State, in Interest of Dm

704 So. 2d 786, 1997 WL 694708
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 1997
Docket97 KJ 0628
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 704 So. 2d 786 (State, in Interest of Dm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State, in Interest of Dm, 704 So. 2d 786, 1997 WL 694708 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

704 So.2d 786 (1997)

STATE of Louisiana in the Interest of D.M., A Child Under the Age of Seventeen Years.

No. 97 KJ 0628.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

November 7, 1997.

*788 Joseph L. Waitz, Jr., District Attorney, Houma, for State — Appellee.

James L. Alcock, Houma, for Juvenile — Appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, C.J., and SHORTESS and FOGG, JJ.

FOGG, Judge.

A petition was filed alleging D.M., a child, to be delinquent based on the commission of sexual battery of a seven-year-old neighbor, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:43.1 A. The child denied the allegations of the petition and, after an adjudication hearing, was adjudicated a delinquent. At the disposition hearing, the court placed the child on supervised probation for twelve months, with special conditions. The child appealed; but, because this court found the record deficient, we twice remanded this matter to the lower court for reconstruction of the record. See State in the Interest of D.M., 94-1250 (La.App. 1 Cir. 3/3/95), 655 So.2d 806 (unpublished); State in the Interest of D.M., 95-1692 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/23/96), 670 So.2d 807 (unpublished). After a hearing was held for the purpose of reconstructing the record, the child took the present appeal, urging three assignments of error.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

1. The evidence was insufficient to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. The trial court erred in ruling that two child witnesses were competent to testify.

3. The holding of an evidentiary hearing for the purpose of clarifying the record was actually a supplementing of the record with additional evidence in violation of existing law and jurisprudence.

FACTS

The petition states that, between September of 1992 and March 5, 1993, D.M., a thirteen-year-old male, sexually touched a seven-year-old male neighbor, G.A.L. The following facts were developed at the adjudication hearing. G.A.L. would go to D.M.'s house and ask to play on D.M.'s trampoline. In exchange for permission to play on the trampoline, D.M. made G.A.L. play hide and seek. The game consisted of G.A.L. going into a shed on the property where D.M. grabbed G.A.L.'s "middle spot" and squeezed it. G.A.L. testified that D.M. made him pull down his pants, but not his underwear, and bend over. D.M. then would grab his buttocks around his "middle spot" and it "hurted."

*789 In our unpublished opinion rendered in D.M.'s first appeal, this court noted that the victim testified D.M. touched his "middle spot" and squeezed it. The prosecutor asked the victim to stand up and point to his "middle spot," and the victim complied. However, the record did not indicate the specific part of his body to which the victim pointed. Further, the record was unclear on another issue. The victim's younger brother, G.L., testified that he saw G.A.L. and D.M. in the shed together doing "[d]irty stuff." However, it is unclear from his testimony whether he saw the genitals of D.M. or the victim. We inferred from comments of the trial judge that he saw G.L. shake his head negatively while verbally answering in the affirmative on at least one occasion during his testimony, but we could not determine from the record to which question and response the court was referring when it made this comment. Accordingly, we remanded the case to the trial court for reconstruction of the record on these two points, citing State v. Duncan, 564 So.2d 316 (La.1990), as authority. See State in the Interest of D.M., 94-1250 (La.App. 1 Cir. 3/3/95), 655 So.2d 806.

Thereafter, the trial court filed a motion for instructions as to the manner in which the record should be reconstructed. We responded that the trial court could ask the attorneys for the parties if they were willing to stipulate to a statement which would clarify the ambiguities in the record. Otherwise, an evidentiary hearing should be held on the matter and, if necessary, such hearing was to be conducted by a judge other than the trial judge.

Defense counsel filed a motion to quash in opposition to an evidentiary hearing scheduled on this matter, arguing that such a hearing would be a violation of the child's rights under both the United States and the Louisiana Constitutions. The state joined in the motion to quash, and the trial court granted it.

Thereafter, the child's appeal was relodged with this court under docket number 95-KJ-1692. This court rendered an opinion which reversed the granting of the motion to quash and remanded this matter for clarification of the record in accordance with our prior instructions. See State in the Interest of D.M., 95-1692 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/23/96), 670 So.2d 807.

Upon remand, a hearing was held in accordance with this court's order.[1] At the hearing, the judge who presided over the adjudication hearing testified he specifically remembered there being testimony by the victim about his "middle part." He stated that, when asked where it was, the victim "stood up and he gestured toward his genitals." The judge indicated he was unable to recall what question he was referring to when he made the comment about the victim's brother, G.L., verbally answering a question affirmatively while shaking his head negatively. Following this hearing, the present appeal was taken.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In his first assignment of error, D.M. argues the evidence presented by the state was insufficient to support his adjudication because it did not establish every element of the crime of sexual battery.

In a juvenile adjudication proceeding, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the child committed a delinquent act alleged in the petition. LSA-Ch.C art. 883. The burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, is no less severe than the burden of proof required in an adult proceeding. State in the Interest of L.C., 96-2511 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/20/97), 696 So.2d 668.

On appeal, the standard of review for the sufficiency of evidence, enunciated in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), i.e., whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the state proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, is applicable to delinquency cases. See LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 821. Further, in a juvenile delinquency proceeding, an appellate court is constitutionally mandated to review the law and facts. See LSA-Const. art. 5, § 10(B). Accordingly, an appellate *790 court must review the record to determine if the trial court was clearly wrong in its factual findings. See State in the Interest of L.C., 96-2511, at p. 3, 696 So.2d at 670.

LSA-R.S. 14:43.1 A delineates the elements of sexual battery as follows:

Sexual battery is the intentional engaging in any of the following acts with another person, who is not the spouse of the offender, where the offender acts without the consent of the victim, or where the other person has not yet attained fifteen years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender:
(1) The touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender; or
(2) The touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim.

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Bluebook (online)
704 So. 2d 786, 1997 WL 694708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-interest-of-dm-lactapp-1997.