State in Interest of Rowland

509 So. 2d 779
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 10, 1987
Docket19063-CAJ
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 509 So. 2d 779 (State in Interest of Rowland) 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 Rowland, 509 So. 2d 779 (La. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

509 So.2d 779 (1987)

STATE of Louisiana in the Interest of James R. ROWLAND.

No. 19063-CAJ.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

June 10, 1987.

Stephen R. Burke, Minden, for defendant-appellant, James R. Rowland.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, John C. Blake, Dist. Atty., Jonesboro, John Michael Ruddick, Asst. Dist. Atty., Haynesville, for plaintiff-appellee, State of La.

Before HALL, SEXTON and NORRIS, JJ.

SEXTON, Judge.

This juvenile defendant was charged with being a delinquent child in that he allegedly violated LSA-R.S. 14:102.1, Cruelty to Animals, by the intentional killing of a beagle dog named Roscoe. After a trial he was adjudged a delinquent child and placed on probation for one year on the condition that he make restitution to the owner of the dog for the value thereof. The juvenile appeals asserting four assignments of error.

*780 FACTS

The facts relevant to the shooting of the beagle dog belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Mike Blackwelder are in some dispute.

The juvenile, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, was living in the home of a family friend, Mr. David Fish, where the juvenile was raising eight ducks which he had received from his uncle. He testified that he had built a pen for the ducks; that a yellow and tan mixed breed dog and a beagle dog had been bothering the ducks; and that after two ducks had been killed he turned the remaining ducks out of the pen so that they would not be cornered in the pen by a dog.

The Blackwelders, who owned the beagle dog, lived down the road from the Fish residence. They walked or jogged past the Fish residence almost daily during daylight hours. The beagle was often with the Blackwelders as they went by the Fish residence. The Blackwelders had seen the juvenile at the Fish residence.

The juvenile testified that he knew Mr. and Mrs. Blackwelder, took a class once from Mr. Blackwelder at Homer High School, knew where the Blackwelders lived, and saw Mrs. Blackwelder walking up and down the road on occasion. However, the juvenile testified that he believed the beagle belonged to a family other than the Blackwelders and that he had never seen the beagle with the Blackwelders. David Fish testified that he thought someone else owned the beagle. He said that person had indicated to him that he did not care if Mr. Fish killed the dog. It is unclear whether the beagle was wearing a collar.

Mr. Blackwelder testified that on September 17, 1986, he jogged past the Fish residence with his dog following him. While he was returning home, he again passed the Fish residence and saw the juvenile in Mr. Fish's yard approximately 20 to 25 feet from the roadway. The juvenile was holding a shotgun. A Labrador retriever puppy came out from Mr. Fish's yard and started jumping up on Mr. Blackwelder. He shooed the puppy away and then looked behind him to see if his dog was coming. He saw the juvenile shoot his dog which was in the road behind him. Mr. Blackwelder then saw the juvenile go into the Fish house. Mr. Blackwelder found, upon examination, that his dog was dead.

Mr. Blackwelder testified that he had never seen any ducks in Mr. Fish's yard; that he had never seen his dog go behind the Fish house; and that on September 17, 1986, the dog did not go into Mr. Fish's yard. Mrs. Blackwelder also indicated that she had never seen the dog go into the yard or bother any ducks.

The juvenile testified that on September 17, 1986, he and David Fish drove up to the Fish residence at about 4:30 p.m. and saw the beagle chasing a duck around the yard. The juvenile threw a rock at the dog as he chased it out of the yard. Some time later, just prior to shooting the dog, the juvenile was in the kitchen when he heard a commotion and saw the dog chasing a duck. He shouted to David Fish who was in the bathroom. Fish told the juvenile to shoot the dog. The juvenile grabbed a gun, walked outside, and saw the dog with the duck in its mouth. The dog dropped the duck at the corner of the house and then went out in the front yard. The juvenile testified that "[the dog] got right here by this big tree, and turned around, looked at me, and I shot it." He testified that he intended to kill the dog. As soon as the juvenile shot the dog, he saw Mr. Blackwelder come running down the road from the Blackwelder house.

David Fish, in his testimony, agreed that he had told the juvenile to shoot the dog upon learning that the dog was attacking a duck. He said he immediately got out of the bathtub, put on his pants and went outside. At that time he observed the juvenile shoot the dog as the juvenile related. He also said that when he exited the house the duck was under the house squalling and that in spite of the medical attention they gave it, the duck died three days thereafter.

The juvenile defendant asserts four assignments of error which read as follows:

(1) The Honorable District Judge erred in ruling that the defenses contained in LA. R.S. 14:18 through LA. R.S. *781 14:22 were not available to the Juvenile in this particular proceeding.
(2) The Honorable District Judge erred in finding the juvenile to be delinquent and in need of supervision.
(3) The Honorable District Judge erred in ordering the juvenile to make restitution in this matter.
(4) The findings of the Honorable District Judge were contrary to the law and the evidence.

SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NOS. 2 and 4

First, we consider defendant's Assignments of Error Nos. 2 and 4, which we interpret to be complaints of insufficient evidence to sustain the defendant's conviction.

The juvenile was charged under the statutory subsection which reads as follows:

§ 102.1 Cruelty to animals
A. Any person who intentionally or with criminal negligence commits any of the following shall be guilty of cruelty to animals: * * *
(2) Tortures, torments, cruelly beats or unjustifably injures, maims, mutilates, or kills any living animal, whether belonging to himself or another.

When the state petitions that a child be adjudged a delinquent, the state must prove each element of the alleged delinquent act beyond a reasonable doubt. LSA-C.J.P. Art. 73; State in the Interest of Cason, 438 So.2d 1130 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1983). The elements of this offense are: (1) intent, (2) the killing of a living animal, and (3) lack of justification therefor.

Because this is a juvenile delinquency proceeding, we are constitutionally required to review the law and the facts. LSA-Const. Art. 5, § 10(B) (1974); State in the Interest of Redd, 445 So.2d 126 (La. App. 2d Cir.1984); State in the Interest of Cason, supra. Therefore, not only are we required to review the evidence under the standards mandated by Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), but we are also required to apply Louisiana's standard of review for civil cases as set out in Arceneaux v. Domingue, 365 So.2d 1330 (La.1978), writ denied 374 So.2d 660 (La.1979); State in the Interest of Redd, supra; State in the Interest of Cason, supra.[1]

The Jackson v. Virginia

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State ex rel T.M.
223 So. 3d 132 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
State in the Interest of T.M.
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017
State in Interest of JW
597 So. 2d 1056 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1992)
State, in Interest of Dmg
579 So. 2d 525 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1991)
State v. Di Frisco
571 A.2d 914 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1990)
In re State ex rel. F.B.M.
535 So. 2d 980 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
State v. Litty
521 So. 2d 849 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
State ex rel. Rowland
513 So. 2d 290 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
509 So. 2d 779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-interest-of-rowland-lactapp-1987.