State v. Copeland
| Decision Date | 25 September 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 52,742-KA,52,742-KA |
| Citation | 280 So.3d 848 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Arijoray Lavon COPELAND, Appellant |
LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT By: Meghan Harwell Bitoun, Counsel for Appellant
ARIJORAY LAVON COPELAND, Pro Se
ROBERT STEPHEN TEW, District Attorney, HOLLY A. CHAMBERS-JONES, MICHELLE ANDERSON THOMPSON, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee
Before GARRETT, STONE, and COX, JJ.
This criminal appeal arises from the Fourth Judicial District Court, Ouachita Parish, the Honorable C. Wendell Manning presiding. The defendant, Arijoray Lavon Copeland ("Copeland"), was charged with armed robbery and illegal possession of a stolen firearm. Following a jury trial, Copeland was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years at hard labor, without benefits, for armed robbery, and 5 years at hard labor, without benefits, for illegal possession of a stolen firearm, to be served concurrently. On February 8, 2018, Copeland filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which the trial court denied on the same day. Copeland now appeals his convictions and sentences. For the following reasons, Copeland's convictions and sentences are affirmed.
Copeland was charged by bill of information on November 15, 2016, with one count of armed robbery and one count of illegal possession of a stolen firearm. On January 5, 2017, Copeland waived formal arraignment and entered a not guilty plea. Jury selection began on October 23, 2017, and concluded on October 24, 2017. After the conclusion of jury selection, the trial began with opening statements. The state then presented its case-in-chief, and called West Monroe Police ("WMP") Detective Paul Blunschi ("Detective Blunschi") as its first witness.
Detective Blunschi testified that he was the on-call detective on September 15, 2016. Detective Blunschi received a call regarding an armed robbery at Motel 6 in West Monroe shortly after 5:00 that morning. Detective Blunschi arrived on the scene, spoke with the victim, Kushana Walton ("Ms. Walton"), and watched a copy of the video surveillance that captured the robbery. Detective Blunschi testified that he made a copy of the video, which was later identified and played in court.
The state called Ms. Walton as its next witness. Ms. Walton testified that on September 15, 2016, she was working at Motel 6 at 401 Constitution Drive, in West Monroe, Louisiana. She arrived at work a little after midnight and at approximately 5:00 a.m., as she was sitting at the front counter, she saw someone enter the motel from the left of the front door, holding a gun. The man rushed in, jumped over the counter, while pointing the gun at her, and demanded she open the cash drawer.
Ms. Walton testified that she pushed her chair away from the front counter, falling to the floor. She described the perpetrator as a black male dressed in all black with a youthful build, a couple of inches taller than her 5'5? frame. Ms. Walton testified that the robber had on black pants, a black hoodie pulled over his head, a black mask/hat on underneath the hoodie with some type of black and white skull pattern, and black and white striped gloves. Ms. Walton stated that the gun was grey and black, and identified the gun used during the robbery as Exhibit S-5. The robber initially placed the gun at Ms. Walton's side, but after she fell to the floor, it was then placed to her head. The robber removed the cash drawer containing $357 and exited the motel.
During trial, Ms. Walton also identified photos of the cash drawer removed during the robbery. Trial continued on October 25, 2017 however, prior to the jury being brought back inside the courtroom, and at the request of defense counsel, the state's previous plea offers to Copeland were placed on the record, which Copeland thereby confirmed that he was rejecting. Counsel for Copeland also put on the record that Copeland had just recently provided exculpatory information to him that he (Copeland) was not the only suspect for this armed robbery. However, Copeland refused to provide his counsel with additional information, such as who the other suspect(s) were.1
The jury was brought into the courtroom and the state continued with its case-in-chief and called its next witness, David Drumwright ("Mr. Drumwright"). Mr. Drumwright testified that on September 15, 2016, he was in Monroe, Louisiana, for work and stayed at the Quality Inn, in West Monroe near I-20 and Downing Pines Industrial Park. Mr. Drumwright testified that on the morning of September 15, 2016, he got up shortly after 5:00 a.m. to go running. He then left the Quality Inn, began running behind the LaQuinta Inn & Suites on a gravel path, heading west toward Restoration Park. To illustrate the area where he was running, the state introduced and offered a Google map of the park.
