State v. Bryant

• Decision Date: 06 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. 34,244-KA.,34,244-KA.
• Citation: 775 So.2d 596
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Fair Wayne BRYANT, Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

775 So.2d 596

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Fair Wayne BRYANT, Appellant.

No. 34,244-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 6, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Amy C. Ellender, Louisiana Appellate Project, Counsel for Appellant.

Fair Wayne Bryant, pro se.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Tommy J. Johnson, Bruce Dorris, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee.

Before BROWN, WILLIAMS and KOSTELKA, JJ.

BROWN, J.

A jury convicted defendant, Fair Wayne Bryant, of one count of attempted simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. Thereafter, defendant was adjudicated a fourth felony offender with a prior crime of violence and sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit. Defendant has appealed, urging four assignments of error. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

FACTS

At about 3:30 a.m. on January 5, 1997, Christina Ray and a friend were playing on a computer at the Rays' home at 4221 Reily Lane in Shreveport when the girls heard rustling noises coming from the carport storeroom. Christina looked out of a window in the kitchen door and saw that the door was open and that the light was on in the storeroom. She called out for her parents and Christina's father, Charles Ray, awoke and went to investigate. Mr. Ray observed a person bent over in the storage room. Mr. Ray opened the door and shouted at the intruder, who ran away across a neighbor's yard. Mr. Ray noticed that the intruder was wearing a gray jacket, blue jeans with a white stain on one leg, and a dark colored cap.

On his way back into the house, Mr. Ray noticed a blue Ford Aerostar van parked in a no-parking zone in front of his house. Mr. Ray, a Ford technician, was certain about the make and model of the vehicle. Mr. Ray called 911 and reported the incident. Mr. Ray also told the 911 dispatcher that the intruder was a young white male. The dispatcher related the information to the Shreveport Police Department (SPD) patrol units in the area. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Ray saw someone get into the blue van and drive away; Mr. Ray promptly reported this information to police.

Mr. Ray checked out the storeroom and discovered that his string trimmer, chain saw, blower, drill and saw were all piled up on the floor in the middle of the room. Mr. Ray testified that he had not left these items on the floor.

SPD Officer Joseph Dews responded to the call. Officer Dews testified that he was acting upon the information that "the resident called back and said that he now saw this suspect get into a blue Aerostar van and headed (sic) off towards Kings Highway, so I started looking for the van." About six blocks away from the Rays' house, Officer Dews saw a blue Aerostar van which he stopped.

Officer Dews approached the van and, for the first time, saw the driver, who was defendant, a 39-year-old black male. Officer Dews said that defendant was "sweating really bad" and had a screwdriver in his lap. Officer Dews asked defendant to get out of the van and then asked defendant for his drivers' license. Defendant had no drivers' license but produced a Social Security card. Officer Dews explained to defendant why he had been stopped and then read defendant his Miranda rights. The officer patted down defendant and then placed him in the back of the patrol unit.

By this time, other SPD officers had arrived and, about ten minutes after Officer Dews stopped defendant, an officer brought Charles Ray to the scene to look at defendant. When Mr. Ray arrived, he saw a large bleached-out section on defendant's pants and from that observation identified defendant as the person who had been in the storeroom. At that time defendant was arrested. A subsequent search of defendant's van revealed a gray coat and a set of hedge clippers. Charles Ray examined the hedge clippers and identified them as his own by virtue of the brand name and a white paint stain.

The next day, SPD Detective R.L. Benton spoke with defendant. During the interview, defendant related that he was on his way to Bossier City from Cedar Grove when he got lost on an unfamiliar street. Defendant stated that while he was lost, his van stalled. Defendant admitted that he went into the Rays' storeroom but said that he was simply looking for a gasoline can. Defendant said that he did not know who lived in the Ray home and did not believe that he had permission to take a gasoline can. Defendant stated that the door to the storeroom was unlocked. Defendant told Det. Benton that he did not take the hedge clippers. According to defendant, the clippers found in the van belonged to his wife.

