Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. William Allen TASSIN
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1976-11-08
Citations: 343 So. 2d 681
Docket Number: Nos. 57800, 57801
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. William Allen TASSIN.
Judges: DIXON, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 343
Pages: 681–693

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. William Allen TASSIN.
Nos. 57800, 57801.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Nov. 8, 1976.
On Rehearing Feb. 28, 1977.
Thomas W. Davenport, Jr., Davenport, Piles, Kelly & Marsh, Monroe, for defendant-appellant.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., J. Carl Parker-son, Dist. Atty., Brian E. Crawford, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

Opinion:
SANDERS, Chief Justice.
On October 10, 1974, defendant, William Allen Tassin, was charged by bill of information with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a violation of LSA-R.S. 40:966, and, on January 20, 1975, he was charged by bill of information with possession of LSD, also a violation of LSA-R.S. 40:966. The defendant pleaded not guilty to both charges. The court denied a motion to suppress physical evidence in the marijuana case. An identical motion was denied in the LSD case. On May 7, 1975, the LSD case ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict. On September 30,1975, a second trial began on the consolidated charges. The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on the possession of LSD charge and a responsive verdict of guilty of possession of marijuana on the possession of marijuana with intent to distribute charge. The court sentenced defendant to pay a fine of $500.00 and to serve five months in jail on the marijuana conviction. On the LSD charge, he was sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000.00 and was placed on supervised probation for five years, with the condition of probation being that he serve one year in the parish jail. The five month sentence on the marijuana charge would run concurrently with the sentence on the LSD charge.
On appeal to this Court, defendant relies upon four assignments of error for reversal of his convictions and sentences.
On September 12, 1974, Detective Frank Bougere of the Monroe Police Department, on special assignment to the Morehouse-Ouachita Parish Strike Force, presented Judge Robert T. Farr of the Fourth Judicial District Court with an affidavit and application for a search warrant. Judge Farr signed the order issuing the search warrant and authorizing a search of the defendant's residence. Officers executed the warrant the same day at approximately 8:00 p. m. Arriving at defendant's residence, they found the apartment locked and unoccupied. Using a pass key furnished by the manager of the apartment complex, they gained entrance, and, during the search of the apartment, a quantity of marijuana, approximately fourteen clear plastic bags, two "window panes" of LSD, and a variety of drug paraphernalia were seized. The officers left a copy of the warrant in the apartment. The next day defendant surrendered at the Sheriff's office on the advice of an attorney.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1
Here, defendant alleges that the trial court erred in failing to sustain the motion to suppress the physical evidence. Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the affidavit supporting the search warrant.
Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 162 provides:
"A search warrant may issue only upon probable cause established to the satisfaction of the judge, by the affidavit of a credible person, reciting facts establishing the cause for issuance of the warrant.
"A search warrant shall particularly describe the person or place to be searched, the persons or things to be seized, and the lawful purpose or reason for the search or seizure."
Our examination of the affidavit reveals the following facts: (1) the affiant's information came from a confidential informant whose reliability had been established in the past by his purchasing of controlled dangerous substances under the direct surveillance of the affiant; (2) information given to the affiant by the informant had been verified through other reliable informants; (3) the informant in question knew the physical characteristics of marijuana, because the affiant had conducted positive field tests of the marijuana purchased by the informant under direct surveillance; (4) the informant had occasion to be present at the Tassin residence within seventy-two hours of the preparation of the affidavit and had observed personally a quantity of marijuana; and (5) the affiant was well acquainted with Bill Tassin as a user and dealer in controlled dangerous substances.
Our decisions, following the landmark case of Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), hold that affidavits in support of search warrants must recite enough circumstances to provide a factual basis upon which a judge or magistrate may reasonably infer that the information is reliable; if an unidentified informant's services are utilized in providing information in support of a search warrant, there must additionally be presented to the magistrate circumstances adequately supporting the reliability of the informant. State v. Martin, La., 318 So.2d 25 (1975); State v. Humble, La., 309 So.2d 138 (1975); State v. Paciera, La., 290 So.2d 681 (1974).
The state and federal jurisprudence supports the view that probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant is a practical concept, which must not be unduly burdened with technical requirements. State v. Anselmo, 260 La. 302, 256 So.2d 98 (1971). In State v. Vince, 305 So.2d 916 (1974), quoting United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965), we stated:
"They [search warrant affidavits] are normally drafted by nonlawyers in the midst and haste of a criminal investigation. Technical requirements of elaborate specificity once exacted under common law pleadings have no proper place in this area."
