State v. Brisco

756 So. 2d 644, 2000 WL 348975
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 5, 2000
Docket33,179-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 756 So. 2d 644 (State v. Brisco) 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. Brisco, 756 So. 2d 644, 2000 WL 348975 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

756 So.2d 644 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Paul BRISCO, Appellant.

No. 33,179-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 5, 2000.

*645 Amy C. Ellender, Louisiana Appellate Project, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, William R. Coenen, Jr., District Attorney, Penny Douciere, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee.

Before BROWN, STEWART and KOSTELKA, JJ.

BROWN, J.,

Defendant, Paul Brisco, was charged with unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, a violation of La. R.S. 14:62.3. A *646 jury found defendant guilty as charged and he was given a six-year hard labor sentence. After defendant was adjudicated a fourth felony habitual offender, his previous sentence of six years was vacated and he was sentenced to 40 years at hard labor without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. Defendant was granted an out-of-time appeal. Finding no error, however, we affirm defendant's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

Defendant, Paul Brisco, was a longtime acquaintance of Demetria Parker and had visited her home at 130 Tweedle Street in Delhi, Louisiana, on numerous occasions. He was familiar with the layout of the Parker home and knew what vehicle Mrs. Parker drove when she left home. In April 1998, Demetria Parker lived in her Tweedle Street home with her three daughters: seven-year-old Whitley, thirteen-year-old Amanda and nineteen-year-old Kendria, who is a brain-damaged quadriplegic. Mrs. Parker had three sitters that she used to care for Kendria when she was away, two of whom were sisters, Regina and Rashonda ("Shone") Leggins, who rotated turns sitting with Kendria. A few months prior to the instant crime, Mrs. Parker decided that she did not want defendant to come into her home again or to be near her children. Mrs. Parker had heard that defendant was making inappropriate sexual remarks about her and her thirteen year-old daughter, Amanda. Besides personally warning him to stay away, Mrs. Parker also filed a complaint with the Delhi Police Department on February 23, 1998. Police Chief Rufus Carter met with defendant and instructed him to stay away from the Parker home. Mrs. Parker's sitters thereafter informed her that defendant had since gained access to her home while she was at work.

Despite these warnings, defendant again went to the Parker home late in the evening of April 6, 1998. Mrs. Parker was away from home visiting her uncle and her three daughters were home alone. Regina Leggins, one of Kendria's sitters, left the Parker home at about 10:00 or 10:15 p.m. to return to her own residence located just a few houses down the street. Thirteen-year-old Amanda, the only one awake at the time, was watching television in the den and seven-year-old Whitley was asleep nearby on the couch. Amanda heard someone at the utility room door which opens onto the carport outside. She opened the door to see defendant standing outside on the lighted carport. Defendant told Amanda to let him in the house. Amanda told defendant to leave, but he tried to pull the door open to get inside. The 5'1" Amanda managed to "yank" the door away from the bigger defendant and close and lock the door. After defendant left the doorway, Amanda called her uncle's house to speak to her mother, but was told that Mrs. Parker had already left.

Amanda went back to the den and began watching television again but was disturbed by a noise coming from one of the bedrooms in the back of the house. She then heard a sound coming from the room belonging to her sister Kendria. Amanda went to Kendria's room where she saw defendant standing beside Kendria's bed. The light was on in Kendria's room and Amanda was able to clearly identify the intruder as defendant, having known him since she was a little girl. Defendant tried to "hide a little" and then walked out of the room to an area in the house between the living room and the den. Defendant pulled Amanda's right arm and she "yanked" it back. When he pulled her arm again, she pushed him. Defendant stepped into the living room, still "grabbing" Amanda's arm. The teen got a tall ceramic cat and threatened to hit defendant with it. This tussle occurred near the sleeping Whitley, who did not awaken. Defendant then hurried and left the house through Amanda's window.

Amanda identified a diagram introduced at trial as accurately depicting the layout of her home at Tweedle Street and *647 also identified pictures reflecting its appearance. She pointed out that her bedroom was bedroom number two on the diagram and Kendria's bedroom was bedroom number one. Amanda testified that Kendria's bedroom was closer to the den where she was watching television that night and her bedroom was further away. The window to her bedroom was open and cracked and there were leaves on the floor. She identified the carport door as the door her family uses to go in and out of the house.

There was an in-court comparison of defendant's and Amanda's respective sizes; Amanda stated that she was 5'1" tall and stood alone before the jury. Amanda related that defendant was bigger than her, but not as big as the defense attorney. The state questioned Amanda about having been adjudicated as a juvenile delinquent for using her mother's car without permission. Amanda stated that she had nothing against defendant and had no reason to make up a lie about him.

Mrs. Parker found Amanda to be very upset when she arrived home shortly after defendant's escape. Amanda told her mother about the intrusion by defendant. She was still holding the ceramic cat and had armed herself with a knife. Mrs. Parker saw that the curtains to Amanda's bedroom window were pushed back and that there were leaves and grass on the floor below the window. She thought the window was locked, but the lock must have gotten "messed up," because when she checked it while the officers were there, it pushed open although it was supposed to be locked. Whitley was still asleep on the couch and Mrs. Parker noted that she was not taking any medication. Mrs. Parker stated, "when all my children sleep, they sleep." Mrs. Parker went to get the sitter, Regina Leggins, to stay with her daughters so that she could go to the police station to report the intrusion.

Mrs. Parker stated that the diagram introduced into evidence at trial did not accurately reflect the layout of her house. She stated that it was possible for someone to go from Amanda's room into Kendria's room through the hallway (which is not depicted in the diagram) without entering the living room or den area of the home. Mrs. Parker also stated that there were three doors in her house leading outside, one from the kitchen that leads to the carport, one in the living room that leads to the front and one in the dining room that leads to the back yard. Mrs. Parker testified that Amanda's room could be seen from the living room, although the window in her room could not be seen from the living room.

Mrs. Parker reiterated at trial that defendant did not have permission to enter her home on the night of the intrusion. She also identified defendant as the person she knows as Paul Brisco and affirmed that he was the person she told not to come back to her home.

Mrs. Parker testified that she had no reason to think that her daughter was lying about the intrusion and that she believed Amanda's story because she was "too hysterical." Mrs. Parker admitted that she had problems with Amanda's attitude in the past and when asked if she were familiar with Amanda's reputation for veracity, Mrs. Parker stated, "all children lie sometimes." Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
756 So. 2d 644, 2000 WL 348975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-brisco-lactapp-2000.