State v. Harrell
| Decision Date | 11 April 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 51,966–KA,51,966–KA |
| Citation | 247 So.3d 1030 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Jonathan M. HARRELL, Appellant |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT, By: Carey J. Ellis, III, Counsel for Appellant
JAMES E. STEWART, SR., District Attorney, SAMUEL S. CRICHTON, REBECCA A. EDWARDS, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee
Before BROWN, MOORE, and STONE, JJ.
Defendant, Jonathan M. Harrell, challenges his conviction and sentence for driving while intoxicated, third offense. He was sentenced to four years at hard labor, with the first year to be served without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. No fine was imposed. We affirm the conviction and sentence.
In the early afternoon, of April 23, 2016, Shreveport police officers responded to a one-vehicle accident at 831 River Road, Shreveport, Louisiana. The responding officers observed a sport utility vehicle ("SUV") lodged in the rear of the home at that address. Defendant was arrested at the scene, and on May 23, 2016, he was formally charged by bill of information with driving while intoxicated, third offense. An amended bill of information, maintaining the same charge but removing language regarding blood alcohol tests, was filed on April 19, 2017.
The trial began on April 19, 2017, but prior to calling witnesses, defense counsel objected to the admission of certain other crimes evidence. The bills of information listed two prior DWI convictions that were also third offenses. Counsel argued that these were not necessary for the state to prove its case and were highly prejudicial.1 The trial court overruled defendant's objection.
Stacey Koelemay, defendant's then-girlfriend, testified that she was in the vehicle when defendant crashed it into the house at 831 River Road on April 23, 2016. She said that defendant was driving her to the grocery store when the two began to argue. Koelemay stated that defendant wanted to go to a local bar and drink rather than take her to the grocery store, which Koelemay refused to do. The argument escalated quickly, and defendant stated, "I am going to kill us." Defendant accelerated the SUV and drove towards a telephone pole; however, rather than hitting the pole, the vehicle struck the road's curb and was catapulted into a fence bordering the street. According to Koelemay, the SUV struck the fence, an air conditioner, a gas main, and, ultimately, the house. Defendant and Koelemay exited the vehicle, and defendant asked her to tell the police that she was driving because he feared being arrested.
When the police arrived, Koelemay and defendant were separated, and she initially claimed that she had been driving the SUV when it wrecked. Koelemay eventually admitted, however, that it was defendant who drove the vehicle into the house, and she suspected that he had been drinking prior to the accident.
On cross-examination, Koelemay testified that she smelled alcohol on defendant, but later stated that the smell might have already been in the vehicle because defendant frequently drinks in the SUV. She admitted to meeting with defendant's defense counsel in the year prior to the trial to aid in defendant's defense. Koelemay also testified that the SUV driven by defendant was owned by her friend, Casey Zecca, and that the vehicle's gas pedal would occasionally stick, which would force the SUV to accelerate.
Casey Zecca testified that she owned the SUV, a 2006 Dodge Durango. Zecca loaned the vehicle to Koelemay and stated that neither she nor any of her family members who drove the vehicle ever experienced gas pedal or brake malfunctions prior to loaning the vehicle to Koelemay. When Koelemay notified Zecca of the accident, Zecca went to the scene and arrived as two tow trucks were attempting to dislodge the SUV from inside the home. Zecca did not see defendant at the scene but took several photographs of the damaged vehicle and house; the photos were admitted into evidence at trial.
James Murray testified that he was standing in the front yard of his mother's house, located across the street from 831 River Road, when he heard an engine "rev" and saw a gray truck speeding down the road. The vehicle struck the curb and briefly became airborne before landing back on the road. It hit the curb again and became airborne once more, went over a four-foot fence, struck the top of the fence with its rear wheels, and crashed into the house at 831 River Road. Murray stated that a male with short hair and a scraggly beard was driving the vehicle, and a female with long brown hair was in the passenger's seat. At trial, Murray identified defendant as the driver. Murray added that the vehicle struck a gas main prior to hitting the house, and that he smelled gas.
