State v. Celestine

91 So. 3d 573, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1403, 2012 WL 1934465, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 741
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 30, 2012
DocketNo. 11-1403
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 91 So. 3d 573 (State v. Celestine) 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. Celestine, 91 So. 3d 573, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1403, 2012 WL 1934465, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 741 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

| iDefendant, Charles Paul Celestine, was convicted by a jury of aggravated rape and sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Defendant appeals his conviction only, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to request a Daubert1 hearing relative to the evidentiary chain of custody and in failing to retain a DNA expert. For the following reasons, we affirm Defendant’s conviction.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

[575]*575On August 29, 1989, D.C.2 started walking home from an area known as the “Strip” in Lafayette after an argument with her boyfriend. As she walked down Bendel Road, a man offered D.C. a ride, but she refused.3 D.C. encountered a police officer on Pinhook Road, and he asked if she needed a ride. She again refused. D.C. encountered a second police officer near the intersection of Pinhook Road and Kaliste Saloom Road and again refused a ride home. D.C. continued to walk and turned onto Silverbell Parkway. D.C. testified she then noticed someone following her. The man chased her, caught her, threw her into a ditch, and raped her. D.C. testified that she thought the man who raped her was the first person who offered her a ride.

D.C. was brought to the hospital. A sexual assault examination was performed, and a sexual assault kit was delivered to the Acadiana Crime Lab. However, DNA profiles and comparisons were not being performed by the Acadiana Crime Lab in 1989.

|2In 2003, evidence from unsolved rape cases was sent by the Acadiana Crime Lab to other labs for DNA analysis. In 2003, one of the analyzing labs, Orchid Cellmark, generated a DNA profile from the sperm fraction of vaginal swabs taken from D.C. That DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). A CODIS hit matching Defendant’s DNA profile with that found in the vaginal swabs subsequently occurred. A DNA sample was taken from Defendant in April 2006. The DNA profile from the sperm fraction of the vaginal swab matched the reference sample taken from Defendant in April 2006.

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. There are two errors patent.

First, the trial court failed to state that the sentence for the aggravated rape conviction was to be served at hard labor. La.R.S. 14:42(D)(1). In State v. Loyden, 04-1558, p. 6 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/6/05), 899 So.2d 166, 172, this court explained, in pertinent part:

[W]e find that the sentences imposed for the defendant’s two aggravated rape convictions in this case are illegally lenient, because the trial court did not indicate that they were to be served at hard labor. Under the authority of La. Code Crim.P. art. 882, we amend the sentences imposed by the trial court to affirmatively indicate that the sentences for aggravated rape be served at hard labor. The district court is directed to make an entry in the minutes reflecting this amendment.

Consequently, the trial court’s failure to order the sentence for aggravated rape to be served at hard labor renders it illegally lenient. However, this court will not consider an illegally lenient sentence unless it is a raised error. State v. Jacobs, 08-1068 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/4/09), 6 So.3d 315, writ denied, 09-755 (La.12/18/09), 23 So.3d 931.

|sThe second errors patent concerns the trial court’s reference to Defendant’s post-conviction relief. The transcript of sentencing indicates the trial [576]*576court, referring to post-conviction relief, informed Defendant that he has two years to file for post-conviction relief. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 930.8 provides the defendant has two years after the conviction and sentence become final to seek post-conviction relief. Because the trial court’s advisement was insufficient, the trial court is instructed to inform Defendant of the provisions of La.Code Crim.P. art. 930.8 by sending appropriate written notice to Defendant within thirty days of the rendition of this opinion and shall file written proof in the record that it issued the notice to Defendant. State v. Roe, 05-116 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/1/05), 903 So.2d 1265, writ denied, 05-1762 (La.2/10/06), 924 So.2d 163.

DISCUSSION

In his only assignment of error, Defendant contends trial counsel was ineffective in failing to request a Daubert hearing, in failing to object to the chain of custody, and in failing to retain a DNA expert.

Generally, the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel is a matter more properly addressed in an application for post-conviction relief filed initially in the district court where a full evidentiary hearing can be held. State v. Prudholm, 446 So.2d 729 (La.1984); State v. Johnson, 557 So.2d 1030 (La.App. 4th Cir.1990); State v. Sparrow, 612 So.2d 191 (La. App. 4th Cir.1992); State v. Petta, 496 So.2d 390 (La.App. 4th Cir.1986). However, in the interest of judicial economy, an appellate court can consider an ineffective assistance claim if the record on appeal contains sufficient evidence to evaluate the merits of the claim. State v. Seiss, 428 So.2d 444 (La.1983); State v. Haywood, 516 So.2d 196 (La.App. 4th Cir.1987); State v. Kelly, 92-2446 (La. App. 4 Cir. 7/8/94), 639 So.2d 888. Such is the case here.
To succeed on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, a defendant must establish two criteria: (i) that his trial counsel’s performance was deficient and (ii) that the deficiency prejudiced him. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); State v. Fuller, 454 So.2d 119 (La.1984). A claim of ineffective assistance may be disposed of based upon a finding that either one of the two Strickland criteria have not been established. State v. James, 555 So.2d 519, 524 (La.App. 4th Cir.1989); State v. Frazier, 599 So.2d 419, 421 (La.App. 4th Cir.1992).

State v. Robinson, 11-66, pp. 11-12 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/7/11), 81 So.3d 90, 96-97.

Defendant sets forth the following in brief to this court:

Randy Vincent, a former investigator with the Lafayette Police Department, testified he was dispatched on October 29, 1989 to the University Medical Center in reference to a sexual assault. Officer Vincent met with D.C. and sexual assault counselors at the hospital. Officer Vincent then took possession of the sexual assault kit D.C. submitted to. Officer Vincent then delivered the evidence to the Acadiana Crime Lab. The form entered into evidence, S-4, indicates M. Marlette delivered the evidence to Joey Verret, and the person who performed the examination was David Epstein. David Epstein was not called as a witness nor was there an objection as to the chain of custody. S-8 indicates that ACL then sent the evidence by Airborne Express to Orchid Cell Mark [sic]. Once again there was no objection to the chain of custody nor did Defense counsel request a Daubert hearing or independent examination of the DNA evidence.
A review of the record shows evidence of the DNA matches was the only evi[577]*577dence linking Charles Celestine to the D.C. rape.

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Bluebook (online)
91 So. 3d 573, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1403, 2012 WL 1934465, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-celestine-lactapp-2012.