In United States v. Townsend, 394 F.Supp. 736 (Mich.1975), the court appropriately stated:
"The magistrate deals not in certainties, or even near certainties, but in probabilities. These are not technical, they are the factual and practical considerations of everyday life in which prudent men, not legal technicians, act."
Clearly, the police officer presented sufficient information for the judge to find that probable cause existed for issuing the warrant. Defendant has isolated and attacked each fact and circumstance presented to the court. However, one must consider the affidavit in its entirety in making a determination of probable cause.
In brief, defendant attacks Detective Bougere's affidavit statement that he was "well acquainted" with the defendant's narcotics usage and dealings. In questioning Bougere at the hearing on the motion to suppress, it was disclosed that Bougere had worked with this informant for three to four months and that three reliable informants had supplied information to Bougere concerning the defendant's drug related activities within thirty to forty-five days of the execution of the warrant — further verifying the information provided by the reliable confidential informant. Defendant consistently equates the statement "well acquainted with" with personal knowledge. The affidavit does not recite that the officer had first-hand knowledge of Tassin's activity. We agree with the trial judge, that defendant's argument is one of semantics only.
Defendant also contends that no prior convictions had ever been obtained as a result of information provided by the reliable informant in the affidavit; hence, he asserts, the warrant could not issue on the basis of this information. There is no jurisprudential requirement that information provided by reliable informants in the past must have resulted in convictions in order to establish probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant. State v. Roach, La., 322 So.2d 222 (1975). Prior conviction is but one means of establishing the reliability of a confidential informant. As noted above, in the present case there were other factors which tended to establish the informant's reliability.
Assignment of Error No. 1 is without merit.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for "surrebut-tal" evidence during the trial on the merits.
According to the defendant, the State presented its case which consisted of the testimony of the several officers who had conducted the search of the apartment on September 12, 1974, identifying the various items seized and inventoried at that time, and the chemist who had performed the tests and analysis of the seized drugs. The State then rested.
The defendant then testified on his own behalf denying ownership, possession, or knowledge of the seized substances and stating that approximately a month prior to the search he had taken a ten-day vacation and had left his apartment key with a girl friend and that on his return he was given back an extra key apparently made for the use by an acquaintance of his girl friend. Defendant also testified that he had never used drugs of any kind. Several other witnesses testified for the defense.
On rebuttal, the State presented the testimony of defendant's former employer, a former fellow employee, both of whom testified to incidents indicating that defendant had previously used drugs. Additionally, the fellow employee testified to a threat made by defendant to commit suicide by the use of drugs.
At the conclusion of the rebuttal testimony, defendant moved to be allowed to put on surrebuttal testimony in the form of a witness apparently present outside the courtroom, who was under subpoena of the State. The court denied the motion.
Defendant contends that, despite the assertion by the State that the testimony of the two witnesses was offered on rebuttal only to refute defendant's denial of prior use of drugs, it was in fact proof of intent by prior use, LSA-R.S. 15:445-446, and, as such, should have been presented in the State's case in chief or, if presented after the defendant had rested, defendant should have been given the opportunity to respond. He argues that the denial of that opportunity was an abuse of discretion by the trial court.
LSA-R.S. 15:282, in pertinent part, states: "The prosecution has the right to rebut the evidence adduced by the defendant, but the defendant is without right to rebut the prosecution's rebuttal." However, Article 765 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure provides that after the presentation of evidence by the State and the defendant and by the State in rebuttal: "The court in its discretion may permit the introduction of additional evidence prior to argument." Since the matter is discretionary with the trial court, its ruling will be reversed only on a clear showing of abuse of discretion.
In State v. Dotson, 260 La. 471, 256 So.2d 594 (1971), dealing with the admissibility of evidence tending to show that defendant had previously used drugs after a defendant denied prior use, this Court stated:
"In State v. Monroe, 205 La. 285, 17 So.2d 331, we stated:
'Rebutting evidence is that which is offered to explain, repel, counteract or disprove facts given in evidence by the adverse party. State v. Hemler, 157 La. 902, 103 So. 257.
'It is rebuttal, not impeaching, to show that the statement of the witnesses as to what occurred is not true. State v. Foster, 150 La. 971, 91 So. 411. And contradiction is one of the means of rebutting the testimony of a witness produced by the defendant in a criminal prosecution as the State can not contradict the testimony of a witness for the defendant until the testimony is offered in defendant's behalf on the trial of the case. State v. Blount, 124 La. 202, 50 So. 12.
