State v. Jacobs
| Decision Date | 17 May 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82,82 |
| Citation | 435 So.2d 1014 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Augustus JACOBS and Percy Jacobs. KA 1046. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty. by Robert Hester, Asst. Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.
Bonnie Jackson, Asst. Public Defender, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.
Before LOTTINGER, COLE and CARTER, JJ.
Appellants, Augustus Jacobs and his brother, Percy Jacobs, were jointly charged by bill of information with the crime of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:62.2. They were tried before a twelve person jury, which unanimously found both defendants guilty of simple burglary. 1
Percy Jacobs was sentenced to three years at hard labor, which sentence was suspended, and defendant was placed on active supervised probation for a period of five years with a special condition that he serve one year in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison 2. Augustus Jacobs was originally sentenced to three years at hard labor. Subsequently, in a separate proceeding, the state filed a bill of information charging Augustus Jacobs as a habitual offender because of a prior felony theft conviction. 3 Thereafter, Augustus Jacobs admitted the allegations of the bill and waived his right to a hearing. Defendant was then sentenced to serve three years at hard labor on the simple burglary charge and was sentenced to eight years at hard labor as a habitual offender. The trial court directed that the eight year sentence be consecutive to the three year sentence.
Augustus Jacobs is before this court with two assignments of error:
(1) That the trial court improperly denied the defense counsel's motion for a new trial; and
(2) That the trial court imposed an excessive sentence.
Percy Jacobs is before this court with one assignment of error:
(1) That the trial court improperly denied his motion for a new trial.
Defendants contend that the trial court erred in not granting a new trial, asserting that no proof was offered by the prosecution to convince a rational trier of fact that all the elements of simple burglary had been met; and, since there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, a judgment of acquittal should be entered.
In State v. Mathews, 375 So.2d 1165 (La.1979), a majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court determined that the United States Supreme Court case of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) required that the standard of review when considering the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction 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 beyond a reasonable doubt. The Louisiana Supreme Court has indicated that this appellate review of the evidence by State court is required by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. 4 State v. Graham, 422 So.2d 123 (La.1982).
When reviewing a conviction based upon circumstantial evidence, it must be determined that viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a reasonable trier of fact could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that every reasonable hypothesis of innocence has been excluded. LSA-R.S. 15:438; State v. Ennis, 414 So.2d 661 (La.1982); State v. Austin, 399 So.2d 158 (La.1981).
In State v. Ricks, 428 So.2d 794 (1983), Justice Watson summarized the applicable law as follows:
Although these defendants were charged with the crime of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, they were convicted of a lesser included offense, viz., simple burglary, as defined in LSA-R.S. 14:62. 5
Therefore, the elements to be proved by the state are (1) unauthorized entry into the dwelling in question; and (2) that defendants had the requisite specific intent to commit a theft or felony therein. See State v. Tennant, 352 So.2d 629 (La.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 945, 98 S.Ct. 1529, 55 L.Ed.2d 543.
Appellants contend that the state failed to prove both (1) unauthorized entry and (2) specific intent to commit a theft or felony.
Appellants contend that the state failed to prove that they had broken into or entered into the building in an unauthorized manner.
Mrs. Edwina Vicks, the lawful occupant of the residence, testified that she had been renting the house for approximately two months prior to the incident. She testified that due to the illness of her mother, she had not had time to fix up the place and move into it completely. She stated, however, that she had moved a considerable amount of her goods and furnishings into the house, including a stereo system, clock radio, tables, beds and various items in boxes. She denied knowing or seeing either of the defendants prior to this incident, and that they did not have her permission to be in the residence. Mrs. Vicks was adamant in her testimony that the doors to the residence had been left locked and that she checked them every time she left the residence.
Officer Teddy Wilson 6 testified that an anonymous call was received at approximately 10:00 p.m. that a burglary was in progress at a residence located at 249 Brice Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Officer Wilson and Officer McMillan proceeded to the location and noticed there were no electrical lights on, but did observe a light from a flashlight. They heard someone in the house shout to someone else in the house. The outside of the house was secured, and a K-9 officer was called. The K-9 officer and dog arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. The officers observed that the back screen door had been broken and the wood door was open. Upon entering the house, the officers observed Augustus Jacobs hiding under the dining room table and later found Percy Jacobs hiding under a bed in the bedroom, with a chisel and screwdriver next to him.
From the above, it is obvious that the evidence is clear, convincing and overwhelming that both defendants made unauthorized entry into the dwelling in question.
Defendants argue that evidence of "specific intent to commit a theft or felony therein" as offered by the prosecution was insufficient because Percy Jacob's testimony indicated that he was just hiding out from the police in the residence and that Augustus Jacobs was there in the capacity of bringing him food. Percy Jacobs stated that he found the doors to the house open and that he had been living in the house for approximately three days prior to being arrested. He testified that Augustus Jacobs had just come in the residence to bring him food. Percy Jacobs further testified that he was hiding out because he had been informed that the police were looking for him for a "burglary". He denied knowing anything about the screwdriver and chisel found under the bed next to him and further denied that he had broken into the house contending he had no intent to commit a theft or felony. He further testified that Mrs. Vicks was lying when she testified that the doors were locked, testifying:
"Q. Now, you know you didn't--now, you're saying you didn't move those things?
A. I didn't move them.
Q. Did not?
A. Did not move anything.
Q. So she's not telling the truth if she says that those things were moved in that period of time? You know any reason she has to lie on the stand?
A. I wouldn't know.
Q. Would you lie to keep from going to jail?
A. Yeah, I would.
Q. And you are. Thank you."
The defense offered absolutely no evidence to corroborate Percy Jacob's testimony.
The state established that the weather conditions were such that it was highly unlikely that a person would have been inhabiting this residence without any source of heat and protection from the weather other than a sheet on the bed in the bedroom. The state further offered evidence that the items belonging to Mrs. Vicks in the residence were in considerable disarray and in locations different from where Mrs. Vicks had left same. Although nothing was missing from the residence, the state contends that the defendants had not yet completed the theft before their presence was detected. The apprehension and arrest by police officers stopped the consummation of the theft by the intruders.
In State v. Dickerson, 353 So.2d 262 (La.1977), overruled on other grounds in State v. Cox, 369 So.2d 118 (La.1979), the Louisiana Supreme Court, discussing specific intent relative to a burglary prosecution, determined that intent, being subjective in character, need not be proven as a fact in a burglary prosecution and may be inferred from circumstances of the transaction. LSA-R.S. 14:62; LSA-R.S. 15:445; see also, State v. Moore, 302 So.2d 284 (La.1974); State v. Kado, 300 So.2d 461 (La.1974).
Specific criminal intent to commit a felony or theft may be inferred from the circumstances. LSA-R.S. 14:10; ...
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...1063, and the appellate court will not reweigh credibility of witnesses when reviewing sufficiency of the evidence. State v. Jacobs, 435 So.2d 1014 (La.App. 1st Cir.1983). After reviewing the record, we conclude that the jury did not abuse its discretion and that the State negated any reaso......
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