State v. Smith

418 So. 2d 515
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided June 21, 1982·No. 81-KA-2745·Published·Cited by 95 cases

Opinion

418 So.2d 515 (1982)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Leroy SMITH.

No. 81-KA-2745.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

June 21, 1982.
Rehearing Denied September 3, 1982.

*517 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Norval J. Rhodes, Dist. Atty., Glynn Voisin, Michael J. Scurto, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

Norman Mopsik, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

ROBERT L. LOBRANO, Justice Ad Hoc.[*]

Defendant Leroy Smith, was charged by amended bill of information filed June 7, 1979 with armed robbery in violation of La.R.S. 14:64. He entered a plea of not guilty and was tried by jury on January 29, 1981. Defendant was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to serve sixty years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant now appeals his conviction and sentence asserting eighteen assignments of error.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On March 11,1979 at approximately 12:45 A.M. Yvette Marie Stevens and Denise Watts, employees of a Time Saver store in Schriever, La. were in the process of closing out their shift when three males wearing hats and sunglasses entered the store. They approached the counter and one of *518 them asked Ms. Stevens where the luncheon meats were located. As he returned from the cold meat counter with a package of King Cotton Salami, the other two individuals walked around the store near the liquor area. At this time, the defendant approached the area behind the counter restricted to employees and pulled a knife on Ms. Watts. Ms. Watts immediately stepped aside and defendant took approximately $150.00 in cash from the safe and cash register. Also taken was a package of King Cotton Salami, and certain items belonging to Denise Watts, including her purse. The two ladies were then forced into the storeroom as the perpetrators fled. After watching the individuals leave, they left the storeroom, locked the door and called the police.

Ms. Stevens and Ms. Watts described the three (3) individuals as follows:

a) Black/Male, tall thin with sunglasses and hat wearing blue denim jumpsuit, carrying knife;
b) Black/Male, shorter, with sunglasses and hat;
c) Black/Male, shorter than the other two, stout, with sunglasses, hat and a pullover sweater.

According to the testimony of Detective Larose of the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's office, a BOLO (be on the Lookout) was sent out by his office after the initial investigation at the scene of the offense. While continuing their investigation, the officers received a call from the Thibodaux Police department advising that they had four suspects in custody. Detective Larose, Ms. Watts and Ms. Stevens then went to Thibodaux where each clerk separately viewed the four suspects through a one way mirror. Each clerk independently picked defendant, Smith, and another individual as the perpetrators of the robbery. It was also learned that the vehicle in which the suspects were riding belonged to Frank Gray. Although Gray was one of the four detainees, he was not identified as one of the robbers. He then allowed the officers to search his vehicle after signing a consent to search. The search revealed a pack of King Cotton Salami, a butcher knife and other items, some of which belonged to Ms. Watts and which were positively identified by her.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NOS. 1 and 7

By these assignments defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash the indictment because the penal provisions of La.R.S. 14:64 violate his constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Defendant's position overlooks the substantial body of jurisprudence holding otherwise. See, e.g., State v. Johnson, 406 So.2d 569 (La.1981); State v. McCrae, 383 So.2d 388 (La.1980); State v. Victorian, 332 So.2d 220 (La.1976); State v. Stewart, 325 So.2d 828 (La.1976), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 997, 96 S.Ct. 2213, 48 L.Ed.2d 822 (1976); State v. Martin, 304 So.2d 328 (La.1974).[1]

This assignment lacks merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2

Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying him a copy of his "Right of Arrest" form, or information related to it, and further that he was denied a list of the state's witnesses prior to trial. Additionally he complains that the state's answers to his various requests in his Motion for Discovery were unresponsive, including requests for physical evidence or tangible property obtained from any person.

At the Motion to Suppress hearing held on July 24, 1979, defendant's attorney, and counsel for a co-defendant discussed their objection to the state's responses to their discovery motions. Defendant's attorney stated that all of the state's responses were acceptable except those noted by the co-defendant's counsel and denied by the trial court. La.C.Cr.P. Art. 842. Those objections are:

*519 1. the list of witnesses that the state intended to call at trial;
2. rap sheets on any witnesses the state intended to call at trial;
3. the names and addresses of persons (other than the victims) who were involved with the identification of the defendant;
4. a copy of the exact description given to police by the victims of the suspects;

Of the above noted list of objections, only the denial of the state's witness list is properly before this Court. Only that issue was objected to at the trial and asserted as error here in defendant's brief. See, State v. Jones, 381 So.2d 416 (La.1980); State v. Mallett, 357 So.2d 1105 (La.1978).

However, we find it has no merit. There is no basis in either the statutory or common law to support defendant's position. Further, unless the ruling of the trial court on a pre-trial matter is clear abuse of discretion, it will be given great weight by this Court on review. State v. Burch, 365 So.2d 1263 (La.1978); State v. Vince, 305 So.2d 916 (La.1974). We find no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in this instance.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3

Defendant's argument on this assignment of error is not clear as to the specific issue objected to. Apparently defendant contends that, even though the owner of the vehicle in which he was riding at the time of his arrest executed a "Consent to Search" form, no such form was ever executed by defendant. The vehicle in question, a brown Vega, belonged to and was registered in Frank Gray's name. Gray consented in writing to the search after being advised of his rights. Gray drove the car the night of the offense and was driving when the defendants were arrested. He was allowed to drive the car to the police station with a police escort. The search of the vehicle produced several pieces of inculpatory evidence.

Clearly Gray had the authority to consent to the search of his vehicle since he was both the owner and the operator of the vehicle on the night of the offense, and (at the least) possessed common authority over the car. See State v. Bodley, 394 So.2d 584 (La.1981). The state has the burden of proving that the consent to the search was freely, voluntarily, and knowingly given. State v. Jolla, 384 So.2d 370 (La.1980). Here the investigating officer testified that Gray was read his rights before consenting to the search, and according to the officer, he understood and signed the consent fo

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