"See also State v. Poe, 214 La. 606, 38 So.2d 359 (on rehearing); Marr's Criminal Jurisprudence of Louisiana, § 633, pp. 966-967 (1923).
"The evidence of prior use of marijuana was properly admitted to rebut or contradict the defendant's testimony on an essential issue. We discern no error in the rulings of the trial judge."
We find no abuse of discretion on the part of the trial judge.
Assignment of Error No. 2 is without merit.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3
Here, defendant argues that the trial court erred in prohibiting defendant from playing to the jury a tape recording that had been offered and filed as an exhibit in evidence.
This assignment of error has been adequately treated by the trial judge in his Per Curiam:
"On direct examination, able counsel for the defendant questioned the defendant about a 'deal' that had been promised him if he would help the State Police with their efforts to investigate an accident that happened in Rapides Parish and which involved a person the defendant identified as Doyle Luno. The defendant testified that he was promised by Sergeant Elton Breaux of the Louisiana State Police that if he (defendant) would say that Luno had staged the accident that the charges against the defendant could be dropped because the District Attorney for Ouachita Parish owed Sergeant Breaux a 'couple of favors'. (T. 46). The defendant testified that the next time he had a conference with 'these people' (State Police) that he had a tape recorder on him and taped the conversation unbeknowing to the persons with whom he was talking. Defendant then testified as to what the conversation that was taped consisted of and further testified that he subsequently appeared before a Federal Grand Jury concerning this particular accident and testified truthfully before that Grand Jury as to the facts concerning the Luno accident and also told the Grand Jury about the insinuation and implications that Sergeant Breaux had tried to 'force on him.' The taped discussion took place, according to the defendant's testimony on April 3,1975 at 1:02 p.m. This taped conversation was defendant's exhibit number eight, which defendant counsel introduced into evidence, not at the time the defendant was testifying about same, but at the end of the case for the defense. (T. 130). This offering was allowed by the undersigned over the objection of the state solely for the purpose of showing that the tapes had in fact been made and existed. The defendant, as stated aforesaid, had already testified as to the contents of the tapes. At no time during the presentation of the defendant's case in chief did the defense attempt to play the tapes. Neither Sergeant Breaux nor Trooper Connella was called by the state to testify in an effort to contradict what the defendant stated was contained on the tapes.
"However, during the closing argument of defense counsel, he told the jury he was going to show them the tapes, namely, D-8. At that time the state asked if defense counsel was going to attempt to play the tapes during closing argument. In reply to the prosecutor's question, defense counsel replied that the jury was entitled to see the tapes to which the court agreed. Thereafter, defense counsel, in answer to the state's argument that the defense had every opportunity to play the tapes during the case of the defense in chief, decided he did indeed want to play the tapes to the jury during closing argument. The undersigned ruled that playing of the tapes at this time was not within the proper scope of closing argument. While defense counsel objected to the court's ruling he gave no reason for wanting the tapes played. The evidence of what the tapes contained was already before the jury by virtue of defendant's uncontradicted testimony and the undersigned had, as pointed out earlier, let the tapes be admitted intp evidence solely to show that they existed."
As the trial court correctly noted, the playing of the tape at the time requested would have been improper. Article 774 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure provides:
"The argument shall be confined to evidence admitted, to the lack of evidence, to conclusions of fact that the state or defendant may draw therefrom, and to the law applicable to the case.
"The argument shall not appeal to prejudice.
"The state's rebuttal shall be confined to answering the argument of the defendant."
Assignment of Error No. 3 is without merit.
ASSIGNMENT OP ERROR NO. 4
Defendant alleges that the trial court erred in deleting certain portions of the charge to the jury and in failing to instruct the jury pursuant to and as to LSA-R.S. 15:445 and 15:446 as requested by defense counsel.
The content of the deletions was adequately covered in other portions of the general charge to the jury.
Regarding defendant's request that the court read LSA-R.S. 15:445 and 15:446 to the jury, we note initially that the motion was correctly denied because the requested charges were not in writing and were not presented to the opposing party as required by Article 807 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure. Additionally, they were correctly denied because the pertinent portions of the statutes were adequately covered in the general charge to the jury. LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 807.
Assignment of Error No. 4 is without merit.
For the reasons assigned, the convictions and sentences are affirmed.
DIXON, J., concurs.
TATE, J., dissented and assigned reasons.
DENNIS, J., dissented with reasons.