State v. Bacuzzi

708 So. 2d 1065, 1998 WL 44979
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 27, 1998
Docket97-KA-573
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 708 So. 2d 1065 (State v. Bacuzzi) 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. Bacuzzi, 708 So. 2d 1065, 1998 WL 44979 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

708 So.2d 1065 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Peter BACUZZI

No. 97-KA-573.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 27, 1998.

*1066 Marion B. Farmer, Covington, for Defendant/Appellant.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Assistant District Attorney, Gretna, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

DALEY, Judge.

The defendant pled guilty to aggravated battery in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:34. He has appealed his ten-year prison sentence as being constitutionally excessive.

FACTS:

On May 4, 1996, the defendant and Mr. Robert Deville, who were long time friends, assisted Mr. Deville's niece in building a garage. Mr. Deville is the defendant's wife's cousin. The men stopped working on the garage at about 8:00 p.m. and went to a barroom. The men returned to Mr. Deville's home, where the defendant and his wife were house guests, in the early morning hours of May 5, 1996. While Mr. Deville was unloading tools from his truck, the defendant pointed a gun at him. The defendant told Mr. Deville that he was going to kill him. Mr. Deville grabbed a hammer, thinking that he would knock the defendant out and then take him to bed. The defendant shot Mr. Deville in the right elbow. Mr. Deville dropped the hammer and the defendant shot him in his left arm. He stood up and the defendant shot him from the rear. As Mr. Deville turned to go into the house, the defendant fired two more shots, hitting Mr. Deville in the stomach and the left kidney. Mr. Deville laid down in the garden in front of his home for about one and one half hours. He was bleeding from his wounds. He asked the defendant to call 911. The defendant stated that he would not call 911, because he would get into trouble.

At about 4:30 a.m., Mr. Deville's son, Lee, returned home and saw his father lying on the ground. His father told him to call 911, and the defendant instructed him not to. The defendant pointed a gun at Lee. Lee was able to wrestle the gun from the defendant's grasp and call the police. In the meantime, the defendant obtained another gun.

When the police arrived, the defendant's wife handed them a .38 caliber revolver she had just taken from her husband. She told them that her husband was in an upstairs bedroom. The defendant was taken to the hospital for treatment of a laceration on his head, and then arrested for the charge of attempted murder. This charge was later amended to aggravated battery.

On October 3, 1996, the defendant withdrew his former plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty as charged. After advising the defendant of his rights, the court accepted the defendant's guilty plea. On November 13, 1996, following testimony from the victim and his family and the defendant and his family and the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report, the defendant was sentenced to ten years at hard labor.

*1067 Immediately prior to sentencing, the trial court held a hearing to receive victim impact evidence for the trial court to consider before sentencing.

During the impact statements, Mr. Deville reiterated the events of May 5, 1996. He explained that as he returned to his truck to unload tools, the defendant pointed a gun at him and stated he was going to kill him. After being shot three times, he told the defendant, "Peter, stop shooting. You're going to kill me." Mr. Deville was then shot two more times. He described what took place as each of the five bullets entered his body. After being shot, he opened the glass door to enter his home, but the front door closed completely, locking him outside. After his requests to the defendant to call for help were refused, he lay on the ground waiting for someone to rescue him. Mr. Deville testified that after he asked his son to call for help, the defendant told his son "If you value your life, you will not call 911." Mr. Deville then described the exploratory surgery he underwent to repair some of the damage done by the bullets. He developed three hernias along the incision, which have required additional surgery. These injuries have prevented Mr. Deville from resuming his previous level of activity and cause him difficulty in sitting up straight. As a result of this incident he and his business have suffered an estimated $15,000 to $20,000 loss. Mr. Deville estimated that he incurred approximately $4,500 in medical expenses which were not covered by insurance.

Mr. Deville's wife, Jean Deville, testified that she and her family are very afraid that the defendant will harm them. She stated that she had previously heard the defendant state that he "would shoot people" whom he felt had hurt him.

Testimony was also received from Mr. Albert Hyde, Jean Deville's brother. He stated that after the shooting, he had to help the Deville children. They were afraid to return to their home because they were concerned that the defendant would come back to harm them. The children stayed with him for a period of time. He concluded by stating that the Deville family was very much afraid of what the defendant "can and will do."

One of Mr. Deville's daughters, Robin, testified that following the shooting when they returned to their home to obtain necessities, her brother would go around the house with a baseball bat to be sure the defendant was not hiding in the house. She reasoned that since her father's shooting by the defendant was unprovoked that Mr. Bacuzzi was capable of doing the same thing to the rest of her family. She also reiterated her father's decreased physical ability since the shooting.

The defendant's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Townsend, took the stand and testified that the defendant suffers from a bi-polar disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. He explained that the defendant has episodes of irritability, racing thoughts, loud, rapid speech, and sleeplessness, followed by periods of depression. He has been prescribed the medication Alprazolam to be taken four times per day for this condition. Dr. Townsend pointed out to the court that if this medication is not administered correctly, the defendant could suffer seizures. Ambien has been prescribed for the defendant's insomnia. Dr. Townsend opined that incarceration would adversely impact the defendant psychologically. On cross-examination, Dr. Townsend stated that he feels the shooting was caused in part by the conditions the defendant is being treated for and he was unable to predict whether this could happen again.

The defendant's wife of thirty years, Rosemary Jean Bacuzzi, testified that her husband had a successful teaching career in special education for more than twenty years. He was forced to retire in 1992 due to chronic fatigue immune deficiency syndrome. She described her husband as being in constant pain for the past seven years. Her husband suffers from problems with his prostate, urinary incontinence, and stenosis of the spine. She explained that he has special needs which she must attend to constantly. She expressed sorrow for the events that had taken place.

The defendant's son testified that it would cause a hardship on the family if his father was incarcerated.

*1068 The defendant took the stand and explained his various mental and physical infirmities. He described his back as being in bad shape, stating that the discs have slipped. Back surgery has been recommended by his physician. He described cysts on his heels. He explained that he has difficulty standing for any length of time. The defendant stated that he must wear a splint in his mouth because of his tendency to grind his teeth.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
708 So. 2d 1065, 1998 WL 44979, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bacuzzi-lactapp-1998.