State v. Walker

844 So. 2d 1060, 2003 WL 1879135
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 9, 2003
Docket2002-KA-1350
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 844 So. 2d 1060 (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, 844 So. 2d 1060, 2003 WL 1879135 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

844 So.2d 1060 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Davis WALKER.

No. 2002-KA-1350.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

April 9, 2003.

Harry F. Connick, District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Anne M. Dickerson, Assistant *1061 District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Kevin V. Boshea, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

(Court Composed of Judge JOAN BERNARD ARMSTRONG, Judge TERRI F. LOVE, and Judge LEON A. CANNIZZARO, JR.).

LEON A. CANNIZZARO, JR., Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The defendant, Davis Walker, was convicted on two counts of first degree robbery and one count of attempted first degree robbery. The defendant was also convicted of being a multiple offender. He was found not guilty of a count of armed robbery. He is appealing his convictions on the grounds that he had ineffective assistance of counsel, that there was insufficient evidence to convict him, and that he should not have been convicted as a multiple offender. He has also raised the issue of the appellate court's inability to review all the evidence presented at trial, because some of the physical evidence introduced at trial cannot now be located.

FACTS

On March 27, 1996, the defendant was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia as a result of information that had been transmitted from the New Orleans Police Department to the police department in Atlanta. The defendant was extradited to Orleans Parish where he was arraigned on June 11, 1997, on the following charges: (1) a charge of armed robbery at the E-Z Serve Store at 3434 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana; (2) a charge of attempted first degree robbery at the Owl[1] Food Mart on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans, Louisiana; (3) a charge of first degree robbery at a Texaco Gas Station convenience store at 9232 Chef Menteur Highway, New Orleans, Louisiana; and (4) a charge of first degree robbery at the E-Z Serve Store at 3340 Orleans Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana. The defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges at the arraignment. Beginning on April 7, 1998, the defendant was tried on all four charges. On April 9, 1998, he was found not guilty on the armed robbery count, but he was convicted on the two counts of first degree robbery and the count of attempted first degree robbery.

The defendant was charged as a multiple offender, and on June 27, 2000, a hearing on the multiple bill was held. On January 30, 2002, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence as a triple offender on the conviction for attempted first degree robbery at the Owl Food Store, to ten years at hard labor on the conviction for first degree robbery at the Texaco Gas Station, and to twenty years at hard labor on the conviction for first degree robbery at the Orleans Avenue E-Z Serve Store. All sentences are to be served consecutively.[2]

Count 1: Armed Robbery of St. Charles Avenue E-Z Serv: Violation of La. R.S. 14:64

On January 17, 1996, New Orleans Police Department Officer Andrew Roccaforte *1062 responded to an armed robbery call at the E-Z Serve Store located at 3434 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana. Officer Roccaforte testified at trial that he met with Ms. Nicole Harris, the cashier at the convenience store, who gave him a description of the perpetrator. At trial, Officer Roccaforte testified as to the description of the perpetrator, which he had written on a police report that was based on information received from Ms. Harris when he interviewed her.

Officer Roccaforte testified that Ms. Harris had described the perpetrator as being a black male with a brown complexion, who was approximately twenty-eight to thirty years old. He was described as being about five feet eight inches tall and weighing about one hundred and fifty pounds. He was wearing a green cap, a white bandanna underneath the cap, a gray and green sweater, and green pants.

The defendant was found not guilty on this count. Therefore, the jury's determination on this count is not being appealed.

Count 2: Attempted First Degree Robbery of Owl Food Mart: Violation of La. 14:(27)64.1

On January 17, 1996, New Orleans Police Department Officer Docia Bates responded to a call regarding an incident at the Owl Food Mart on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans, Louisiana. She testified at trial that when she went to the food mart, she interviewed a cashier at the store and prepared a police report that included a description of the perpetrator. Officer Bates testified that, according to the police report that she prepared, the perpetrator was a "black male, late twenties, five-foot-six, about a hundred and forty pounds" wearing "green pants, unknown type shirt, a beige or white dirty looking sweater". He was also wearing "a darkcolored bandana". Officer Bates also testified that she recovered from the security camera at the Owl Food Mart a videotape made the day the crime occurred. Finally, Officer Bates testified that the witness she interviewed when she initially investigated the robbery stated that the perpetrator drove away from the store in a "maroon or a burgundy Buick, a Buick Regal".

Ms. Kathrin T. Pratt also testified in connection with the incident at the Owl Food Mart. Ms. Pratt stated at trial that she was working with Ms. Carol Ann Atkinson, who was being trained as a cashier by Ms. Pratt. Ms. Pratt had gone into the back of the store, when she heard Ms. Atkinson having trouble with the cash register. When Ms. Pratt went to the front of the store to assist Ms. Atkinson, there was someone else in the front of the store. Ms. Pratt assumed this person had a weapon or a gun based on the person's appearance, and she testified that the person was asking Ms. Atkinson to give him money. Ms. Pratt testified that the person "was wearing a gray sweater with a large green stripe going across the front with a bandanna on his head and a baseball cap". Ms. Pratt further testified that she had viewed the videotape recovered by Officer Bates from the store's security camera and that it accurately depicted what had happened on January 17, 1996. The videotape was introduced into evidence as State's Exhibit 3.

Ms. Pratt further testified that she had been shown a photo line-up and from the line-up she had been able to identify the perpetrator of the Owl Food Mart robbery. The photo line-up was introduced into evidence as State's Exhibit 4.

The defendant was found guilty by the jury of an attempted first degree robbery at the Owl Food Mart. Although the jury viewed State's Exhibit 3 and State's Exhibit 4, these exhibits are unavailable for this Court to review on appeal. *1063 Count 3: First Degree Robbery of Texaco Gas Station Convenience Store: Violation of La. R.S. 14:64.1

At trial, Ms. Deshawn George testified that on January 17, 1996, while she was working at a Texaco Gas Station, a man walked into the convenience store associated with the station. Ms. George said that the man put something against her back, and asked her to open the store cash register. She opened the cash register, and the man took the money in it and left. Ms. George testified that she thought the man had a gun, but she could only identify some of the clothing he was wearing and could not identify his face. Ms. George testified that the man was wearing a "gray sweater with a stripe going across" and that the stripe was green or blue. The defendant was found guilty of this robbery by the jury.

Count 4: First Degree Robbery of Orleans Avenue E-Z Serv: Violation of La. R.S. 14:64.1

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
844 So. 2d 1060, 2003 WL 1879135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-walker-lactapp-2003.