Mr. Drumwright testified that during his run he encountered a black male and described him as a couple of inches taller than himself, having an athletic, but not large build, wearing a dark hoodie and dark pants. Mr. Drumwright testified that he is between 5'8½?-5?9' and that his reference to a couple of inches is between two and three inches. About 30 seconds later, as he continued to run down Constitution Drive, he was stopped by a police officer. Mr. Drumwright explained to the officer that he was running down the designated running trail, but it was not stable, so he was trying to get back to a well-lit area. He further stated that he saw someone as he was running, but other than that did not see anything unusual. The conversation with the police officer lasted less than a minute, around 45 seconds. Mr. Drumwright then returned to his hotel room, dressed, checked out, and, as he was leaving the hotel, dropped off his business card with officers, who were still at Restoration Park.
The state called WMP Officer Ryan May ("Officer May") as its next witness. Officer May testified he has been employed with the WMP for about 3 years. Officer May testified that he was on duty on September 15, 2016, and at approximately 5:03 a.m., he was dispatched to Motel 6. Officer May testified that as he was traveling east on Constitution Drive, he saw a white male jogger near Restoration Park. Officer May made contact with the jogger, and after his conversation, which lasted between 30 and 45 seconds, he went to the parking lot of Restoration Park and observed a white Ford Expedition. Officer May stated that there was no one near the vehicle, at least one window was partially down about 2 to 3 inches, and all doors were closed. Officer May inspected the vehicle and observed that it was still warm and that there was a Louisiana ID or driver's license in the cup holder or middle console. Officer May stated he remained with the vehicle until Corporal Yarbrough and Officer Henson arrived and took possession of the vehicle. Officer May stated that he unsuccessfully attempted to get video footage from two other businesses and walked through Restoration Park, but found no evidence connected to the robbery.
The state then recalled Detective Blunschi, who testified that while he was at Motel 6, he received a call informing him that a white Ford Expedition had been located in Restoration Park. After speaking with Ms. Walton, watching video footage from Motel 6, and taking photos of the interior and exterior, which were later identified by Detective Blunschi, offered and introduced into evidence, and published to the jury, he left Motel 6 and headed to the location of the vehicle. He testified that the vehicle was located approximately 200 to 300 yards from Motel 6 and when he arrived at Restoration Park, he observed officers with a white Ford Expedition. The vehicle had either 1 or 2 windows cracked about 2 inches. Detective Blunschi testified that as he could see into the vehicle, he noticed a driver's license in the front console/cup holder area, but he was unable to read the name. Detective Blunschi testified that he was also able to see into the back seat and photographed a camouflage mask and some black and white gloves which matched what he observed in the Motel 6 surveillance video.
After he took the photographs, the vehicle was seized and towed to the crime scene bay at the West Monroe Police Department. Detective Blunschi testified that once the vehicle was towed, he made contact with Arijoray Copeland, the person whose driver's license2 he had previously observed in the vehicle.3 Detective Blunschi further testified that he received written consent to search the vehicle, Copeland was present during the search, and Copeland did not terminate the search at any time. Once the vehicle was open, Detective Blunschi observed a camouflage mask/hat combination and black and white striped gloves on the back seat which were shown to the jury. Under the backseat, Detective Blunschi testified that a cash tray full of money totaling $337.86 and a semi-automatic pistol were also found.
Detective Blunschi also confirmed that the semi-automatic pistol found during the vehicle search was the same firearm recovered from the vehicle and was loaded with live ammunition. The serial number was obtained from the grip, which was also photographed and entered into the NCIC database to determine if it was stolen. Detective Blunschi testified that the NCIC report confirmed that the firearm was stolen out of Ouachita Parish and provided the information for Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office Investigator Lamar Cole ("Detective Cole"), the officer assigned to the stolen firearm investigation. Copeland was arrested and a more thorough inventory search was done the following day, pursuant to a search warrant.
In the middle of Detective Blunschi's testimony, the jury was excused from the courtroom. The court, with both the state and defense counsel present, discussed other crimes evidence related to the burglary that involved the stolen firearm. Defense counsel stipulated to law enforcement...
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