State v. Touchet

759 So. 2d 194, 99 La.App. 3 Cir. 1416, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 788, 2000 WL 349016
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 5, 2000
DocketNo. CR99-1416
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 759 So. 2d 194 (State v. Touchet) 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. Touchet, 759 So. 2d 194, 99 La.App. 3 Cir. 1416, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 788, 2000 WL 349016 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

11 WOODARD, Judge.

A jury convicted Mr. Terry J. Touchet, the Defendant, of racketeering, in violation of La.R.S. 15:1353(C), and of conspiracy to commit racketeering, in violation of La. R.S. 15:1353(D). Mr. Touchet appeals, contending that the proof was insufficient to convict him of those charges. He also alleges other assignments of error. Based on the record before us, we reverse his conviction and order an acquittal of the two charges.

A group of individuals, including Mr. Touchet, transported marijuana from Texas and sold it in Louisiana, specifically, in the tri-parish area comprising Acadia, Vermilion, and Jefferson Davis Parishes. Mr. David Camacho supplied Mr. Monty Williams in Texas. Mr. Williams, in turn, supplied Louisianian, Mr. William “Billy” Walton, Jr. Mr. Williams and Mr. Walters usually met in Calcasieu Parish to confect their transactions. Mr. Walton supplied Mr. Touchet, a resident of Vermilion Parish. Mr. Touchet then supplied other individuals for “street-level” distribution, consumed some of the marijuana, and gave some of it away.

On September 26, 1996, the State charged Mr. Touchet and three co-defendants with drug racketeering, a violation of La.R.S. 15:1353. The bill of information alleged that Mr. Touchet and the others had engaged in a pattern of criminal drug activity from January 1, 1994 until June 17,1996.

On October 26, 1998, the State filed an amended bill, changing the named defendants. This bill charged only Mr. Touchet and a single co-defendant, Mr. Camacho, who was not named in the first bill. On November 5, 1998, the trial court heard and denied Mr. Touchet’s motion to sever his trial from Mr. Camacho’s.

On November 10, 1998, the lower court heard Mr. Touchet’s motion to quash. The State again amended the bill, dropping two of four counts and amending the last one. At this point, the bill charged both men with racketeering, a violation of La.R.S. 15:1353(C), and conspiracy to commit racketeering, a violation of La.R.S. 15:1353(D).

Jury selection proceeded from November 17-20, 1998. On November 20, 1998, Mr. Camacho pled guilty and received a probated sentence. On that same date, oral argument began in Mr. Touchet’s case. Trial ended on November 24, 1998. The jury found Mr. Touchet guilty as charged.

IgOn February 1, 1999, the trial court sentenced him to fifty years at hard labor on each charge, to run concurrently, and denied his motion to reconsider sentence on February 8,1999.

Mr. Touchet appeals his conviction and sentence. He complains of insufficient evidence to convict, excessive sentence, and that the court erred when it denied his motions: (1) to sever him from co-defendant, Mr. Camacho; (2) to prevent Mr. Camacho from testifying against him; and (3) for a mistrial.

LAW

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent. We find no errors patent.

[196]*196SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

Mr. Touchet alleges the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support his convictions under La.R.S. 15:1353(0 and (D). It is well-settled that the State must prove the elements of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.1

The State charged Mr. Touchet and tried him pursuant to La.R.S. 15:1353(0 and (D):

C. It is unlawful for any person employed by, or associated with, any enterprise knowingly to conduct or participate in, directly or indirectly, such enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity.
D. It is unlawful for any person to conspire or attempt to violate any of the provisions of Subsections A, B, or C of this Section.

La.R.S. 15:1352(B) defines “enterprise”:

“Enterprise” means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or other legal entity, or any un-chartered association, or group of individuals associated in fact and includes 1 sunlawful as well as lawful enterprises and governmental as well as other entities.

Mr. Touchet argues that the State failed to prove that an “enterprise” existed, within the statute’s meaning. In presenting its case, the State relied heavily on the testimony of Mr. Walton, the “mule” who transported the Texas marijuana from Cal-casieu Parish to Mr. Touchet in Vermilion Parish. Mr. Walton testified that he and Mr. Touchet became acquainted in 1994 when they were next-door neighbors. They became friends when Mr. Touchet gave him a goat and they began smoking marijuana together. Over time, they started obtaining the substance from cheaper sources. Upon finding less expensive marijuana in Texas, Mr. Walton began getting it there, picking up $1,000.00-$3,000.00 worth at a time. At some point, he and Mr. Touchet began selling the substance in Vermilion, Acadia, and Jefferson Davis Parishes. The pair sold some of the marijuana and smoked some themselves. Eventually, Mr. Walton found yet another, cheaper, supplier in Texas, Mr. Williams. Mr. Walton made approximately one pickup per month for a year-and-a-half.

At trial, Mr. Walton testified that he would obtain money from Mr. Touchet or his girlfriend, then he would obtain the marijuana from Mr. Williams. Normally, he met Mr. Williams in Calcasieu Parish near the Texas border, although he had made pickups in Texas. The activity ceased when the police arrested Mr. Walton in Jefferson Davis Parish with twenty pounds of marijuana in his truck.

An informant and Mr. Touchet’s uncle, Mr. Shelby Roy Fontenot, supported Mr. Walton’s testimony. In the spring of 1996, Mr. Touchet approached his uncle about taking over Mr. Walton’s role as the “mule.” Mr. Fontenot reported the matter to authorities, who began using him as a confidential informant. He accompanied Mr. Walton twice, making the pickup in Calcasieu Parish and unloading in Jefferson Davis Parish. After the first trip, Mr. Touchet showed Mr. Fontenot some marijuana (apparently at Mr. Touchet’s residence in Vermilion) and identified it as part of the load that Mr. Fontenot and Mr. Walton brought back. Mr. Walton paid Mr. Fontenot $150.00 for making the trips, and Mr. Touchet paid Mr. Fontenot $180.00 and two red heifers. Mr. Walton’s arrest, and the subsequent investigation of Mr. Touchet, resulted from Mr. Fontenot’s information and police surveillance.

Mr. Williams and his wife, Melissa, gave testimony that generally corroborated the pattern of activity which Mr. Walton and Mr. Fontenot revealed. Also, they noted I ¿that Mr. Williams received marijuana in [197]*197Texas from Mr. Camacho. Sometimes, Mr. Willliams would “shop around” and obtain marijuana from other suppliers. According to their testimony, Mr. Touchet did not know either of the Williamses. Mr. Walton supported this assertion.

Other witnesses testified that Mr. Tou-chet sold or gave them marijuana in Vermilion, Acadia, and Jefferson Davis Parishes. The State also introduced telephone records to show communications between the various parties. These records showed contact between Mr. Willliams and Mr. Camacho, as well as between Mr. Walton and Mr. Willliams, and between Mr. Walton and Mr. Touchet.

There is little Louisiana jurisprudence regarding this statute, but the State cites federal cases, noting that Louisiana racketeering laws are modeled upon federal “RICO” legislation.2

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
759 So. 2d 194, 99 La.App. 3 Cir. 1416, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 788, 2000 WL 349016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-touchet-lactapp-2000.