State v. Weaver

770 So. 2d 831, 2000 WL 1483335
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 27, 2000
Docket99-KA-2376
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 770 So. 2d 831 (State v. Weaver) 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. Weaver, 770 So. 2d 831, 2000 WL 1483335 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

770 So.2d 831 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ignatius WEAVER.

No. 99-KA-2376.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

September 27, 2000.

*832 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Jane L. Beebe, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Laura Pavy, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, Louisiana, Counsel for Defendant-Appellant.

Court composed of Chief Judge ROBERT J. KLEES, Judge WILLIAM H. BYRNES, III, Judge MIRIAM G. WALTZER.

BYRNES, J.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On August 14, 1998, defendant was charged with two counts of armed robbery. Ms. Keisha Johnson was the victim. On February 1, 1999, the State amended the bill of information to change the second count to first degree robbery. On February 25, 1999, a twelve-member jury found defendant not guilty on Count 2, but was hung as to Count 1. Defendant was retried on Count 1 on March 22, 1999, and was found guilty as charged by a twelve-member jury. Defendant filed a motion for new trial that was denied on May 21, 1999. On June 21, 1999, the trial court found defendant to be a second offender pursuant to a multiple bill filed by the State. Defendant was sentenced to forty-nine and one-half years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

Officer Clarence Mitchell testified that in the course of investigating a "miscellaneous case" in 1998, he searched the home *833 of defendant and his wife, Robinette Robinson,[1] where he found a suitcase that contained pawn tickets and a newspaper clipping[2] describing the June 4th Johnson robbery.[3] He noted that one ticket described "a whole bunch of jewelry" and bore the signature, "Ignatius Weaver."

Officer Mitchell then returned to the Sixth District Station where he learned that the jewelry listed on the pawn tickets matched the description of the jewelry Ms. Johnson said had been stolen from her in the June 4th robbery. Officer Mitchell testified that he was able to recover most of Ms. Johnson's stolen property from the pawn shop. Officer Mitchell visited Ms. Johnson at her residence to show her a color photo-lineup, and she chose defendant's picture.

Ms. Keisha Johnson testified that on the afternoon of June 4, 1998, she and her five year old niece got off the bus at Louisiana and Annunciation and that there was a man behind them as they walked. Ms. Johnson stated that the man came over to her, put a gun to her head, and tried to remove her chain which would not come off. He continued to hold the gun on her as she removed her jewelry, and she said that he walked and then ran from the scene. She stated that the robber wore a black shirt and blue jean shorts. She chose defendant's picture out of a photographic lineup; and, she testified that a week after the robbery, she saw defendant at the house across the street from her. She further testified that she told the neighbor at whose house she saw defendant that he was the man who robbed her. She said that the neighbor told her that defendant was buying a car from him and that he would talk to defendant about the robbery.

Michael North testified that he was playing basketball with defendant on the afternoon of June 4, 1998 at Shakespeare Park. He further stated that defendant had his children with him, and North said that he remembered the date because it was the day that the swimming pool opened.

Johnny Seymour testified that he was also playing basketball with defendant on the afternoon of June 4, 1998. He further testified that defendant was with his brother, two other men, and his two sons. He admitted that he could not remember on which team defendant played.

John Lacen testified that he went to the park on the afternoon of June 4, 1998, where he saw defendant and spoke with him. He further testified that he knew that one of the sons of defendant had a birthday on June 3 and that he had promised him some crawfish. He said that he left the park at 4:00 p.m.

Carolyn Smith testified that defendant was an in-house patient at the Christian Community drug treatment center from June 17 to June 27, 1998.

Everett Harris, who was also known as Al, testified that he knew both defendant and Keisha Johnson, a neighbor. He stated that Ms. Johnson came over to his house to tell him that the person who had come to his house had robbed her. Harris *834 testified that defendant had not come to his house that day and that the person that Ms. Johnson claimed was the robber was a rapper named Goldamine who wanted to buy a car. He further testified that Goldamine looked very much like defendant. Harris also stated that to his knowledge, defendant had not been at his house on the day that Ms. Johnson said that she had seen defendant there.

Sylvia Bridgewater, defendant's mother, testified that defendant clipped out the newspaper article about the robbery that was found in the suitcase because she had been robbed in the same area. She further testified that the defendant had always clipped articles out of the newspaper. Ms. Bridgewater stated that pawn slips in his name could have been for others because people would have him pawn items for them since he had an I.D.:

Q. Do you have any knowledge as to why Ignatius Weaver had the pawn slips for various things?
A. Because Ignatius pawns everything for everybody because he has to sign. Anybody could come. Ignatius is a person where he just don't know how to say, no. If somebody come up and ask him or give him a sad story, you know, about helping them—that's just the kind of person he is.
Q. And so he had credentials or whatever the pawn shop needs? What do they need?
A. An I.D.
Q. How long has he done that?
A. Quite a while. He's done pawn a T.V. for my daughter. He even bought a car for my daughter with his I.D.

Ms. Bridgewater's testimony never makes any specific reference to the particular pawn ticket covering Ms. Johnson's stolen jewelry. Nor did she claim to have knowledge of who that pawn ticket might belong to if not her son.

She further stated that defendant always had his children with him after 2:30 p.m. when he left his job at Tasty Donuts and the children got out of school.

Robinette Weaver, defendant's wife, testified that defendant would pawn items in the house if money were short and that he would pawn things for others because he had an I.D. She did not testify that the pawn slip in question was for items that Ignatius had pawned for a third party. She did not testify that she knew of any third party for whom Ignatius obtained the pawn ticket in question. She testified that she had never seen him with a gun in the house.

DISCUSSION

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record shows no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NO. 1 & PRO SE ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In these assignments of error, defendant complains that the prosecutor harassed defense witnesses both inside and outside the courtroom and that a mistrial should have been granted because the prosecutor improperly referred to race and religion in cross-examining the defense witnesses. Defendant admits that no motion for a mistrial was made, but he argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the prosecutor's comments created prejudice against defendant.

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Related

State v. Stallworth
11 So. 3d 541 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Galindo
968 So. 2d 1102 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Bunley
805 So. 2d 292 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
770 So. 2d 831, 2000 WL 1483335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-weaver-lactapp-2000.