State v. Wooten

738 So. 2d 672, 1999 WL 346244
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 1999
Docket99-KA-181
StatusPublished
Cited by90 cases

This text of 738 So. 2d 672 (State v. Wooten) 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. Wooten, 738 So. 2d 672, 1999 WL 346244 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

738 So.2d 672 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Anthony WOOTEN.

No. 99-KA-181.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 1, 1999.

*674 Paul D. Connick, District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Assistant D.A., Thomas J. Butler, Assistant D.A., Gretna, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Laurie A. White, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, For Defendant-Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, Jr., JAMES L. CANNELLA and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

DUFRESNE, Judge.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging the defendant, Anthony Wooten, with simple burglary in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62. The matter proceeded to trial before a six person jury. After considering the evidence presented, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. As a result of this conviction, the court sentenced the defendant to serve twelve years at hard labor, with credit for time served. The defendant now appeals.

FACTS

At 10:00 on the night of April 2, 1997, Tina Warren and her roommate Barbara Cutrer were at their house on Clearview Parkway in Metairie. Their backyard abuts the rear of Lagoda Air Conditioning, a business owned by their landlord, Larry Bolner. Ms. Warren let her dog into her yard, as was her practice at that time every evening. Her suspicion was aroused when the dog immediately began to bark, so she went outside to investigate. The dog ran across the yard to where two Lagoda company vans were parked. When Ms. Warren approached the vans, she saw the defendant who was wearing a Lagoda company tee shirt. Although he told Ms. Warren that he worked there, she found it unusual for anyone to be at the business at that time. Ms. Warren went inside and told Ms. Cutrer to call the police. Ms. Cutrer first telephoned Larry Bolner, then notified police. Larry Bolner told her that he believed the man Ms. Warren had spotted was an employee he had fired that morning. While Ms. Cutrer was on the telephone, Ms. Warren went next door to the home of Danny Bolner, Larry Bolner's brother. Ms. Warren and Danny Bolner walked back to Lagoda, where they found the defendant getting into a white four-door car. The car's back seat was full of items Danny Bolner recognized as belonging to his brother's business. By this time Ms. Cutrer had gone outside, and recognized the defendant as a Lagoda employee whom she had seen on company property earlier that week.

Danny Bolner asked the defendant what he was doing, to which he replied that he was retrieving his tools. The defendant then drove away from the premises. Within minutes, Jefferson Parish sheriffs deputies arrived, followed by Larry Bolner and his wife, Mary. Ms. Warren gave officers the defendant's license plate number, and the witnesses supplied them with a physical description. Larry Bolner inspected the premises, and found several pieces of equipment missing from the shop *675 and the vans. He estimated the total value of that property to be between six and seven thousand dollars. The testimony at trial showed that there were no signs of forced entry, although the van doors were found unlocked.[1]

Larry Bolner testified that the defendant had worked for Lagoda for only five days, and had been fired that morning for poor work performance. Mrs. Bolner, Lagoda's office manager, testified that she retrieved the defendant's employee file and showed it to officers. Included in the file was a photocopy of the defendant's driver's license. When Ms. Warren, Ms. Cutrer, and Danny Bolner saw the copy, they informed the deputies that this was the man they had seen on the property.

The defendant's address was included in his employee file, but the Jefferson Parish deputies informed the victim that they could not pursue him because he lived in Orleans Parish, outside of their jurisdiction. Deputy Brian McClendon contacted the New Orleans Police Department and passed on information about the incident. Larry Bolner testified that he telephoned the defendant at his home that night, and confronted him about the incident. Mr. Bolner told the defendant that if he returned the stolen goods, he would not pursue criminal charges against him. Unsatisfied with the defendant's response, Larry Bolner decided to go to his house and recover the stolen items himself. Ms. Warren, Ms. Cutrer, and Mrs. Bolner accompanied him.

The group arrived at the defendant's residence in New Orleans East, but waited in their car until New Orleans police officers arrived. Upon their arrival, the officers knocked on the door and were allowed inside by the defendant's wife. They found the defendant in a bathroom in the rear of the house and placed him under arrest. The officers also searched the premises after obtaining the defendant's consent; however, they did not find any of the property alleged to have been stolen. When the officers exited the house with the defendant, Ms. Cutrer and Ms. Warren identified him as the man they had seen at Lagoda that night. The defendant was transported to New Orleans Central Lockup, and was picked up there by Jefferson Parish deputies.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In his first assigned error, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him. He specifically complains that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he burglarized Lagoda's vans or shop, as there was no evidence of unauthorized entry.

The constitutional standard for testing the sufficiency of the evidence, as enunciated in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), requires that a conviction be based on proof sufficient for any rational trier of fact, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, to find the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Rosiere, 488 So.2d 965 (La.1986). When circumstantial evidence is used to prove the commission of the offense, LSA-R.S. 15:438 mandates that "assuming every fact to be proved that the evidence tends to prove, in order to convict, it must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence." This is not a separate test from the standard set forth in Jackson, but rather provides a helpful basis for determining the existence of reasonable doubt. Ultimately, all evidence, both direct and circumstantial, must be sufficient to support the conclusion that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676 (La.1984); State v. Tran, 97-640 (La. App. 5 Cir. 3/11/98), 709 So.2d 311.

In the present case, the defendant was convicted of simple burglary. That offense is defined in LSA-R.S. 14:62 as "the unauthorized *676 entering of any dwelling, vehicle, watercraft, or other structure, movable or immovable, with the intent to commit a felony or any theft therein." State v. Taylor, 97-0461 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/29/98), 719 So.2d 75. The defendant asserts that the state failed to prove the entry element because none of the witnesses testified to having seen him enter the vans or the shop.

In the present case, we have reviewed the evidence and find it to be sufficient to sustain the defendant's conviction for simple burglary. There was testimony that placed the defendant, at 10:00 p.m., next to the Lagoda company vans, which were parked behind the business. Further, there was testimony that the defendant was not authorized to be on the grounds, as he had been fired earlier that day. In addition, both Mr. and Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
738 So. 2d 672, 1999 WL 346244, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wooten-lactapp-1999.