Court Opinion

ID: 9947709
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-05 15:20:12.7017+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:27:17.207593
License: Public Domain

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
UNPUBLISHED

              Present: Chief Judge Decker, Judges Beales and Raphael
              Argued by videoconference

              CLEVESTER ANTOINE LUCAS
                                                                             MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY
              v.     Record No. 1946-22-1                                    JUDGE RANDOLPH A. BEALES
                                                                                   MARCH 5, 2024
              COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

                             FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH
                                               Tanya Bullock, Judge

                              Trevor Jared Robinson for appellant.

                              Suzanne Seidel Richmond, Assistant Attorney General (Jason S.
                              Miyares, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

                     On March 28, 2022, following a bench trial, the trial court found Clevester Antoine Lucas

              guilty of the following offenses: one count of burglary of a bank while armed, two counts of

              robbery, one count of possession of a firearm by a violent felon, one count of wearing a mask in

              public, one count of eluding police, and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a

              felony. On appeal, Lucas challenges the trial court’s denial of his renewed motion to strike, arguing

              that “the evidence was insufficient for a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt” for all of his

              convictions.

                                                         I. BACKGROUND

                     “In accordance with familiar principles of appellate review, the facts will be stated in the

              light most favorable to the Commonwealth, [as] the prevailing party at trial.” Gerald v.

              Commonwealth, 295 Va. 469, 472 (2018) (quoting Scott v. Commonwealth, 292 Va. 380, 381

                     *
                         This opinion is not designated for publication. See Code § 17.1-413(A).
(2016)). “This principle requires us to ‘discard the evidence of the accused in conflict with that of

the Commonwealth, and regard as true all the credible evidence favorable to the Commonwealth

and all fair inferences to be drawn therefrom.’” Kelley v. Commonwealth, 289 Va. 463, 467-68

(2015) (quoting Parks v. Commonwealth, 221 Va. 492, 498 (1980)).

       On July 11, 2018, at 1:42 p.m., a black male entered the Wells Fargo Bank located at 699

Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach, pointed a gun at the bank tellers, and demanded money.

Kathy Dougherty, the bank’s branch manager, testified at trial that she saw the suspect standing

at the teller counter and demanding the money in the teller drawers. Dougherty described the

suspect as wearing “dark brown Dickie pants, a plaid shirt. He had a bucket hat on and a --

either a Navy blue and white bandana across his face.” Dougherty recalled that the suspect was

approximately six feet two inches tall and was wearing gloves on both of his hands.

       Vivianna Rivas, one of the bank tellers on duty that day, testified that the suspect

“walked up to my teller line still pointing the gun at me, threatened my life saying if I call the

police, give him any trackers, or activated any silent sensors that he would come back and kill

me.” Rivas described the suspect as “wearing a plaid shirt, a plaid -- kind of blue and yellow

plaid shirt fully covered, bucket hat, bandana.” Tonya Hooks, the drive-through bank teller on

duty that day, similarly testified that the suspect “entered the building with a gun raised up” and

that he told “the ladies on the side to move away from their stations, and then he proceeded to

come up to us [Rivas and Hooks] and asked us to hand him the money.”

       Rivas recounted that “while he was still pointing the gun at me, I gave him my top drawer

of cash,” as well as “the strapped cash, which is the second drawer.” The money from Rivas’s

teller station totaled approximately $4,000 and contained a hidden GPS tracking device. The

suspect also demanded that Hooks bring over money from her drive-through teller station.

Seeing that the suspect was armed, Hooks took approximately $3,000, which contained a second

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hidden GPS tracking device, from her drawer and moved it to Rivas’s teller station. Following

the armed suspect’s instructions, Rivas put the money in the suspect’s “white Lidl bag.” The

suspect then fled the Wells Fargo Bank on foot toward Pembroke Boulevard with the money and

two hidden GPS tracking devices, and Rivas activated the bank’s silent alarm. Dougherty noted

that the suspect was holding a firearm with his right hand as he fled the bank on foot while

carrying a “white plastic bag” with “[b]lue writing.” Dougherty later determined that the suspect

stole approximately “$7,385 and $160 in the track pack,” and she clarified that the “track pack”

referred to the money containing the hidden GPS tracking devices.