Defendant did not testify but his first cousin, Kenneth Givens, testified concerning defendant's connection to the blue van. Givens, who was then serving a six-month sentence for DWI on Barksdale AFB, testified that he had loaned defendant his blue van. Givens said that the van's ignition had previously been damaged in a theft and that one needed a screwdriver to start the vehicle. He also said that the van was prone to stalling because the screwdriver would fall out of the ignition switch. Givens stated that he had recently used the van to move his personal belongings from Tennessee to Louisiana and that the hedge clippers in the van belonged to him.

Trial was held on July 9, 1997. The jury convicted defendant of attempted simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling. Defendant filed motions for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and new trial which the court denied on August 12, 1997. On that same day the state filed an habitual offender bill against defendant, charging him as a fourth felony offender. On April 17, 1998, defendant filed a motion to quash this bill, urging various defects in the proceedings of his prior convictions. On July 30, 1998, the court held an habitual offender hearing. At this hearing, defense counsel withdrew the motion to quash. Fingerprint identification linked defendant to four previous felonies and defendant was adjudicated a fourth felony offender.

On January 4, 2000, the state filed a second habitual offender bill against defendant. This bill substituted defendant's 1980 guilty plea to attempted armed robbery for one of the other offenses. The amended bill set forth details of the prior predicate offenses as follows:

(1) March 15, 1979: Defendant and an accomplice, armed with a pistol, robbed a cab driver. During the robbery, defendant's accomplice shot the cab driver. Defendant pled guilty to attempted armed robbery on June 3, 1980, and was sentenced to ten years at hard labor without benefit.

(2) September 23, 1987: Defendant and an accomplice broke into a store and stole merchandise. Defendant pled guilty on July 13, 1987, to illegal possession of stolen things with a value over $500 and was sentenced to two years at hard labor.

(3) October 16, 1989: Defendant forged and passed a check for $150. Defendant pled guilty to attempted forgery on January 17, 1991, and was sentenced to 18 months at hard labor.

(4) November 19, 1991: Defendant and an accomplice broke into a residence and stole items of personal property. Defendant pled guilty to simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling on March 19, 1992, and was sentenced to four years at hard labor without benefit.

On February 9, 2000, defendant filed a motion to quash this bill, alleging various defects in the prior proceedings. On that same day the court conducted a second multiple offender hearing. The court considered and rejected the allegations raised in defendant's motion to quash. As in the first multiple offender hearing, fingerprint evidence proved that defendant was the same Fair Wayne Bryant who pled guilty to the four prior offenses. Pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1(A)(1)(c)(ii), the court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit. Defendant's counsel made a general objection to the sentence. On February 17, 2000, defendant filed a written motion to reconsider sentence which was denied by the court. Bryant now appeals, urging four assignments of error.¹

DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of the Evidence

Defendant asserts that the evidence failed to show that he had the specific intent to commit a theft in the Rays' storeroom. Defendant also contends that the state failed to prove that the Rays' storeroom was an inhabited dwelling.

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 rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Bosley, 29,253 (La.App.2d Cir.04/02/97), 691 So.2d 347, writ denied, 97-1203 (La.10/17/97), 701 So.2d 1333; State v. Bellamy, 599 So.2d 326 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992), writ denied, 605 So.2d 1089 (La.1992).

The Jackson standard is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. An appellate court reviewing the sufficiency of evidence in such cases must resolve any conflict in the direct evidence by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the direct evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence and inferred from the circumstances established by that evidence must be sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. State v. Sutton, 436 So.2d 471 (La.1983); State v. Owens, 30,903 (La. App.2d Cir.09/25/98), 719 So.2d 610, writ denied, 98-2723 (La.02/05/99), 737 So.2d 747.

This court's authority to review questions of fact in a criminal case is limited to the sufficiency-of-the-evidence evaluation under Jackson v. Virginia, supra, and does not extend to credibility determinations made by the trier of fact. La. Const. art. 5, § 10(B); State v. Hudson, 33,357 (La.App.2d Cir.05/10/00), ...