Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Ryan DOZIER & Renoald Elliot Muse
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1989-11-16
Citations: 553 So. 2d 931
Docket Number: No. 88-KA-0765
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Ryan DOZIER & Renoald Elliot Muse.
Judges: Before BYRNES, ARMSTRONG and PLOTKIN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 553
Pages: 931–934

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Ryan DOZIER & Renoald Elliot Muse.
No. 88-KA-0765.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
Nov. 16, 1989.
Sherry Watters, Orleans Indigent Defender Program, New Orleans, for appellants.
Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Brian T. Treacy, Asst. Dist. Atty., New Orleans, for appellee.
Before BYRNES, ARMSTRONG and PLOTKIN, JJ.

Opinion:
BYRNES, Judge.
Co-defendant Ryan Dozier and Renoald Muse appeal their jury convictions and sentences. We affirm.
Both defendants were charged with two counts of armed robbery and one count of attempted murder and pled not guilty at arraignment. Defendant Muse subsequently filed a motion to quash based on the fact that he was a juvenile at the time of the offenses. On January 22, 1987, the trial court granted Muse's motion as to count two, the attempted murder, and denied it as to counts one and three, the armed robberies. After a jury trial, Dozier was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery in violation of La.R.S. 14:64 and one count of attempted second degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:27(14:30.1). Muse was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery. Both defendants were sentenced to 99 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on each of the armed robbery counts. Dozier was sentenced to an additional 50 years at hard labor for attempted murder. All sentences were run concurrently as to each defendant.
Lorraine Gabriel testified at trial that two black males grabbed her purse in the Wal-Mart parking lot in New Orleans East on September 11, 1986 about 8:50 p.m. Alphonse Walker heard her scream and saw two males running to a truck. He followed to obtain the license plate number. Both witnesses saw the perpetrators jump into an orange or dark yellow truck and heard what they thought was a gunshot as the truck sped off.
Robin Brown testified that she was walking on Palm Street in the Carrollton area at approximately 10:30 p.m. that same evening when a black male grabbed her purse. They struggled and then separated when she saw him holding her purse and a gun. She turned, calling for help, and he shot her in the back. She positively identified Muse as her assailant at trial. Michael Jackson who witnessed the robbery and the shooting, also positively identified Muse, as did Officer Glen Banks, who was sitting in a patrol car at the nearby McDonald's parking lot. Hearing a shot, the officer saw Ms. Brown fall and the suspect running with the purse to a truck.
Tammy Johnson and Leslie Fouchea testified that they had been riding with the defendants along the Lakefront. They confirmed that all four went to Wal-Mart where the defendants left the truck. When they returned, Muse was holding a purse and Dozier had a gun. As they drove off, Dozier fired a shot. The girls asked to be taken home but Muse drove to the Carroll-ton area. They heard a gun shot after Muse left the truck. He came back with a gun and a purse. In the truck, Muse admitted shooting the victim. The defendants searched the purses and finally let the girls go home after threatening them to keep quiet. Five days later, the girls went to the police, made complete statements and identified the defendants.
On appeal defendants present two assignments of error, contending that:
(1) the trial court erred in denying their motion for mistrial, and
(2) their sentences are excessive.
The record reveals that just before trial the prosecution discovered that the victim Ms. Brown had participated in a photographic lineup but failed to identify the perpetrator. Because of Ms. Brown's trial testimony concerning the photographic lineup, defendants moved for a mistrial, claiming that this exculpatory material required disclosure to the accused during pretrial discovery. La.C.Cr.P. Arts. 718 and 729.2; Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963).
The circumstances surrounding the presentation of the photographs to the victim Ms. Brown were not established and there was no clear showing of who presented the photographs to her. The victim's failure to identify the defendant from a photographic lineup was brought to the attention of the jury. Under the circumstances, the trial court did not err in denying a mistrial. The evidence against the accused was overwhelming and the defendants were not prejudiced by the nondisclosure. State v. Cole, 530 So.2d 652 (La.App.4th Cir.1988). Even if the failure to timely disclose the information were error, it was harmless error. The defendant was not deprived of a fair trial by the State's late disclosure of exculpatory evidence. State v. Smith, 430 So.2d 31 (La.1983).
In support of their argument that their sentences are excessive, defendants point out that they received maximum sentences running concurrently although they were young first offenders. They also aver that the trial court relied on facts not proven, i.e. the defendants were on PCP during commission of the crimes. The judge remarked that he thought the defendants were using PCP when he sentenced another unrelated offender on the same day that he sentenced the defendants.
The sentencing transcript reveals that the trial judge referred to defendants' pre-sentence investigation reports, noting that Muse had no prior convictions but had been arrested three times as a juvenile. The judge reviewed Dozier's prior juvenile and adult records, pointing out that the offenses involved crimes against persons and that Dozier had a history of violent behavior. The trial judge took into account the mitigating circumstances of defendants' youth, that Muse had no prior record of convictions and that Dozier did not actually shoot Ms. Brown. However, the judge reflected on Dozier's prior propensity for violent behavior and the fact that Muse shot Ms. Brown. Trial testimony also shows that Dozier fired at witnesses in the first robbery at Wal-Mart. The trial court stated that the record itself justified the sentence because the crime was an especially violent one where five people's lives were endangered and one person was shot.
The aggravating circumstances far outweigh the mitigating factors to justify the sentences imposed regardless of any use of PCP. The record reflects that the trial court adequately considered the sentencing guidelines set forth in La.C.Cr.P. Art. 894.1 in particularizing the sentences to the defendants. There is a factual basis for the sentences. State v. Soco, 441 So.2d 719 (La.1983); appeal after remand, 508 So.2d 915 (La.4th Cir.1987). We find no abuse of the trial court's sentencing discretion. State v. Trahan, 425 So.2d 1222 (La.1983); State v. Caston, 477 So.2d 868 (La.App.4th Cir.1985).
For the foregoing reasons, defendants' convictions and sentences are affirmed.
AFFIRMED.