State v. Teeter

504 So. 2d 1036
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 4, 1987
Docket86 KA 1108
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 504 So. 2d 1036 (State v. Teeter) 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. Teeter, 504 So. 2d 1036 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

504 So.2d 1036 (1987)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Winston TEETER

No. 86 KA 1108.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 4, 1987.

*1037 William R. Campbell, Jr., New Orleans, for State of La.

*1038 S. Austin McElroy, Covington, for appellant.

Before SAVOIE, CRAIN and JOHN S. COVINGTON, JJ.

SAVOIE, Judge.

Winston Teeter was charged by indictment with three counts of theft of an amount in excess of $500.00, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:67. In the same indictment, which contained a total of eight counts, Horace Hopkins, Billy Sere, and Jim Sere were also indicted. All of the defendants pled not guilty and were tried together. Billy Sere, Jim Sere, and the defendant elected trial by jury, while Horace Hopkins elected trial by judge. After most of the prosecution's case had been presented to the jury, Horace Hopkins reached an agreement with the prosecutor, and all of the charges in the indictment against Horace Hopkins were nolle prosequied. In exchange therefor, Horace Hopkins agreed to testify truthfully against the three remaining defendants and to fully reimburse the money to the victims.

Concerning the defendant herein, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all three of the counts naming him as a defendant. For each of the three counts, he received a sentence of two years at hard labor and a fine of $2,500.00 and court costs, or in default of the fine and costs, an additional one year at hard labor. The trial court imposed the sentences concurrently and the fines, costs, and default sentences consecutively. Co-defendants, Billy and Jim Sere, were also convicted on several counts and took a separate appeal.[1] The defendant has appealed, alleging three assignments of error, as follows:

1. Ineffective assistance of counsel.
2. The defendant was prejudiced by a conflict of interest which existed because his trial counsel represented all three defendants.
3. Insufficient evidence.

FACTS

Billy Sere, Jim Sere, and the defendant, Winston Teeter, were employees of Covington Mobile Homes, Inc. Billy Sere and Jim Sere, father and son, respectively, were hired as salesmen for Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., while the defendant was hired to perform administrative tasks such as financing, insurance, and delivery. Horace Hopkins, a co-defendant, owned two-thirds of Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., and Jack Collins owned the remaining one-third. On eight different occasions between October 2, 1982, and February 24, 1983, prospective mobile home purchasers made down payments to Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., for mobile homes and trailers which were never delivered to them. Eight such down payments are reflected in the eight separate counts of the indictment returned against Horace Hopkins, Billy Sere, Jim Sere, and the defendant, Winston Teeter. On each of these eight occasions, the prospective buyer (or buyers) made a down payment with the understanding that financing arrangements would be made and the mobile home or trailer delivered shortly thereafter. Some of these down payments, ranging from $500.00 to $3000.00, were made with checks, while others were paid in cash. However, none of the above down payments resulted in delivery of a trailer or mobile home from Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., nor were these eight down payments refunded to the prospective buyers. Although all of these prospective buyers engaged in numerous courses of action to force Covington Mobile Homes to deliver a trailer or refund their deposit, none of them were successful.

Concerning the defendant, three prospective buyers, George Bezue, Joseph Manuel, and Wilson Fuselier, testified against him at the trial. George Bezue testified that he gave the defendant a $2,000.00 cash deposit for a specific trailer in October, 1982. He testified that the defendant promised to arrange the financing and deliver the trailer a few days later. Joseph Manuel testified that his mother, Judy Rice, made three cash down payments of $1,000.00 each to *1039 Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., in October, 1982. Joseph Manuel testified that the first down payment was made to Winston Teeter and Billy Sere, the second to Billy Sere alone, and the third to Winston Teeter alone. Wilson Fuselier testified that he and his wife went to Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., in January, 1983, selected a trailer, and made a $2,000.00 down payment by check. He testified that, when filling out the check, the defendant informed him to leave the payee's name blank, which he did. The cancelled check, which was introduced into evidence, listed the payee as Winston Teeter.

Near the end of the prosecution's presentation of evidence, Horace Hopkins reached an agreement with the prosecutor in which, in return for the charges against him being nolle prosequied, Horace Hopkins agreed to testify against the remaining defendants and fully reimburse the prospective buyers for the eight down payments discussed above. Horace Hopkins testified that Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., was in financial trouble in the latter part of 1982, but could have been reorganized and made into a profitable business venture. He testified that until he heard their testimony at the trial he was only familiar with some, but not all, of the problems and complaints made by these eight prospective buyers. He testified that it was at this point (after hearing these detailed complaints during trial) that he decided to refund the entire amount owed by Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., to the eight prospective buyers.

The defendant did not testify at the trial. Co-defendant Billy Sere attempted to explain why some of the down payment checks were written to the defendants rather than Covington Mobile Homes, Inc. He testified that the business had a cash flow problem and problems with its checking accounts and, therefore, down payments were written to the defendants, who then cashed the checks in order to pay bills or deposit into the business checking accounts. He also testified that cash down payments were also used to pay the debts and other minor everyday expenses of the business. He testified that the defendants never stole any money from the business and that he informed Horace Hopkins that many of the above down payments should have been refunded to the prospective buyers. Finally, Billy Sere testified that the defendants attempted to complete all of the sales to the eight prospective buyers above but were unsuccessful for numerous reasons, including: factory order delays, bad weather, problems in obtaining financing, customers changing their minds, etc.

On rebuttal, many of the prospective buyers testified that the excuses given by Billy Sere for the unsuccessful completion of these transactions were untrue. Furthermore, contrary to Billy Sere's testimony, Horace Hopkins testified that he never instructed the defendants to pay bills in cash. He also produced numerous cancelled checks which indicated that most of the company's bills had been paid by check, rather than cash. Horace Hopkins testified that Billy Sere had not informed him about most of the demands made by these prospective purchasers for the return of their down payments. Finally, Horace Hopkins testified that he was "shocked" and "amazed" when he listened to the testimony of the prospective buyers. He testified that he learned that one of the prospective buyers had been "suckered" when he discovered a contract to sell a certain type of trailer which Covington Mobile Homes, Inc., did not even carry.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NUMBERS ONE AND TWO:

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Bluebook (online)
504 So. 2d 1036, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-teeter-lactapp-1987.