       As the suspect fled the Wells Fargo Bank with the stolen money, the hidden tracking

devices automatically activated and began sending out GPS signals to establish a positional

location. Philip Johnakin, a regional representative of the company that supplied the hidden GPS

tracking devices to the bank, testified that the tracking devices provide an estimated location

based on GPS signals and create data points on a spreadsheet that show the location and

movements of the tracking devices over time. Examining the spreadsheet generated from the

tracking device data, Johnakin noted that the “first specific location is at 1343 and 47 seconds

[1:43 p.m.], and it’s 4633 Pembroke Lake Circle, Virginia Beach, Virginia,” which is next to the

Wells Fargo Bank.

       Sergeant Mark Laino, the supervisor of the Virginia Beach Police Department’s Robbery

Squad, testified that after receiving an activation alarm from the tracking device company for the

Wells Fargo Bank on the date of the robbery, “I immediately logged onto the 3SI GPS tracking

system, and I saw that the device had started moving.” Watching the tracking device movements

on his cell phone in real time, Sergeant Laino then made a robbery-in-progress call to the police

dispatcher and began relaying the tracking device movements to nearby patrol officers over the

police radio. Sergeant Laino determined by the speed of the tracking device movements that the

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suspect was initially traveling on foot before starting to move in a vehicle. Sergeant Laino

provided the patrol officers with the specific movements of the suspect, and the officers

informed him that the movements matched those of a “white vehicle” that they had begun

pursuing.

       Several other Virginia Beach police officers who were involved in the pursuit, arrest, and

investigation of the suspect also testified at trial about the incident. Officer Jorwell Macapobre

testified that he responded to Sergeant Laino’s bank robbery dispatch and began following a

“white Toyota Corolla displaying tags EFN6051 North Carolina.” Officer Macapobre — who

identified Lucas as the driver of the white Toyota Corolla — followed the car into a Best Buy

parking lot and activated his vehicle’s emergency equipment. Officer Macapobre recalled:

               He [Lucas] started to exit the vehicle. That’s when I exited my
               vehicle. I drew my weapon in the low ready and started giving
               him commands. That’s when the assist units arrived on scene. At
               the time I instructed him multiple times to stay in the vehicle and
               to keep his hands visible. He did not comply, and he lowered his
               hands. He then partially proceeded to exit the vehicle again. I
               instructed him to enter his vehicle, which he did. And then he
               started to drive away at a high rate of speed towards the direction
               of the Exxon and Euclid Road from the Best Buy parking lot. I
               entered my vehicle. I proceeded to follow him. That’s when the
               white Toyota Corolla made a left going -- traveling northbound on
               Independence Boulevard from Euclid Road at a high rate of speed.

       Lucas then crashed his car into “a red Ford Mustang and a silver Lexus” at “the

intersection of Virginia Beach Boulevard and Independence Boulevard.” Suzanne Brazier, the

driver of the red Ford Mustang, testified that while she sat in her car “at a red light waiting for

that light to turn,” she “was hit from behind. And then I witnessed the car hit the car in front of

me and come to a stop.” Brazier stated, “I saw a gentleman exit the vehicle that had struck me,

and he had a bag and a weapon in his hand. He tucked the weapon like in his back waistband

and then started to run away.” Officer Macapobre noted that “pedestrians and civilians were

waving me down pointing me to where the driver of the white Toyota Corolla was running to.”
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        Detective Jason Atwood testified that “both city cameras and red light cameras” captured

Lucas’s car crash, his attempts to flee from police, and his subsequent arrest. The cameras

showed that Lucas struck two other vehicles before exiting his vehicle and running across

Independence Boulevard “toward the shopping center carrying what appears to be, according to

the video, a bag, dropping a hat in the crosswalk -- or what appears to be an article of clothing.”

Lucas “was clutching a duffel bag” as he ran down Virginia Beach Boulevard before officers

apprehended him following a struggle. Detective Atwood noted that a firearm was recovered

near the site of Lucas’s arrest.

        Officer Brian Grimes testified that after taking part in the vehicle pursuit, he secured a

“blue duffel bag” from Lucas as Lucas was apprehended by other officers. Officer Grimes

recalled that there “appeared to be like a grocery bag, and then there was some loose cash and

some bundled cash” in the duffel bag. Officer Brian Floyd was also part of the vehicle pursuit

and testified that after the car crash, he “observed a black male running across the street away

from officers” and “observed a black handgun fall from the male running from the officers.”

Officer Andrew Tibbetts, who assisted in Lucas’s arrest, likewise observed the handgun fall from

Lucas’s person onto the roadway, and he retrieved the handgun before securing it in his patrol

vehicle. Officer Trey Maupin also assisted in Lucas’s arrest and stated that it took several

officers to apprehend Lucas and wrestle the blue duffel bag away from him.

