State v. Wright

796 So. 2d 850, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 250, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2107, 2001 WL 1161329
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 3, 2001
DocketNo. 01-0250
StatusPublished

This text of 796 So. 2d 850 (State v. Wright) 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. Wright, 796 So. 2d 850, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 250, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2107, 2001 WL 1161329 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

hDECTJIR, Judge.

The Defendant, Eugene Wright, seeks review of his conviction. The Defendant was convicted of simple robbery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:65, and sentenced to six years at hard labor to be served concurrent to any other sentence' he may have to serve.

FACTS

On December 30, 1999, the Defendant entered a convenience store under the pretext of purchasing a pack of chewing gum. When the clerk opened the cash register during a transaction with another customer, the Defendant reached across the counter, snatched $30.00 from the cash drawer and ran out of the store.

DENIAL OF FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHT

By these assignments, the Defendant argues that because of the trial court’s opening remarks to the jury, he was denied his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and thus, was entitled to a mistrial. Specifically, the Defendant complains that the trial court im-permissibly placed a burden on the defense to make an opening statement and present evidence to the jury based upon the following excerpt taken from the trial court’s introduction:

The State -will proceed first with the opening statements. They will lay out the case to you as they see or as they appreciate the evidence will show. The defense then will give you their impression of the evidence. They don’t have to but they most often do. Once you hear opening statements, then we will begin with evidence. The State will present their evidence first, then after the State rests, the defense will have an opportunity to present evidence and then the State will have an opportunity to present evidence to rebut any evidence the defense presented. This is because the State carries the burden of proof....

Following the court’s opening remarks, the Defendant objected to the trial court’s statement that the defense most often presents evidence and motioned the court for a mistrial; the motion was denied.

Un his brief to this court, the Defendant complains that in the court’s opening remarks, there is no mention made of a paramount right of the Defendant not to testify against himself. The Defendant maintains that the jury was led to believe that most defendants give an opening statement, and thus, created an impression that there was a problem with the defense of the case because an opening statement was not given. The Defendant concludes that “[t]his impression likely carried over into the presentation of the evidence portion of the case as the court told the jury of the defendant’s opportunity to present evidence but not of his right not to do so.”

The Defendant bases his motion for a mistrial on La.Code Crim.P. art. 770(3) which reads:

[852]*852Upon motion of a defendant, a mistrial shall be ordered when a remark or comment, made within the hearing of the jury by the judge, district attorney, or a court official, during the trial or in argument, refers directly or indirectly to:
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(3) The failure of the defendant to testify in his own defense;....

The Defendant also contends that a remark prohibited “by Article 770 is per se a substantial violation” of his rights and this court is not free to speculate what the jury might have found had his rights not been violated, citing State v. Green, 315 So.2d 763 (La.1975), and State v. Felix, 556 So.2d 1317 (La.App. 3 Cir.1990).

The supreme court addressed this issue in great detail in State v. Mitchell, 00-1399, p. 4 (La.2/21/01) 779 So.2d 698, 701:

La.C.Cr.P. art. 770(3) provides that the trial court “shall” declare a mistrial when the prosecutor “refers directly or indirectly to ... the failure of the defendant to testify in his own defense... The purpose behind art. 770(3)’s prohibition against such prosecutorial comment is to protect the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by preventing attention being drawn directly or indirectly to the fact that the defendant has not testified on his own behalf. State v. Fullilove, 389 So.2d 1282, 1283 (La.1980); Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965).
1¡¡“Direct” and “indirect” references to the defendant’s failure to take the stand are prohibited by article 770(3). State v. Johnson, 541 So.2d 818, 822 (La.1989). “When the prosecutor makes a direct reference to the defendant’s failure to take the stand, a mistrial should be declared, and ‘it is irrelevant whether the prosecutor intended for the jury to draw unfavorable inferences from defendant’s silence.’ ” Id. (citing Fullilove, 389 So.2d at 1284). When the reference to the defendant’s failure to take the stand is not direct, this Court will inquire into the remark’s “intended effect on the jury” in order to distinguish indirect references to the defendant’s failure to testify (which are impermissible) from statements that are not (which are permissible, though not favored). Johnson, 541 So.2d at 822; Fullilove, 389 So.2d at 1284; State v. Jackson, 454 So.2d 116, 118 (La.1984). In order to support the granting of a mistrial, the inference must be plain that the remark was intended to focus the jury’s attention on the defendant’s not testifying. State v. Smith, 327 So.2d 355, 362 (La.1975) (on rehearing); State v. Reed, 284 So.2d 574, 576 (La.1973); State v. Howard, 262 La. 270, 263 So.2d 32 (1972).

The Defendant distinguishes the facts of the instant case from those in State v. Bailey, 95-78 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/2/95), 664 So.2d 665, writ denied, 96-0609 (La.6/21/96), 675 So.2d 1077. In Bailey, this court held that the trial judge’s statement to the jury that they would now proceed with the defendant’s case was not found to be grounds for a mistrial. The Defendant contends that in the ease sub judice, the trial judge went a step further than the judge in Bailey by telling the jury that most defendants proceeded in a certain way.

In Bailey, the defendant argued:

[T]hat the trial court committed reversible error in commenting upon the failure of the defendant to produce evidence despite the State’s burden of proof, where the State had called the witnesses announced by defendant for sequestration, the defendant was not called to testify and the defense was forced to announce in response that it rested.

[853]*853Id. at 679, p. 24. Also, the defendant maintained “that the trial court committed reversible error in denying the motion for mistrial.” Id. at 679, p. 24. The facts in Bailey were summarized as follows:

After the close of the State’s case, the trial court stated: “We shall now proceed with the defendant’s case.” The defense counsel |4approached the bench and stated his objection to the above comment because the defense was not planning on presenting any additional evidence. The trial court indicated that he planned to explain that to the jury and did not feel the comment was prejudicial to the defendant. The defendant then asked for a brief recess in order to avoid having to immediately stand and announce that was not going to present a case, which the trial court granted.

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Related

Griffin v. California
380 U.S. 609 (Supreme Court, 1965)
Manson v. Brathwaite
432 U.S. 98 (Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Jackson
454 So. 2d 116 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1984)
State v. Johnson
541 So. 2d 818 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1989)
State v. Mitchell
779 So. 2d 698 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2001)
State v. Green
315 So. 2d 763 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1975)
State v. Felix
556 So. 2d 1317 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1990)
State v. Bailey
664 So. 2d 665 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)
State v. Fullilove
389 So. 2d 1282 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Howard
263 So. 2d 32 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1972)
State v. Jones
696 So. 2d 240 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
State v. Smith
327 So. 2d 355 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1976)
State v. Reed
284 So. 2d 574 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1973)
State v. Prudholm
446 So. 2d 729 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1984)
Griffin v. California
380 U.S. 609 (Supreme Court, 1965)
Wing v. N. O. Public Service, Inc.
132 So. 526 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
796 So. 2d 850, 1 La.App. 3 Cir. 250, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2107, 2001 WL 1161329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wright-lactapp-2001.