State v. Square

433 So. 2d 104
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 23, 1983
Docket82-KA-0975
StatusPublished
Cited by707 cases

This text of 433 So. 2d 104 (State v. Square) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Square, 433 So. 2d 104 (La. 1983).

Opinion

433 So.2d 104 (1983)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
John Earl SQUARE.

No. 82-KA-0975.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 23, 1983.

*105 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty., Kay Kirpatrick, Glen Petersen, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.

Sam D'Amico, D'Amico & Curet, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.

WATSON, Justice.

Defendant, John Earl Square, was convicted by a jury of armed robbery in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64.[1] He was sentenced to serve twenty-five years at hard labor. Defendant has appealed his conviction, relying on seven of nine errors assigned in the trial court,[2] and urging that his sentence is excessive.

FACTS

On September 12, 1979, at about 2:20 P.M., Mary Beth Denicola, a teller at Fidelity National Bank in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was robbed of $4,618. A black man pointed a pistol, gave Denicola a paper bag, and said, "This is a stick up, baby. Put all the money in the bag." (Tr. 5) When Denicola complied she triggered the bank's surveillance cameras. Included with the money were a stack of fifty ten dollar bills with recorded serial numbers, "bait money", and $3,500 in fifty dollar bills. The robber left in a late model, two door, yellow, Chrysler Cordoba with a yellow vinyl top. *106 The license tag was turned up in an unreadable position.

Descriptions of the suspect and his vehicle were broadcast. Later that evening, Sergeant Silas Geralds, a detective with the sheriff's office, spotted a car that matched the vehicle description. Geralds had been advised that a similar car, used in another armed robbery at the American Bank, had a "B" license plate with 7 and 5 as the first two numbers, and possibly 407 as the last three numbers. Observing license plate number 754B907 and a black male driver, Geralds turned on his flashing red lights and stopped the car. Geralds informed Square, an acquaintance, that his car was under investigation. Lieutenant Jarreau and Sergeant Moranto, who were investigating the Fidelity Bank robbery, arrived separately a few minutes later. Square matched the robber's description [black male in his twenties, 5'11", about 160 pounds, tennis visor, medium length bushy hair], and was wearing a bracelet or wristband on his left wrist similar to one seen in the bank's film. Advised of his rights and told he was being taken in for questioning, Square allegedly asked if he could first retrieve some personal papers from the car. When Square reached beneath the seat, the officers became apprehensive. Jarreau grabbed Square's arm, revealing a purse type wallet bulging with cash in his hand. A fifty dollar bill was visible on the floor of the automobile. Square was advised he was under arrest for the armed robbery of the Fidelity National Bank and the wallet was seized. A search of the car pursuant to a warrant produced the fifty dollar bill from the floorboard, two paper bags, a new pair of shoes and a new pair of sunglasses. One of the bags contained a new shirt, pants, scarf and socks. A sales receipt dated September 12, 1979, showed that fifty dollars had been tendered for a $1.92 purchase. A total of $4,188 was in the wallet, including forty-seven ten dollar bills with the bait money serial numbers and $3,000 in fifty dollar bills.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

Defendant argues that the warrantless search and seizure of his wallet violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution because there was no probable cause for his stop, the seizure of the wallet and/or his arrest.

Law enforcement officers may detain a person for questioning when they reasonably believe that person has committed an offense. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 215.1(A).[3] If an officer knows that a crime has been committed and has information which gives a reasonable basis to suspect a given person of having committed the offense, he is justified in making an investigatory stop. State v. Bickham, 404 So.2d 929 (La., 1981).

Sergeant Geralds was aware an armed robbery had been committed; the automobile he was following matched the description of the vehicle used to flee the scene of that robbery; and the driver of the automobile was, like the robber, a black man. When Geralds learned that a vehicle with the same description had been involved in an earlier armed robbery and that the license plate number was virtually identical with the license plate number of the car he was following, the officer was clearly justified in making a stop for further investigation.

There was probable cause for Square's arrest and he was in fact arrested when the officers told him he was being taken in for questioning. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 201.[4] Both Square and his car met the *107 descriptions given in connection with the bank robbery. The bracelet or wristband on Square's arm had been seen in the bank's film. The officers reasonably believed that Square was guilty of the Fidelity Bank armed robbery and had probable cause for his arrest. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 213(2);[5]State v. Collins, 378 So.2d 928 (La., 1980), cert. denied 447 U.S. 928, 100 S.Ct. 3025, 65 L.Ed.2d 1122. Obviously, Square would not have been allowed to leave at that point. State v. Bourgeois, 388 So.2d 359 (La., 1980); State v. Morvant, 384 So.2d 765 (La., 1980); State v. Rebstock, 418 So.2d 1306 (La., 1982).

The evidence is that Square was not searched.[6] Jarreau merely seized his arm as a precautionary measure. State v. Cobb, 419 So.2d 1237 (La., 1982). The officers could have reasonably inferred that Square was reaching for a gun, and the scope of the intrusion was limited to what was necessary to discover that fact. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1967). Compare Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969). Lieutenant Jarreau's action in grabbing Square's arm was justified and could have been imperative. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 215.1(B).[7]

Defendant argues that the wallet and its contents were not subject to seizure, because the officers could not specifically identify the money without the serial numbers. The large number of bills bulging from the wallet, coupled with the other circumstances, created a strong probability that the money was incriminating evidence of a crime. See Texas v. Brown, ___ U.S. ___, 103 S.Ct. 1535, 75 L.Ed.2d 502 (1983). The wallet was properly seized in connection with a legal arrest. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 215.1(C);[8]New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981); Texas v. Brown, supra.

This assignment lacks merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWO

Defendant contends that the trial court should have granted his motion for mistrial which alleged that the state's peremptory challenges were used to systematically exclude blacks from the jury. Nine of the state's ten peremptory challenges were to blacks; only one juror and the alternate juror were black.

Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S.Ct.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Louisiana v. Terral Anthony Parfait
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019
State v. Parker
71 So. 3d 383 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Lister
69 So. 3d 535 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Drury
36 So. 3d 1150 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State v. Lewis
31 So. 3d 1144 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State v. Perry
9 So. 3d 342 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Joshua
973 So. 2d 963 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Russell
920 So. 2d 866 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State v. Ellis
880 So. 2d 214 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Wilson
867 So. 2d 988 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. McCall
852 So. 2d 1162 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Robinson
848 So. 2d 642 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Sanders
842 So. 2d 1260 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Mandosia
842 So. 2d 1252 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Tolliver
818 So. 2d 310 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. DEBECHE
815 So. 2d 1028 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)
State v. Myles
786 So. 2d 906 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Young
786 So. 2d 228 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Debrow
781 So. 2d 853 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
State v. Furgerson
781 So. 2d 1268 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
433 So. 2d 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-square-la-1983.