just walk in because she was angry. So, he knocked on the door and Corey answered it. However, after he stepped inside, Co[523]*523rey tried to push him out. The defendant said he walked past Brandon, and did not shove him or Corey. Thereafter, he went upstairs. According to the defendant, the door was termite-ridden and sustained damage when Cory tried to push him out. The defendant said he had nothing to drink that night and denied punching Corey. The defendant admitted that he was previously convicted of battery on a police officer.

In his sole Assignment of Error, the defendant argues that his sentence is constitutionally excessive because the trial court ordered a term of imprisonment, albeit for six months. The defendant claims that he should not have received any term of imprisonment because the incident arose out of a domestic dispute between he and the victim, and the evidence against him was “weak.” The State argues that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing the defendant.

After trial, the defendant filed several pro se motions urging the court to impose the minimum sentence for several reasons, including that he only had a prior misdemeanor conviction and the victim requested that he not receive a jail sentence. The defendant also filed a “Letter of Apology,” requesting forgiveness |fiffom Richardson, her sons, and the court. The defendant said that his actions had been detrimental to himself because he lost his job, his freedom, and possibly his family. He also pled for a second chance. Two of the three motions were set for the day of sentencing. However, prior to sentencing, the defendant withdrew all motions. He did not file a Motion to Reconsider Sentence.

The failure to file a Motion to Reconsider Sentence or to state specific grounds upon which the motion is based, limits a defendant to a bare review of the sentence for constitutional excessiveness. State v. Dupre, 08-256, p. 5 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/28/03), 848 So.2d 149, 153, writ denied, 03-1978 (La.5/14/04), 872 So.2d 509.

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Bluebook (online)
902 So. 2d 519, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 1098, 2005 WL 954895, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-shannon-lactapp-2005.