State v. Toussaint

974 So. 2d 698, 2007 WL 4322069
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 11, 2007
Docket07-KA-353
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 974 So. 2d 698 (State v. Toussaint) 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. Toussaint, 974 So. 2d 698, 2007 WL 4322069 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

974 So.2d 698 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ezekiel D. TOUSSAINT.

No. 07-KA-353.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 11, 2007.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Laura Schneidau, Anne Wallis, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for plaintiff/appellee.

James A. Williams, Attorney at Law, Gretna, LA, for defendant/appellant.

Panel composed of Judges SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, CLARENCE E. McMANUS, and GREG G. GUIDRY.

GREG G. GUIDRY, Judge.

Defendant, Ezekiel D. Toussaint, appeals from his conviction for armed robbery with a firearm and his sentence to 35 years at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. For the reasons which follow, we affirm.

On April 7, 2005, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office filed a bill of *699 information charging the Defendant with armed robbery using a firearm, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64 and La. R.S. 14:64.3. The Defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment. Subsequently, the Defendant filed a Motion to Suppress Confession, Identification, and Physical Evidence. The De fendant withdrew his motions to suppress the physical evidence and confession. The trial judge denied the motion to suppress the identification. On March 21, 2006, the Defendant filed a motion in limine, which the trial court granted.[1] The case proceeded to trial.

At trial, the assistant general manager of the Jiffy Lube that was robbed, Shelva Davis, testified he was at the store, located at 405 Wall Boulevard, on the date of the armed robbery, March 26, 2004. He was in the office when the Defendant walked in and asked if they were hiring at the store. The Defendant walked toward Davis and gestured with his finger over his lips for Davis to remain quiet. Davis noticed immediately that the Defendant had a gun in his right hand. The Defendant pointed the gun in Davis' face during the robbery. Davis threw the bank deposit bag from the previous day on the counter. The Defendant counted the money. The bag contained checks and approximately $243 in cash. The Defendant told Davis that he knew he had more money. Davis replied that there was no more money because they had just opened the store at 8:00 a.m. The Defendant exited the store. The robbery took a total of four to five minutes. After the Defendant left, Davis called 911.

Another Jiffy Lube employee at work on the day of the armed robbery, James Lamargue, testified that prior to the robbery he saw a gold/tan Ford Explorer with two occupants pass the store. As they passed, both occupants looked into the store. Later, he saw two men approaching the store. The Defendant asked Lamarque where he could find the manager. Lamarque then talked to the other man, later identified as Freddie Beverly, for approximately one minute. During that time, Lamarque asked Beverly whether he was in the gold Explorer that drove past earlier. Beverly eventually responded, "yeah," and told Lamarque that it was his cousin's truck. After Beverly's response, Lamarque became suspicious and went into the store's lobby. Lamarque could hear the Defendant tearing open the bag containing the money. As soon as Lamarque saw the gun in the Defendant's right hand, he left and went to the gas station next door. Beverly was no longer in front of the store when Lamarque left. Lamarque asked an employee of the gas station to call the police. Lamarque went back outside after Davis told him that the robbers had left.

When Lamarque went back to the Jiffy Lube store, Davis was on the phone with the police. Davis described the Defendant as six feet tall with a slim body-type. He stated that the Defendant wore a hooded fleece pullover with red markings on the front, possibly for a sports team, and a black baseball cap with a logo on it. Davis testified that because the Defendant's hands were right in front of his face, he observed during the robbery that the Defendant had darker than normal fingernails. 'The Defendant wore nothing to hide his face except a pair of sunglasses with a yellowish tint. Davis also observed that the Defendant had a thin moustache. During the robbery, Davis saw Beverly *700 talking to Lamarque. Beverly was wearing a grey hooded sweater. Beverly never came into the office.

Lamarque talked to the police during the same telephone conversation as Davis. Lamarque told the police that the two men were driving in a tan or gold-colored late model Ford Explorer. Lamarque described the Defendant as wearing yellow sunglasses and a black jacket and baseball cap. Both the jacket and the cap had white lettering on them. Lamarque described Beverly as wearing a grey sweat-shirt and small sunglasses.

Officer Dave Jackson of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office testified that, after being notified of the armed robbery, he followed a gold Ford Explorer that fit the description of the one involved in the armed robbery. The vehicle increased speed shortly after he began following it. Three black males were in the vehicle. Officer Jackson put on his lights and sirens to warn the occupants to pull the vehicle over. However, the occupants of the vehicle ignored him and failed to stop for two stop signs. As he continued to follow, Officer Jackson saw the occupants of the Explorer taking off their shirts. Officer Jackson opined that the occupants did this to change their appearances. During the pursuit, the vehicle slowed and both passengers from the front and back seats jumped out from the vehicle's right side. Eventually the vehicle stopped next to an apartment building. Beverly, the driver, got out and ran between the buildings of the apartment complex. He was apprehended 10 or 15 minutes later approximately 200 feet from where he abandoned the Explorer, at 1900 Faith Place.

The police took Lamarque to a location to identify the vehicle approximately 20 or 30 minutes after the robbery. Lamarque identified Beverly and the vehicle. He had no doubt about his identification of the vehicle and Beverly, even though Beverly was not wearing the sweatshirt and glasses he had worn when at Jiffy Lube earlier.

Davis was taken by patrol car to an apartment complex near Terry Parkway approximately 30 to 35 minutes after the robbery. Davis saw a gold Ford Explorer and someone in handcuffs. Davis told the police that he could not be sure that Beverly was the person who had been outside talking to Lamarque. However, he did recognize the grey sweater on the front seat of the Explorer as the one worn by Beverly.

Detective Keith Locascio of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office's Robbery Squad testified that, after the police apprehended Beverly in connection with the armed robbery, Beverly signed a consent form allowing the police to search the Explorer. Two baseball caps were found in a search of the vehicle. Detective Locascio testified that during the course of his investigation he developed the name of Ezekiel Toussaint, the Defendant. They performed computer checks and then a photographic lineup was compiled with the Defendant's photograph.[2]

Within approximately six hours of the armed robbery, Detective Mascaro returned to the Jiffy Lube with the photographic lineup. Davis identified the Defendant in the photographic lineup as the man who came into the office, pointed the gun in his face, and robbed him. Davis was positive in his identification. There was no doubt in his mind. Davis also identified the Defendant in court as the man who robbed him. Detective Mascaro testified that he did not inform Davis that the photographic lineup included a suspect.

*701

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Related

State v. Wolff
30 So. 3d 897 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Robertson
995 So. 2d 650 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Decay
989 So. 2d 132 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
974 So. 2d 698, 2007 WL 4322069, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-toussaint-lactapp-2007.