State v. Jones
State v. Jones
Opinion of the Court
Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., MARION F. EDWARDS, and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.
| ?Defendant/appellant, Wynn S. Jones, Jr. (“Jones”), appeals his conviction on four counts of armed robbery, one count of simple robbery, and one count of attempted simple robbery. We affirm his convictions and remand with instructions.
Jones entered a plea of not guilty and filed several pre-trial motions, including motions to suppress his confession, evidence, and identification, all of |swhich were denied after a hearing. Prior to trial, Jones withdrew his not guilty plea and entered a plea of guilty pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford
The following facts are taken from the suppression hearing: Detective Dax Russo (“Detective Russo”) of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office participated in an investigation regarding a series of robberies
On the day Jones was arrested, Detective Russo advised him of his rights and Jones signed a waiver of rights form, acknowledging he understood his rights. Two recorded statements were taken, one at 7:50 p.m. and the second at 8:34 p.m. that same evening. At the beginning of his first statement, Jones acknowledged he understood his rights and was waiving them. At the beginning of his second statement, Jones was reminded of his rights and acknowledged that he again was waiving them. Detective Russo testified that Jones was not forced or coerced or promised anything of value for his statements.
UAccording to Detective Russo, the first statement concerned the NEXTECH robbery while the second statement concerned other robberies that occurred from December 2004 until January 19, 2005 on the Westbank. The statements were admitted into evidence. In his first statement, Jones admitted he received money from the register after he grabbed an employee by her arm and put a kitchen knife to her throat during the robbery. In his second statement, Jones admitted he robbed a cashier at Philly’s Steak House with a knife and was given money from the cash register. He then admitted that, on another occasion, he robbed a different employee at the Philly’s Steak House using the same knife and that he took money out of the register himself. Jones then stated he robbed a gas station on the Expressway, snatching money from the register while unarmed. He also discussed two other robberies at gas stations. He explained that, in one attempt, he tried reaching into the register after purchasing a drink at a Shell Station on the Expressway, but the employee closed the register, grabbed a baseball bat, and ran him out of the store. He did not get any money and was unarmed. Jones then discussed a second robbery on the same day at a Shell Station on Ames and Lapalco. He explained that he asked the employee for change for his dollar to use the phone, and, when the cashier tried to give him change, he reached and grabbed the money. He stated that he showed the cashier a knife, and she backed up. Jones identified himself as the person shown in photographs, taken from surveillance video, given him by the detective.
Detective Russo testified that, as to the NEXTECH robbery, three employees gave an account of what happened and were taken to the scene where Jones was apprehended. All three employees identified him as the suspect. Regarding the other robberies that occurred prior to January 19, photographic line-ups that included Jones’ photograph were used. Detective Russo testified that Julia |fiMartin identified Jones from a photographic lineup as the suspect in the January 14, 2005 robbery of the Shell Gas Station on Lapal-co Boulevard. Rosie Johnson identified Jones in a photographic line-up as the suspect in a January 14, 2005 robbery at the Shell Gas Station on the Westbank Expressway.
Detective Kevin Decker of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office also participated in the investigation of the robberies. He testified that he showed a photographic lineup to victim Carl Howell and witness Henry Diamond regarding a December 22, 2004
On appeal, counsel for Jones argues his statements were given involuntarily because he was under the influence of heroin and cocaine, and also because, after he resisted arrest (but prior to questioning), he was intimidated and manhandled by the police, causing injuries that had to be treated at Charity Hospital. Jones urges that he was in no physical condition to comprehend the seriousness of the charges and waiver of rights, and, thus, had a diminished capacity to fully understand either his rights and/or their waiver. He argues he did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily enter his pleas with a full understanding of the pleas and their consequences. Jones urges that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorney failed to object to the admission of his statements during the suppression hearing, making his guilty pleas invalid as being coerced.
Jones also makes a pro se argument that his attorney was ineffective in failing to object to the trial court’s acceptance of his plea under Alford without | ^ascertaining that he had a full understanding of the elements of the crime, and that there was no factual basis established in the record to support such plea.
Although a guilty plea normally waives all non-jurisdictional defects in the proceedings leading up to the plea and precludes review of such defects either by appeal or post-conviction relief, a defendant may be allowed appellate review if at the time he enters a guilty plea, he expressly reserves his right to appeal a specific adverse ruling in the case.
Here, Jones does not challenge the denial of his motion to suppress but, rather, requests that he be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea due to ineffectiveness of counsel.
