State v. Taylor

887 So. 2d 589, 2004 WL 2387286
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 26, 2004·No. 04-KA-346·Published·Cited by 83 cases

Opinion

887 So.2d 589 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Rene TAYLOR.

No. 04-KA-346.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

October 26, 2004.

*590 John M. Crum, Jr., District Attorney, Fortieth Judicial District, Parish of St. John the Baptist, Rodney A. Brignac, Assistant District Attorney, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

*591 Newton K. Muhammad, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SOL GOTHARD, THOMAS F. DALEY and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

SOL GOTHARD, Judge.

Defendant, Rene Taylor, appeals his conviction and sentence on a charge of armed robbery in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

Taylor was charged with the offense by bill of information on September 18, 2002. After being found competent to stand trial, defendant pled not guilty and filed several pre-trial motions, including a motion to suppress his statement which was denied after a hearing. He proceeded to trial on September 9, 2003, and was found guilty as charged by a twelve-person jury. In due course, defendant was sentenced to ten years without benefits. He filed a timely motion for appeal.

FACTS

On August 30, 2002, Officer Darryl Marchand was patrolling Airline Highway near Homewood Place when he saw two black males running eastbound on Airline and two black males running along the side of a gas station building. Officer Marchand turned into the parking lot, at which time one of the black males running on Airline approached, and stated he had just been robbed by two males who ran to the side of the building. Officer Marchand pursued the two suspects on foot. He drew his weapon and called for the suspects to stop. One of the suspects jumped the fence while defendant complied with Officer Marchand's commands. As Officer Marchand approached defendant, he saw defendant drop some money, a red bandana, and a piece of paper which later proved to be a check stub bearing the name of David Singleton. A .20 gauge shotgun was later recovered from a grassy area behind the gas station.

Defendant was arrested and transported to the jail. After being advised of his constitutional rights, defendant gave an inculpatory statement admitting his role in the armed robbery. Defendant stated he and co-defendant, Perry Chopin, were in the Homewood subdivision when they decided to rob someone. He stated Chopin armed himself with a shotgun and gave defendant a 9 mm gun. Defendant explained the victim, David,[1] was sitting in a pickup truck in front of a store when defendant covered his face with a bandana, approached the victim, and pulled a gun. According to defendant, the victim grabbed the gun, at which time Chopin approached with his shotgun. Two people who were with the victim ran, and the victim gave defendant his money. Defendant and Chopin ran away from the scene but were pursued by a police officer. Chopin jumped a fence but defendant was apprehended. Defendant stated he threw the money down when he was ordered to lie on the ground.

Co-defendant, Perry Chopin, testified at trial against defendant. He stated that he was serving a ten-year sentence for the armed robbery he and defendant committed on Homewood. He testified that defendant pointed a 9 mm gun at the victim and took his money. Chopin testified the gun in evidence, a .20 gauge shotgun, belonged to him.

As part of the proof against defendant, the State introduced photographs of the money seized and of the check stub bearing *592 the victim's name. Also introduced into evidence was defendant's statement.

LAW

In brief to this court, defendant assigns five errors. Specifically, defendant asserts that the trial court erred when it violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accuser, and allowed the testimony of Detective Royal Burke concerning the confession of defendant without the testimony of the victim. Further, defendant argues that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the conviction and, that he had ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. In the final assignment, defendant requests that this court conduct an errors patent review of the record.

On review of the assignments of error, we find that the assignment relating to the admission of Detective Burke's testimony is essentially an argument based on the issue of whether the State proved that a crime was actually committed. Further, in another assignment, defendant questions the sufficiency of the evidence presented to support the conviction.

When issues are raised on appeal as to one or more trial errors, the reviewing court should first determine sufficiency of the evidence. When the entirety of the evidence, including evidence that was erroneously admitted, is insufficient to support the conviction, the accused must be discharged as to that crime, and any issues regarding trial errors become moot. State v. Harris, 03-1297 (La.App. 5 Cir. 3/30/04), 871 So.2d 599, 605. Because two of the five errors presented for our review relate to the sufficiency of the evidence, we will consider them first.

Armed robbery is "the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, while armed with a dangerous weapon." La. R.S. 14:64. To support a conviction for armed robbery, the State must prove 1) a taking, 2) of anything of value, 3) from the person or in the immediate control of another, 4) by the use of force or intimidation, 5) while armed with a dangerous weapon. La. R.S. 14:64; State v. Page, 02-689 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1/28/03), 837 So.2d 165, 175, writ denied, 03-951 (La.11/7/03), 857 So.2d 517. In addition to proving the statutory elements of the charged offense, the State is required to prove the identity of the perpetrator. State v. Vasquez, 98-898 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/10/99), 729 So.2d 65, 69.

Defendant's argument as to sufficiency is two-fold. He argues first that his uncorroborated confession cannot be used to establish the corpus delicti and second, that the evidence presented did not prove defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The law of corpus delicti was discussed by the Louisiana Supreme Court in State v. Brown, 236 La. 562, 108 So.2d 233, 236 (1959) as follows:

In the trial of every criminal case the State, to warrant a legal conviction of an accused, must prove the corpus delicti, or the fact that a crime has been committed. Without such proof no conviction will be permitted to stand....
....
Suspicion, rumor, gossip, or mere hearsay evidence is not sufficient to establish the proof of corpus delicti.
(Internal citations omitted.)

The corpus delicti must be proven by evidence which the jury may reasonably accept as establishing that fact beyond a reasonable doubt and may be proven by circumstantial evidence. Id. at 236-237. A conviction cannot be based on the extrajudicial confession of the defendant, unless corroborated by independent evidence of *593 the corpus delicti. Id. at 237. When determining the existence of the corpus delicti, the issue is not whether there is sufficient evidence to convict the defendant; but rather, whether there is any evidence at all, independent of the confession, that establishes the fact that a crime was committed. Id. at 237.

Defendant's specific argument in this portion of the discussion is that his confessio

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