State of Louisiana v. Tratavion J. Turner

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 15, 2026·No. 56,932-KA·Published·Ellender

Opinion

Judgment rendered July 15, 2026.

Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by Art. 922, La. C. Cr. P.

No. 56,932-KA

COURT OF APPEAL

SECOND CIRCUIT

STATE OF LOUISIANA

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STATE OF LOUISIANA Appellee versus

TRATAVION J. TURNER Appellant

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Appealed from the

First Judicial District Court for the Parish of Caddo, Louisiana Trial Court No. 394,716

Honorable Ramona L. Emanuel, Judge

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LOUISIANA APPEALS AND WRIT SERVICE Counsel for Appellant By: Remy V. Starns Douglas Daniel Brown

JAMES E. STEWART, SR. Counsel for Appellee District Attorney

FERNANDO GRIDER, JR. MARGARET RICHIE GASKINS Assistant District Attorneys

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Before PITMAN, ROBINSON, and ELLENDER, JJ.

ELLENDER, J.

Tratavion Turner appeals his conviction of third degree rape (a responsive verdict to the charge of second degree rape), his adjudication as a second-felony offender, and his agreed sentence of 30 years at hard labor without benefits. For the reasons expressed, we affirm the conviction, vacate the second-felony adjudication and sentence, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The offense occurred in March 2023 at a house on West Canal Blvd., in Shreveport’s Sunset Acres neighborhood. The house was owned by a Mrs. Turner, whose children were living there with her; her son, the 24-year- old defendant, was staying there occasionally. Mrs. Turner was dating a man who moved into the house along with his daughters, including the victim, 16-year-old AA.

On the evening of March 21, according to AA, she was asleep in bed when Turner came into the bedroom and asked to borrow her cellphone so he could text somebody. She gave him the phone, he left, and AA went back to sleep; moments later, he came back in, woke her up, returned the phone, and asked her how old she was. When she replied asking why he wanted to know, he responded, “Just tell me,” but he left the room again. He then came back a third time, started “rubbing on” her and talking to her; he suddenly pulled her out of bed, and she saw he was already wearing a condom. AA tried to scream, but Turner placed his hand over her mouth, muffling her voice. He then began penetrating her. When he got through, he told her to “shake through” it, so we can “keep it between us,” and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

After hearing the threat, AA ran to the bathroom and called her mother, RA, to come get her; AA also texted a boyfriend to say she’d been raped. RA hurried to Mrs. Turner’s house, calling the police along the way. When she arrived, AA told her Mrs. Turner’s son had raped her.

Shreveport Police Department officers soon arrived at the scene; AA told one of them, Corporal Janice Allen, she had been woken up by Turner, who pulled her to the floor, covered her mouth, and penetrated her vaginally. She also said she never consented to any intercourse with Turner, her stomach and vagina were hurting from the incident, and she had struck her head on the floor when he pulled her out of bed. Officers questioned the other occupants of the house, but all of them responded they heard nothing.

AA also told officers Turner was still inside the house, but they entered and could not find him. Cpl. Allen rode with AA to the hospital.

At the hospital, SPD Detective Rodney Stewart questioned AA. She told him Turner had come into the room and started touching her as she was lying in bed; he then grabbed her, threw her to the floor, penetrated her without her consent, and threatened to kill her if she told anybody. Det. Stewart later questioned the other occupants of the house, but they again replied they heard nothing.

AA was then examined by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Katie Price. Nurse Price found some secretions in AA’s vaginal area and around her cervix, which she testified could be consistent with an “aggressive consensual act.” However, she also found abrasions to AA’s right middle finger and upper right arm, bruising to her left wrist, abrasions on her left elbow, and redness on her right breast, all of which were consistent with AA’s account of the incident.

The next day, AA was taken to Gingerbread House, a children’s advocacy center, and interviewed by Meaghan Hughes, a forensic interviewer. AA told Ms. Hughes Turner raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anybody about it.

Turner was located, arrested, and booked into city jail about two weeks later. After receiving his Miranda rights, Turner told Det. Stewart he saw AA lying on his mother’s bed, asked her if she wanted to have sex, and she agreed to it; they proceeded to engage in sex on the floor. Turner insisted it was not rape, as the act was consensual.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The state charged Turner by bill of information with second degree rape of AA, R.S. 14:42.1. The state also filed a notice under La. C.E. arts. 404 (B) and 412.2 alleging that Turner had, in 2016, committed indecent behavior with a juvenile, and the state intended to introduce evidence of this to show his lustful disposition toward children.

The case came to a four-day trial in July 2024, but the jury reported it was unable to reach a verdict. The state then reset the matter for a second trial, to take place in June 2025. The state filed an amended 404 (B) and 412.2 notice, this time alleging both the 2016 incident of indecent behavior, to show Turner’s lustful disposition toward children, and a 2022 incident of domestic abuse strangulation, to show his violent behavior toward women.1

1 Both the original notice and the amended notice cited La. C.E. art. 412.4 (“Evidence of similar crimes, wrongs, or acts in domestic abuse cases and cruelty against juveniles cases”); however, at trial, the prosecutor correctly referred to Art. 412.2 (“Evidence of similar crimes, wrongs, or acts in sex offense cases”), and both sides have argued the substance of Art. 412.2. We have therefore disregarded the incorrect citation in the state’s motions.

The case came to a second, three-day trial in June 2025. The witnesses testified as outlined above. In addition, AA testified the rape had changed her mentally, and her mother, RA, testified that, after the rape, AA “distanced herself” from her siblings, became withdrawn, asked why it happened to her, and woke up with nightmares.

A DNA analyst, Michael Madere, testified Turner’s DNA was a major contributor on swabs taken from AA’s body. Three swabs yielded odds that it was some person other than Turner at one in 49.4 trillion and one in 26.8 sextillion. Madere conceded he found a third DNA contributor, but this was “minor.”

SPD Officer Derek Snyder testified concerning the predicate offense:

he responded to a call, in June 2016, from a woman who discovered her 14- year-old daughter in bed with Turner. The defense objected to the relevance and prejudicial effect of this evidence, but the court overruled the objection. Ofc. Snyder then testified the daughter told him Turner had sexually assaulted her, and Turner admitted having “consensual” sex with her.

Turner presented no evidence.

The jury returned a responsive verdict of third degree rape.

The state promptly filed a third-felony habitual offender bill. This alleged Turner’s first felony was a September 2018 guilty plea to domestic abuse battery strangulation, in the First JDC, for which he received a sentence of 90 days in parish jail, three years at hard labor, suspended, and two years of supervised probation. The second was a March 2022 guilty plea to domestic

abuse battery strangulation, also in the First JDC, for which he was sentenced to two years at hard labor.2 Before the habitual offender bill was adjudicated, Turner filed motions for post verdict judgment of acquittal and for new trial.

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