State v. Arnaud

412 So. 2d 1013
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedApril 5, 1982
Docket81-KA-1772
StatusPublished
Cited by73 cases

This text of 412 So. 2d 1013 (State v. Arnaud) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Arnaud, 412 So. 2d 1013 (La. 1982).

Opinion

412 So.2d 1013 (1982)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Clyde Kent ARNAUD.

No. 81-KA-1772.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

April 5, 1982.

*1015 William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Morgan J. Goudeau, III, Dist. Atty., Robert Brinkman, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.

Donald W. Hebert, Pavy, Hebert & Carriere, Opelousas, for defendant-appellant.

BURRELL J. CARTER, Justice Ad Hoc.[*]

Clyde Kent Arnaud was charged with the crime of sexual battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:43.1, by Bill of Information, on September 18, 1980. He entered a plea of not guilty at arraignment on October 9, 1980. At a jury trial, defendant was found guilty as charged. After a pre-sentence investigation, he was sentenced to serve six (6) years at hard labor. On appeal, defendant filed eight assignments of error. Three of them (1, 6 and 8) were apparently abandoned in brief, so we will consider only the remaining five.

FACTS

At about 11:30 p. m. on July 31, 1980, Debbie Briscoe appeared with her four year old son at the Sheriff's sub-station in Eunice and reported that she had been raped at knifepoint in her home by the defendant, Clyde Kent Arnaud. Mrs. Briscoe was taken to the emergency room at Moosa Hospital in Eunice and examined by a doctor. Investigators arrested the defendant shortly thereafter.

Mrs. Briscoe testified at trial that she and the defendant had lived together for a short time several months before the rape. At the time of the rape, defendant was living with his sister several blocks away. Mrs. Briscoe said that Arnaud had telephoned her around 10:30 p. m. that night and wanted to come over and talk to her. She stated that she told him to leave her alone and stay away from her. Arnaud arrived at her house, on a bicycle, about ten minutes later. When Mrs. Briscoe refused to let him inside and threatened to call the police, Arnaud ran to the side of her house and the telephone went dead. Mrs. Briscoe testified that he also unscrewed the bulb in the porch light. When she still refused to let him in, he held a knife to the tires of her car and threatened to slash them if she did not come outside. Briscoe testified that at that point, she stepped out on the porch and the defendant immediately grabbed her, stuck a knife in her side, and forced her back inside the house. He then forced her into her bedroom where he raped her, all the while threatening to kill her with the pocket knife if she cried or got too loud. When her son came into the bedroom and told the defendant to get out before he killed him, the defendant dressed and left on his bicycle.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2

On November 7, 1980, defendant filed a motion for discovery and inspection pursuant to La.Code Crim.P. arts. 718 and 719, the pertinent parts of which follow:

3. Inform the defendant of the existence of and permit or authorize him or her to inspect, copy, examine, test scientifically, photograph, or otherwise reproduce, books, papers, documents, photographs, tangible objects, buildings, places or copies or portions thereof, which are within the possession, custody or control of the State, and which: (a) are favorable to the defendant and which are material and relevant to the issue of guilt or punishment, or (b) are intended for use by the State as evidence at the trial, or (c) were obtained from or belonged to the defendant.
4. Inform the defendant of the existence of and permit or authorize him (or her) to inspect and copy, photograph, or otherwise reproduce any and all results or reports, or copies thereof, of physical or mental examination, or scientific tests or experiments, made in connection with or material to this case, that are in the possession, custody, control or knowledge of the district attorney whether intended *1016 for use at trial or not. Any of the above which is exculpatory shall be particularly set out.

At approximately 4:30 p. m. on the day before the testimony began, defendant's attorney was furnished a report of a physical examination made by Dr. DeRouen within a couple of hours of the crime. The next day, defendant moved to suppress the medical report and the testimony associated with it because, in spite of the fact that defendant had filed a motion for discovery, he had not been made aware of the existence of the report until the evening before. The State responded that it did not intend to introduce the report as evidence at trial, but instead intended to call Dr. DeRouen to testify. The trial court allowed the testimony, saying that if after the trial, defendant could get some medical reports that would contradict what the State had, he would give the defendant a new trial. Defendant urges as error that the trial court allowed the State to circumvent the intent of the articles on discovery by substituting the doctor's testimony for the report itself.

The doctor testified that he performed a pelvic examination on the victim at about 12:40 a. m. on August 1, 1980. He found no evidence of forcible entry in the vaginal region. He took a smear from the vaginal tract and found sperm. Dr. DeRouen said that the sperm were nonmotile (not moving). It was his opinion that the presence of nonmotile sperm suggested that intercourse had occurred several hours earlier or that the male was sterile. He testified that even sterile men can have some motile sperm. It was his observation that sperm begin to become nonmotile immediately after ejaculation. After four hours the process is rather precipitous, but there may be some sperm still motile after twenty-four hours. Mrs. Briscoe had told the doctor on the night of the examination, that other than the rape, she had not had intercourse for three weeks prior to her examination.

The doctor's examination was conducted at the request of the Sheriff's department. The record reveals that the District Attorney made the report available to the defendant as soon as he received it. It is difficult to imagine that the existence of the report remained unknown to the District Attorney for so long. If its existence was known to the District Attorney, he had an obligation to inform the defendant if he intended to use the report at trial or if the report was exculpatory. However, the good or bad faith of the District Attorney is not relevant to the resolution of the present issue. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963).

La.Code Crim.P. art. 729.5 provides the sanctions available for violation of the discovery articles. It states in pertinent part:

A. If at any time during the course of the proceedings it is brought to the attention of the Court that a party has failed to comply with this Chapter or with an order issued pursuant to this Chapter, the court may order such party to permit the discovery or inspection, grant a continuance, order a mistrial on motion of defendant, prohibit the party from introducing into evidence the subject matter not disclosed, or enter such other order, other than dismissal, as may be appropriate.

Assuming, for the benefit of the defendant, that there had been a violation of La.Code Crim.P. arts. 718 and 719, we must recognize that La.Code Crim.P. art. 729.5(A) permits the trial judge to choose from a wide range of alternative sanctions. State v. Lee, 364 So.2d 1024 (La.1978). There were other remedies available that counsel for defendant did not pursue. He could have requested a continuance or a recess, but he did not.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
412 So. 2d 1013, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-arnaud-la-1982.