State v. Allen

934 So. 2d 146, 2006 WL 786795
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 29, 2006
Docket2005 KA 1622
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 934 So. 2d 146 (State v. Allen) 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 v. Allen, 934 So. 2d 146, 2006 WL 786795 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

934 So.2d 146 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Michael ALLEN.

No. 2005 KA 1622.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 29, 2006.

*150 Hon. Camille A. Morvant II, District Attorney, Steven M. Miller, Assistant District Attorney, Thibodaux, for State of Louisiana.

Katherine M. Franks, Slidell, for Defendant-Appellant Michael Allen.

Before: KUHN, GUIDRY, and PETTIGREW, JJ.

PETTIGREW, J.

The defendant, Michael Allen, was charged by amended bill of information with one count of second degree robbery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:64.4, and pled not guilty. He waived his right to a jury trial, and following a bench trial, was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced to twenty-five years at hard labor. He now appeals, designating five assignments of error.[1] For the reasons that follow, we *151 affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

The victim, Todd Anthony Cheramie, testified at trial. On August 17, 2004, at approximately 3:00 a.m., he was walking to work on Highway 1. Three men in a car offered the victim a ride, and he thanked the men, but declined the offer. Thereafter, the men returned and again offered the victim a ride. This time the victim accepted the offer and got into the back of the car. The back-seat passenger, later identified as Earl Anthony Curole, Jr., struck the victim on the side of his head. The driver of the car, later identified as the defendant, drove the vehicle behind a car wash. The front-seat passenger, later identified as Troy Loupe, stated, "It won't take long[,]" and indicated he had to take care of something. The defendant then exited the vehicle, went to the back of the car, and opened the door next to the victim. The defendant pulled the victim by his feet, while Curole pushed him out of the car. The defendant dragged the victim onto the cement. The defendant repeatedly told the victim to, "Give it up, bitch," held his legs, and searched through the victim's shoes, while Curole and Loupe kicked the victim in the face and the ribs. The defendant took a pack of cigarettes, the victim's wallet, one dollar and fifty cents cash, some keys, and some marijuana from the victim's pockets.

As a result of the injuries to his face and eye socket, the victim suffered pain and stayed home from work for approximately one week. He also suffered injuries to his hands and ribs. When asked if the injuries he suffered hurt him, he stated he cried like a baby. At the time of trial, he was still having problems with his eyesight. He had good eyesight prior to being attacked.

The victim initially went to The Lady of the Sea Hospital for treatment, but then went to Terrebonne General Medical Center. At the latter hospital, his treating physician told him the bones of his left eye socket were fractured and that his eyes might come out of their sockets if he blew his nose and sneezed at the same time.

Dr. Jonathan Allen of Terrebonne General Medical Center also testified at trial. He treated the victim following the attack. The victim indicated he had been hit with an unknown object and punched and kicked. He rated his pain level, on a scale of one to ten, as a ten. He had soft tissue swelling in his hands, abrasions and contusions to both sides of his face, swelling and bruising to his left eye, and bruising to the left side of his face. A CAT scan of his face revealed an inferior orbital fracture or an inferior blowout fracture. Orbital fractures are generated primarily with trauma, usually from something small enough to fit inside the orbital rim. Dr. Allen indicated even a minor fracture of the orbital bone would be considered a serious injury, and based on his experience evaluating and treating patients with the injury, it would be painful.

The State also played the defendant's August 25, 2004 audiotaped statement at trial. The defendant claimed he was driving a car with "Troy" in the back seat and "Earl" in the front seat and gave "a dude" a ride. According to the defendant, it was Troy's idea to give the victim a ride. The defendant claimed the victim talked about marijuana, and he (the defendant) pulled the car over by the car wash. He claimed it was his, Troy's, and Earl's idea to pull the car over, and he intended to take the victim's marijuana from him. The defendant claimed he then jumped out of the car and told the victim to "give it here." The defendant claimed Earl started hitting the victim, and he (the defendant) "grabbed *152 [the victim] out of the car" and put him down on the cement, where Troy and Earl kicked and punched the victim. The defendant denied taking off the victim's shoes, but conceded he took a bag of marijuana out of the victim's pocket.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

In assignment of error number 1, the defendant contends he was denied due process when the evidence introduced by the State was legally insufficient to support the verdict rendered by the trial court. He argues there was no testimony that he beat the victim, and thus, the trial court's decision to convict him was irrational and must be overturned.

The standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence to uphold a conviction is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could conclude the State proved the essential elements of the crime and the defendant's identity as the perpetrator of that crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In conducting this review, we also must be expressly mindful of Louisiana's circumstantial evidence test, which states in part, "assuming every fact to be proved that the evidence tends to prove, in order to convict," every reasonable hypothesis of innocence is excluded. State v. Wright, 98-0601, p. 2 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/19/99), 730 So.2d 485, 486, writs denied, 99-0802 (La.10/29/99), 748 So.2d 1157, XXXX-XXXX (La.11/17/00), 773 So.2d 732 (quoting La. R.S. 15:438).

When a conviction is based on both direct and circumstantial evidence, the reviewing court must resolve any conflict in the direct evidence by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the direct evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence and the facts reasonably inferred from the circumstantial evidence must be sufficient for a rational juror to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. Wright, 98-0601 at 3, 730 So.2d at 487.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:64.4, in pertinent part, provides:

A. (1) Second degree robbery is the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another when the offender intentionally inflicts serious bodily injury.
(2) For purposes of this Section, "serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which involves unconsciousness, extreme physical pain or protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty, or a substantial risk of death.

The defendant argues the language "when the offender intentionally inflicts serious bodily injury" contained in La. R.S. 14:64.4 is identical to language contained in La. R.S. 14:34.1, and thus, jurisprudence concerning the latter provision is instructive in analyzing whether La. R.S. 14:64.4 requires proof of general or specific intent. We agree, and find that La. R.S. 14:64.4 requires proof of specific intent. See State v. Fuller, 414 So.2d 306, 309-310 (La.1982) (holding the requirement in La. R.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
934 So. 2d 146, 2006 WL 786795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-allen-lactapp-2006.