State v. Wilkinson
Louisiana Court of Appeal
612 So. 2d 833 (1992)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
On June 4, 1991, Ellis Wilkinson (defendant) entered a grocery store, pointed a gun at a store cashier, and ordered the cashier to open her cash register. The cashier refused, and Wilkinson eventually took the entire register from the store. The police found and arrested Wilkinson the following day. Wilkinson admitted to robbing the store, but he denied having a gun during the robbery. Wilkinson also told police that he had prior felony convictions and had been released from prison only a few weeks before committing the robbery. At Wilkinson’s trial for armed robbery, the prosecution (plaintiff) cross-examined Wilkinson about a parole report that Wilkinson submitted on June 1, 1991. The report indicated that Wilkinson was unable to pay his $43 parole-supervision fee for the month of June. Wilkinson’s counsel objected on the grounds that the parole report was irrelevant to the issue of whether Wilkinson used a gun during the robbery, which was the only disputed issue in the case. However, the prosecution argued that the report was relevant to Wilkinson’s motive. The trial court overruled Wilkinson’s counsel’s objection and allowed the prosecutor to question Wilkinson about the report. The jury found Wilkinson guilty of armed robbery, and he appealed to the Louisiana Court of Appeal.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Chiasson, J.)
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