Murray saw Koelemay exit the passenger side of the vehicle and run to a nearby driveway. Murray went to the driver's side of the vehicle and told defendant to get out of the car. Defendant appeared to be poking at or reaching for something in the vehicle's rear seat but eventually got out of the vehicle and threw a set of keys to Koelemay. According to Murray, defendant and Koelemay were beginning to walk away from the accident when a neighbor stopped them. During his testimony, Murray observed that the road had a very sharp curve that had previously caused several wrecks and at least one death. Lastly, Murray testified that an ice cream truck approached the scene shortly after the accident, and a neighbor asked the truck to block the road to keep traffic away from the accident.
Murray's wife, Flora Ann, also testified at trial and corroborated her husband's account of the accident, adding that she called 911. Flora Ann also identified defendant as the driver. A handwritten account of the accident by Flora Ann was admitted into evidence.
Corporal Josh Holland, an officer with the Shreveport Police Department, testified that he was dispatched to 831 River Road in response to the accident and encountered Koelemay and defendant upon arriving at the scene. Koelemay claimed that she was the driver and that she had been passing an ice cream truck in the road's sharp curve when the gas pedal got stuck and forced her off the road. When Cpl. Holland spoke to defendant and Koelemay, he smelled alcohol but could not initially determine from which person the smell was emanating.
Corporal Holland and a fellow officer separated defendant and Koelemay, with Cpl. Holland remaining with Koelemay. Cpl. Holland determined that the smell of alcohol was not originating from her. Cpl. Holland confronted Koelemay, who recanted her original statement and admitted that defendant was the driver. Cpl. Holland arrested defendant, informed him of his Miranda2 rights, and placed him in a police car. Defendant denied driving the vehicle and claimed that Koelemay gave him a drink before the accident. Cpl. Holland testified that defendant smelled of alcohol. During Cpl. Holland's testimony, video footage captured from inside the police car was admitted into evidence and played for the jury.
Sergeant Pete D'Arcy of the Shreveport Police Department testified that he responded to the scene with his fellow officers and spoke to defendant. Sgt. D'Arcy detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from defendant and noted defendant's slurred speech and glassy eyes. Defendant refused to participate in a field sobriety test or have his blood drawn; a field sobriety form filled out by Sgt. D'Arcy noting defendant's refusal and with marks in the boxes indicating that defendant's speech was slurred, balance was unsure, and intoxication obvious was admitted into evidence.
Sergeant Danny Duddy, supervisor of the Shreveport Police Department's Crime Scene Investigation Unit, was accepted as an expert in fingerprint analysis at trial. Sgt. Duddy compared fingerprints from defendant's previous DWI third-offense convictions on October 18, 2005, and May 1, 2007, with fingerprints taken from defendant in open court. He concluded that defendant was the same person convicted in 2005 and 2007. Copies of the bills of information, fingerprints, and minutes from the prior convictions were admitted into evidence.3 Defendant's fingerprint card taken at trial, was also admitted into evidence.
The state and defense rested their cases after Sgt. Duddy's testimony, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. No presentence investigation report was ordered.
Defendant filed motions for a post-verdict judgment of acquittal and for a new trial. The trial court denied these motions and proceeded with sentencing. Defendant was sentenced to serve four years at hard labor, with the first year to be served without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, and to run concurrently with any other sentence. No fine was imposed, and defendant was given credit for time served. Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence which was denied.
Defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to establish that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Rather, defendant argues that testimony provided by James Murray supports defendant's claim that the accident was caused by a mechanical defect in the vehicle's gas pedal and was compounded by the fact that the street contained a sharp curve that had previously caused numerous accidents and at least one death.
The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the case in a 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. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) ; State v. Tate , 01-1658 (La. 05/20/03), 851 So.2d 921, cert. denied , 541 U.S. 905, 124 S.Ct. 1604, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004). This standard, now legislatively embodied in La. C. Cr. P. art. 821, does not provide the appellate court with a...
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