State v. Simpson

829 So. 2d 650, 2002 WL 31375537
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 16, 2002
Docket2001-KA-1850
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 829 So. 2d 650 (State v. Simpson) 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. Simpson, 829 So. 2d 650, 2002 WL 31375537 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

829 So.2d 650 (2002)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
David Wayne SIMPSON, a/k/a Wayne David Simpson.

No. 2001-KA-1850.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

October 16, 2002.
Rehearing Denied November 20, 2002.

*652 Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, Darryl W. Bubrig, Sr., District Attorney, Belle Chasse, LA, and Gilbert V. Andry IV, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Karen G. Arena, Louisiana Appellate Project, River Ridge, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

(Court composed of Judge STEVEN R. PLOTKIN, Judge MIRIAM G. WALTZER, Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY).

PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge.

The principal issue presented in this case is whether the affirmative defense of entrapment applies. Finding it does not, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On December 11, 1997, David Wayne Simpson (also known as Wayne David Simpson) was arrested for selling crack cocaine to a trio of undercover agents. The trio consisted of Sergeant Allen Wall, a veteran officer, and two new agents, Kelly Gonzales and Lawrence Arceneaux. The sale occurred at about 10:38 p.m. on August 1, 1997, on the River Road behind Roosevelt Pansy Lane in Bootheville, Louisiana. Mr. Simpson sold the officers three off-white rock-like objects (that tested positive for cocaine) for forty dollars in sheriff's office funds. On December 11, 1997, Mr. Simpson was arrested and charged with distribution of cocaine.

On February 19, 1998, Mr. Simpson was charged by a bill of information with one count of distribution of cocaine in violation *653 of La. R.S. 40:967.[1] That same day, Mr. Simpson was arraigned and pled not guilty. On April 14, 1998, the trial court denied Mr. Simpson's various motions to suppress and found probable cause.

At the start of trial, the parties stipulated that the objects tested positive for cocaine. During his trial, Mr. Simpson admitted to selling the cocaine to the trio of officers on the date in question, yet asserted the affirmative defense of entrapment. The jury convicted him of the lesser offense of simple possession of cocaine. The trial court sentenced Mr. Simpson to five years at hard labor. This appeal followed.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

At trial, Sgt. Wall testified that on the night of August 1, 1997, he was working in the Plaquemine Parish area conducting an undercover narcotics investigation; he testified he had been working in that area for about six months. That night he was accompanied by Agents Gonzales and Arceneaux. Dressed in street clothes and driving a rental vehicle, the trio went to the Fleur-d-Lis bar to look for a familiar face. Upon entering the bar, Sgt. Wall testified that he spotted Mr. Simpson as someone he had seen in the Buras area. Sgt. Wall then engaged in a short conversation with Mr. Simpson. Detailing that initial conversation, Sgt. Wall in his testimony gave the following narrative:

[We] started talking and complained about the temperature of the beer, the beer was not cold. From that he conversed to the beer was weak and maybe we could have something better for the night. From that he asked what would I be looking for? Was I looking for something in particular? And I said what can you offer? In response to that I asked if he had rocks available. And he says how many, how much? And I referred to three rocks, hundred dollars worth, whatever, I wasn't particular. And, actually he looked not sure at first, he looked around to see and then he says I can get them. I said okay. Just like that, okay. And he looked around again and at the same time Agent Gonzales came out the bathroom, the female agent. When she came out of bathroom he turned around and looked. I said these are my friends, they are with me. He said I have to make a ... phone call and I said okay ... expecting him to use the phone in the car. He said we need to go somewhere to make the call. I said okay, I have my car if you want to ride with me. From that point he looked to me and I nodded for them to come out. We walked out and got in the vehicle.

Sgt. Wall testified that he sat in the driver's seat, Agent Gonzales sat next to him in the front, and Agent Arceneaux and Mr. Simpson sat in the rear seat. Mr. Simpson then directed that they stop at a convenience store so that he could use the pay phone. Mr.Simpson exited the car, made a very short phone call, and then reentered the vehicle. Mr. Simpson then stated: "we can get it, they have it, but we have to ride."

Following Mr. Simpson's instructions, they rode down to the Venice area, which was about a fifteen-minute trip. When they came to a lane off of River Road going back to an area with some trailers, Mr. Simpson instructed them to drop him off, to circle around the block, and to come back to get him. At this point, Agent Arceneaux gave Mr. Simpson some money to make the buy. After Mr. Simpson exited *654 the vehicle, they made a U-turn, circled back, and saw Mr. Simpson walking back to River Road. Mr. Simpson reentered the vehicle and handed Agent Gonzales three rocks that were apparently crack cocaine. Sgt. Wall testified that Mr. Simpson then requested to be brought home. After complying with that request and dropping him off on the side of the road near his home in Venice, the trio met with Deputy Morris Roberts of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Roberts testified that he provided the back-up surveillance that night for the trio. He corroborated Sgt. Wall's testimony as to the path they took that night. Particularly, he detailed the interactions between the trio and Mr. Simpson from their meeting in the Fleur-d-Lis bar through their driving Mr. Simpson home. He testified their first stop was at a Circle K; at that location, he observed Mr. Simpson exit the rental vehicle, make a short (about twenty seconds) phone call from the pay phone, and reenter the vehicle. Their next stop was near River Road in Bootheville and Roosevelt Pansy Lane. At that location, Mr. Simpson exited the rental vehicle, and the vehicle departed. Deputy Roberts then observed Mr. Simpson walk across Pansy Lane and meet with Colbert Franklin, a known drug trafficker. He then witnessed a hand-to-hand exchange—Mr. Simpson handed Mr. Franklin money in exchange for cocaine. The rental vehicle then reappeared, and Mr. Simpson got back in the vehicle. Their final stop was at Mr. Simpson's residence. After dropping Mr. Simpson off, the trio went to a prearranged location, where they met with Deputy Roberts and turned the cocaine over to him.

Agent Arceneaux testified that he assisted Sgt. Wall in the undercover buy from Mr. Simpson. According to Agent Arceneaux, Sgt. Wall was the only one who made contact in the bar with Mr. Simpson; neither he nor Agent Gonzales engaged in any conversations with Mr. Simpson in the bar. Corroborating Sgt. Wall's testimony, he testified that when the initial conversation between Sgt. Wall and Mr. Simpson took place Agent Gonzales was in the restroom and he was playing pool. After a few minutes, Sgt. Wall made eye contact with him, which he recognized as a signal that Sgt. Wall had made a contact. He stated that Sgt. Wall introduced him to Mr. Simpson before they left the bar. As to his role in the deal, he stated that he handed Mr. Simpson forty dollars of task force money for the narcotics buy.

Agent Gonzales testified that she also assisted Sgt. Wall in the undercover buy from Mr. Simpson. Her testimony regarding the events of that night corroborated that of Sgt. Wall and Agent Arceneaux.[2] She stated that when Sgt. Wall was conversing with Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
829 So. 2d 650, 2002 WL 31375537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-simpson-lactapp-2002.