State v. Tovar

860 So. 2d 51, 2003 WL 22342832
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 15, 2003
Docket03-KA-513
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 860 So. 2d 51 (State v. Tovar) 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. Tovar, 860 So. 2d 51, 2003 WL 22342832 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

860 So.2d 51 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ricardo R. TOVAR.

No. 03-KA-513.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

October 15, 2003.

*52 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Alan D. Alario, II, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for The State of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, for Ricardo Tovar, Defendant-Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges MARION F. EDWARDS, CLARENCE E. McMANUS and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

On January 25, 2002, the defendant, Ricardo Tovar, was charged in a bill of information with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of LSA-R.S. *53 40:966(A).[1] He pled not guilty and filed several pretrial motions, including a motion to suppress the evidence. A hearing was held on the motion to suppress evidence on July 10 and 25, 2002, after which the trial court took the matter under advisement. On July 30, 2002, the trial court denied the motion to suppress. Thereafter, on September 23, 2002, the defendant withdrew his not guilty plea and entered a guilty plea, reserving his right to challenge the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress, pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976). In accordance with a plea agreement, the defendant was sentenced to five years at hard labor. His sentence was suspended, and the defendant was placed on three years of active probation.

FACTS

On January 2, 2002, Agent Jeff Heggelund, with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, was contacted by Detective Scott Zemlik, with the Gretna Police Department, and advised that a reliable confidential informant stated there would be a delivery of marijuana by a white female residing at 521 Michael Street in Marerro to the Lapalco/Manhattan area. Agent Heggelund set up surveillance of the home which involved six agents.

During the surveillance, a Dodge sports utility vehicle was observed pulling up to the residence. A white male, later identified as the defendant, exited the vehicle and entered the home. Thereafter, a white female, subsequently identified as Sandraye Vedros, exited the residence and went next door to 525 Michael Street where she had a brief conversation with another white female, later identified as Lisa Kenney. Vedros returned to 521 Michael Street. Approximately two minutes later, Vedros again exited 521 Michael Street carrying a bulky brown purse. She went to 525 Michael Street and entered a small white vehicle driven by Kenney. The two drove away from the residence. The police followed the vehicle, believing one of the two women was the white female spoken about by the informant.

The police stopped the vehicle at the intersection of Manhattan and the Westbank Expressway. Vedros was asked to exit the vehicle at which time one of the officers noticed a bulky object in her waistband. When asked whether she had any weapons, Vedros started crying and stated she had marijuana in her pants. A bag containing approximately one pound of marijuana was removed from Vedros' pants. She was arrested and advised of her Miranda rights. Vedros subsequently stated she had additional marijuana in her purse.

Agent Heggelund arrived at the scene and met with Vedros. He advised her of her rights and completed a rights of arrestee form. She waived her rights and gave a recorded statement. In her statement, Vedros consented to a search of her residence at 521 Michael Street.

Agent Heggelund accompanied Vedros back to her residence, where the defendant and a small child were present. The home was searched with a canine unit. A bag with marijuana remnants, a scale, and a man's jacket containing $2,000 were found in the closet of the master bedroom and a scale was found in plain view. Inside the garage, a small amount of marijuana was found inside a tackle box and some packaging material used to transport marijuana was found in a cardboard box. According to Agent Heggelund, he advised the defendant of his rights, even though the defendant was not under arrest at that time. The defendant stated that he had lived in *54 the home for one week. He denied having access to the garage and denied any knowledge of what was going on in the garage but admitted the tackle box belonged to him. The defendant was subsequently arrested.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence. He asserts that the tip from the confidential informant was insufficient to justify a reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop, which ultimately led to the consent to search and seizure of the marijuana. The defendant contends that the tip was general, unparticularized and non-predictive. He maintains that the confidential informant's reliability was not established and that police corroboration was minimal. Thus, the defendant claims that the stop of the vehicle was illegal, and Vedros' consent to search after her illegal detention was invalid, and therefore, the evidence seized as a result of the illegality should have been suppressed.

At a hearing on a motion to suppress, the State bears the burden of proving the admissibility of evidence seized without a warrant. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 703(D). A trial court is afforded great discretion when ruling on a motion to suppress, and its ruling will not be disturbed absent an abuse of that discretion. State v. Temple, 01-655 (La.App. 5 Cir.12/12/01), 806 So.2d 697, 705, writ denied, 02-0234 (La.1/31/03), 836 So.2d 58.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 5 of the Louisiana Constitution prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. If evidence is derived from an unreasonable search or seizure, the proper remedy is exclusion of the evidence from trial. State v. Duckett, 99-314 (La.App. 5 Cir.7/27/99), 740 So.2d 227, 230.

Law enforcement officers are authorized by LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 215.1, as well as state and federal jurisprudence, to conduct investigatory stops which allow officers to stop and interrogate a person reasonably suspected of criminal activity. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Belton, 441 So.2d 1195 (La.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 953, 104 S.Ct. 2158, 80 L.Ed.2d 543 (1984); State v. Gresham, 97-1158 (La.App. 5 Cir. 4/15/98), 712 So.2d 946, 951, writ denied, 98-2259 (La.1/15/99), 736 So.2d 200. Investigatory stops require reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. "Reasonable suspicion" is something less than probable cause and is determined under the facts and circumstances of each case by whether the officer had sufficient facts within his knowledge to justify an infringement on the individual's right to be free from governmental interference. State v. Sanders, 97-892 (La.App. 5 Cir.3/25/98), 717 So.2d 234, 240, writ denied, 98-1163 (La.9/25/98), 724 So.2d 774.

Under certain circumstances, an informant's tip can provide reasonable suspicion to detain and question a person. State v. Rodriguez, 99-914 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1/25/00), 761 So.2d 14, 17, writ denied, 00-0599 (La.4/7/00), 759 So.2d 765. Generally, there must be some corroboration of the informant's tip and the tip must contain predictive information regarding the future behavior of the reported suspect. Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
860 So. 2d 51, 2003 WL 22342832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tovar-lactapp-2003.