State v. Walker

430 So. 2d 1327
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 13, 1983
DocketCR 82-502
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 430 So. 2d 1327 (State v. Walker) 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. Walker, 430 So. 2d 1327 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

430 So.2d 1327 (1983)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Raymond Anthony WALKER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. CR 82-502.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 13, 1983.

*1328 David Kent Savoie, Drost & Savoie, Sulphur, for defendant-appellant.

Leonard K. Knapp, Jr., Dist. Atty., and Robert Bryant, Asst. Dist. Atty., Lake Charles, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before GUIDRY, STOKER and KNOLL, JJ.

GUIDRY, Judge.

The defendant, Raymond Anthony Walker, pleaded guilty to the charge of accessory after the fact to simple burglary, conditioned upon appellate review of his complaint of an adverse pre-plea ruling on a motion to suppress. See State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (1976).

Defendant urges two assignments of error on appeal: (1) the trial judge erred in ruling that there was probable cause to arrest the defendant for criminal trespass; (2) the trial judge erred in ruling that a co-defendant's statement inculpating both himself and defendant were not constitutionally excludable.

The defendant, Walker, and his co-defendant, Paul Mark Arcenaux, were initially arrested on charges of criminal trespass. The incidents surrounding that arrest led to their subsequent arrest on charges of burglary and theft. The bill of information initially charged each defendant with simple burglary of a structure (LSA-R.S. 14:62) and theft of items in that structure having a value in excess of five hundred dollars (LSA-R.S. 14:67). However, the bill was amended as to Walker charging him only as being an accessory after the fact to simple burglary (LSA-R.S. 14:25).

A consolidated hearing was held on the motions of the defendants to suppress tangible items seized and oral inculpatory statements. Each defendant stipulated at the hearing on their motions that the tangible items of evidence were not in their possession or control at the time of the seizure. The motion to suppress based on constitutional violations as to those items was abandoned. Following the hearing, the trial judge denied the suppression motions and Walker's co-defendant, Arceneaux, sought and was granted a writ to the Louisiana Supreme Court, challenging the trial judge's failure to suppress Arceneaux's inculpatory statements. State v. Arceneaux, 416 So.2d 938 (La.1982). The Supreme Court rendered its decision on the Arceneaux writ reversing the denial of Arceneaux's suppression motion. State v. Arceneaux, 425 So.2d 740 (La.1983).

This decision is controlling as to most of the issues presented on this appeal. The remaining issue is whether Walker has standing to object to the admission of his co-defendant's statement which the Supreme Court declared inadmissible as against Arceneaux.

FACTS

Provided below is the factual background of this case as set forth by the Supreme *1329 Court in Arceneaux, supra, (the word "defendant", when used by the Supreme Court, refers to co-defendant, Arceneaux):

"The facts adduced at the suppression hearing[4] are generally not in dispute. At about 5:30 a.m. on February 8, 1982, Officer Miles of the Sulphur Police Department was on routine patrol. While driving east on Highway 90, he saw a parked vehicle on the north side of the railroad tracks with its headlights on. The vehicle was on a one-way dirt path[5] which ran parallel to the railroad tracks. Miles, aware of complaints of criminal damage to property, trespassers, and people throwing rocks at trains in the area, turned around and drove north onto the property of a concrete plant, which was located south of the railroad tracks. He pulled up behind a rock pile and shined his spotlight on the vehicle, whereupon the vehicle, which had two people in it, started to back up. Knowing that the only public access to the path was Prater Road, Miles radioed Officer Decker to head off the vehicle. Decker responded and proceeded along the `path' with his spotlight on. Decker testified that he saw `... the doors were open on the vehicle ... two subjects were getting into the vehicle, and the doors closed, and the vehicle started backing out towards me....' When the vehicles got within thirty feet of each other, Decker got out of his vehicle and ordered the driver (Arceneaux) to stop the car. At this time, Miles arrived on the scene and the officers began identification procedures on Arceneaux and the passenger (Raymond A. Walker).[6] When Decker noticed a train coming, all parties drove to a nearby parking lot at the Red Top Grocery. There, Lieutenant Moss and two units from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Department arrived. Arceneaux was once again requested to produce identification. Although Arceneaux was not `formally' arrested at this time, Miles testified that he would have restrained him if he had tried to leave. Five or ten minutes later, Miles and Moss left the parking lot to search the area near the railroad tracks. Upon finding an electric guitar in a water-filled ditch or hole,[7] they radioed Decker to arrest Arceneaux. Decker formally arrested defendant for trespassing on Southern Pacific Railroad property,[8] advised him of his Miranda rights and transported him to the Sulphur Police Department where he was booked on the charge of trespass. At 6:50 a.m., defendant, after being advised of his Miranda rights by Officer Doucet, signed a waiver of rights form. At 7:02 a.m., Officer McCann of the Sulphur Police Department took over and again advised defendant of his rights. McCann asked Arceneaux: `[W]here did the items recovered come from?' Defendant replied that they `had come from the mini-warehouse.' McCann intended to ask more questions but at that point defendant stated that he wanted to `talk to an attorney first.' Defendant's request for an attorney is not disputed. Questioning then ceased. Subsequently, defendant was taken across the street to the Sulphur substation. Meanwhile, Officer Steach, a burglary and theft investigator with the Calcasieu *1330 Sheriff's Office, had been called to assist in the case by the Sulphur Police Department. Steach, after investigating the area near the railroad tracks, arrived at the sub-station at about 10:30 a.m. Thereafter, at about 11:30 a.m. (some four hours after Arceneaux had requested counsel), Steach, unaware of defendant's request for counsel, proceeded to interrogate him about the break-in after advising him of his Miranda rights and having him execute a waiver of rights form. Defendant orally confessed to his involvement in the crime. However, defendant refused to give a written statement stating that `he wanted to talk with an attorney.' Questioning then ceased and defendant was placed under arrest for burglary and theft."

Additionally, the oral statement given to Officer Steach by Arceneaux implicated Walker as being an accessory after the fact to simple burglary. He denied Walker's participation in the burglary, but did state that Walker helped him hastily unload the stolen items once they were aware that they had been spotted by the police. Defendant Walker's only statement was to Deputy Steach, and that was to the effect that he had been sleeping in the car when the incident occurred. He then requested an attorney.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

The Supreme Court in Arceneaux reversed the trial court finding and held that the officers did not have probable cause to believe that Arceneaux had committed any crime and that the arrest was therefore illegal. This finding is also controlling as to Walker.

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Bluebook (online)
430 So. 2d 1327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-walker-lactapp-1983.