State v. Marcantel

• Citation: 815 So.2d 50
• Decision Date: 03 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. 2000-KO-1629.,2000-KO-1629.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Steve M. MARCANTEL.
• Court: Supreme Court of Louisiana

815 So.2d 50

STATE of Louisiana v. Steve M. MARCANTEL.

No. 2000-KO-1629.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

April 3, 2002.

Rehearing Denied May 24, 2002.

Ramona F. Almonte, New Orleans, Deborah M. Snead, Counsel for Applicant.

Steve M. Marcantel, pro se.

Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, Brent C. Coreil, District Attorney, Anthony L. Walker, Mamou, Counsel for Respondent.

WEIMER, Justice.

This matter concerns the defendant's conviction of one count of theft, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:67, and seven counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95.1. We granted this writ for the principal purpose of addressing the sufficiency of the evidence of theft, including the presumption concerning stolen property as set forth in LSA-R.S. 15:432 and the effect of the presumption, if any, on the sufficiency of the evidence.

FACTS

On Sunday, May 11, 1997, Cecil and Virgie Prejean returned from a camping trip to find their home in Mamou, Louisiana, had been burglarized. The couple notified police and reported four rifles, three handguns, and some jewelry were missing. An investigation ensued, which eventually led to the arrest and charging of Steve M. Marcantel. On August 17, 1998, he was tried on the theft and firearms charges as well as one count of simple burglary. The jury returned a verdict acquitting Marcantel of the burglary charge, but convicting him of the other charges.

At trial, the State called a total of nine witnesses. R.B. Fontenot, David Monier, and Rudy Guillory were called in connection with the firearms charges, to prove the predicate convictions. Fontenot testified Marcantel was convicted of simple burglary of a pharmacy in 1983, that he was Marcantel's probation officer in 1983, and that he had previously fingerprinted Marcantel in connection with the 1983 charges. Monier testified that in 1990 he was a probation officer who conducted a post-sentence investigation on Marcantel for a second degree battery conviction, which apparently took place after the 1983 burglary. Guillory, an expert in the field of fingerprints, compared the fingerprints of the defendant with the fingerprint card taken in connection with defendant's conviction for the burglary of the pharmacy; he testified they matched.

The remainder of the State's witnesses were called in connection with the burglary and theft charges. Cecil Prejean testified that when he and his wife returned from the camping trip, they noticed that seven guns and some jewelry were missing from their home. The stolen firearms were recovered by the Mamou police, but had sustained extensive damage. The missing guns were: Browning 30-06 rifle, Remington Model 742 .243 caliber rifle, Remington 742 rifle 30-06 caliber, 30-30 caliber pump action rifle, Beretta .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun, Smith & Wesson .38 caliber police special handgun, and a Ruger .357 caliber Blackhawk handgun.

Mr. Prejean identified the defendant as his first cousin, who had been to his house several times in the past. On the weekend of the Prejeans' camping trip, Mr. Prejean had told defendant's father, with whom defendant lived, about the trip. Further testimony by Mr. Prejean was that a chrome .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol, without a clip, which had been given to him by defendant's father, was not taken in the burglary, although it was very visible next to the jewelry box that had contained the missing jewelry. Mr. Prejean also stated on cross-examination that he had other shotguns in the house that were not stolen, but the chrome pistol was the only handgun that was not taken. Mr. Prejean estimated the value of the stolen items as more than $7,000.00.

Virgie Prejean confirmed her husband's testimony about the missing guns and jewelry. She testified the .32 snub nose pistol was kept loaded. She also stated that two pillow cases had been taken by the intruder.

Todd Ortis was the police officer who investigated the report of the burglary at the Prejean residence. No fingerprints were found at the residence. A few months after the burglary, the .25 caliber Beretta was voluntarily surrendered to police by Roger Spell, who stated he had obtained it from Todd Deshotel. Officer Ortis testified Deshotel was interrogated and informed police he had obtained the guns from Marcantel. Ortis said he also recovered a 30-06 rifle, a Ruger .357 Magnum handgun, and a 30-30 pump rifle. The firearms were not recovered until several months after the burglary. The officer stated fingerprint tests performed on the weapons recovered did not produce any prints. He admitted Deshotel told him Marcantel did not break into the Prejean home.

