167 So. 3d 1012
La. Ct. App.2015Background
- David Diante Bias was charged with armed robbery (count I), armed robbery with a firearm (count II), and felon in possession of a firearm (count III); a jury convicted him on all counts.
- Post-conviction, the State filed a habitual-offender bill; Bias pleaded guilty as a second-felony habitual offender and was resentenced to 49½ years at hard labor, without benefits, with credit for time served.
- Facts: victim (Mitchell) was robbed at gunpoint at 5:00 a.m.; two assailants (both described with dreadlocks) took $213 and a cellphone; surveillance corroborated victim’s account.
- Witness Skinner testified Bias and a juvenile (D.W.) exited his car to commit the robbery; Bias returned with a cellphone and later had a chrome revolver in his waistband.
- Police stopped Skinner’s car, learned Bias had rented a motel room, executed a warrant, and found a chrome/stainless revolver under the comforter of the bed where Bias had been sitting, a phone near the bed, a motel receipt in Bias’s name, and $163 (matching the stolen total with Mitchell’s $50 receipt).
- On appeal Bias challenged: (1) sufficiency of the evidence (identity and possession), (2) ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to present D.W.’s affidavit and insanity issues), and (3) that his habitual-offender sentence was excessive.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence to support convictions | State: testimony, surveillance, Skinner’s account, physical evidence (gun, phone, money) support identity and possession | Bias: booking photo shows no dreadlocks; no proof he possessed the gun (gun not immediately seen on entry); alternative hypotheses exist | Convictions affirmed — evidence, direct and circumstantial, viewed in light most favorable to State, sufficed to prove identity and constructive possession; no reasonable hypothesis of innocence remained |
| Ineffective assistance — failure to present D.W. affidavit (exculpatory evidence) | State: record does not conclusively show prejudice; trial strategy and preparation decisions require evidentiary hearing | Bias: D.W.’s later affidavit admitted responsibility and would have rebutted identification (dreadlocks mismatch) | Denied on direct appeal — claim involves trial strategy and preparation requiring post-conviction review; record not adequate to show Strickland prejudice |
| Ineffective assistance — failure to investigate or challenge sanity/competency at time of offenses | State: competency issues were litigated (sanity commission) and choice not to pursue insanity defense was strategic | Bias: counsel failed to determine Bias’s mental capacity at the time of the offenses; should have raised/used sanity reports | Denied — counsel’s decision not to pursue insanity was a tactical choice and not presumptively ineffective absent further record-based proof |
| Excessive sentence as habitual offender | State: enhanced statutory sentencing range justified; trial court considered Article 894.1 factors | Bias: 49½ years is close to max and therefore excessive | Denied — sentence is the statutory minimum for a second-felony habitual offender, trial court adequately considered sentencing factors, and the sentence is not grossly disproportionate |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (proposition that sufficiency review asks if any rational trier of fact could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two-pronged test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
- State v. Moten, 510 So.2d 55 (circumstantial evidence and rejection of defendant’s hypothesis of innocence)
- State v. Landos, 419 So.2d 475 (sentencing review and Article 894.1 articulation standards)
- State v. Calloway, 1 So.3d 417 (appellate standard — cannot reweigh credibility; verdict will not be overturned where jury reasonably rejected defense)