STATE of Louisiana v. Edward C. HAYES
No. 89-KA-769
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit
April 11, 1990
561 So. 2d 184
DUFRESNE, Judge.
Martha E. Sassone, Gretna, for defendant-appellant.
Before KLIEBERT, GAUDIN and DUFRESNE, JJ.
DUFRESNE, Judge.
The defendant, Edward C. Hayes was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of
FACTS
At trial, Hayes testified that he had borrowed the vehicle from a friend and was unaware that the pistol was in the automobile. Hayes denied taking anything out of his pocket while at the telephone. He claimed that he and a fellow worker stopped at the convenience store to place a
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE
The defendant contends that the trial court committed reversible error by admitting into evidence a copy of the bill of information charging Hayes with previous felony offenses because the copy of the bill was not properly authenticated. According to the defendant, the authentication of the copy of the bill of information is deficient because the top half of the copy is taped to the bottom half, and only the top half of the copy bears the certification of the clerk of court.
The exhibit here challenged by the defendant is a bill of information filed in Orleans Parish, charging Hayes with three counts of felony drug possession. According to the exhibit, these charges were filed against the defendant in 1985. The length of the bill of information form used in that case was longer than usual because of the three counts alleged against Hayes. It was therefore necessary to make photo copies of the top and bottom halves of the bill and then tape those halves together. Inspection of the photocopy clearly indicates that all three criminal counts alleged therein were against the defendant, Edward C. Hayes. The exhibit bears the dated certification of the Deputy Clerk for the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court that the photocopy is a true copy of the original. Therefore, this certified copy of the bill of information was subject to self-authentication and was properly admitted into evidence.
Even assuming that the copy of the bill of information was not properly authenticated, its admission into evidence constituted harmless error.
This assignment of error lacks merit.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWO
The defendant here challenges the authentication procedure used to introduce a trial exhibit into evidence. Hayes contends that the .357 magnum pistol introduced as evidence at trial by the state was improperly admitted into evidence by the trial court without adequate authentication.
Contrary to the defendant‘s contention in this error assignment, it is not essential to establish a chain of custody to properly authenticate demonstrative trial evidence, such as the .357 magnum pistol at issue. State v. Godeaux, 378 So.2d 941, 944 (La.1979). See also State v. Davis, 411 So.2d 434, 438 (La.1982) and State v. Macaluso, 473 So.2d 375, 376-377 (La.App. 5th Cir.1985).
The policeman‘s in-court identification of the .357 magnum as the pistol he seized at the time of the defendant‘s arrest sufficiently authenticated the weapon as admissible evidence. The trial court‘s admission of the pistol into evidence was therefore proper.
This assignment of error lacks merits.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER THREE
Citing Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), the defendant urges this court to overturn his conviction in this case, due to what the defendant argues was insufficient evidence.
The due process standards announced in Jackson, supra, apply in evaluating the sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction in a criminal proceeding. Under Jackson, the reviewing court must determine whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560.
The jurisprudence has recognized that the crime of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon has three elements:
1) status of the defendant as a convicted felon;
2) physical and/or constructive possession by the defendant; and,
3) the instrumentality possessed was a firearm.
State v. Mose, 412 So.2d 584 (La.1982), State v. Williams, 470 So.2d 356 (La.App. 5th Cir.1985).
The evidence presented at trial by the state was sufficient to support the defendant‘s conviction. It was established that in 1985 Hayes was convicted of felony drug charges in Orleans Parish. At the time of the defendant‘s arrest on September 27, 1988, the policeman discovered a .357 magnum pistol on the driver‘s side of a vehicle which Hayes himself drove into the convenience store parking lot where he was arrested. Constructive possession of a firearm, as an element of this crime, can be established through evidence reflecting that the weapon was subject to the defendant‘s dominion and control. State v. Bailey, 511 So.2d 1248, 1250 (La.App. 2nd Cir. 1987) writ denied, 519 So.2d 132 (La.1988). The evidence presented in this case demonstrates that Hayes exercised sufficient dominion and control over the .357 magnum pistol to constitute constructive possession of the weapon, particularly taking into account that he was carrying live ammunition for that weapon when the officers arrived to investigate the incident. Considering the foregoing evidence, the defendant‘s conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon was amply supported by the evidence presented at trial. Jackson, supra, State v. Williams, supra.
This assignment of error is without merit.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER FOUR
The defendant has asked us to review the record for errors patent, which we have done, and find none.
AFFIRMED.