State v. Warner

137 So. 3d 715, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0168, 2014 WL 1168910, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 643
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 12, 2014
DocketNos. 2013-KA-0168, 2013-K-1316
StatusPublished

This text of 137 So. 3d 715 (State v. Warner) 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. Warner, 137 So. 3d 715, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0168, 2014 WL 1168910, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 643 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

JOY COSSICH LOBRANO, Judge.

Lin this consolidated matter, the defendant, Ronald Warner, appeals his convictions and sentences for possession with the intent to distribute heroin and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Warner’s convictions and sentences.

The State of Louisiana charged Warner with one count each of aggravated battery (La. R.S. 14:34); being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm (La. R.S. 14:95.1); possession with the intent to distribute heroin (La. R.S. 40:966A); and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine (La. R.S. 40:967a).1 He pled not guilty. Prior to the trial, Warner moved to sever the battery and firearm counts from the drug counts. The trial court denied the motion as to the battery count but granted it as to the firearm count. Trial was held as to the battery and drug counts, at the conclusion of which a twelve-person jury found him guilty of second degree 12batter,y (La. R.S. 14:34.1) and guilty as charged as to the drug counts. Warner filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. The State also filed a multiple bill as to the drug counts, alleging that Warner was a fourth felony offender. After a hearing on the bill, the trial court found him to be a fourth offender. The trial court sentenced Warner as a first offender on the battery count to serve five years at hard labor. It sentenced him to serve fifty years at hard labor as a fourth offender for the heroin conviction and to serve thirty years at hard labor as a fourth offender for the cocaine conviction, the sentences to be served concurrently. Warner appealed.

This court subsequently remanded the case to the trial court for consideration of Warner’s second motion for new trial. On August 15, 2013, the trial court granted the motion for new trial as to the battery count but denied it as to the drug counts. Counsel objected and noted his intent to seek writs, which he filed in State v. War[718]*718ner, 2013-K-1316. By order of this Court, Warner’s writ and appeal were consolidated. In the meantime, the State nolle pro-sequied, the battery and firearm counts.

Although the trial court granted the motion for new trial as to the battery count, and the State subsequently nolle prose-quied this count, evidence concerning this count was adduced at trial. Warner’s argument with respect to his motion to sever alleges prejudice with respect to the drug counts because they were tried at the same time before the same jury as the battery count. Thus, the following fact | ^summary includes evidence adduced as to the battery count as well as the drug counts.

With respect to the battery count, Detective Tariisha Sykes testified that she investigated the battery by shooting of Ronald Burton that occurred late on the morning of July 11, 2011 at the corner of France Road and N. Villere Street. , Although Det. Sykes did not respond to the scene, she testified that officers responding to the call of the shooting found Burton, who had been shot in the leg. The responding officers indicated that Burton identified the shooter as “Rilo,” whom he had known for several years. Det. Sykes interviewed Burton that evening, after he had been released from the hospital, and based upon what he told her, she compiled a photographic lineup that contained Warner’s photo. She showed the lineup to Burton, who identified Warner as the person who shot him. Det. Sykes insisted that the identification was not the product of any force, coercion, threats, or promises, nor did she indicate what photograph' he should choose. She stated that Burton told her that he knew the shooter because he had purchased heroin from him in the past, and he owed the shooter $15.00 for heroin at the time of the shooting. The State played an audio cassette of the identification. Based upon the identification, Det. Sykes obtained an arrest warrant for Warner.

On cross-examination, Det. Sykes testified that the investigating officers found neither blood at the scene nor any witnesses who saw a green vehicle in which the shooter allegedly fled. She described Burton as calm, and he did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs. She testified that the police learned |4that the shooter fled in a green vehicle driven by a heavyset, light skin African-American woman, but they had no leads as to her identity.

Burton appeared at trial in a prison uniform and denied that Warner was the man who shot him. He admitted that he was awaiting trial on a charge of burglarizing his mother’s home, that he had prior convictions for possession of cocaine in 1988 and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in 1992, and that he used heroin in July 2011. He stated that he knew Warner for more than fifteen years, but he never purchased heroin from Warner, nor did he owe him any money. He admitted that he may have told people these facts, but he stated that he did so in anger.

Burton testified that he got shot on July 11, 2011, while standing outside a small grocery store at the corner of France Road and N. Villere Street. He testified that as he left the store, someone fired multiple shots at him, hitting his leg. Burton claimed that he did not recall telling anyone that Warner shot him, and if he did so, he was wrong. He stated that he knew many men named “Rilo,” and he did not remember a green vehicle at the scene. He insisted that the gunman walked up to him from around the corner and shot him from a distance of thirty to forty yards. He stated that he ran after being shot, and when police officers arrived, they thought [719]*719he had shot himself and asked where he had put the gun. Burton testified that he remained at the hospital for five or six hours, and he stated that he had used heroin on that day. He insisted that he was woozy when he was at the police station, and he did not remember what he told the police. He acknowledged that he [schose someone from the lineup, but he reiterated that he made the identification in anger. He admitted that when he gets out of jail, he will return to the same neighborhood where Warner lives. He averred that he wanted to testify at trial so that he could say that Warner did not shoot him.

With respect to the drug counts, Detective Willard Pearson testified that on August 9, 2011, he executed a search warrant at 1932 Gallier Street. The officers had obtained the warrant pursuant to an investigation, the target of which was Warner. Det. Pearson testified that on that date, he set up a pre-execution surveillance and saw Warner sitting on the porch of the double at that address. After about ten minutes, he saw Warner receive a call on his cell phone, leave the porch, and meet a pickup truck that had pulled up to the residence. Det. Pearson saw Warner reach into the pickup truck with his clenched fist and hand the passenger an unknown object. The pickup truck drove off, and Warner then went inside the residence. Although Det. Pearson asked other officers to stop the truck, they were unable to do so.

Det. Pearson called for other officers to come to the residence to execute the warrant, but before they could do so, Warner exited the residence and left the scene. Det. Pearson testified that he radioed other officers to stop Warner, and then he saw an African-American female leave the residence through a long window that was next to the front door, which was closed and barred. The officers stopped her, and by that time Warner was returned to the residence by the officers who stopped him. Warner indicated that his girlfriend and his daughter were Rinside the residence.

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Bluebook (online)
137 So. 3d 715, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0168, 2014 WL 1168910, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-warner-lactapp-2014.