State in the Interest of Givens

350 So. 2d 295, 1977 La. App. LEXIS 5285
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 29, 1977
DocketNo. 6114
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 350 So. 2d 295 (State in the Interest of Givens) 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 the Interest of Givens, 350 So. 2d 295, 1977 La. App. LEXIS 5285 (La. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

CULPEPPER, Judge.

Ronnie Givens was brought before The Juvenile Court for the Parish of Lafayette on a petition alleging he is a delinquent. He was charged with having committed simple criminal damage to property as defined in LSA-R.S. 14:56. After a hearing, the judge found Ronnie did commit the acts of vandalism complained of and declared him a delinquent child. The court sentenced him to the custody of the Department of Corrections for an indefinite period. This sentence was suspended upon the primary condition that Ronnie Givens admit himself and actively participate in Adolescent Unit # 28 at the Central Louisiana State Hospital located in Pineville, Louisiana. From this judgment, Ronnie Givens now appeals.

The substantial issue on appeal is whether the evidence at the hearing was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ronnie committed the offense.

This matter began on November 27, 1976 with the vandalism of Acadiana High School which is located in Lafayette Parish. [296]*296Extensive damage was done to the interior of the building. The crime was reported by the local news media and discussed by the students returning to the school after Thanksgiving vacation.

Another crime must also be mentioned at this point as it plays a part in the case at hand. This second crime was the firebombing of the home of Mr. John D. Thompson of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, in the early morning hours of November 29, 1976. On December 1, Ronnie confessed to the firebombing, and he was charged with the offense and placed in the Lafayette Juvenile Detention Home on the same day. He remained there until his hearing in February of 1977 on the school vandalism charge.

It was in late December, while Ronnie was in the detention home, that he told a fellow inmate, Kenneth Hasha, that he was the one who perpetrated the acts of vandalism at Acadiana High School. Hasha reported Ronnie’s admission to juvenile officers, who investigated the matter further. They subsequently filed the present petition in Juvenile Court on January 7, 1977, asking that Ronnie be adjudged a delinquent child on the basis of his committing criminal damage to property. At the Juvenile Court hearing, Ronnie admitted making the confession to Kenneth Hasha, but he said it was not true. He testified he meant only to impress Kenneth Hasha, who he thought would keep a confidence and whom he would never see again after their brief stay at The Home.

At the hearing, the evidence presented by the State consisted of testimony by Kenneth Hasha, several juvenile officers, and the principal of Acadiana High School. Kenneth Hasha testified to the detailed confessions Ronnie Givens had made to him on December 28 and on several days thereafter. Hasha said Givens told him about breaking in the school and about the damage done to clocks and trophy cases, to lights and ceilings, and to the assistant principal’s office door.

The juvenile officers testified that their investigation resulted in no evidence or any factual information, other than Kenneth Hasha’s statements, which would directly connect Givens to the vandalism of the high school. Each time these officers questioned Ronnie Givens about the Acadiana incident, he denied having committed the vandalism and denied knowing anything about it other than what he had read in the newspapers and heard from friends and family.

Mr. Dave Cavalier, who had been the assistant principal at Acadiana High School while appellant was a student there, recalled several minor discipline problems involving the appellant. These did not, however, involve damage to property, and at no time did Ronnie Givens ever utter a threat toward the school or Mr. Cavalier.

Evidence presented by the appellant consisted of the testimony of his family, and a friend. The appellant’s friend testified that Ronnie Givens was present when the brother of this witness related the damage he saw at the school as he returned to classes after Thanksgiving vacation. This defense witness also knew Kenneth Hasha and told of one incident the previous summer when Hasha had driven up in a fancy car which he claimed to have stolen. Ronnie Givens was present at this encounter.

The appellant’s sister was a student at Acadiana High School in November of 1976. She testified that she told the entire family all about the damage she saw at the school as well as damage which she heard about from other students.

Ronnie’s parents testified that Ronnie was at home in bed the morning of November 27, 1976 and had been there since 9:30 the preceding evening. They told of special precautions to keep the car keys away from Ronnie because of his attempt earlier that month to run away from home. No one heard either of the family cars started that night. The high school was 4 to 5 miles from their home and neither believed the appellant had ever walked the distance to the school. Neither of them believed that Ronnie had left their home the night or morning that the vandalism of Acadiana High School took place.

[297]*297Appellant took the stand in his own defense. He admitted making the confession to Kenneth Hasha, but he insisted that it was not true. He claimed he told Hasha this only to impress him after listening to Hasha brag about his exploits. Hasha continued asking him about the Acadiana vandalism for several days until the appellant was finally charged with the crime. Givens never admitted to anyone but Hasha that he was the perpetrator of the school vandalism. He denied to others anything to do with the crime, and claimed to have been at home in bed from 9:30 Friday evening until noon on Saturday, November 27. He said he had no knowledge of the crime other than what he read in the newspaper or heard from his family and friends.

After receiving the evidence of both parties, the trial judge found the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Ronnie Givens did commit the offense charged against him. We quote from the trial court’s reasons for judgment:

“As I appreciate the evidence, in this particular ease, there has been proven that vandalism, that is, the offense did in fact take place.
“There has been shown to The Court’s satisfaction, by the evidence, that there was a locational possibility that the offense was committed by the accused juvenile.
“It has been shown that the accused juvenile voluntarily admitted to a fellow inmate in a detention facility, that he had committed the offense.
“The question of the moral character of the recipient of such confidence, I do not really consider at this point to be crucial, as to whether the admission was in fact made; inasmuch as the juvenile himself admitted that he did in fact tell Hasha, that he had committed the offense. This is substantiated by Mr. Givens’, the father of the juvenile, testimony, that Ronnie had admitted that he had told Hasha. “I appreciate the evidence adduced in Court to be to the effect that the mother and father of the juvenile locked the car with the key, resulting in a locked steering mechanism, and that accordingly, it was their view that the steering mechanism and the vehicle itself, could not have been utilized by Ronnie in apparently the cutting of donuts, or transportation from his home to the school.
“I do appreciate the evidence at this point to be that it is possible that Ronnie could have gotten up and slipped out; and had, in fact, done so on other occasions, without their knowledge.

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Bluebook (online)
350 So. 2d 295, 1977 La. App. LEXIS 5285, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-the-interest-of-givens-lactapp-1977.