State v. Baker

942 So. 2d 677, 2006 WL 3081029
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 1, 2006·No. 41,325-KA·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

942 So.2d 677 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Jacqueline BAKER, Appellant.

No. 41,325-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

November 1, 2006.

*678 Louisiana Appellate Project by James Edward Beal, for Appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Madeline M. Slaughter-Young, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, STEWART and DREW, JJ.

DREW, J.

Jacqueline Baker was prosecuted on three counts of cruelty to the infirm, pursuant to La. R.S.14:93.3.[1] The jury trial produced these results:

1. On count one, involving the victim Harlen Martin, Ms. Baker was convicted of the responsive misdemeanor charge of negligent injury;

*679 2. On count two, involving the victim Robert Frostenson, Ms. Baker was convicted as charged; and

3. On count three, involving the alleged victim Melvin Fowler, Ms. Baker was acquitted.

She was sentenced to two years at hard labor on each of the two counts of conviction, suspended, to be served concurrently, subject to three years of probation. The defendant now appeals her conviction and sentence. We reverse the misdemeanor conviction on count one. We affirm the felony conviction and sentence on count two, as well as the attendant probationary term and conditions, instructing the trial court to allow community service work in lieu of payment of court costs, if the defendant is unable to pay.

FACTS

The defendant was employed as a certified nursing aide ("CNA") by the Northeast Louisiana War Veteran's Home from June 7, 2002, to April 15, 2004. The home:

• is an institution owned by the Louisiana Department of Veteran's Affairs;

• is a licensed nursing facility specifically for war veterans who have served at least 90 days during a time of declared war;

• serves as both an assisted living facility and nursing home for veterans; and

• served as the residence of all three alleged victims during different time frames between 2000 and 2005.

At the time of trial, all victims were deceased.

On December 9, 2002, the defendant exited a patient's room and reported that the patient tried to fight her, almost hitting her in the face. The patient, Melvin Fowler, was a non-ambulatory patient on the Alzheimer's unit of the home. Erica White, a licensed practical nurse working the unit, entered Fowler's room and found him upset, alleging that Baker had struck him. White noticed injuries to the victim's face (bruised) and arm (scratched). In a written statement explaining the incident, the defendant stated she was attempting to check Fowler's diaper tape when he swung his arm trying to hit her. At that point, the defendant claimed she moved backwards, and in doing so, she accidentally pushed the bedside table into the victim's bed, causing these injuries.

The home conducted an internal investigation into the incident but the abuse allegations could not be substantiated. Pending the investigation, the defendant was suspended for three days with pay and thereafter was given a letter of counseling issued by the home's director. The letter:

• ordered Baker to complete several courses relating to patient care;

• was not made part of the defendant's permanent personnel file;[2]

• permanently relieved her of all assignments to the home's Alzheimer's unit; and

• extended her employment probationary status (normally one year) by three months.

The home did not inform the police regarding the incident, but contact was made by Fowler's daughter, resulting in an investigation by Detective Tracy Heath of the Monroe Police Department, who interviewed Fowler, with mixed results, due to Fowler's inability to understand much of the questioning and his difficulty in speaking. As a part of her investigation, Detective Heath interviewed members of the home staff, and the defendant herself, who gave a recorded statement denying abusing Fowler, claiming an accident consistent *680 with the written statement she had previously provided to the home.

Detective Heath testified:

• she conducted an informal and unsuccessful experiment in Mr. Fowler's room trying to verify whether the injuries could have occurred as stated by the defendant; and

• she referred the results of her investigation to the District Attorney's Office.

Later during the defendant's employment, two patients were observed with previously unreported injuries on February 22, 2004. Separate incident reports were produced detailing the injuries to Martin and Frostenson, the victims in counts one and two, respectively.

Regina Reeves, a registered nurse employed by the home, testified that:

• she worked the 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. shift on February 22, 2004;

• Mrs. Harlen Martin asked her to examine a rash on Mr. Martin's chest, whereupon she discovered a swollen bruised lump on his head;

• she wrote an incident report detailing the victim's injury;

• she contacted Martin's doctor and was advised to arrange his transport to the hospital emergency room;

• she completed an incident report detailing the matter; and

• she noted that Martin was not verbal and could not be interviewed during the home's investigation.

As Reeves was completing paperwork for the transport of Martin, Nurse Catherine Davis requested that she check on Frostenson's hand. Due to her inability to respond to the situation immediately, Ms. Reeves asked Nurse Vicki Ellis (who was working the next shift) to check the injury.

During the same shift when nurse Reeves made her observations, Catherine Davis, another nurse at the home:

• observed victim Frostenson's left hand to be swollen and bluish; and

• was told by Frostenson that he had hit his hand while being transferred from his bed to his wheelchair by the CNAs.

It was not until March 30, 2004, that CNA Sherbra Schiele reported the defendant's apparent abuse of Martin and Frostenson. According to Schiele, she was a new hire assigned to work with the defendant for orientation. Defendant acquainted Schiele with the workplace and took her on rounds to the patients' rooms, on either Schiele's first or second day on the job.

Schiele testified that she and the defendant entered Frostenson's room sometime during the early morning on February 22, 2004, at which time Schiele observed the defendant rousing Frostenson from his sleep. Schiele further testified that Frostenson was upset about being roused and argued with the defendant after he was placed in his wheelchair "kind of hard." At some point during the argument, Frostenson had his hand in the defendant's face and called her a "black b***h." In response to this comment, the defendant grabbed Frostenson's hand and bent his fingers backwards. Schiele recalled that Frostenson told the defendant to stop, at which point the defendant released the hand. Schiele stated that she discussed the incident with Nurse Erica White later that day but made no further reports at that time.

Approximately 20 minutes after the incident with Frostenson, the defendant and Schiele entered Martin's room. According to Schiele, the defendant checked Martin's diaper, but made an attempt not to wake him. While the defendant and Schiele were in the room, Martin awoke and began *681 to tremble. The defendant and Schiele pulled Martin up in the bed using a draw sheet. As Martin (a man of small stature) was being pulled up in the bed, the defendant "pulled him up real fast" and Martin's h

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State v. Baker, 942 So. 2d 677, 2006 WL 3081029 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

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