State v. Zeno

155 So. 3d 4, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0325, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2203, 2014 WL 4694659
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 19, 2014
DocketNo. 2014 KA 0325
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 155 So. 3d 4 (State v. Zeno) 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. Zeno, 155 So. 3d 4, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0325, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2203, 2014 WL 4694659 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

THERIOT, J.

IpThe defendant, Duhon Zeno, was charged by an amended bill of information with one count of possession of a firearm [8]*8by a convicted felon (count I), a violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1, and one count of illegal carrying of weapons while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance (Hydro-codone) (count II), a violation of La. R.S. 14:95(E). He pled not guilty on both counts. Following a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty as charged on both counts by a unanimous verdict.1 He moved for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal. The trial court denied both motions. The defendant was ordered to pay a fine of one-thousand dollars in court costs; to serve fifteen years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on count I; and to serve ten years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on count II, to run concurrently with the sentence imposed on count I. Defendant moved for reconsideration of the sentence, and the motion was denied. The defendant appeals, raising nine assignments of error:

1. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:95.1 is unconstitutional as it fails to meet the requirements of Article I, Section 11 of the Louisiana Constitution.2
2. The trial court erred in the denial of the motion to quash the bill of information.
3. The defendant’s prosecution in this matter violates his rights against double jeopardy.
[¾4. The verdicts rendered are legally infirm due to an improperly constituted petit jury.
5. The trial court erred in the denial of the motion for new trial.
6. The trial court erred in the denial of the motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal.
7. The trial court erred in the denial of the motion to suppress evidence.
8. The trial court erred in the denial of the motion to reconsider sentence.
9. The sentences in this matter are illegal and unconstitutionally excessive.

For the following reasons, we affirm the defendant’s convictions, vacate the sentences imposed on both counts, and remand for resentencing on each count individually.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On March 15, 2012, at approximately 1 p.m., Agent Derrick Champagne, a narcotics agent with the Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office, along with fellow Agents David Melancon and Corey Brooks, were traveling southbound on Plantation Road in Thi-bodaux, Louisiana. As they neared the intersection of Plantation Road and Canal Boulevard, they noticed a white vehicle, being driven by the defendant, approach the intersection. The defendant did not bring his vehicle to a complete stop, nor did he activate his turn signal before mak[9]*9ing a left-hand turn onto Canal Boulevard. After turning onto Canal Boulevard, the agents caught up with the defendant, activated the squad car’s emergency lights and sirens, and initiated a traffic stop. At some point before the defendant’s vehicle came to a complete stop, Agent Champagne and Agent Melancon observed the defendant’s passenger, Stanley Watkins, look back at the agents through the vehicle’s rear window, |4and then turn and throw an unknown object out of the passenger side window.

Once both vehicles were stopped, Agent Melancon made contact with the defendant and advised him of the traffic stop, Agent Champagne approached the passenger, and Agent Brooks began searching for the unknown object. Agent Melancon then asked Watkins to identify the object, but before he could reply, the defendant interrupted, saying, “He doesn’t do any drugs, man.” The agents instructed both men to exit the defendant’s vehicle and moved them towards the rear of the vehicle on the passenger side. Agent Champagne asked the defendant for consent to search the vehicle. The defendant verbally consented to the search and his consent was given freely and voluntarily, and without fear, duress, or intimidation. Agent Me-lancon heard the defendant grant consent. Agent Champagne opened the front passenger door and entered the passenger compartment of the vehicle where he observed a brown shaving kit bag partially underneath the driver’s seat. When Agent Champagne asked the defendant what was in the bag, the defendant approached the car, sat in the driver’s seat, and told Agent Champagne, “[m]y gun is in here from my house.” Agent Champagne noted that the defendant was not surprised when the gun was discovered. The defendant was instructed to put down the bag, and Agent Champagne escorted the defendant out of the vehicle.

Once the defendant was clear of the area, Agent Champagne opened the bag and identified a .45 caliber handgun loaded with eight rounds. Additionally, a prescription pill bottle containing pills was found inside the bag. The seized items were taken to the Criminal Operations Center where the evidence was processed and stored by the evidence custodian.

| r,Katie Troxler, a forensic scientist with the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, was accepted as an expert in the field of chemical analysis at trial. On April 5, 2012, Troxler received a white plastic bottle containing the pills seized by Agent Champagne during the defendant’s traffic stop. During the first examination, Troxler, using a pharmaceutical database entry, verified the pills, which included Naproxen Sodium 220 mg (Aleve), Pantoprazole Sodium 40 (a gastrointestinal medication), and pills containing both 500 milligrams of Acetaminophen and 5 milligrams of Hydroco-done Bitartrate. Twelve months later, on April 5, 2013, only the pills previously identified as containing Hydrocodone were resubmitted, and Troxler performed a chemical analysis, whereby she again confirmed the pills contained Hydrocodone, a controlled dangerous substance.

Luke Adams, an officer with the Department of Probation and Parole, testified at trial. He testified that on November 6, 2006, the defendant was convicted of possession of Hydrocodone and sentenced to five years at hard labor, but his sentence was suspended and the defendant was placed on three years supervised probation. Officer Adams was the defendant’s probation supervisor, and testified that during the three-year period, the defendant’s probation was never revoked. The probationary period was completed on November 6, 2009 as scheduled.

[10]*10Greta Hood, a friend of the defendant, testified at trial. She indicated that on March 15, 2012, the defendant was assisting her gathering and packing her belongings as she was moving from her apartment in Thibodaux. Hood testified the gun in question, a Colt .45, belonged to her. She testified that a friend gave her the gun for protection and that she kept it on the top shelf of her closet. Hood testified that because her grandchildren were coming over, and because she did not want the gun out while they were Inhere, she placed the gun inside the defendant’s shaving kit bag, which was located in her bathroom. Thereafter, Hood claimed she walked out of the house holding the bag and placed it under the driver’s seat in the defendant’s vehicle. Hood testified she did not tell the defendant she placed the gun in his car. Hood stated the defendant left the apartment before she did, and the next time she saw him was when he was stopped by the police officers.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NOS. 5 and 6

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State Of Louisiana v. William B. Turner
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State Of Louisiana v. Ronald D. Campbell
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State Of Louisiana v. Michael Boeh
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2021
State Of Louisiana v. Thomas Henry Logan
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2020
State Of Louisiana v. Kirby Thomas
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2019
State v. Lambert
248 So. 3d 621 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State ex rel. C.T.
195 So. 3d 70 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
155 So. 3d 4, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0325, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2203, 2014 WL 4694659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-zeno-lactapp-2014.