State v. Williams

901 So. 2d 527, 2005 WL 711740
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 29, 2005
Docket04-KA-1016
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 901 So. 2d 527 (State v. Williams) 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. Williams, 901 So. 2d 527, 2005 WL 711740 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

901 So.2d 527 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Vernon WILLIAMS.

No. 04-KA-1016.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

March 29, 2005.

*528 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, 24th Judicial District Parish of Jefferson, State of Louisiana, Terry M. Boudreaux, Andrea F. Long (Appellate Counsel), Martin A. Belanger, Jr., Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, The State of Louisiana.

James A. Williams, Butch Wilson, Law Office of James A. Williams, Gretna, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Vernon Williams.

Vernon Williams, Pine Prairie, LA, Defendant/Appellant, Appearing pro se.

Panel composed of Judges MARION F. EDWARDS, SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

Vernon Williams appeals his conviction by a jury of violation of La.R.S. 40:981.3, distribution of cocaine within one thousand feet of a church. We affirm.

FACTS

Lionel Womack, a former undercover agent for the Narcotics Division of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (JPSO), testified at trial that on February 6, 2003, at approximately 4:26 p.m., he was working undercover as part of a narcotics team in Bunche Village in Jefferson Parish. He was driving on Mistletoe Street when he saw an individual, whom he later identified as the defendant, wearing a hooded orange sweatshirt and black pants.[1] Womack asked the defendant if he knew where he (Womack) could buy a "twenty." The defendant responded affirmatively and got onto the back of Womack's truck, which had been outfitted with video and audio equipment to record drug transactions and to protect the undercover agent.

Womack proceeded onto Wilson Street and, at a point "about halfway from Mistletoe," the defendant told Womack to stop and Womack complied. Womack noted there was a church on his left. The defendant exited the vehicle and approached another black male, who was wearing a green shirt and black pants. The other black male took a piece of crack cocaine out of his mouth and gave it to the defendant, who then brought it to Womack. The defendant gave Womack the crack cocaine, and Womack gave the defendant a twenty-dollar bill. Womack then drove away.

Agent Womack testified that approximately an hour after the transaction, he turned the drugs over to Agent Corey *529 Wilson. Wilson field-tested the cocaine rock in Womack's presence, and Womack observed that it tested positive for the presence of cocaine.

Womack testified that the transaction occurred one hundred twenty-six feet from a church, and that the church had a "Drug Free Zone" sign posted next to it. The jury was shown an aerial photograph of the area, on which Womack pointed out the location of the church and the drug transaction, as well as the places in the surrounding area where "Drug Free Zone" signs were posted.

Womack testified further that approximately two weeks later he identified the defendant in a photographic lineup that Agent Wilson had compiled. Womack also identified the defendant in court as the same person. On cross examination, he stated he was sure the twenty-dollar bill the State entered in evidence was the same bill he gave the defendant during the transaction, although he admitted he had no idea who had retrieved the bill. He stated he was not involved in the arrest process, but only in making undercover drug buys.

The transaction had been videotaped; at trial the State played the videotape for the jury.

Agent Corey Wilson also testified at trial. He described the JPSO's procedures for undercover buys. On the day of the transaction in this case, he was working a semi-undercover role as part of the narcotics team in Bunch Village. As such, after the undercover agent was in the area, Wilson would drive around the area and try to follow the undercover agent to protect him if necessary. Wilson's testimony corroborated Womack's as to the facts of the transaction and the identification of the defendant.

Wilson also stated that he measured the distance from the transaction site to the nearby church and determined it was a hundred and twenty-six feet. He further testified that the other officers of the team waited until later before arresting the defendant, in order to protect the undercover officers.

The State and the defense stipulated that the substance offered in evidence by the State was crack cocaine. They also stipulated that, if Agents Wilkie and Dufrene were called as witnesses, they would testify that they stopped the defendant, spoke to him, obtained identifying information from him, but that they did not retrieve the twenty dollars from him.

The defense did not call any witnesses.

On appeal, the defendant is represented by counsel, but he has also filed a pro se brief. We will address his counsel's Assignment of Error No. 1 first, then discuss the pro se assignments.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In this assignment, raised in the brief filed on defendant's behalf by his appointed counsel, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. He argues that the issue of identity was not sufficiently proven to warrant a conviction.

The defendant contends (1) the testimony of the main identification witness, Lionel Womack, was contradictory, unreliable and "in conflict with physical evidence"; (2) the suspect's face could not be clearly seen on the videotape due to its poor quality, and to the extent Womack relied upon the videotape to make his photographic lineup identification, it was wholly unreliable; (3) Womack's testimony was unreliable because he could not remember how many lineups he viewed before identifying the defendant, because he viewed the lineup two weeks after the transaction, and *530 because he could not recall how long he looked at the suspect during the transaction; (4) Womack was confused regarding his description of the defendant's lips, the physical feature upon which he based his identification; (5) Womack lacked professional training for the job he was assigned to; and (6) no currency was found on the defendant.

The State responds that after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the State established beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was the perpetrator of the charged offense.

The critical inquiry on review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788-2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

Here, the defendant was convicted of distribution of cocaine within one thousand feet of a church, a violation of La.R.S. 40:981.3. In pertinent part the statute provides:

Any person who violates a felony provision of R.S. 40:966 through R.S. 40:970 of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law while on any religious building property, public housing authority property, or within one thousand feet of any such property, if the area is posted as a drug-free zone, shall, upon conviction, be punished in accordance with Subsection E of this Section.

Encompassed in proving the elements of an offense is the necessity of proving the identity of the defendant as the perpetrator.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
901 So. 2d 527, 2005 WL 711740, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-williams-lactapp-2005.