State v. Battle

635 So. 2d 337, 1994 WL 99342
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 29, 1994
Docket93-KA-900
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 635 So. 2d 337 (State v. Battle) 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. Battle, 635 So. 2d 337, 1994 WL 99342 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

635 So.2d 337 (1994)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Roger BATTLE.

No. 93-KA-900.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

March 29, 1994.
Rehearing Denied May 17, 1994.

*339 Robert Glass, Glass & Reed, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Stephen D'Antoni, Caren Morgan, Dorothy A. Pendergast, Asst. Dist. Attys. (Louise Korns, of counsel), Gretna, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before KLIEBERT, BOWES and GRISBAUM, JJ.

GRISBAUM, Judge.

This criminal appeal relates to a conviction of attempted aggravated rape and aggravated burglary wherein the trial court sentenced the defendant to 50 years at hard labor for attempted aggravated rape and 30 years at hard labor for aggravated burglary, the sentences to run consecutively. We affirm in part, set aside in part, and remand.

BASIC RECORD FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 12, 1992, the victim was awakened from her sleep when she felt a man on top of her back and her head pushed into a pillow. She was told she would be killed if she made any noise. The defendant rolled her over, taped her eyes and mouth shut, then tied her wrists and ankles to the bed frame. While she was tied to the bed, the victim could hear the defendant searching through her apartment and turning on the television and bathroom faucet.

During the time the defendant was in her apartment, he placed a set of headphones on the bound victim. The defendant proceeded to play a detailed and graphic tape recording to the victim. The recording described defendant as a "messenger from God" who was sent to administer a "slut test" to the young woman. It was made clear on the recording, the only way for the woman to live would be if she "passed" the test. Refusal to submit, or "failure," would result in the young woman's death. The record indicates the defendant fondled the woman's breast and placed a sharp object against her neck while again threatening to kill her.

About 20 minutes after playing the tape, the defendant removed the victim's clothing and dressed her in a lingerie outfit. She was untied and ordered to stand and strip. As she began to strip, the victim (still blindfolded) heard a noise in the adjacent apartment. Suddenly, she felt the defendant brush against her and run toward the window in the bedroom.

Seizing the opportunity, the victim rushed towards her front door, pulling the tape from her mouth and eyes. As she approached the door, the victim turned and saw the defendant coming towards her. She immediately began to scream and open her apartment door.

Ms. Linda Rosnic, another resident of the apartment complex, heard the victim's screams and went to look out of her apartment window. Ms. Rosnic saw a man pulling up his pants as he ran toward a red pickup truck. Ms. Rosnic described this man to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputy as about six feet tall, medium build, late 20s to early 30s, blonde collar-length hair, wearing a dark sweater, faded blue jeans, and tennis shoes.

The description of the suspect and truck were broadcast by the investigating deputy to other units. About 20 minutes following the attack, a Jefferson Parish deputy, who had heard the bulletin, was driving along I-10. As he approached the Causeway Boulevard Exit (eastbound I-10), he saw a vehicle, matching the broadcasted description, stopped by a state trooper. Given the proximity to the victim's apartment (victim's apartment was at 4309 West Napoleon about two blocks away from the Clearview Parkway I-10 entrance), the deputy stopped.

As the deputy approached the truck, he noticed a blonde haired man (later identified as defendant), who also matched the description that had been broadcasted. At trial, both the state trooper and the deputy testified *340 defendant's mannerisms were extremely anxious. Both police officers also noted how the defendant was sweating profusely on a cold February night when they were wearing jackets.

The man, who matched the description given by Ms. Rosnic, was ordered from the vehicle, frisked, and handcuffed. The man was properly given his rights. Ms. Rosnic was brought to the scene and positively identified defendant as the person she had seen running from the apartment complex.

After the defendant was arrested, a search warrant was obtained for defendant's truck and apartment. A search of the truck resulted in the seizure of several items, including a gold chain, which looked like one missing from the victim's apartment, a pack of Winston cigarettes, pieces of white rope and white surgical tape. At defendant's home, deputies seized Sony cassette tapes, Winston cigarettes, a piece of white rope similar to those found in the victim's apartment and defendant's truck.

While at the victim's apartment, the deputies recovered a tape recorder, a Sony cassette tape, scissors, a blindfold, Winston cigarettes, a cigarette lighter, gloves, nylon rope, white surgical tape, stockings, and a man's shirt. The victim stated she did not own these items and that they were left when the intruder fled.

At trial, three of defendant's former girlfriends identified the voice on the tape, left at the victim's apartment, as that of defendant, Roger Battle. The victim was unable to testify regarding the identification of the defendant because she did not get a good enough look at him. However, at a pre-trial lineup, she identified defendant as one of two men whose voices were similar to her offender.

Through witnesses at trial, defendant attempted to offer a reason for his possession of items matching those left by the offender in the victim's apartment. Defendant's step-father testified the defendant used the rope and tape found in his truck in his landscaping job. The step-father also stated that he believed defendant's three former girlfriends identified defendant's voice because they were angry at him. A 12-member jury unanimously convicted Roger Battle on both counts.

ISSUES

The defendant, in brief, assigns four separate issues:

1. Whether there is sufficient evidence to support the convictions.
2. Whether reversible error occurred when the prosecution misrepresented in the closing rebuttal remarks that it did not possess a tape recording of the defendant to compare with a tape recording submitted in the trial.
3. Whether the trial court erred when it ordered defendant[,] in the presence of the jury, to recite from a transcript of a tape which contained expressly vulgar and intimidating phraseology.
4. Whether the sentence imposed was excessive.

Defendant-appellant's original brief at 13.

ANALYSIS—ISSUE ONE

Our standard of review is controlled by what is commonly referred to as the Jackson review in that we, as the reviewing court, must determine whether, viewing the evidence most favorable to the prosecution, any rationale trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of every element of the crimes charged. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Additionally, the State is required to negate any reasonable probability of misidentification in order to carry its burden of proof. State v. Brady, 414 So.2d 364 (La.1982); State v. Junior, 542 So.2d 23 (La.App. 5th Cir.1989), writ denied, 546 So.2d 1212 (La.1989).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
635 So. 2d 337, 1994 WL 99342, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-battle-lactapp-1994.