State v. Saddler
| Decision Date | 08 February 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. CR,CR |
| Citation | 538 So.2d 1073 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Joseph SADDLER, Defendant-Appellant. 88-598. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Linda Veazey, Abbeville, for defendant-appellant.
Marc T. Amy, Asst. Dist. Atty., Abbeville, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before GUIDRY, KNOLL and KING, JJ.
This appeal presents for review whether or not the trial court committed reversible errors during the trial of the defendant.
Joseph Saddler (hereinafter defendant) was charged by bill of information with the offense of distribution of marijuana, in violation of La.R.S. 40:966(A)(1). After a trial, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged by a vote of eleven to one. Defendant's motion for a post verdict judgment of acquittal, or, in the alternative, for a new trial was denied. After a presentence report was prepared and a sentencing hearing was held, the trial court sentenced defendant to three years at hard labor, to be suspended upon defendant's good behavior, and placed defendant on three years of active supervised probation, with special conditions that defendant serve two years in the parish jail and pay a monthly probation supervision charge after release from jail. Defendant appeals urging five assignments of error. We affirm.
On the evening of June 26, 1985, Deputy Sheriff Tommy Davis was working undercover on the streets of Abbeville, Louisiana with a confidential informant. At approximately 9:45 P.M., Officer Davis and the confidential informant drove into the parking lot at Live Oak Manor on Lampman Street. The defendant approached the car and inquired whether they were looking for anything. Davis told the defendant that he was looking for a bag of marijuana and the defendant indicated that he could get a bag down the street. At this point, Davis introduced himself and the defendant introduced himself to Davis as Joseph Saddler. The defendant told Davis that the bag would cost $30.00, and that he would have to take the money and get the bag for Davis. Defendant indicated that Davis could not accompany him into the house where the marijuana was, but should ride around the block and meet defendant at the corner. Davis handed the $30.00 to the defendant and when Davis and the confidential informant finished circling the block, they found the defendant standing on Lampman Street and stopped. Defendant handed Davis a plastic bag containing material that looked and smelled similar to marijuana. Davis drove to the Travel Lodge Motel in Abbeville and gave the alleged contraband to his superior officer, Detective Ray Gaspard.
The State presented evidence to establish a chain of custody over the bag of marijuana from the time it left the possession of Officer Davis and went to the crime lab for analysis. Allan Gallaspy, a forensic chemist employed by the Acadiana Criminalistic Lab, testified that the seven grams of substance in the plastic bag were tested by him and was marijuana.
The defendant and his counsel were present and participated in jury selection on October 27, 1987. After completion of selection of the jury late in the day the court then recessed until the next morning. On the following day, October 28, 1987, the defendant failed to appear in court. Defense counsel blamed defendant's absence on an alleged nervous breakdown and further stated that defendant was seeking admission to the psychiatric ward of several local hospitals. The court was unable to verify any of these allegations and, outside of the jury's presence, issued a bench warrant for the defendant's arrest. The jury was excused and ordered to return the following morning.
The defendant was arrested on the bench warrant and brought before the court on the following day, October 29, 1987. He claimed that he had no memory of the prior day and could not explain his absence from court. Defense counsel then raised the issue of the defendant's mental capacity to stand trial and the court ordered that defendant be immediately taken to Dr. Ardley Hebert for examination. The court then excused the jury and ordered it to return the following day. Defense counsel stated that because it had been advised that Dr. Hebert felt that the defendant could stand trial and assist in his defense, counsel wanted to tender witnesses on the issue of defendant's mental capacity. In connection with this request, defense counsel filed a formal motion for the appointment of a sanity commission on October 29, 1987. A supplemental motion for appointment of a sanity commission was filed on October 30, 1987.
On October 30, 1987, the court held a hearing and allowed the defendant to present evidence concerning his mental capacity to stand trial. Defendant offered medical records and the testimony of witnesses, Russel Saddler and Wilfred Sereal. The court found that there was insufficient evidence to raise a reasonable doubt as to defendant's mental capacity to proceed and to justify appointing a sanity commission. The court refused to appoint a sanity commission even though one had been formally requested. The defendant's trial then commenced and defendant was convicted by the jury of the charges of distribution of marijuana. Defendant appeals assigning five errors committed by the trial court during his trial.
Defendant urges as his first assignment of error the trial court's refusal to appoint a sanity commission. He further alleges that appointment of a sanity commission is non-discretionary, especially where evidence was introduced that defendant had a prior history of mental problems and his family had sought help for his mental condition in the days immediately before his trial commenced.
La.C.Cr.P. Article 642 states that:
Mental capacity to proceed exists when a defendant lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense as a result of mental disease or defect. La.C.Cr.P. Art. 641; State v. Brogdon, 426 So.2d 158 (La.1983).
The fact that the defendant's mental capacity to proceed is raised does not for that reason alone require the judge to order appointment of a sanity commission. State v. Newman, 515 So.2d 548 (La.App. 1 Cir.1987); State v. Guidry, 449 So.2d 41 (La.App. 1 Cir.1984). There must exist some reasonable doubt whether the defendant has the mental capacity to stand trial before the court is required to order appointment of a sanity commission. La.C.Cr.P. Article 643; Newman, supra at 549; Guidry, supra at 44. The legal presumption is that a defendant is sane and responsible for his actions. La.R.S. 15:432. Therefore, the defendant bears the burden of showing by a clear preponderance of the evidence reasonable grounds for the judge to doubt his mental capacity to proceed. State v. Wilkerson, 403 So.2d 652 (La.1981). In Wilkerson, the court stated at page 658:
The defendant introduced medical records from his service in the Air Force. Some of the records concerned chest pains and did not concern the defendant's mental condition. One of the medical records from the Air Force, dated March 23, 1971, contained a diagnosis based on defendant's medical history which was:
Defendant also presented testimony from his friend, Wilfred Sereal, and his brother, Russell Saddler. This evidence concerned defendant's behavior in the few days before his trial. The majority of the testimony concerned defendant's unresponsiveness to questions. However, there was testimony that he had been responsive to Dr. Hebert's questions. The trial judge also noted that the defendant has been responsive to his questions in court on October 29, 1987. Furthermore, the court noted it had caused the defendant to be examined by Dr. Ardley Hebert, who found that the defendant could stand trial and was able to assist in his own defense. In State v. Berry, 391 So.2d 406 (La.1980), the court found no abuse of discretion where the trial judge denied the motion for a sanity commission after the defendant was examined by a psychiatrist who found no evidence of a mental disorder. After reviewing the entire record, we agree that the defendant did not meet the burden of showing by a clear preponderance of the evidence reasonable grounds for the trial judge to doubt his mental capacity to proceed. For this reason we find this assignment of error lacks merit.
The defendant urges that the trial court committed error in refusing to grant a defense motion for a mistrial on the basis that two of the jury members had walked through the courtroom on October 30, 1987, while the defendant was sitting there garbed in his orange prison clothes. These two jurors had walked through the courtroom on the same day the trial court was holding a hearing on the defendant's mental...
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96-1636 La.App. 3 Cir. 6/25/97, State v. Kendrick
...that reasonable grounds exist to doubt defendant's capacity to proceed. State v. Wilkerson, 403 So.2d 652 (La.1981); State v. Saddler, 538 So.2d 1073 (La.App. 3 Cir.1989), writ granted, reversed on other grounds, 549 So.2d 1236 (La.1989). Specifically, the defendant must establish reasonabl......
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