State v. Bush

733 So. 2d 49, 1999 WL 93236
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 24, 1999
Docket31,710-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 733 So. 2d 49 (State v. Bush) 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. Bush, 733 So. 2d 49, 1999 WL 93236 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

733 So.2d 49 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Brian BUSH, Appellant.

No. 31,710-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

February 24, 1999.

*51 Stephen Glassell, Shreveport, Ellender & Ellender By: Amy Clark Ellender, Mer Rouge, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul Carmouche District Attorney, Hugo A. Holland, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee.

Before BROWN, CARAWAY and DREW, JJ.

CARAWAY, J.

A jury convicted Brian Bush of simple escape, a violation of La. R.S. 14:110. Subsequently, Bush was adjudicated a third felony offender and the trial court sentenced him to life in prison without *52 benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. On appeal, Bush urges through his appellate counsel nine assignments of error, three of which are expressly abandoned. In addition, Bush advances four assignments of error in a pro se brief. Finding no merit to any assignments of error, we affirm the conviction and the sentence of the defendant.

Facts

In May of 1995, the defendant, Brian Bush, was extradited from Nevada, where he was incarcerated for robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon, to Louisiana to face charges for aggravated rape and kidnapping. On November 13, 1995, Bush was transported from the Caddo Correctional facility to the Viral Disease Clinic near Schumpert Hospital in Shreveport to receive treatment for the AIDS virus. While the inmates are normally in leg irons and handcuffs, Bush was not restrained because he was using crutches for a two-month-old sprained ankle. At the clinic, Bush was left unsupervised in a treatment room for several minutes, at which time he escaped through an unlocked window in the room.

Bush ran approximately a half a mile to a nearby neighborhood and hid in a shed. Upon being discovered in the shed by a child, he ran back towards Schumpert Hospital and hid in a trash dumpster for several hours. Once it was dark, Bush decided to exit the dumpster and steal a car from the hospital parking lot. However, due to a security device in the car which shut the engine off, his attempt to drive away was unsuccessful. Bush was observed running from the parked car by Deputy McLamb. McLamb called out to the man and asked if he was Brian Bush to which he responded affirmatively. Bush was then apprehended without incident.

Bush was charged by bill of information with simple escape, a violation of La. R.S. 14:110. After hearing all of the evidence, the jury convicted Bush as charged. Subsequently, the trial court sentenced him to five years in prison. After trial, the State filed a habitual offender bill of information against Bush alleging third felony offender status. On February 13, 1998, Bush was adjudicated a third felony offender and sentenced to life in prison. It is from this conviction and sentence that Bush now appeals.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

The relevant inquiry when reviewing a conviction for the sufficiency of the evidence is whether, upon viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). That standard, initially enunciated in Jackson, and now legislatively embodied in La.C.Cr.P. art. 821, is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. State v. Cotton, 25,940 (La.App.2d Cir.3/30/94), 634 So.2d 937. For circumstantial evidence to sustain a conviction, upon assuming every fact to be proved that the evidence tends to prove, the evidence must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Id. at 939. Ultimately, all evidence, both direct and circumstantial, must be sufficient under Jackson to satisfy a rational juror that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

In the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence, the testimony of one witness, if believed by the trier of fact, is sufficient support for a requisite factual conclusion. State v. Ford, 28,724 (La. App.2d Cir.10/30/96), 682 So.2d 847. The appellate court will not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh the evidence to overturn the fact-finder's determination of guilt. State v. Rhodes, 29,207 (La.App.2d Cir.1/22/97), 688 So.2d 628, writ denied, 97-0753 (La.9/26/97), 701 So.2d 980.

In the instant case, Deputy Hardy stated that Bush escaped from his custody *53 by climbing out the window at the medical clinic during the time that Bush had been left alone in an examination room at the clinic. Bush also admitted escaping to Deputy Tabor, Deputy Scholtz, and Deputy Smith. The defendant further admitted escaping when he testified at trial. Therefore, the evidence was sufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, in his defense, Bush argues that his escape from the custody of Deputy Hardy was justified and that the trial court erred in not instructing the jury on justified escape. Bush was sent to Louisiana from Nevada to face charges pending here and was scheduled to return to Nevada following disposition. He claims that the treatment he is receiving from LSU's Viral Disease Clinic in Shreveport for the AIDS virus is far superior to the treatment he received in Nevada. Therefore, he argues that if sent back to Nevada, his chances for survival will be greatly decreased. For this reason, Bush asserted that he was faced with a specific threat of death which justified his escape from the clinic.

In State v. Boleyn, 328 So.2d 95 (La.1976), the court recognized an extremely limited defense of justification for escape. The defense has five elements which the defendant must establish:

(1) The prisoner is faced with a specific threat of death, forcible sexual attack, or substantial bodily injury in the immediate future;
(2) There is no time for a complaint to the authorities or there exists a history of futile complaints which make any result from such complaints illusory;
(3) There is not time or opportunity to resort to the courts;
(4) There is no evidence of force or violence used towards prison personnel or other "innocent" persons in the escape; and
(5) The prisoner immediately reports to the proper authorities when he has attained a position of safety from the immediate threat.

Id. at 96. Before submission of the defense to the jury, the defendant must lay an appropriate foundation. Id.

In this instance, Bush did not show that he made any complaints to the court or to jail officials about his treatment in Nevada or that he sought to stop his extradition back to Nevada. Furthermore, considering that Bush hid in a dumpster for hours and attempted to steal a car to get away, there is no indication that he intended to report himself to the proper authorities. Given that the Boleyn factors require a showing of an immediate threat before justification can be considered, the trial judge did not err in denying the jury instruction on justified escape. As the defendant's actions were not justified, the evidence was sufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Bluebook (online)
733 So. 2d 49, 1999 WL 93236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bush-lactapp-1999.