State v. Payton3/15/2002
ants were found guilty of simple robbery and purse snatching, respectively. The State tried both defendants under the Habitual Offender Act and the court sentenced them accordingly. On appeal, when one defendant challenged the sufficiency of his multiple-offender status, this Court noted that the fingerprints on the arrest register matched the defendant's prints, taken in court, before the multiple bill hearing. A police officer at the hearing also testified that the defendant's bill of information packet, containing docket masters, plea forms, and minute entries, contained the same defendant's birth date, social security number, and Bureau of Identification number. We therefore affirmed the lower court's sentence, noting the State had carried its burden of proof by competent evidence. See Lindsey, 770 So.2d at 344-45.
In State v. Cheney, 423 So.2d 1092 (La. 1983), a factually similar case, one of the defendants alleged the State presented insufficient evidence to establish his status as a multiple offender. After being sentenced on a charge from one crime, the State filed a multiple bill against the defendant, alleging his conviction of a prior offense. As an expert witness, the State called a fingerprint examiner from the Department of Corrections. She testified that the defendant's criminal records showed an arrest card with information, including name and date of birth, which matched a fingerprint card.
Therefore, in affirming the defendant's convictions, this Court held " n order to prove the defendant is a habitual offender, the State need only establish by competent evidence that there is a prior felony conviction and that the defendant is the same person who was convicted of the prior felony." Id. at 1103 (citations omitted).
Furthermore, in State v. Westbrook, 392 So.2d 1043 (La. 1980), a case where defendant was convicted of a second offense of driving while intoxicated, defendant complained of an insufficient connexity to prove he was actually the prior offender. In affirming his multiple-felony conviction, this Court held "the driver's license number, sex, race, and birth date all identified the prior offender with defendant. The State [therefore] carried its burden of proving that this defendant is the Westbrook previously convicted . . . ." Id. at 1045. See also State v. Lee, 97-1035 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2/11/98), 709 So.2d 226, 228-29 (affirming defendant's conviction as a multiple offender even though the bill of information did not contain defendant's fingerprints); State v. Hawthorne, 580 So.2d 1131, 1132-33 (La. App. 4 Cr. 1991) (affirming defendant's multiple offense conviction because of defendant's name and date of birth on certified arrest registers).
In evaluating the merit of the State's appeal, we begin our analysis by reviewing jurisprudence that interprets the Louisiana Habitual Offender Act. "To obtain a multiple offender conviction, the State is required to establish both the prior felony conviction and that the defendant is the same person convicted of that felony." State v. Neville, 96-0137 (La. App. 4 Cir. 5/21/97), 695 So.2d 534, 538-39, writ denied, 97-1637 (La. 12/12/97), 709 So.2d 1180 (citations omitted). In attempting to do so, the State may present: (1) testimony from witnesses; (2) expert opinion regarding the fingerprints of the defendant when compared with those in the prior record; (3) photographs in the duly authenticated record; or (4) evidence of identical drivers licence number, sex, race and date of birth. See, e.g., State v. Westbrook, supra; see also State v. Curtis, 338 So.2d 662, 664 (La. 1976).
As to defendant's first conviction, for First Degree Robbery, the district court found a positive match of the defe
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