Todd Deshotel testified that in May or June 1997, Marcantel visited his house, asked for a ride, and directed him to a country road. Deshotel said Marcantel left the truck and retrieved a bundle from the woods. The bundle contained pistols and rifles and was wrapped in linen. They then went to Mark McCauley's residence in Pine Prairie and showed him the guns.

Deshotel testified he got three guns and some jewelry from Marcantel. He said he threw the jewelry away because he could not sell it. The guns were a 30-06 Browning rifle, a Smith & Wesson .38 caliber handgun, and a Beretta .25 caliber automatic handgun. Deshotel sold the weapons to Scotty Fournet, Roger Spell, and another person he could not identify. Deshotel did not report these stolen items to the police, but when questioned, he admitted he sold the guns.

On cross-examination, Deshotel said he told the police he was drinking and taking a sedative at the time he obtained the guns. He said he did not realize the situation until a few days later when he became afraid and got rid of the guns. Deshotel admitted to abusing alcohol and prescription medication at the time these events occurred. He had since been through rehabilitation. He also admitted to being convicted of a misdemeanor—criminal mischief —in the 1970s; he was never convicted of a felony. Deshotel said he was not sure if his girlfriend, Rebecca Dupre, was in the car with him and Marcantel on the day the guns were retrieved.

Rebecca Dupre testified Marcantel visited the house where she and her boyfriend, Todd Deshotel, were living about a week or two before the couple broke up their relationship. Marcantel's visit was in May of 1997, sometime after May 15. When Marcantel asked Deshotel to give him a ride, the three of them got into the car. Marcantel directed Deshotel to drive down a country road and stop at a particular location. Marcantel got out of the car, walked into a bushy area, retrieved a bundle, and put it in the trunk. Dupre stated that at some point Deshotel stopped the car, and Marcantel retrieved the bundle from the trunk. She noticed the bundle looked like a pillow case tied with a cord and it had guns inside. Dupre further testified the three of them went to Mark McCauley's residence where she stayed with McCauley's children while the men left. She did not see an exchange of the weapons. When Marcantel and Deshotel returned to pick her up, the three of them went down a country road where the two men stashed some of the guns along the side of the road. Dupre testified the recovered weapons were similar to the ones Marcantel retrieved from the woods, and she specifically recognized the Beretta handgun. She stated that neither she nor Deshotel had anything to do with the burglary of the Prejean house.

Although Dupre stated she was drinking beer on the day of Marcantel visit, she had a clear recollection of what transpired. Dupre had no criminal record and she cooperated with police when she was questioned. She testified she had not been charged with anything in connection with the guns. However, she admitted during cross-examination that she did not give a full and true statement to the police. She said she was going along with the other's stories when she lied and said they picked up the bundle and returned home with it. She did not tell the police about going to McCauley's residence. Dupre admitted Deshotel was having a drug and alcohol problem, including memory loss, and that he was very heavily drugged at the time of the incident with Marcantel.

Mark McCauley confirmed that Dupre, Deshotel and Marcantel visited his residence in May or June 1997. On cross-examination he admitted he did not tell the police in his statement that they had come there with guns. McCauley testified Marcantel threw a loaded .32 snub nose pistol to him as he was sitting on the couch. This action alarmed him as his children were in the room. McCauley testified he bought three rifles from Marcantel that day, a Remington 30-06, a Remington .243, and a 30-30 pump. He identified all seven of the recovered guns as the ones Marcantel had in his possession. Marcantel later returned to McCauley's residence and sold him a .357 magnum handgun. Even later, McCauley got a Ruger 9mm from Marcantel, but gave it back to him a few days later.¹ McCauley testified he cooperated with police and retrieved the guns he had sold or given away. He admitted he suspected the guns were stolen from Texas. When he went into drug rehabilitation, he gave the remaining guns to Reynard Sebastien and told him he got them from Marcantel. McCauley was not charged with receiving stolen goods. At the time of trial, McCauley was incarcerated for failure to pay child support. His record also included four prior DWI convictions.

James R. Sebastian testified he is a probation officer who was a former neighbor of McCauley. He confirmed that McCauley gave him two 30-06 rifles and a 30-30 pump rifle to sell because he was going into rehabilitation. Sebastian said he later learned the guns were stolen and turned them over to police. Sebastian testified he did not know where the guns came from.

After the guilty verdict was returned, counsel for defendant filed a motion for new trial pursuant to LSA-C.Cr. P. art. 851 alleging that the verdict was...