        Following Lucas’s arrest, Megan Gravina of the Virginia Beach Police Department’s

Forensics Services Unit went to the site of Lucas’s arrest to take photographs and take inventory

of the evidence. Gravina testified that $7,380, plus the $160 containing the hidden GPS tracking

devices, was recovered from the blue duffel bag, as well as a “plastic Lidl bag,” a “long sleeve

plaid shirt,” a “black floppy hat,” and a “blue and white bandana.” Gravina noted that a “Ruger

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Security 9 handgun” was also recovered near the site of Lucas’s arrest, as well as a handgun

magazine containing 15 cartridges.

       Kimberly Freeman, a forensic scientist with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science,

testified that she conducted a DNA analysis of the recovered items and determined that

“Clevester Lucas cannot be eliminated as a major contributor” of the DNA on the plaid long

sleeve shirt and the black floppy hat. For those two items, Freeman concluded that “the

probability of randomly selecting an unrelated individual with the DNA profile matching the

major profile developed in a sample collected . . . is one in greater than 7.2 billion.”

       At trial, counsel for Lucas moved to strike the Commonwealth’s evidence, and later

renewed his motion to strike. Lucas did not testify or present evidence at trial. The trial court

denied both motions to strike and found Lucas guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on all of the

charges. Lucas now appeals to this Court.

                                            II. ANALYSIS

       Lucas argues on appeal to this Court, “The trial court erred in denying Appellant’s renewed

motion to strike, as the Commonwealth’s evidence was insufficient for a finding of guilt beyond a

reasonable doubt.” Assigning error to all of his convictions, Lucas argues on brief that “the

evidence against him at trial was merely circumstantial” and contends that there was a “lack of any

physical evidence or identification of the Appellant at the Wells Fargo bank.”

       “When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, ‘[t]he judgment of the trial court is

presumed correct and will not be disturbed unless it is “plainly wrong or without evidence to

support it.”’” Secret v. Commonwealth, 296 Va. 204, 228 (2018) (alteration in original) (quoting

Pijor v. Commonwealth, 294 Va. 502, 512 (2017)). “In such cases, ‘[t]he Court does not ask

itself whether it believes that the evidence at the trial established guilt beyond a reasonable

doubt.’” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting Pijor, 294 Va. at 512). “Rather, the relevant

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question is whether ‘any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the

crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’” Vasquez v. Commonwealth, 291 Va. 232, 248 (2016)

(quoting Williams v. Commonwealth, 278 Va. 190, 193 (2009)). The Supreme Court has stated,

“There is no distinction in the law between the weight or value to be given to either direct or

circumstantial evidence.” Muhammad v. Commonwealth, 269 Va. 451, 479 (2005). The

Supreme Court has further noted, “Circumstantial evidence is not viewed in isolation. While no

single piece of evidence may be sufficient, the combined force of many concurrent and related

circumstances, each insufficient in itself, may lead a reasonable mind irresistibly to a

conclusion.” Id. (citing Commonwealth v. Hudson, 265 Va. 505, 514, cert. denied, 540 U.S. 972

(2003)).

          In this case, the Commonwealth put on an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove

Lucas’s guilt for each of the charged offenses. At trial, three Wells Fargo Bank employees who

witnessed the bank robbery described the suspect’s appearance and clothing items, which

matched the clothing items found in the blue duffel bag that police recovered from Lucas

following his arrest. The bank employees also noted the suspect’s black handgun and white

plastic grocery bag, which likewise matched the black handgun and white plastic grocery bag

recovered by police at the site of Lucas’s arrest. The bank employees further noted the amount

of money stolen from the bank and the GPS tracking devices that were concealed in that money,

which matched the stolen money and hidden GPS tracking devices recovered from Lucas at his

arrest.

          In addition, a still photograph that was taken from the Wells Fargo Bank’s security

camera video footage during the robbery showed the suspect directing Rivas, one of the bank

tellers, to put the money from her drawer in the white Lidl bag. The suspect in the photograph

was a black male holding a black handgun and wearing a long sleeve plaid shirt, a blue and white

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bandana that partially covered his face, and a black floppy hat, which again matched the

description of the suspect by the bank employees — and also matched the clothing items found

in Lucas’s blue duffel bag when he was stopped. Forensic evidence later showed — and Lucas

concedes on appeal — that Lucas was a major contributor of the DNA found on both the plaid

long sleeve shirt and the black floppy hat.

