State v. Thompson

806 So. 2d 150, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 0524, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 2, 2002 WL 15595
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 2, 2002
DocketNo. 2001-KA-0524
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 806 So. 2d 150 (State v. Thompson) 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. Thompson, 806 So. 2d 150, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 0524, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 2, 2002 WL 15595 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

| Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On June 17, 1999 the defendant-appellant, James Thompson, was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, violations of La. R.S. 40:966(A). Also indicted on the second count was his wife, Terry Thompson. The defendant entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment on June 22, 1999. Following a motion hearing on July 1, 1999 the trial court denied the motion to suppress evidence as to count two. Testi[152]*152mony as to the motion to suppress on count one was heard on July 14, 1999 after which the court denied the motion to suppress the evidence and the statement.

On July 26, 1999, the defendants waived a jury trial and proceeded with a bench trial. The court found Terry Thompson not guilty and found the defendant guilty of simple possession of heroin as to each count. The defendant immediately waived sentencing delays. The court initially sentenced him to ten years without the benefit of probation and suspension of sentence on each count to run consecutively. The State then filed a multiple bill of information charging the defendant as a second offender. He entered a guilty plea to the multiple bill. The court vacated the previously imposed sentence as to count one only and | ¿resentenced the defendant to serve twenty years at hard labor to run concurrently with the sentence imposed on count two. The defendant was informed of his appeal rights.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On March 26, 1999, Sergeant Eddie Sel-by and other New Orleans police officers, based on information received from an untested source, established a surveillance of 2475 N. Claiborne Avenue. The officers had information about the residence and a vehicle parked in front. As they watched, the defendant came out of the residence, went to the passenger’s side door of the vehicle, and placed something in the vehicle on the floorboard. The defendant went back to the residence and came back outside a short time later with an infant whom he placed into the rear seat of the targeted vehicle. The officers saw an unknown black male walk up to the defendant and engage him in conversation. The officers saw an exchange of money. The defendant went back to the passenger’s side of the vehicle and removed something from the floor area. The defendant gave the unknown object to the black male, who then left the scene. The police officers conducting the surveillance watched the defendant drive to the 1400 block of Music Street where he met with another unidentified black male. The two men walked to the car and looked into the rear passenger’s seat, where the infant was seated.

During the surveillance, Sergeant Selby had instructed back-up officers to stop the first man who met with the defendant. However, that team radioed to him that they had been unsuccessful as the man had eluded and escaped from them. Because he was concerned that the defendant or someone at his residence would be |Ralerted, the sergeant decided to stop the defendant. As the police approached the defendant, they observed him throw something into his car. The officers exited their car and identified themselves as police officers. Sergeant Selby looked inside the defendant’s vehicle and saw a white napkin. He examined the napkin and discovered that it contained fourteen tin foil packets which contained a powdery substance consistent with heroin.

The defendant was taken into custody, as was the infant, and taken to the residence at 2475 N. Claiborne. The defendant indicated that there was heroin inside the house. The defendant’s mother-in-law gave consent for a search of the house; the consent form was also signed by the defendant’s wife Terry Thompson. The defendant showed the officers various areas in his bedroom where heroin and material for packaging heroin could be found. The defendant was taken to the Fifth District police station where he gave a full statement about selling drugs. The defendant indicated that his mother-in-law and his wife knew nothing about the drug sales.

The parties stipulated that the substance found in the foil packets seized from [153]*153the defendant’s car tested positive for heroin:

On April 23, 2001 Agent Mike Herman of the St. Bernard’s Sheriffs Office participated in the arrest of the defendant and his wife, Terry Thompson. On that date a confidential informant engaged in a deal with the defendant. When the C.I. signaled that the deal was done, the police approached the defendant’s car and ordered him out. There was shuffling between the defendant and his wife, and then Agent Herman saw the defendant throw an object into his mouth. The police physically restrained the defendant after a scuffle. The defendant then spit out hseveral tin foil wrappers containing heroin. No heroin was found in the possession of the defendant’s wife.

The parties stipulated that currency was seized from the defendant and not his wife. Also, there was a stipulation that the tin foil wrappers which the defendant spit out contained heroin.

At the trial, the defendant’s wife and codefendant, Terry Thompson, testified. She stated that on April 23rd the defendant had picked her up from Southern University where she was enrolled as a student. On their way home the defendant stopped at a grocery store. Before she knew what was happening, a man walked up to the vehicle, and then the police came from everywhere. Mrs. Thompson admitted that she knew about the defendant’s arrest on March 26th (count one of the indictment), but denied any knowledge of heroin in the house or car.

The defendant did not testify at trial.

ERRORS PATENT/ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1

A review of the record for errors patent reveals none.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 2

The appellant argues that the trial court erred in its rulings on the motions to suppress. He argues each count separately; each count was handled in a separate hearing.

| MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE — COUNT 1

The appellant argues that Sergeant Sel-by lacked a sufficient basis to stop him as the informant who provided the initial tip regarding the defendant and the residence on N. Claiborne was not shown to be reliable nor was the tip sufficiently corroborated. The appellant further argues that the sergeant lacked probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the defendant’s vehicle. Finally, the appellant contends that his inculpatory statement and the subsequent seizure of evidence from the house were the fruit of the arrest which was tainted by the illegal stop and search of the vehicle.

The motion to suppress hearing as to count one of the indictment was held on July 14, 1999. Sergeant Selby testified that an untested informant stated that a person he knew as “James” who resided at 2475 N. Claiborne Avenue was distributing large quantities of heroin. The C.I. also described James’s vehicle, a brown Delta 88, and the license number of the vehicle. The sergeant stated that the license plate came back as registered to James Thompson with an address in New Orleans East.

Sergeant Selby then recounted, as he later did at trial, that he set up a surveillance of the residence and the targeted vehicle which was parked out front. He saw the defendant come out of the house, remove a white object from his shirt pocket, and place it on the floorboard in the front of the car.

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Related

State v. Hickerson
838 So. 2d 21 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
806 So. 2d 150, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 0524, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 2, 2002 WL 15595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thompson-lactapp-2002.