Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Robert L. KIMBROUGH
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1983-05-23
Citations: 432 So. 2d 833
Docket Number: No. 82-KA-0780
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Robert L. KIMBROUGH.
Judges: LEMMON, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 432
Pages: 833–837

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Robert L. KIMBROUGH.
No. 82-KA-0780.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
May 23, 1983.
Dissenting Opinion June 27, 1983.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., L.K. Knapp, Dist. Atty., Frederick Wayne Frey, Eugene Bouquet, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-ap-pellee.
C. Thomas Tolbert, Sulphur, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
MARCUS, Justice.
Robert L. Kimbrough was charged by bill of information with possession with intent to distribute pentazocine in violation of La. R.S. 40:969(A)(1). After trial by jury, defendant was found guilty of possession of pentazocine and was sentenced to serve five years at hard labor. On appeal, defendant's sole assignment of error is that the trial judge erred in refusing to allow him to file a motion to suppress physical evidence after three state witnesses had testified at trial.
The record reflects the following facts. On August 3, 1981, defendant appeared with court-appointed counsel for arraignment. Defendant entered a plea of not guilty. At this time, counsel told defendant to provide him with the names and addresses of his witnesses and to contact him so that a meeting could be arranged in order to prepare for trial. During the four-month period between defendant's arraignment and his scheduled trial date, December 7, 1981, counsel was unable to reach defendant at the phone number he had provided and neither saw nor heard from him. On December 7, defendant and counsel were present in court and discussed the case. Selection of the petit jury venire commenced at that time. Defendant's case was not called for trial until December 10, 1981, at which time "[a]ll announcefd] ready to proceed with trial." The case was continued to 1:00 p.m. that day at which time the case was again called for trial and "[a]ll announce[d] ready to proceed." Selection and swearing of the jury panel followed. After reading of the information and defendant's plea on arraignment, the state and defendant made their opening statements to the jury. The case was recessed until the next day (December 11) at which time the state began the presentation of its evidence. After the testimony of three of the arresting officers had been completed, defendant moved, outside the presence of the jury, to file a motion to suppress evidence of the drugs seized from him at the time of his arrest. Argument followed.
Defendant argued that even though the motion was not timely filed under La.Code Crim.P. art. 521, it could still be filed under art. 703 because neither he nor his counsel had been aware of the ground of the motion until after the testimony of the state's first three witnesses. Alternatively, he argued that the court should exercise the discretion accorded it under art. 703 and permit the motion to be filed during trial because it was "neither unfair to the State, too costly or too late for a motion to suppress to be heard." He further argued that he would call only two witnesses.
The state objected to the filing of the motion at that time arguing that it would "unduly delay the trial." The state further argued that since the drugs sought to be suppressed were seized at the time of defendant's arrest without a warrant, the burden would be shifted to the state to show that they were validly obtained and that one of the state's witnesses was no longer available for a hearing.
After argument, the trial judge refused to permit defendant to file the motion to suppress the evidence.
La.Code Crim.P. art. 521, at the time of defendant's arraignment on August 3,1981, provided:
Pretrial motions shall be made or filed within thirty days after arraignment unless a different time is provided by law or fixed by the court at arraignment.
Upon written motion at any time and a showing of good cause, the court shall allow additional time to file pretrial motions.
La.Code Crim.P. art. 703 (motion to suppress evidence) provides in pertinent part:
A. A defendant adversely affected may move to suppress any evidence from use at the trial on the merits on the ground that it was unconstitutionally obtained.
C. A motion filed under the provisions of this Article must be filed in accordance with Article 521, unless opportunity therefor did not exist or neither the defendant nor his counsel was aware of the existence of the evidence or the ground of the motion, or unless the failure to file the motion was otherwise excusable. The court in its discretion may permit the filing of a motion to suppress at any time before or during the trial.
The purpose of these articles is to prevent interruption of trials, avoid the effort and expense of useless trials, and to protect juries from exposure to inadmissible evidence. State v. Taylor, 363 So.2d 699 (La.1978).
First, it is obvious that defendant was aware of the ground for the motion prior to trial. He was present and fully aware of the circumstances that occurred at the time the evidence was seized and could have related those circumstances to his counsel. Defendant had ample opportunity to consult with his counsel and file a motion to suppress between the time of his arraignment on August 3, 1981 and his scheduled trial date of December 7, 1981, a period of over four months. Defendant's case was not called for trial until December 10, three days later, giving defendant an added opportunity to confer with counsel and file his motion. Yet, defendant did not file the motion until a day and a half into trial. Moreover, one of the state's witnesses was no longer available. In addition, a hearing on the motion would have unduly interrupted the trial. Clearly, defendant's failure to file his motion to suppress prior to trial was inexcusable. Under the circumstances here presented, we do not consider that the trial judge abused his discretion in not allowing defendant to file his motion to suppress.
DECREE
For the reasons assigned, defendant's conviction and sentence are affirmed.
LEMMON, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
CALOGERO, J. dissents and assigns reasons.
. La.Code Crim.P. art. 521 was amended by Act No. 440 of 1981, effective Sept. 11, 1981 (after defendant's arraignment). The amendment changed the time for filing pre-trial motions from thirty days to fifteen days after arraignment. Defendant's thirty-day period for filing his motion to suppress had expired on September 2, 1981.