The Alford plea is one in which the defendant pleads guilty while maintaining his innocence. According to Alford, a defendant may plead guilty, without foregoing his protestations of innocence, if “the plea represents a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to defendant,] |7... especially where the defendant was represented by competent counsel whose advice was that
Once a defendant has been sentenced, only those guilty pleas which are constitutionally infirm may be withdrawn by appeal or post-conviction relief.
Jones has not filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. However, this does not prohibit a constitutionally infirm guilty plea from being set aside either by means of appeal or post-conviction relief.
The Strickland
In the present case, the record is adequate to address the claims on appeal. Jones argues his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the admission of his involuntary statements during the suppression hearing because his statements were not free and voluntary, but were given under the influence of heroin and cocaine, and after he was treated at the hospital for injuries sustained from being manhandled by the police.
The record does not support these claims. Defense counsel did file several motions to suppress, which included Jones’ statements. Further, defense counsel challenged these statements made to the police at the motion to suppress hearing.
A determination of voluntariness is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the facts and circumstances of each situation. The admissibility of a confession or statement is a determination for the trial judge and his conclusions on the credibility and weight of the testimony relating to the voluntary nature of the confession or statement are entitled to great weight and will not be overturned unless unsupported by the evidence.
The evidence adduced at the suppression hearing supports the admissibility of Jones’ statements. On review, we find Jones’ claim that his guilty pleas were not | inknowing and voluntary but were forced because his counsel failed to properly object, is without merit.
Jones also makes a due process argument that his rights were violated when his counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to the acceptance of his Alford pleas without a factual basis to support the pleas. Where a defendant pleads guilty under Alford, “constitutional due process requires that the record contain ‘strong evidence of actual guilt’.”
On review, we find the evidence presented at the hearing on the motion to suppress the identification demonstrated
We have examined the record for patent errors and note the following: LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 930.8(A) states that a defendant has two years after the judgment of conviction and sentence has become final to file for post-conviction relief. In the present case, while the commitment reflects the trial court properly advised Jones of the prescriptive period for post-conviction relief, the transcript does not. Further, the waiver of rights form contains incorrect advice regarding the prescriptive period for filing post-conviction relief because it informed Jones that he must file his application for post-conviction relief within “two (2) years of the date of this plea.” In later denying Jones’ motions for appeal without prejudice, the court properly noted that Jones had two years from the finality of the judgment of conviction and sentence to file for post-conviction relief.
Failure to advise a defendant that the prescriptive period runs from the time his conviction and sentence become final renders the advisal incomplete.
Further, the sentencing transcript provides that Jones’ sentences would “run concurrent with whatever he’s doing.” However, the minute entry/commitment reflects the sentences were “to run concurrently with any other sentence.” On remand, the trial court is instructed to correct the commitment to assure accuracy with the transcript, and we direct the clerk of court to transmit the original of the corrected minute entry to the officer in charge of the institution to which Jones has been committed.
CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
. 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970).
. 338 So.2d 584 (La. 1976).
. State v. Raines, 00-1942 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/30/01), 788 So.2d 630; State v. McCoil, 05-658 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/27/06), 924 So.2d 1120.
. See, State v. Joseph, 03-315 (La.5/16/03), 847 So.2d 1196.
. Id.
. See, State v. McCoil, 05-658 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/27/06), 924 So.2d 1120.
. State v. McCoil, supra; State v. Gross, 95-621 (La.App. 5 Cir. 3/13/96), 673 So.2d 1058.
. State v. McCoil, supra.
. State v. Ebright, 04-972 (La.App. 5 Cir. 1/11/05), 894 So.2d 359.
. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).
. State v. Johnson, 02-254 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2002), 822 So.2d 840 (citing State v. Washington, 491 So.2d 1337 (La. 1986)).
. State v. Lagarde, 07-123 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/29/07), 960 So.2d 1105 (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)).
. State v. Lagarde, supra.
. State v. Washington, 491 So.2d 1337 (La. 1986); State v. Montalban, 2000-2739 (La.2/26/02), 810 So.2d 1106.
. State v. Washington, supra.
. State v. Redditt, 03-0354 (La.App. 5 Cir. 10/28/03), 868 So.2d 704, writ denied, 2003-3484 (La.4/8/04) 870 So.2d 268 (citations omitted).
. Id.
. State v. Villarreal, 99-827 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/16/00), 759 So.2d 126, 129-30, writ denied, 00-1175 (La.3/16/01), 786 So.2d 745.
. State v. Roche, 05-237 (La.App. 5 Cir. 4/25/06), 928 So.2d 761, 767-68, writ denied, 06-1566 (La.1/8/07), 948 So.2d 120.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Louisiana v. Wynn S. JONES, Jr.
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- Published