       Furthermore, several Virginia Beach police officers testified at trial about their

involvement in the pursuit, arrest, and investigation of Lucas following the bank robbery.

Sergeant Laino recalled that he received a notification on his cell phone from the company that

supplied the tracking devices to the Wells Fargo Bank that the hidden GPS tracking devices from

the bank had been activated, and he followed their movements in real time. Sergeant Laino

tracked those specific movements from the time just after the bank robbery to the moment Lucas

was apprehended by police with the stolen money and tracking devices in his possession.

Sergeant Laino also relayed those detailed movements to other police officers patrolling the

nearby area, who were then able to match those movements to a white Toyota Corolla with a

North Carolina license plate.

       Officer Macapobre began following the white Toyota Corolla, activated his vehicle’s

emergency equipment, and attempted to confront Lucas — who was driving the vehicle — in the

Best Buy parking lot before Lucas fled at a high rate of speed and soon thereafter crashed into

two other cars at a busy intersection. Officer Tibbetts witnessed the car crash and saw Lucas

clenching a duffel bag after getting out of his vehicle and running away on foot. Red-light

cameras near the intersection of Independence Boulevard and Virginia Beach Boulevard also

captured the car crash and showed Lucas darting through traffic away from police while carrying

the duffel bag. Officer Tibbetts and Officer Floyd testified that they saw the handgun fall from

Lucas’s person onto the roadway as he fled from police, and Officer Tibbetts retrieved the

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firearm and secured it in his patrol vehicle. Officer Maupin and other officers physically

apprehended Lucas and wrestled the blue duffel bag away from him during his arrest. Officer

Grimes then secured the blue duffel bag, which contained the grocery bag and the stolen money

with hidden GPS tracking devices from the Wells Fargo Bank — within less than an hour after

the bank was robbed.

       Given all of the testimony, forensic results, photographs, and other evidence described

supra, we certainly cannot say that no rational factfinder could have found the evidence

sufficient for Lucas’s burglary of a bank conviction, robbery convictions, wearing a mask in

public conviction, and firearm convictions. Lucas entered the Wells Fargo Bank on July 11,

2018 while carrying a firearm, and he conceded at trial that he was a convicted felon on that date.

Lucas also partially concealed his face with a bandana and floppy hat, and he demanded that the

bank tellers hand over the money from their stations while he made threats and pointed a

handgun in their direction.

       In addition, once Lucas’s white grocery bag was filled with thousands of dollars in cash

— and, unbeknownst to him, two hidden GPS tracking devices — he fled from the bank. Police

were then able to track Lucas and attempted to confront him in the Best Buy parking lot, but he

accelerated his white Toyota Corolla away at a high rate of speed. Even after crashing his car at

a busy intersection, Lucas continued to flee from police on foot until he was apprehended when

pursuing officers wrestled him to the ground as he tried to escape. Lucas’s affirmative acts of

flight immediately following the bank robbery established his consciousness of guilt. See Jones

v. Commonwealth, 279 Va. 52, 58 (2010) (“Such acts of flight from a crime scene, or of deceitful

behavior immediately following the commission of a crime, are acts that generally cannot be

explained in terms of innocent human behavior. Thus, when a defendant affirmatively acts in

such a manner, a court may consider those acts in the context of all the facts presented as

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evidence tending to show the defendant’s consciousness of guilt of the crime committed.”).

Consequently, given the testimony of the officers along with all of the other evidence here, we

also certainly cannot say that no rational factfinder could have found the evidence sufficient for

Lucas’s conviction for eluding police.

                                         III. CONCLUSION

       In short, the overwhelming evidence here was more than sufficient for a rational factfinder

to conclude that Lucas committed the bank robbery on July 11, 2018. Three Wells Fargo Bank

employees who witnessed the robbery described the suspect’s appearance and clothing and noted

that he had a firearm and a white plastic bag, which matched the specific items recovered from

the blue duffel bag and the road near the site of Lucas’s arrest. The police tracked Lucas in real

time following the bank robbery as Lucas fled from police, and several officers identified Lucas

in court as the bank robbery suspect that they had pursued and apprehended. In addition, Lucas

was a major contributor of the DNA on the plaid long sleeve shirt and the black floppy hat that

were described by bank employees as having been worn by the man who robbed them — and

that were found in the blue duffel bag with Lucas. Furthermore, Lucas also conceded at trial that

he was a convicted felon on the date of the bank robbery. For all of these reasons, we affirm the

judgment of the trial court and uphold each of Lucas’s convictions.

                                                                                          Affirmed.

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