State v. Wright

840 So. 2d 1271, 2003 WL 831989
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 7, 2003·No. 36,635-KA·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

840 So.2d 1271 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Lewis WRIGHT, Appellant.

No. 36,635-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

March 7, 2003.

*1273 Rickey K. Swift, Carey J. Ellis, III, Rayville, for Appellant.

Richard P. Ieyoub, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Attorney General, for Appellee.

J. Thomas Butler, Alex J. Washington, Assistant District Attorneys.

Before WILLIAMS, DREW and HARRISON (Pro Tempore), JJ.

WILLIAMS, J.

The defendant, Lewis Wright, was charged by bill of information with one count of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62.3. Prior to trial, the state amended the bill of information to charge the defendant *1274 with one count of simple burglary, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62. After a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty as charged. Thereafter, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve nine years at hard labor, with credit for time served. The defendant appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him of simple burglary and the propriety of the trial court's jury instruction as to the applicable responsive verdicts to simple burglary.

Because we find that the state failed to present sufficient evidence to prove an essential element of the offense of simple burglary, we reverse the defendant's conviction and vacate his sentence.[1]

FACTS

Kenneth Webb was the owner of a house located at 1050 Pierremont Road in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana. According to Webb, the house was rental property that he was having remodeled by Michael Johnson Builders. The building contractor, Michael Johnson, testified that the remodeling was an extensive renovation to repair fire damage.

On the date of the offense, February 25, 2001, Richard Upshaw, a neighbor, observed the defendant approach the house, crawl up some boards to the second level and enter the house through a door. Upshaw called 911 from his cellular telephone. Upshaw then parked his vehicle nearby and waited for the police to arrive. As Upshaw waited, he watched the defendant moving around inside the house through the front window. The defendant was "ducking" as if he had seen Upshaw and was trying to hide from his view. At trial, Upshaw positively identified the defendant as the person he had seen climb into and hide inside the house.

When Shreveport Police Officer Deidrick Williams arrived at the scene, he saw the defendant running away from the house. Officer Williams pursued the defendant on foot and apprehended him. After Officer Williams advised the defendant of his Miranda rights, the defendant admitted that he had been inside the premises. Upshaw identified the defendant at the scene as the person he had seen enter the house. Officer Williams testified at trial and made a positive in-court identification of the defendant as the person he had chased and apprehended on the day of the crime.

According to their trial testimony, neither Webb, the owner, nor Johnson, the contractor, had given the defendant permission to enter the house. Johnson testified that the front and back doors were damaged from the fire and were covered with plywood, which was screwed into the wood. Johnson also testified that the side doors were kept locked. Neither Webb nor Johnson observed any signs of forced entry. Johnson noted, however, that the plywood covering the back door had been removed. Webb testified that the house was left unlocked to allow the various work crews to come and go as necessary to complete the work. At the time of the crime, the house contained several items of value. Specifically, some air conditioning units were stacked in the center of the room during the remodeling process. However, there was no evidence that the defendant either caused any damage inside the house or disturbed any of the property in the house.

*1275 Initially, the defendant was charged by bill of information with the unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62.3. Prior to trial, the state filed an amended bill of information charging the defendant with simple burglary, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62. The defendant objected to the amendment and requested a continuance on the ground that he was not prepared to proceed. The trial court found that the amendment had not prejudiced the defense and overruled the objection.

The defense did not present any evidence at the trial. The trial court instructed the jury of the possible responsive verdicts to the charge of simple burglary in compliance with LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 814(44). The defense did not make a contemporaneous objection to the jury charge.

The six-person jury rendered a unanimous verdict of guilty as charged. The defendant filed motions for new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, which were denied. Thereafter, the state filed a habitual offender bill of information charging the defendant as a fourth felony offender. The defendant pled not guilty to the habitual offender bill. However, because the state failed to present any evidence at the hearing, the trial court found the defendant not guilty of the habitual offender charge.

With regard to the simple burglary conviction, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve nine years' imprisonment at hard labor, with credit for time served. The defendant's motion to reconsider sentence was denied. The defendant appeals.

DISCUSSION

The defendant contends the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain his conviction of simple burglary. The defendant argues that the state failed to prove that he entered the dwelling with the specific intent to commit a felony or theft therein. He asserts that the evidence of intent was solely circumstantial and insufficient. The defendant also contends the trial court erroneously instructed the jury with regard to the responsive verdicts to simple burglary.

The state contends that the evidence was sufficient to prove the defendant's guilt of simple burglary beyond a reasonable doubt. It avers that the jury reasonably inferred that the defendant entered the house to commit a theft or other felony therein based on the neighbor's testimony and evidence of the defendant's flight from the scene. With regard to the erroneous jury instruction, the state argues that the defendant waived his right to complain of this error on appeal because he failed to enter a contemporaneous objection to the jury charge.

The question of the sufficiency of the evidence is properly raised by a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 821; State v. Gay, 29,434 (La.App.2d Cir.06/18/97), 697 So.2d 642. The record shows that the defendant properly raised the issue of sufficiency of the evidence in the trial court in a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. Accordingly, he has properly preserved the issue for appellate review.

Under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), the proper standard of appellate review for a sufficiency-of-evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any reasonable trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La.1992); State v. Bosley, 29,253 (La.App.2d Cir.4/2/97), 691 So.2d 347, writ denied, 97-1203 (La.10/17/97), 701 So.2d 1333.

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State v. Wright, 840 So. 2d 1271, 2003 WL 831989 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

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