State v. Spencer

683 So. 2d 1326, 1996 WL 638196
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 6, 1996
Docket96-248
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 683 So. 2d 1326 (State v. Spencer) 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. Spencer, 683 So. 2d 1326, 1996 WL 638196 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

683 So.2d 1326 (1996)

STATE of Louisiana,
v.
Robert SPENCER.

No. 96-248.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

November 6, 1996.

*1327 Patricia Head Minaldi, Asst. Dist. Attorney, Robert Richard Bryant, Jr., V. Ed McGuire, III, Lake Charles, for State of La.

Ronald F. Ware, Lake Charles, for Robert P. Spencer.

Before DOUCET, C.J., and SAUNDERS and AMY, JJ.

*1328 SAUNDERS, Judge.

On August 26, 1994, a bill of indictment was filed charging the defendant, Robert Paul Spencer, with one count of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. The indictment was amended on September 28, 1994 to show defendant's name as Robert P. Spencer, Jr. On October 26, 1994, defendant entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. After a trial by jury, defendant was found guilty on October 20, 1995 of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. After defendant was adjudicated a habitual offender, second offense, defendant was sentenced to fifteen (15) years at hard labor, to run consecutive with the term defendant was presently serving. Defendant now appeals his conviction, alleging five (5) assignments of error. We affirm.

FACTS

On July 5, 1994, at approximately 6:45 p.m., officers of the Lake Charles Police Department noticed two black males standing in the driveway of a residence located on Goos Street. As the officers approached the area, defendant entered the garage area and dropped a whitish, rock-like substance into the bed of a pick-up truck. Defendant was detained while the officers searched the bed of the truck. After finding thirteen (13) rocks of crack cocaine in the truck, the officers arrested defendant and transported him to the Lake Charles Police Department for booking.

ERRORS PATENT

La.Code Crim.P. art. 920 provides the scope of review on appeal, as follows:

The following matters and no others shall be considered on appeal:
(1) An error designated in the assignment of errors; and
(2) An error that is discoverable by a mere inspection of the pleadings and proceedings without inspection of the evidence.

In reviewing the record, we reveal one possible error patent.

Defendant was not informed of his rights at his habitual offender hearing. Although the right to remain silent is not specifically set forth in La.R.S. 15:529.1, in State v. Johnson, 432 So.2d 815 (La.1983), writ granted on other grounds, 438 So.2d 1113 (La.1983), the Louisiana Supreme Court held this statute clearly recognizes the right of the defendant to remain silent, and the statute implicitly provides that the defendant should be advised of this right by the court. Further, La.R.S. 15:529.1(D) specifically provides that the defendant be advised of his right to a formal hearing and requires the state prove its case. Id. relying on State v. Martin, 427 So.2d 1182 (La.1983).

However, the trial court's failure to advise the defendant of his right to remain silent constitutes harmless error (rather than no error) where the defendant remained silent throughout his proceeding and the state put on competent evidence to prove defendant's identity. State v. Hodges, 94-898 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/1/95); 651 So.2d 487.

In the present case we find that the state presented competent evidence to prove the existence of defendant's prior conviction and to prove defendant was the same person previously convicted. To prove the existence of defendant's prior conviction, the state introduced the bill of information from defendant's prior conviction, the plea of guilty form signed by defendant, and a minute entry of defendant's guilty plea. To prove defendant's identity, the court took judicial notice of a stipulation by the defendant at trial that he was the same individual who pled guilty to distribution of cocaine on a prior occasion. At trial defendant admitted to having pled guilty to distribution of cocaine, but claimed he did not actually commit the prior crime, even though he pled guilty to such crime. At the habitual offender hearing, the trial court took judicial notice of these facts and granted leave to the state to supplement the record with the appropriate excerpt from the trial transcript. The state did not supplement the habitual offender proceeding with such testimony, but the trial transcript with the pertinent testimony is included in the record before this court. This record evidence alone is sufficient.

*1329 In State v. Martin, 400 So.2d 1063 (La. 1981), on rehearing, 400 So.2d 1063 at 1074 (La.1981), the supreme court stated:

The contention that there was inadequate proof tendered to establish the first conviction is without merit. At the multiple offender hearing the state introduced exemplified and certified copies of California court records that showed that defendant was convicted after plea of guilty of the charge of possession of heroin for sale. Moreover, the trial court was entitled to refer to defendant's admission on direct examination at trial that he was convicted in California of the felony offense of possession of narcotics for sale. The trial judge has a right in the multiple offender proceeding to take judicial cognizance of any prior proceeding which was a part of the same case he had previously tried. State v. Jones, 332 So.2d 461 (La.1976); State v. O'Day, 191 La. 380, 185 So. 290 (1938).

Martin, 400 So.2d at 1077-78 (emphasis ours). Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence introduced in the present case was sufficient to adjudicate defendant as a habitual offender, second offense and that the trial court's failure to advise defendant of his rights was harmless error.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

By this assignment, defendant claims the trial court erred by admitting into evidence, during the state's case-in-chief, proof of defendant's prior conviction for distribution of cocaine as evidence of his intent to distribute cocaine in the instant case.

Before trial, a Prieur hearing was held on the admissibility of defendant's prior conviction. There, defendant argued the state should be required to introduce the facts and circumstances surrounding defendant's prior distribution of cocaine, rather than merely his guilty plea to that offense. Defendant also argued that the prejudicial effect of the limited evidence outweighed any probative value.

After taking a recess to decide the issue, the trial court ruled to admit defendant's prior conviction. In support of its ruling, the trial court cited State v. Medlock, 297 So.2d 190 (La.1974) and State v. Grey, 408 So.2d 1239 (La.1982). The trial court set forth two requirements for the admission of the evidence: proof that the person named in the prior bill of information was the present defendant, and proof in the present case of possession from which circumstantially reasonable minds could infer an intent to distribute.

By this assignment, defendant does not argue the state did not comply with Prieur requirements or the requirements set forth by the trial court, citing Medlock, 297 So.2d 190, and we have already observed that the state offered abundant evidence to establish defendant's identity and prior record. Rather, defendant maintains that because the prior conviction in the present case occurred two (2) years and three (3) months prior to defendant's present offense, defendant's prior conviction is stale, remote and irrelevant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
683 So. 2d 1326, 1996 WL 638196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-spencer-lactapp-1996.