Case Title: State v. Freeman

Citation: 306 So. 2d 703

Docket Number: 

State: louisiana

Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Date: 1975-01-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
306 So. 2d 703 (1975) STATE of Louisiana v. Charles FREEMAN, Jr. No. 55237 Supreme Court of Louisiana. January 20, 1975. William H. Hallack, Jr., Monroe, for defendant-appellant. William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., J. Carl Parkerson, Dist. Atty., John R. Harrison, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee. MARCUS, Justice. Defendant was charged by bill of information with the crime of armed robbery in violation of La.R.S. 14:64. He was tried by a jury, found guilty, and sentenced to 12 years at hard labor. Defendant appeals his conviction and sentence to this court, relying upon one bill of exceptions. This bill was reserved when the trial judge overruled the objection to the introduction of a pistol allegedly used in the commission of the crime. Defendant contends the evidence fails to show the relevancy of the pistol or that a proper chain of custody was established to permit its introduction. The testimony attached to this bill indicates that one Major Gay was approached and asked to get a pistol which he had and to join a group of individuals composed of defendant and four others. The gist of the testimony is that Major Gay, after securing his pistol, turned it over to one of his confederates. They proceeded in a vehicle to the robbery scene. One of the participants saw defendant commit the robbery with a pistol. The pistol was returned to Gay after the robbery. He returned it to his home and placed it in his coat pocket where it was later recovered by the police. Gay testified that the pistol produced at trial was the same one which he was requested to get and which had been taken to the robbery scene. Additionally, the victim testified that the pistol looked like the one used in the robbery. *704 The rule defining relevant evidence is set forth in La.R.S. 15:441, as follows: In State v. Giles, 253 La. 533, 218 So. 2d 585 (1969), this court cited State v. Stokes, 250 La. 277, 195 So. 2d 267 (1967), for the following proposition: Hence, it is obvious that the pistol was relevant evidence, and the trial court properly permitted its introduction into evidence. Detective McClanahan testified that he recovered the pistol from the residence of Willie Gay, located at 3610 Cooper Street. He had received information that Mr. Gay's son, a juvenile, was involved in the robbery. Mr. Gay permitted him to search the residence where a gun was found in a coat pocket. The gun was tagged and taken to the Monroe Police Department. It was turned over to the custodian of evidence where it remained until the date of trial, at which time it was checked out by Detective McClanahan. He produced it at trial identifying his writing on the tag and the serial number on the pistol. We stated in State v. Gladden, 260 La. 735, 257 So. 2d 388 (1972) that: In State v. Dotson, 260 La. 471, 256 So. 2d 594 (1971), we held: We conclude that the evidence herein clearly establishes a chain of custody of the pistol and thus it was properly received in evidence. This bill is without merit. For the reasons assigned, the conviction and sentence are affirmed.