State v. Randle

• Decision Date: 24 June 2015
• Docket Number: 49,952–KA.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Teddy Ray RANDLE, Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

166 So.3d 465

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Teddy Ray RANDLE, Appellant.

49,952–KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

June 24, 2015.

Edward K. Bauman, Louisiana Appellate Project, Lake Charles, LA, for Appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Devin T. Jones, John Gates Spires, Stephen T. Sylvester, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, WILLIAMS and CARAWAY, JJ.

Opinion

CARAWAY, J.

Teddy Ray Randle was convicted of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was subsequently sentenced to concurrent sentences of 12 years at hard labor without benefits for the armed robbery conviction and 6 years at hard labor without benefits for the conspiracy to commit armed robbery conviction. Randle appeals his convictions and armed robbery sentence. We affirm.

Facts

On July 1, 2013, Teddy Ray Randle was charged by bill of information with one count of armed robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery after the victim, Roderick McDonald, identified Randle as one of two men who barged through the door of his house on June 11, 2013, and took money from him at gunpoint. McDonald claimed that Randle's accomplice, Tysman Moore, had earlier knocked on his door requesting marijuana. When McDonald denied the request, Moore left but returned with Randle, who was armed with a black pistol. After the two men forced entry into McDonald's home, Randle hit him with the pistol and choked him while demanding money. McDonald gave Randle $100 as Moore ransacked a bedroom before taking money from a piggy bank. The two men fled the scene from a side door of the home. A neighbor, Lillie Washington, was an eyewitness to the men entering and exiting the home. She called 911 and identified the men as Randle and Moore.

Moore was apprehended by police as he ran from the home. Moore had a large amount of change and a Eurodollar that McDonald identified as coming from the piggy bank. Randle surrendered to police custody the following day.

Randle was charged and convicted of the charged offenses by a unanimous jury. He filed motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, arguing that the state failed to sufficiently establish that he committed the crimes charged, because the victim offered testimony that conflicted with the statements made to the police at the time of the incident. The trial court denied the motions.

On September 29, 2014, the trial court sentenced Randle to concurrent sentences of 12 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on the armed robbery, and 6 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for the conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Randle filed a motion to reconsider the denial of the earlier motions as well as the imposed sentences. Upon the trial court's denial of the motion, this appeal followed.

Discussion

In his first assignment of error, Randle argues that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed either offense of conviction. Specifically, Randle contends that the only true eyewitness to the alleged armed robbery was McDonald, a convicted felon with prior drug convictions, who made several conflicting statements about the events surrounding the choke hold and attack with the gun. Randle also argues that Washington could not see the events taking place inside the house. Finally, Randle asserts that the state submitted no evidence at all that he committed conspiracy to commit armed robbery with Moore.

At trial, the following facts were gleaned from witness testimony. McDonald testified that on June 11, 2013, he had just awoken at his home when Moore knocked on his door, requesting marijuana. McDonald denied Moore's request and closed the front door. Shortly after, McDonald heard another knock at the door. When he cracked the door to answer it, Randle and Moore “bum rushed” or barged through the doorway. McDonald testified that the two men “pushed me on the couch.” He recalled that Randle was armed with a black pistol and placed him in a choke hold while they were both sitting on his couch. McDonald identified Randle as the defendant in court. According to McDonald, Randle hit him with the pistol “on the left side of my head,” and demanded money while choking him. McDonald testified that Randle threatened to kill him if he did not give him money. McDonald retrieved $100 in $20 bills from inside the pocket of his pants that were lying on the floor in the living room in front of the couch. He gave the money to Randle.

McDonald testified that in the meantime, Moore was ransacking a bedroom in the house looking for money; he took all of the change from a piggy bank in the bedroom. McDonald testified that Randle and Moore exited his home through the “back door,” which was located on the side of the house. He did not call the police because his neighbor had already done so. She came over to his house after the incident to see if he was all right.

On cross-examination, McDonald admitted that he had been convicted of possession of marijuana, second offense and possession of cocaine.

Lillie Washington testified that on June 11, 2013, she lived right across the street from McDonald. That morning, Washington saw two individuals approach McDonald's house two different times. The first time, the individuals did not get inside the house. Shortly after they first knocked on the front door, Washington saw the two individuals return to the front door, coming from different directions. Washington saw McDonald crack the door, and she saw the two individuals barge into the house. Washington identified one of the individuals she saw as Randle, whom she knew as Teddy Randle, or “Teddy Boo.” Randle lived close by, according to Washington. She recalled that Randle was wearing a hoodie, and had his hands in his pockets prior to forcing his way inside McDonald's home. Washington testified that she heard sounds from inside the home, which she perceived to be a struggle taking place. She heard things breaking and being knocked over. Washington first called McDonald's girlfriend who was also an occupant of the home, and then she called 911. She estimated that the two men were in the house for five minutes before she saw them leave, running out of the side door of the house and continuing down the street running together. Washington denied that she went to McDonald's house after the events.

Detective Richard Pace testified that on the morning of June 11, 2013, he was employed as a detective of the Bastrop Police Department and responded to a home invasion at North Todd Street in Bastrop, Louisiana. Pace spoke with McDonald at the scene and took his statement. Pace testified that McDonald appeared “very shaken up” and identified the two assailants as Moore and Randle. Washington also corroborated their identity.

Pace testified that McDonald was adamant that Randle had a gun during the incident and that he used the weapon to strike him. He surveyed McDonald's home and saw a ransacked bedroom which belonged to a child. In the bedroom, Pace observed that the mattress and box springs were separated and the dresser drawers were pulled and their contents strewn throughout the room. A piggy bank was missing change. McDonald told Pace that change and a “Eurodollar” were missing from the piggy bank.

Pace testified that Moore was located and arrested. Randle turned himself in the next day. On Moore's person were 29 nickels, 9 dimes, 225 pennies, two bags of marijuana, a “black pistol grip,” a cigarette lighter, and one “Eurodollar.” The coins were admitted into evidence.

On cross-examination, Pace testified that McDonald initially told him that both suspects hit him, slapped him around and demanded money. At the time of these statements, McDonald complained that his throat and side of his neck hurt. He recalled that McDonald had a small knot on his head.

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the 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. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) ; State v. Tate, 01–1658 (La.5/20/03), 851 So.2d 921, cert. denied, 541 U.S. 905, 124 S.Ct. 1604, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004) ; State v. Carter, 42,894 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1/9/08), 974 So.2d 181, writ denied, 08–0499 (La.11/14/08), 996 So.2d 1086. This standard, now legislatively embodied in La.C.Cr.P. art. 821, does not provide the appellate court with a vehicle to substitute its own appreciation of the evidence for that of the fact finder. State v. Pigford, 05–0477 (La.2/22/06), 922 So.2d 517 ; State v. Dotie, 43,819 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1/14/09), 1 So.3d 833. The appellate court does not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh evidence. State v. Smith, 94–3116 (La.10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442. A reviewing court accords great deference to a jury's decision to accept or reject the testimony of a witness in whole or in part. State v. Eason, 43,788 (La.App. 2d Cir. 2/25/09), 3 So.3d 685, writ denied, 09–0725 (La.12/11/09), 23 So.3d 913 ; State v. Hill, 42,025 (La.App. 2d Cir. 5/9/07), 956 So.2d 758, writ denied, 07–1209 (La.12/14/07), 970 So.2d 529.

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. Speed, 43,786 (La.App.2d Cir....